[...]

His is unfortunately seldom heard or performed. His adagios are very characteristic: long, slow, solemn and mystic, with great crescendos and powerful climaxes, very difficult to perform with a good effect. He dedicated his last (9th) symphony to God, hoping that God would feel it worthy and would grant him the time to finish it. He died without writing the 4th movement, but it doesn't matter: it was worthy, and God deserved such an awe-inspiring monument of symphonic music (when it is well performed).

He was born September 4th 1824 in Ansfelden (13e55/47n53) at 4:15 a.m., and died October 11th 1896 in Vienna (48n13/16e22) at 3:30 p.m.

I cannot explain his music with his chart, birth or death, not even with the available centaurs so far. Anyone interested in Bruckner or loving his music wants to give it a try?

His 9th symphony has always been to me the best musical example available of what Pluto is astrologically. Now I am willing to think that it might be one of the "giant" (longer orbits) centaurs. So far I don't know which. 

Juan

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Date: Sat, 05 Feb 2000 21:00:49 -0600
Subject: [Centaurs] Re: Bruckner

This may be a digression from astrology, but I am very emotional about this music, so let me express myself and share my feelings with you all.

The impression his music gives depends heavily on the conductor's vision and the quality of the recording. Bruckner's darkness here has never spoken to me anything having to do with sickness or with "dark" per se... with death, yes! but it is the consummation of life/death in a vision of tremendous power and redeeming glory.

Unfortunately many conductors are just plain charlatans when it comes to a performance of this music. I have been listening to Bruckner's 9th since I was 15 years old, and have heard many recordings that sound more like jokes. This was the rule in the composer's own lifetime, for which he was always mocked.

His 9th symphony was not "to be" his greatest work: it is, and its darkness is a glorious darkness of cosmic dimensions, the consummation of death, like a vision outside of time where life and death, light and darkness, come together with glorious power. It has nothing to do with the "farewells to life" of other composers near death. It is more like a monument to the glory and the power of God.

It is First-Ray music, a magnificent representative of Pluto where "darkness" becomes cosmic and lyrical and embraces the Glory and the Light.

Sorry for the digression and the emotional exaltation. After reading Hugh's post I listened again the old 1966 Karajan recording with the Berlin Philarmonic, and I felt how each note pushes my blood to ecstatic moments when I overflow and expand with power...

Bruckner's music is difficult to hear, and can be heavy and boring. But don't think that I am alone in my feelings. Here is one quote for you to ponder about:

<<Wagner was the catalyst which joined Bruckner's expressive amalgam and made it the vehicle of symphonies which speak of glory, glory and still more glory>> [A.J.B. Hutchings, The Pelican History of Music, 1968]

Yes. Glory 3 times when it is well performed. And a 4th time if it is the 9th Symphony.

Juan 

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Date: Sun, 06 Feb 2000 21:53:23 -0600
Subject: [Centaurs] Re: Bruckner

The source [of his data] is a photograph of the birth certificate which appears in p.13 of "Anton Bruckner, Musik und Leben" by Leopold Nowak (Rudolf Trauner Verlag, 1973). It says "uhr fruh", which I assume is a.m. The time of death appears in p.279 of this same book.

[...]

As I mentioned in another post, I cannot find his music is in chart, and would be delighted if someone can help me see it.

Juan  

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Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2000 04:34:07 -0600
Subject: [Centaurs] astrology of Bruckner I

I'm going to try to derive ideal astrological characteristics from Bruckner's music, and then try to see if I can find some of these characteristics in his birth or his death chart. It will take time, and it will be subjective because astrological symbols do not speak the same things to different people. I will use the well-known centaurs (by well-known I mean well-determined orbits: 11 of them).

As a guide to the exercise, I will use the commentaries on his music found in the Karajan CD I've been talking about (Deutsche Grammophon "Galleria" #429 904-2). The author of the English text is Robert Simpson.

Let's see what he says and how and I can translate his language into ideal astrological principles (of course you are invited if interested to give your own interpretation). This is what Robert Simpson says:

<<Brahms, who mastered his own art, is often quoted as Bruckner's superior in matters where there is no ground for fair comparison: the giant scale of the latter's conceptions makes useless the swift play of keys that dominates the world of Beethoven and Brahms.>>

COMMENT:

Brahms is often mentioned because it was Bruckner's contemporary, and Bruckner is always mentioned as an inferior musician. This unfair comparison and judgement as inferior in general accompanied Bruckner all his life, both socially and in terms of his musical abilities. The result of this was his disastrous practice of revisions that produced works of inferior quality only to please his critics and "friends", and a confusing legacy of several versions of his symphonies. Were it not for this compliance to external criticism, he would have had time enough to finish his 9th symphony before he died.

