Anton Bruckner project

The musician of God and the birds in the forest

Composer and artist Peter Androsch mixes music and nature

(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

Alongside the Salzkammergut Capital of Culture 2024, the year celebrating the 200th anniversary of Anton Bruckner's birth is the second major event in Upper Austria. There are concerts and projects that stage Bruckner in a new and witty way. One of these is the "Klangwald" by Peter Androsch. The Brucknerhaus is also celebrating its birthday: Zubin Mehta and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra wish it a happy birthday.

In August last year, the studio display of Linz composer Peter Androsch was sprayed with paint, as we reported. The attack was directed at Anton Bruckner's death mask, which was on display here.

But Bruckner, whose 200th birthday inspired this year's KulturEXPO, is indestructible and can now even be heard in the Kürnberg Forest. "I have embedded his works in the rustling of leaves and the twittering of birds," says Androsch.

(Bild: ZVg)

The birds, the ships and the music
He stages the "sound forest in a fairytale clearing". However, Bruckner is not just Bruckner, but "the ten symphonies sound 666 times longer. One minute's pause in Bruckner's music thus becomes a silence of eleven hours and six minutes. That is why the rustling of the leaves, the singing of the birds, the creaking of the trunks, the horns of distant ships are the real Bruckner sound."

The "Klangwald" can be explored until November 10 in the Kürnbergerwald near Wilhering, Google coordinates: 862J+P49 Wilhering.

Not everyone's cup of tea: Peter Androsch with Bruckner's death mask

(Bild: Horst Einöder)

Another experimental tribute to Anton Bruckner is the "Schorgel": Art University graduate Clemens Bauder has built an organ from converted playground equipment. Organ pipes are activated by rocking and bobbing movements. The "Schorgel" will sound for the first time on April 19 in Leonding, then in Kronstorf and Hörsching.

Conductor Zubin Mehta takes the podium at the Brucknerhaus in Linz

(Bild: APA/HERBERT NEUBAUER)

On March 22 and 23, the Brucknerhaus celebrates its 50th anniversary with a festive concert by the Bruckner Orchestra Linz under the musical direction of Markus Poschner, including the world premiere of the contemporary piece "Letters" by Rudolf Jungwirth, as well as a festive concert with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Metha - both concerts are largely sold out.