The so-called Kitzler-Studienbuch, which dates from the time of Bruckner's studies with the Linz conductor Otto Kitzler between the autumn of 1861 and the summer of 1863, contains a treasure trove of musical riches, which remain largely unexplored to this day, even in Bruckner's city of Linz. For example, as a finger exercise for later attempts at symphonic writing, Bruckner orchestrated the first movement of Beethoven's „Pathétique“ sonata, and wrote numerous piano compositions of his own including the 194-bar sonata movement in G minor.
In these student works the 37-year-old composer was particularly influenced by the stylistic idiom of Franz Schubert, whose 16th piano sonata was found in his estate. The Fantasy in G major, written six years later, displays unmistakable symphonic features in the striking bass theme of the first part and the playful scherzo of the second section. These features are also in evidence in Robert Schumann's Symphonic Studies, where he attempted „to present the pathos – when it is present in the theme – in many different colours“. The twelve studies on a theme by the officer and musical amateur Ignaz Ferdinand Freiherr von Fricken allude to the many sets of Schubert variations in their „narrative conception of variation“.
Anton Bruckner (1824–1896)
Sonata movement in G minor (Sketch of a first movement), WAB 245 (1862)
Franz Schubert (1797–1828)
Piano sonata No. 16 in A minor, D 845 (1825)
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Anton Bruckner
Fantasie in G major, WAB 118 (1868)
Robert Schumann (1810–1856)
"Symphonic Etudes" in C sharp minor op.13 (1834–37)
Aaron Pilsan | Piano
