Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra: Heavenly Adagio

Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony occupies a singularly important place in the composer’s output. It was with this piece that Bruckner finally achieved widespread recognition, and it has remained the most popular of his nine symphonies. The opening melody apparently came to him in a dream: a friend from Bruckner's younger days played the theme on a viola, with the words “This will bring you success”. The heart of the work is the long and deeply felt adagio, composed as a memorial to Wagner who died whilst Bruckner was writing it. An adagio is also central to Mozart’s concerto - the last important work written in its entirety before his death. Listening to it, two things are immediately apparent; firstly the seeming simplicity of the major themes and secondly the seamless interaction between soloist and orchestra, creating a work of genius.