Astrologically and psychologically this point can be very complex. How  do you think this type of insecurity shows in a chart? Bruckner was never a culturally refined man. He was a provincial "school teacher"  who came to Vienna but was never accepted by Vienna's high-class, and the music critics always showed severe problems to appreciate his music. Recognition came, but too late, when he was a very old man, and the enormous importance he now has in the history of music and the recognition of his genius is a matter of the last decades only.

Perhaps, astrologically, we can see this in his 1st house Sun in 11 Virgo and his 10th house Saturn in 7 Gemini. He was a simple man of humble peasant origins, incapable of making demands or of inspiring fear, and completely alien to the sophistication and complicated prejudices, favoritisms, and vested interests characteristic of Vienna's musical activity.

Ok. But Robert Simpson used an interesting expression, he said: <<the giant scale of Bruckner's conceptions>>. This definitely is NOT a  Virgo Sun in square with Saturn! This is what I have more problems with, astrologically speaking...

(will continue)

Juan

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Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2000 11:15:52 -0600
Subject: [Centaurs] astrology of Bruckner II

<<the giant scale of Bruckner's conceptions>>

The word "giant" makes one think immediately in Jupiter. Bruckner had the ascendant around 28 Leo, and Jupiter is found in 3 Leo in the 12th. This may account for his religious impulse and the cathedral- like nature of his music. Leo could explain the very solemn and  grandiose nature of his compositions, and the 12th house Jupiter has affinity with the organ pipes of which Bruckner was a supreme player and improvisor. No one ever denied any recognition to Bruckner as a master of the organ improvisation.

Nice. But when you hear his symphonies, and particularly his 9th  symphony, you realize that there is something more involved, something  more cosmic and much more in the foreground than a 12th house Jupiter (putting this Jupiter closer to the Ascendant and assuming an earlier birth time could work --as I have seen "3 a.m." mentioned-- but this is going against the documentary evidence). There is, simply put, a mystery. His music is mysterious and powerful in a strangely Plutonian way...

Let's continue with the commentaries by Robert Simpson:

<<The wide, slow sweep of his thought, though it creates clear symmetries, demands that its hearer be free from preconceptions.>>

Nice phrase: <<wide, slow sweep of his thought...>>. This doesn't sound like Jupiter, and Jupiter is confined in the 12th anyway. It may be Saturn in Gemini (the "clear symmetries"), but Saturn is not that "wide"... We are reaching the world of Uranus-Neptune-Pluto here, but in a more mysterious way, perhaps a centaurean way (the long-period ones. I feel especially strongly TF35 here, a "Plutonian" centaur).

Asbolus and Pylenor are also in Leo in the 12th, half-way between Jupiter and the Ascendant near Regulus. Yes! Regulus! Pylenor in particular is in 23 Leo, close to the Ascendant in 28 Leo. Maybe this Pylenor is a major clue. I can feel it in his physical appearance from his portraits, and it is also a good sign of his poverty or peasant simplicity. Anyway, see what R. Simpson says:

<<Great harm has been done by the hack-neyed cant about the old man's "simplicity" and "naivete": one glance at his head is enough to show that the serene trustfulness of the face is not all. There is the broad, high cranium, a massive and impressive dome, to be observed.>>

Sounds like Leo. The rising Pylenor in the 12th conjunct the Ascendant may have accentuated the Leonine characteristics. Maybe there is no need to falsify the birth time...

(to be continued)

NOTE: this weight and significance of Pylenor is confirmed by its exact (less than 1 degree) quincunx with the Moon: Pylenor=23Le40, Moon=24Cp11 

Juan

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Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2000 15:13:54 -0600
Subject: [Centaurs] astrology of Bruckner III

"...There is the broad, high cranium, a massive and impressive dome, to be observed." (R. Simpson)

This is what M.E. Jones says about Leo's physical appearance:

<<The head is more than often full and curved, even wholly dome-shaped.>> [from Astrology How and Why it Works]

So, as we said, it seems that the Leo Ascendant is correct and that it is emphasized by some planet on or near it in Leo. Ignoring the centaurs, we could say it is Jupiter, but this planet is entrenched in the 12th house, while the centaurs, still in the 12th, are closer and seem to give the Plutonian dimension of mystery (Asbolus) and of social awkwardness (Pylenor) that we are looking for.

