Anton Bruckner: Difference between revisions

Bruckner's father died in 1837, when Bruckner was 13 years old. The teacher's position and house were given to a successor, and Bruckner was sent to the [[Augustinian]] [[St. Florian's Priory|monastery in St. Florian]] to become a choirboy.<ref name=grebe/><ref>Derek Watson, ''Bruckner''. New York: Schuster & Macmillan (1997): 3</ref> In addition to choir practice, his education included violin and organ lessons. Bruckner was in awe of the monastery's great organ, which was built during the late baroque era and rebuilt in 1837, and he sometimes played it during church services. Later, the organ was to be called the "Bruckner Organ". Despite his musical abilities, Bruckner's mother decided that her son's future profession remained a teacher, and in 1840 Bruckner was sent to a teacher seminar in [[Linz]]. After completing the seminar with an excellent grade, he was sent as a teacher's assistant to a school in [[Windhaag bei Freistadt|Windhaag]]. The living standards and pay were horrible, and Bruckner was constantly humiliated by his superior, teacher Franz Fuchs. Despite the difficult situation, Bruckner never complained or rebelled; a belief of inferiority was to remain one of Bruckner's main personal characteristics during his whole life. [[Prelate]] Michael Arneth noticed Bruckner's bad situation in Windhaag and awarded him a teacher's assistant position in St. Florian, sending him to [[Kronstorf]] an der Enns for two years. The time in Kronstorf was a much happier one for Bruckner. Compared to the few works he wrote in Windhaag, the Kronstorf compositions from 1843–1845 show a significantly improved artistic ability, and finally the beginnings of what could be called "the Bruckner style".<ref>Karl Grebe: Anton Bruckner. Rowohlt Berlin 1972. Page 27.</ref> Among the Kronstorf works is the vocal piece ''Asperges'' (WAB 4), which the young teacher's assistant, out of line of his position, signed with "Anton Bruckner m.p.ria. Comp[onist]". This has been interpreted as a lone early sign of Bruckner's artistic ambitions. Otherwise, little is known of Bruckner's life plans and intentions.<ref>Hinrichsen (2010), p.18</ref>