Abstract
How to build Symphonies
Rhythmic Design in Bruckner’s and Schubert’s Large-scale Works
Anton Bruckner’s mature symphonies (numbers 3 to 8) follow a design which can be described in terms of rhythm and proportion working on several levels. In a way these different levels are intertwined in a certain bottom-up manner: within the themes, between them, concerning a whole movement and, last of all, shaping the entire four-movement symphonic cycle. Although clearly Bruckner’s own and original invention, there is some evidence that this constructional design may have been inspired by some late works of Franz Schubert. The paper tries to show this by selected examples.
Biography
Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen, born in 1952, studied German Studies and History at the Freie Universität Berlin (First and Second State Examinations 1980/82), then Musicology (PhD 1992: Untersuchungen zur Entwicklung der Sonatenform in der Instrumentalmusik Franz Schuberts; Habilitation 1998: Musikalische Interpretation: Hans von Bülow). From 1999 he was Professor of Musicology at the Univeversität Zürich (emeritus in February 2018). He is a member of the Academia Europaea and the Austrian Academy of Sciences. He is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Beethoven-Haus Bonn and the Scientific Advisory Board of the State Institute for Music Research – Preußischer Kulturbesitz Berlin, and Co-editor of the journal Archiv für Musikwissenschaft and wagnerspectrum. Recent book publications (selection): Franz Schubert, Munich 2011 (22014, 32019), also translated into Japanese and Korean; Beethoven: Die Klaviersonaten, Kassel 2013; Bruckner's symphonies. Ein musikalischer Werkführer, Munich 2016, also translated into Japanese; Ludwig van Beethoven. Musik für eine neue Zeit, Berlin / Kassel 2019 (22020).