We continue with R. Simpson's commentary:

<<Bruckner wields whole paragraphs as themes, so that his forms fall into well-defined sections, like the plain divisions of churches.>>

This may be related to his Virgo Sun rising. although the comparison with churches leads more into the 12th house Jupiter to me. Let's see:

<<Indeed, the music is demonstrably written in terms of cathedral-like acoustics, and its periodic pauses are fully effective only in a building that can create awesome dying echoes: this is true also of many of his remarkable endings, where often the full blaze of the orchestra is often cut off. These works need to be played in the right conditions... there is no reason why first-rate orchestras should not make regular visits to cathedrals to play Bruckner.>>

Ok. What in astrology is the equivalent of "cathedral-like acoustics" and awesome dying echoes"?

I have suggested that this can be related to Jupiter in Leo in the 12th (especially the word "awesome"). Maybe secondarily it can be related to his Pluto alone in the 8th house. It could be, but neither of them is focal in any way, and this is a very fundamental characteristic of Bruckner's music. Jupiter of course is more important than Pluto because it is in the same sign as the Ascendant, but in terms of focality, Pylenor and Asbolus also in the 12th outpower him, and Pylenor outpowers Asbolus.

One has to note that this 12th-house Pylenor in 23 Leo, only 4 degrees from the Ascendant, is in square to a 4th house Pholus in 25 Scorpio. Neither the Sun, Moon, or Node are aspecting them, but the Ascendant is, and it lets us guess that maybe it is not in 28 Leo but around 25 or 24 Leo. If we move back the birthtime from 4:15 to 4:00 a.m., we will get exactly this and the MC in 15 Taurus, putting the IC in the midpoint of TF35 (13 Scorpio) and Mars (17 Scorpio), effectively bringing them in conjunction.

This Mars/TF35 could be a good explanation of the colossal (TF35) force (Mars) of many of his orchestral effects, especially the very heavy use of the brass section (Mars) which is characteristic of his style.

(will continue)

Juan 

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Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 09:51:57 -0600
Subject: [Centaurs] the astrology of Bruckner IV

I will try to deal with Bruckner's 9th Symphony now, astrologically. Of course it will be brief. But before that, I think you will find interesting what the Britannica says about him:

<<To Bruckner, composition had the significance of a liturgical art, and he brought to it the same zeal that a God-fearing priest might bring to the enactment of the sacred rites. It is precisely this spiritual content what has caused his music to remain a closed book to many people, even when the passage of time has swept away many of the misconceptions about the composer. Bruckner's intense devoutness was an essential component of his personality, for he appears to have felt most acutely that he was an instrument of God. A measure of his greatness lies in the purely altruistic nature of his life and work, undefiled by materialistic values>>

Extraordinary. There is something that might help us understand this in his chart:

True Node = 7,27 Capricorn
Neptune   = 6,55 Capricorn

Apart from the Pylenor-Asbolus-12th house Jupiter combination I don't find much else of a mystical nature. I'm glad I have recently started to use the nodes in charts, because this is a testimony of the importance of strong nodal configurations. And yes, like Catherine says (thanks, Catherine!), this may be also a sign that this Neptune is "responsible" for the cathedral acoustics required by his music. It was probably the combination of this with the Leo preponderance accentuated by the centaurs what gave him that mystic zeal and faith.

The Jupiter-Asbolus-Mars-TF35 combination probably explains the cosmic dimensions of his language and the terrifying force of his sound effects.

By the way, if you ever want to experience the most touching and sublime expression of his mystic yearning, try listening to the long adagio of his 8th symphony, but make sure that the recording is of the "original version", since often a shorter version is performed that is miles away from the quality of the original. This adagio lasts about half an hour, and is one of the most sublime adagios of symphonic literature.

The first 3 movements of his 9th Symphony were finished in 1894, and he died in 1896. But he spent those last years revising his other works and producing versions of inferior quality. When he saw himself in his sickbed in 1896, he wrote: "I dedicated my earlier symphonies to this or that noble friend  of the arts, the last, the Ninth, shall be dedicated to God. Should He accept it, and in order that this unfinished work might have a conclusion, let my 'Te Deum' be performed with it after my death, for it is after all particularly fitting for this holy purpose."

