Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony was begun in 1887 and has traditionally been performed in the three movements he had completed by November 1894. He embarked on detailed composition of a final movement in the last 18 months of his life and in 1983 musicologists Nicola Samale, John Phillips, Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs and Guiseppe Mazzuca began work to reconstruct the Finale. This release includes the first commercial recording of the most recent revision of the earlier performing material, by Dr John A. Phillips.

The Symphony was intended by Bruckner to be his last and greatest work, a musical testament to crown his entire output. A deeply religious man, his dedication of the work ‘to the dear Lord’ reveals his intent to deal with what Phillips describes as ‘the ultimate questions of belief, death and the destiny of the soul’. The resulting music runs a gamut of emotions; mysterious and solemn, transcendent, rapturous and at times terrifying. The orchestration is rich, including an enlarged horn section featuring four Wagner tubas, and the composer charts new harmonic territory, even anticipating what was to follow with Mahler and aspects of twentieth century composition.

Taken from a rapturously received and critically acclaimed performance at The Bridgewater Hall (with The Times’s 5* review describing a ‘splendid night’ and hailing the magnificent sound of the ‘blazing Hallé’) this recording will prove essential for those wishing to hear the work in the intended four-movement form.

The recording is accompanied by a booklet containing a personal introduction from Kahchun Wong and a note from Dr John A. Phillips, surveying the material Bruckner left for the Finale and detailing the work done on reconstructing it for performance.

Kahchun Wong assumed his new role with the Hallé in September 2024, following his electrifying debut with the orchestra the previous season. His initial five-year tenure with the Hallé will see him continue to build on the dynamic relationship he immediately formed with the orchestra, exploring repertoire which reflects his thoughtful interpretations of work from both the Eastern and Western musical canons. The debut recording of Wong and the Hallé, the first full-length recording of Britten’s ballet The Prince of the Pagodas in over a decade, was universally acclaimed.

Recorded live and in rehearsal 26 October 2024, The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester