• Home
• Sounds
• Brucknerfest
• Monthly Magazine
• Galleries

Anton Bruckner

Biographical Notes

In light of the possibilities open in that day and age to a schoolmaster’s son born in the town of Ansfelden, Anton Bruckner’s career was nothing short of extraordinary.
Anton Bruckner is among the most important symphonic artists of the 19th century. A rather cliché-ridden rendering of his life pigeonholes him as strictly a symphonist whose gifts manifested themselves rather late in life. His unstylish attire and persistence in maintaining his old-fashioned ways and vernacular speech made him the target of mockery, especially among the so-called smart set in Vienna. In the cultural-political confrontations between the traditionalists and the New German School, though, Bruckner was clearly on the side of the musical innovators. Needless to say, that made it difficult for him to achieve his breakthrough as a composer and to gain widespread recognition. Bruckner’s amazing career far surpassed anything that could have been reasonably expected from a boy of his social origins. From teacher and fiddler at tavern dances in Windhaag, Upper Austria, he advanced to full-time organist at the St. Florian Monastery, choir director in Linz and, finally, university professor in Vienna. As an organist, he became what is known in modern-day parlance as a superstar.

Due to his many improvisations during his concerts, there are no written scores that have come down to us to attest to his supreme virtuosity as a performer. Here, we must rely on suppositions, analyses and interpretations.

As a unique artistic personality and a native son, he has been endowed with a very special role particularly here in Upper Austria today. The many things that have been named after him attest to his extraordinary status, whereby such honors have not stopped short of marketing campaigns in the service of the tourism industry that have come to resemble Salzburg’s exploitation of Mozart.

The Bruckner bell, watches and other objects bearing his image, street names, the Brucknerhaus, the Bruckner Orchester Linz and the Anton Bruckner Center in Ansfelden are prominent manifestations of these efforts.

The ABIL – Anton Bruckner Institute Linz takes a scholarly approach to the great Upper Austrian’s life and work.

Anton Bruckner is buried in St. Florian.