God certainly deserved it, but he died, and the original performance of the 9th was in 1903, unfortunately with a sweeping and unhappy instrumental retouching that completely distorted Bruckner's original intentions. It was not until 1932 in Munich when the original Bruckner's version was performed. This is what the conductor on this occasion, Friedrich von Hausegger, said of this symphony:

<<It is no longer the touching departure of an individual being from this life, rather it is a higher synthesis of life and death, full of the mystery of the eternal spirit.>>

(will continue)

Juan

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Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 11:13:18 -0600
Subject: [Centaurs] the astrology of Bruckner V

We continue with Robert Simpson:

<<The vast first movement is based on a clear plan of statement and expanded counter statement with a great coda added. There are three elements in the colossal statement.>>

Here we find these qualifying words again: "vast" and "colossal". What do you think is "colossal" and "vast" in astrology?. Whatever it is it must be beyond Jupiter and Saturn... Perhaps a trans-Neptunian or a centaur not yet found, or perhaps TF35 (which is what I feel), but the "colossal vastness" of the 9th Symphony is too much in the foreground of Bruckner's composition style, it should be something very basic in his chart.

Perhaps the death chart can help us here. At death, we find the following:

   1996TL66  = 8,04 Capricorn
   n.Neptune = 6,55 Capricorn
   n Tr.Node = 7,37 Capricorn

   This combination certainly qualifies for cosmic vastness!

   d.Uranus  =  21,39 Sco
   d.QB1     =  21,49 Sco
   d.Node    =  21,53 Aqu
   d.Pholus  =  22,03 Tau r

This Uranus/QB1 conjunction combined with the Node falls in the 9th house in the death chart, while the Ascendant falls around 25 Aquarius!

So definitely the death chart gives us important clues about the haracteristics of his 9th Symphony. Let's read on R. Simpson:

<<There are three elements in the colossal statement. 1- A long, slow crescendo [NOTE: these are the very eccentric and very slow orbits!], containing several melodic ideas [NOTE: the aspects, or the planets it crosses], rises gradually to a terrific unison theme in the full orchestra...>>

This "terrific unison" in the full orchestra sounds like a conjunction between the "terrible" TL66 or TF35. When you listen to it in a good recording and a good stereo, you will want to jump out of your seats and take refuge, because it is terrifying and smashing like a cyclone.  In fact, this is where many orchestras fail, simply because the trombone section lacks the lung-power, and when it has it, the balance is so distorted in favor of the brass that the effect sounds very ugly. But blame the orchestra and the conductor, buy a better stereo... God is giving you a taste of His will power!

R. Simpson continues:

<<2- [the 2nd element of the "colossal statement"] is a flowing section starting in A major, creating its own smaller climax that falls into an intensely quiet, strange link to 3- a more severe paragraph opening in D minor, in mood between (1) and (2), moving to a heavy earthbound crisis which clears at the last moment. These three parts are roughly equal in length. Then comes the expanded counter-statement>>

"a flowing section" is where there is no crossing, when the object is free. Maybe it is the Neptune realm. more "liquid" and with smaller climaxes. "Intensely quiet" may be an aphelion or perihelion, a trine aspect... The "more severe" paragraph seems Plutonian or Uranian. The "expanded counter-statement is the other half of the orbit, after the perihelion.

(will continue)

Juan

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Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 11:46:46 -0600
Subject: [Centaurs] the astrology of Bruckner, VI

R. Simpson:

<<Then comes the expanded counter-statement: (1) [the first element of the statement] comes over a long pedal F and grows in four huge waves to the unison theme, itself magnified into two even larger sweeps, the first enveloped in furious, titanic string passages, and the second tramping and heaving towards an almost seismic irruption in F minor. The mood here is not unlike that of Book I in 'Paradise Lost'.

<<From this, slow, gently, circling figures drift into (2) [the second element of the statement], which comes as a great relief, and is fused with (3) [the third element of the statement] into a single group, with the intensified end of (3) as its climax. Solemn cavernous cadences then herald the mighty coda which, using figures omitted from the counter statement of (1), raises the most awe-inspiring sounds of this piece.>>

That's the First Movement, and I will end here. The instructions for the conductor given by Bruckner are: "Feierlich [solemn], misterioso".

