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Appreciation by David Fisher

What a tour-de-force David Calow’s talk on the alterations to Bruckner’s symphonies proved to be. A popular speaker at Leicester Music Society, it was not unexpected that he be meticulously prepared and presented, intriguing, fascinating and full of historic and musical detail which, combined with his analysis and musicology, informed the audience in a really interesting way, supported by some very useful visual evidence boards.

My respect for Bruckner increased whilst feeling rather sorry about the way he was dealt the triple blows of his autistic spectrum, insensitively ‘helpful’ pupils, and stubborn conductors over the years. Thank goodness for the Bruckner Society and subsequent enlightened editors and musicologists who assembled all the pieces of the jigsaw to allow us all to understand the way Bruckner developed as a composer.

I feel that he is a genius despite being often rated as a second level composer. David's incisive and entertaining talk served to confirm that for me and, thankfully, most of those unaccountable (and often weaker musically) ‘improvements’ have been consigned to history.