Born near Linz, in Upper Austria, Anton Bruckner was the son of a village schoolmaster and organist (the two positions were often combined, in those regions and in those days) and was trained to follow in his father's footsteps. After his father's death in 1837 Anton was sent to St. Florian, the nearby Baroque monastery, to be a chorister and to continue his musical and other studies. At the age of 21, having spent a year in Linz and four years teaching and playing the organ in provincial villages, Bruckner returned to his beloved St. Florian as a teacher. He had in the meantime become a master organist and had turned his hand to composing. Not until he was 31, however, did he become a full-time musician, when he accepted the post of cathedral organist in Linz. In addition to working hard at his job, he practised a great deal, taught piano, sang in a choir and spent seven hours a day doing harmony and counterpoint exercises, which he sent, for comment, to an eminent teacher in Vienna. Having mastered the rules, all he needed was to learn to break them, and this possibility was brought home to him when he attended the Linz premiere of Tannhä user early in 1863. Wagner's boldness opened new vistas to Bruckner, and he began to compose the remarkable series of symphonies that were to become his most enduring contribution to musical literature. Bruckner learned from Wagner - whom he met several times, and who admired his work - to paint vast musical canvases with great harmonic daring, and to employ increasingly large and powerful orchestral forces for his works. In 1867, acute self-doubt and overwork caused Bruckner to suffer a nervous breakdown, but the following year he was appointed professor of composition at the Vienna Conservatory and organist to the imperial chapel. At last his talents and efforts were recognized, and he was able to live in one of the world's great musical capitals, where he could hear the products of other contemporary composers' labours. He eventually became lecturer in harmony and counterpoint at the University of Vienna, and he lived in the city for the rest of his life. His fame gradually increased throughout the 1880s and into the 1890s. Although his works remained controversial, they were premiered by such celebrated conductors as Hans Richter, Hermann Levi and Arthur Nikisch, and he was given many awards and other honours. He died at the age of 72, but, as he had requested, was buried in the crypt under the great organ of the monastery at St. Florian, not far from the village of his birth.

Harvey Sachs Biographical notes (c) 1996, reprinted by permission of Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Hamburg

A selection of major works:

Orchestral: 10 Symphonies (including Symphony No. 0)

Chamber: String Quintet, String Quartet, Pieces for piano 4 hands.

Instrumental solo: Piano and organ pieces.

Choral: Masses, Motets, Psalms 112, 114 & 150.