Does it sound Plutonian? Could someone translate this into astrological language? What is the astrological counterpart of:

"grows in huge waves"
"magnified"
"larger sweeps"
"enveloped"
"furious"
"titanic"
"tramping and heaving"
"a seismic irruption"
"the mood of Paradise Lost Book I"
"slow, gently circling figures"
"a great relief"
"intensified"
"climax"
"solemn, cavernous cadences"
"mighty"
"awe-inspiring" 

Juan

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Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000 11:24:13 -0600
Subject: the astrology of Bruckner

[...]

I think one can see this in 3 ways:

1- The general tendencies shown in the birth chart, which should also be shown as general tendencies in the music.

2- The particular tendencies of the period during which the symphony was written, especially when it stands apart from the other symphonies for some reason.

3- The complementary view offered by the death chart, especially in the case of this Symphony which deals with ultimate things and was left unfinished by the death of the composer.

With respect to #1, there are many things in the chart that speak of his music, and different ways of seeing or interpreting them. In my opinion, one has to look for the main personal signatures, and organize the information hierarchically by means of:

a- the Sun, Moon, and Ascendant.
b- planets in or very near the angles.
c- lunar node configurations
d- patterns revealed or emphasized at death with those same factors

And all of it with small orbs. So, in Bruckner's chart, one finds:

-the ascendant is in 28 Leo, probably in 26.
-Pylenor very close in 23 Leo: a major key from the 12th.
-Pylenor in exact quincunx with the Moon (orb=0,31')
-the Sun, ruler of the Asc. and of Pylenor, rising in the 1st in 11 Virgo
-Saturn in the 10th in 7 Gemini separating from the square to the Sun

Uranus in the 5th in 11 Capricorn is in exact trine with the Sun, but for some reason I discard trines as of less importance when establishing "keys" or focus that give structure to a life.

I already mentioned that Sun/Saturn is well represented in his insecurity and the difficulties in establishing his career due to the animosity and the prejudice of megalomaniac critics like Eduard Hanslick who attacked him without mercy and was responsible for the spread of so many misconceptions that only in the last decades have been cleared out about the composer.

Pylenor may be part of his piety, his peasant origins, crude manners, complete awkwardness when dealing with women, and of course his inclination at old age towards very young girls (these girls are his 5th house Moon in 24Cap and SG35 in 27Cap)... But of course I like young girls myself... Pylenor charts his crudeness when he tried to socialize with them, his incapacity to establish the "age limits" required by acceptable morality. But it must be said that he was a man of strong religious principles and he never engaged in any before-marriage physical relationship. He was rejected by all the women he proposed throughout his life, due to his rude simplicity.

To complete the picture and before attempting to outline the meaning of the rest, we must consider also:

-Pholus in 25 Scorpio in the 4th (his "Alpine wings" as Hugh has suggested) is square to the Ascendant/Pylenor.
-Mars in 17 Scorpio conjunct the I.C. in 19 Scorpio, as mentioned by Hugh. This Mars is very strongly felt in his music.
-The Sun in 11 Virgo applies to a sextile to TF35 in 13 Scorpio and a square to TL66 in 13 Sagittarius (they are also in contra-parallel)

These last, TF35 and TL66, I feel are the ones more related to the 9th symphony. I still have to explore this.

Juan

Date: Wed, 07 Apr 2004 08:06:10 -0600
Subject: [Centaurs] Bruckner's 9th, II-1

Some of you may remember my analysis of Bruckner's 9th Symphony, written between January and February of 2000. At that time, I examined the birth and death charts, trying to find significators of this symphony. Although the analysis was to me interesting and fruitful, I was left dissatisfied regarding the astrological markers of this symphony.

Please refer to my compilation above for details about the symphony, and a very thorough examination of the "colossal" 1st movement. Months after that, on 15 December 2000, I wrote:

"... for many years, I related the apocalyptic and cosmic nature of Bruckner's 9th symphony to Pluto, but now, it is not Pluto what comes to mind, but TL66, and very strongly, even though I have not been able to demonstrate it with concrete data in Bruckner's case. There are parts of the last movement which to me speak of "the moment of escathological revelation", very similar to a passage in Mahler's 10th Symphony's adagio (also an unfinished composition inspired by the imminence of death), called "Purgatorium", the main quality of it is the "standing still of time", "the Gates of Death", etc. [ ref. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Centaurs/message/5254 ]

