Alternative Bruckner: Recordings of transcriptions of his symphonies
 by Patrick C Waller
(Originally published in June 2022, updated February 2024)

Transcriptions of most of the Bruckner symphonies for piano four hands were made more than a century ago by his friends. In 1921 a transcription of the seventh symphony was made by Hanns Eisler, Karl Rankl and Erwin Stein for clarinet, horn, string quartet, double bass, piano four hands and harmonium. In the second half of the twentieth century the German organist Erwin Horn transcribed some of the works for organ. In recent years other transcriptions have been made (notably the composer Anthony Payne produced a chamber version of the second symphony) and most of the recordings of transcriptions have been made in this century. The purpose of this article is to draw attention to and summarise the recordings of complete* Bruckner symphonies currently available for which the forces specified in the original score(s) were not used (* recordings of single movements or short sections of works are not considered here).

Broadly, the transcriptions fall into three categories: organ, piano four hands and ensemble. In preparing the article I have used as the principal reference source, and I gratefully acknowledge, John Berky’s Bruckner Symphony Versions Discography at abruckner.com. This lists all recorded transcriptions at the end of the list of discs for each symphony. All eleven symphonies have been recorded in a complete transcription at least once. There is a set of ten symphonies (Nos.0-9) for piano four hands by Dino Sequi and Gerhard Hofer, and all the symphonies can now be heard complete on the organ. Ensemble recordings are generally lacking for the earlier works but there are no fewer than six complete recordings of the transcription of the seventh symphony alluded to above.

The bicentenary of the composer’s birth in 2024 has prompted renewed interest in organ transcriptions in particular. A recorded series of Nos. 0-9 by various transcribers has recently been completed by Hansjörg Albrecht for Oehms. Eberhard Klotz has completed organ transcriptions of Nos. 1-9 which are published by Merseburger and will be performed during 2024.

Transcription recordings issued as of February 2024 are summarised in the following table:

Symphony	Organ	Piano four hands	Ensemble
F minor	Transcription made and performed by Rudolf Innig
D minor	Transcription by Erwin Horn performed by Hansjörg Albrecht	Transcription by August Stradal performed by Dino Sequi and Gerhard Hofer
No.1	Transcription by Erwin Horn performed by Hansjörg Albrecht	Transcription by Ferdinand Loewe performed by Dino Sequi and Gerhard Hofer
No.2	Transcription by Erwin Horn performed by Hansjörg Albrecht	Transcription by Josef Schalk performed by Dino Sequi and Gerhard Hofer	Transcription for Chamber Orchestra by Anthony Payne performed by the Royal Academy of Music Soloists Ensemble conducted by Trevor Pinnock
No.3	Transcription made and performed by Ernst-Erich Stender; Transcription by Erwin Horn performed by Hansjörg Albrecht	Transcription by Gustav Mahler recorded three times
No.4	Transcription made by Thomas Schmoegner and performed by him and Hansjörg Albrecht	Transcription by Ferdinand Loewe performed by Dino Sequi and Gerhard Hofer; Transcription of the 1874 version by William Carragan performed by Crawford Howie and William Carragan
No.5	Transcription made and performed by Mathias Giesen; Transcription made and performed by Gerd Schaller Transcription by Erwin Horn performed by Hansjörg Albrecht	Transcription by Otto Singer performed by Dino Sequi and Gerhard Hofer	Jazz Improvisation performed by the Temporary Art Orchestra conducted by Thomas Mandel
No.6	Transcription by Eberhard Klotz performed by Hansjörg Albrecht	Transcription by Josef Schalk performed by Dino Sequi and Gerhard Hofer	Arrangement for ensemble by Rolf Verbeek performed by Camerata RCO conducted by him
No.7	Transcription made and performed by Ernst-Erich Stender; Transcription performed by Klaus Ludwig; Transcription by Erwin Horn performed by Hansjörg Albrecht	Transcription by Franz and Josef Schalk performed by Dino Sequi and Gerhard Hofer	Six recordings of the transcription by Hanns Eisler, Karl Rankl and Erwin Stein; Jazz Improvisation performed by the Temporary Art Orchestra conducted by Thomas Mandel; Arrangement by Alan Leighton performed by the Bruckner LC Ensemble conducted by Yutaro Ishihara
No.8	Transcription made and performed by Lionel Rogg; Transcription by Eberhard Klotz performed by Hansjörg Albrecht	Transcription by Josef Schalk performed by Dino Sequi and Gerhard Hofer; Transcription by Josef Schalk for two pianos performed by Crawford Howie and William Carragan	Transcriptions for four or five electones and electronic percussion by Takeo Noguchi
No.9	Transcription by Eberhard Klotz performed by Thilo Muster; Transcription made by Gerd Schaller (includes the finale) performed by him; Transcription by Erwin Horn performed by Hansjörg Albrecht (includes the finale by Gerd Schaller)	Transcription by Josef Schalk and Ferdinand Loewe performed by Dino Sequi and Gerhard Hofer; Two piano edition by Karl Grunsky performed by Matthiag Giesen and Klaus Laczika, and Till Alexander Koerber and Reinhold Puri-Jobi – the latter recording includes the finale by William Carragan	Transcription for four electones and electronic percussion by Takeo Noguchi

The table above lists what can potentially be heard although some of the recordings may be hard to find (e.g. Takeo Noguchi’s versions of the eighth and ninth). The ten symphony set by Dino Sequi and Gerhard Hofer on the piano can be downloaded from abruckner.com, as can the jazz improvisation recordings of the fifth and seventh symphonies.

Some of the above recordings have been reviewed on MusicWeb International. The chamber version of the second conducted by Trevor Pinnock was appreciated by Dominy Clements. Matthias Giesen’s organ transcription of the fifth was received very positively by Jonathan Welsh. He also accompanies Klaus Laczika in a piano four hand version of the ninth that Ralph Moore found “daring, confident and controversial…”. But there is strong competition from Till Alexander Körber and Reinhold Puri-Jobi according to Jonathan Welsh, and their version also includes the finale. Regarding the chamber transcription of the seventh, Peter Lawson thought it worth investigating as performed by the Thomas Christian Ensemble.

None of the reviews cited above ignores the inevitable losses from downsizing Bruckner but all have good things to say and are generally positive about the experience of listening to transcriptions. On the piano, the Trenkner and Speidel Piano Duo’s recording of the third and Till Alexander Koerber and Reinhold Puri-Jobi’s ninth would be my main recommendations. I can also recommend both the Pinnock second and Thomas Christian Ensemble seventh.

My own preference is for the organ rather than piano transcriptions - it was, after all, Bruckner’s instrument and he wrote surprisingly little for it. The first organ transcription I heard was Lionel Rogg’s eighth, which has been available for many years. Revisiting this I found myself disappointed and Hansjörg Albrecht’s recent recording surpasses it in every respect. His consistent and well-recorded series has just been completed with a ninth that includes the finale, and is a tremendous achievement – see Martyn Strachan’s review of the sixth. Giesen’s fifth and Schaller’s ninth (reviewed here by Ralph Moore), both performed in their own transcriptions, are also stand-outs.