I would like now to explore other dates related to the symphony, besides Bruckner's birth and death. Details of the composition and first performance are given in:

http://www.muenchnerphilharmoniker.de/online/english/werkarchiv.php3?ID=457

[begin quote]
"On September 21, 1887, immediately after completing the first version of his "Eighth", Bruckner began work on the composition of a 9th symphony, the third movement of which, however, he wasn´t able to complete until seven years later, on November 30, 1894; because of the long drawn-out rewrite work on the 8th Symphony, compositional work on the "Ninth" was held up for many years. On May 24, 1895, Bruckner finally began work on the fourth movement, which he was unable to complete."
[end quote]

Composition starts September 21, 1887. I use 12h GTM and the Fagan/Bradley sidereal zodiac:

Sun = 5,00 Virgo
Venus = 5,16 Virgo
Black Moon = 4,53 Pisces
1999 OX3 = 4,34 Virgo

This does not make significant contacts with either birth or death, but sets a precedent or a reference for the other dates. We can ignore the 4th movement, of which only sketches were left; the symphony was left unfinished. The the 3rd movement, a monumental, epic adagio that has always identified the Symphony's end, was completed November 30 1894, 7 years later:

lunar Node = 4,59 Pisces

Sun (12h GMT) = 15,00 Scorpio
Venus = 15,02 Scorpio
Vesta = 15,44 SCorpio
Saturn at birth = 15,19 Taurus

The 1st performance of the 3 movements was posthumously on February 11, 1903 in Vienna [ref. above], 9 years after the composer's death. But this was a version by one of his pupils who re-wrote many parts and completely distorted Bruckner's original intentions. It was only in 1932, 36 years after Bruckner had died, when the original score was first performed by Siegmund von Hausegger with the Munich Philarmonic. Only then was the greatness of this symphony recognized, and it became evident that it represented the crowning life-achievement of a master composer at the height of his powers.

This last phrase: "crowning life achievement at the height of his powers" suggests the meaning of the Sun/Venus conjunction ("crowning") in opposition to natal Saturn (life achievement). The Sun/Venus conjunction also represents the mystical nature of the symphony (and of all of Bruckner's music), an epitome of Bruckner's intense, all-pervasive mysticism.

He had expressed his desire that the 9th Symphony be dedicated to God.

(will continue)

Juan

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Date: Wed, 07 Apr 2004 08:21:28 -0600
Subject: [Centaurs] Bruckner's 9th, II-2

I will ignore the failed 1903 performance of the spurious version and concentrate on the 1st "true" semi-private performance in Munich on April 2, 1932. About the significance of this date, I want to quote the following from

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000DBQ2/bridgebooks/104-0045276-3203153

[begin quote]
"Hausegger conducted one of the most significant concerts in the history of Bruckner's music when, in 1932, he performed two versions of Bruckner's 9th Symphony with the Munich Philharmonic. The first, which had been the official version for 30 years, was heavily edited and revised by Ferdinand Lowe, one of Bruckner's students in Vienna. Like many of Bruckner's students, Lowe was a Wagnerian who didn't truly understand Bruckner's symphonic conception. He thus "Wagnerized" Bruckner's 9th Symphony, making it a far less original and powerful symphonic statement than the untainted version that the master had left to a library in Vienna at his death. The second version that Hausegger performed was that original version, unveiled for performance in an edition by the musicologist, Alfred Orel. Hausegger's juxtaposition of the two versions of the 9th reputedly left no one in doubt that the original versions of Bruckner's symphonies should be performed to the complete exclusion of the spurious versions drafted by Bruckner's students. It was a momentous performance that had an enormous impact."
[end quote]

The 2 versions were performed one after the other, so that they could be compared by the public. It is on this occasion when the conductor, Siegmund von Hausegger, said of it: <<It is no longer the touching departure of an individual being from this life, rather it is a higher synthesis of life and death, full of the mystery of the eternal spirit.>>. I adopted this as a description of the astrological meaning of TL66 since I first quoted it in a post of 9 February 2000.

It is no longer the touching departure of an individual being from this life, rather it is a higher synthesis of life and death, full of the mystery of the eternal spirit.

TL66 is significantly placed at Bruckner's birth as well as death, but I didn´t feel at the time that it was enough to say that TL66 represents this symphony, despite my strong feeling in this regard. From my previous compilation:

natal TL66 = 21,32 Scorpio (sidereal)
natal Sun = 19,12 Leo (applying square 2º20')
------------------------------------
death TL66 = 15,46 Sagittarius
natal lunar Node = 15,19 Sagittarius
natal Neptune = 14,37 Sagittarius
death Black Moon 15,25 Pisces

Bruckner died when TL66 and the Black Moon were transiting his natal Node/Neptune conjunction. This refers to the vastness, the mysticism and the "colossal" nature of his compositional style in general, and of the 9th Symphony in particular, that was his last and left unfinished.

Now let's see the date of the performance (2 April 1932). I will use 20h GMT:

Sun = 19,04 Pisces
Uranus at birth = 19,39 Sagittarius
Black Moon = 21,10 Pisces
(note the consistent presence of the Black Moon...)

Uranus = 25,10 Pisces
BU48 (Alastor) = 25,32 Sagittarius
Sun at death = 25,29 Virgo
Pluto = 26,10 Gemini
Chariklo = 23,48 Gemini
Pluto-Chariklo midpoint = 24,59 Gemini

See how clearly Uranian this posthumous date was for Bruckner: Transiting Uranus was opposing the Sun at death, transiting Sun was squaring Uranus at birth. The "enormous impact" meant an awakening (Uranus) to the greatness (Sun) of Bruckner as a composer, and it was the start of a long process of recovering the original versions of his symphonies, as opposed to his own and his students' later but inferior revisions, which (unfortunately in my opinion) are still performed today.

Pluto-Chariklo opposes BU48/Alastor, with Uranus making the T-cross. Bruckner's death Sun completes the Grand Cross.

(will continue)

Juan

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Date: Thu, 08 Apr 2004 09:15:15 -0600
Subject: [Centaurs] Bruckner's 9th, II-3

Composition starts September 21, 1887.  I use 12h GTM and the Fagan/Bradley sidereal zodiac:

Sun = 5,00 Virgo
Venus = 5,16 Virgo
Black Moon = 4,53 Pisces
1999 OX3 = 4,34 Virgo

The the 3rd movement, a monumental, epic adagio that has always identified the Symphony's end, was completed November 30 1894, 7 years later:

lunar Node = 4,59 Pisces
Sun (12h GMT) = 15,00 Scorpio
Venus = 15,02 Scorpio
Vesta = 15,44 Scorpio
Saturn at birth = 15,19 Taurus

Sun and Venus together, in the higher or spiritual sense, refer to a state of inner calmness, a sense of completion, communion, or consummation; a very strong, intense intimacy, either with oneself, with another, or with the divine.  If we think of it as a transit, it refers to a day in which one is particularly tuned to the most intimate part of oneself, the innermost feelings, those which come from our "divine self", our spiritual alter ego.  This aspect of Venus was explained by Dane Rudhyar in "The Lunation Cycle", who referred to the theosophical concept of Manas (the "Spirit-Self" in Anthroposophy) and to the Platonic "Augoeides".  A Christian or Catholic mystic would simply say "Christ in Me", my husband, my beloved.  Tolkien's Golum would say "my precious".  Venus/Sun refers to "the dearest jewel of the soul", the dearest "other" which is an extension of me, in whose eyes I see myself.

This is not difficult to imagine in the case of Bruckner, for whom composition was always a sort of liturgical act.  He was 63 when he started composition of his 9th, and 70 when he wrote the finishing touches of the 3rd movement.  At this age, he had reached maturity as a composer and as a mystic.  Additionally, he wanted to dedicate his 9th Symphony to God:

http://www.muenchnerphilharmoniker.de/online/english/werkarchiv.php3?ID=457

<<It had been Bruckner´s intention to dedicated this symphony to “The Dear Lord God”.  He is said to have confided to his biographer August Göllerich: “You see, I have already dedicated two symphonies to earthly majesties, poor King Ludwig as royal patron of the arts [the Seventh], and our illustrious, dear Emperor [Franz Josef I] as the highest earthly majesty, and now I am dedicating my last work to the majesty of all majesties, our dear Lord God and hoping that he will grant me enough time to complete it.”>>

He wanted to finish the symphony, and knew that his time was short.  He started writing the 4th and last movement on 24 May 1895 [ref.  Above], and died one year later (Oct. 11 1896), leaving it incomplete.  However, that day he had the symphony in his mind and heart, so the astrological signature of that day should tell us something important about it:

tr.  Neptune = 21,44 Taurus
natal TL66 = 21,32 Scorpio
tr.  Jupiter = 14,26 Gemini
tr.  TL66 = 16,23 Sagittarius
death TL66 = 15,46 Sagittarius
death Black Moon = 15,25 Pisces

Jupiter is adding weight and dimension to the Neptune/TL66 signature.  Remember this signature is what connects Bruckner's birth and death charts:

natal Neptune = 14,37 Sagittarius
natal Node = 15,19 Sagittarius
natal Mercury = 15,51 Virgo

I have written of Jupiter/TL66 several times.  The last was with regards to the Second Vatican Council, 29 July 2003:

<<... we are seeing a religious aspect of TL66 inspired by "the End of Time" sociological thinking.  This is especially the case if we see it from the perspective of "old" John XXIII, who criticized the pessimism of the "prophets of doom" inside the Church and at the opening speech clearly sided --to the happy surprise of many participants-- with the progressives and reformists.  <<Recall my suggestion for naming TL66 "Typhon".  I hadn't thought before of the association this has with "ruach", the "strong wind" that is the manifestation of "the spirit of God" in the Old Testament, and later, of Pentecost: <<"... And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting..." [Acts...]>>

I have always felt very strongly that Bruckner's 9th Symphony, in particular the last (3rd, not the 4th which was never completed) movement is apocalyptic.  The end of this movement is infrequent in an adagio, and to me, has always described a conflagration, a frightening trombones crescendo the climax of which could be described as a typhon, something which I always associated in my imagination with Armageddon since I first heard this Symphony when I was 15 years old.  This is the section of the Symphony that contains the "moments of escathological revelation", including passages of deep mysticism.

Curiously, this is best described by the day in which he started writing the 4th and last movement (in combination with the death and birth charts), which he never finished and which is not part of the Symphony that I and countless others love with awe-inspiring admiration.

At 12h GMT that day (May 24 1895), the Sun and the Moon were in conjunction.  Actually, the New Moon occurred at 12h46m in 9,47 Taurus, in opposition with his natal Chariklo in 9,40 Scorpio.  I am not sure what this means... any ideas?

(will continue)

Juan

________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________

Date: Sat, 23 Apr 2005 08:23:03 -0600
Subject: [Centaurs] Celibidache and Bruckner: TL66

Sergiu Celibidache was born in Roman, Rumania on July 11,1912. (NOTE: Rumania adopted the Gregorian Calendar in 1919. The "old style" original date is June 28: http://www.gerhard-greiner.de/bioeng.htm )

TL66 =  18,26 Cap r
Sun =  18,47 Can (12h GMT)
Venus =  20,16 Can

http://www.celibidache.org/tess_james.html
There has always been a special relationship between Celibidache and Bruckner, the former being said to have understood the latter like nobody else. "To him, time is different than it is to other composers. To a normal man, time is what comes after the beginning. To Bruckner, time is what comes after the end. All his apotheotical finals, the hope for another world, the hope of being saved, of being again baptised in light, it exists nowhere else in the same manner"--these were Celibidache's own words when asked about Bruckner.

http://home.xnet.com/~sandlin/reviews/96_0308.htm
But even more impressive--it stands as a kind of summation of his early style--is a 1971 performance of Bruckner's Seventh Symphony on Arkadia. This is one of the best performances of Bruckner I've ever heard, and a particularly daring one since Celibidache deliberately slows down a work that's so slow to begin with that it's on the edge of lapsing into a coma. But he somehow holds together the interminably long legato lines that are gravely oscillating between Bruckner's two available moods of vague exaltation and gloomy grandeur, gathering them into an atmosphere of impending doom. The enormously prolonged crescendo that climaxes the adagio movement is built into such a towering cataclysm that it's like watching God's own thunderstorm rise over the horizon and bear straight down on you. This is the sort of apocalyptic performance that makes you picture the conductor and orchestra being carried off on stretchers after the last curtain call.

Juan

________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________

Date: Sat, 23 Apr 2005 14:11:16 -0600
Subject: [Centaurs] Celibidache and Bruckner: TL66, 2

The correct date for Celibidache's death is August 14, 1996. This date is given, among other sources, in the yearbook of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. He died in a clinic near Neuville-sur-Essone in France, the place where he was buried on August 16, 1996
http://www.wizvax.net/akira/celi/ml/ar/en/0009.html

"Wednesday night Sergiu Celibidache, chief conductor of the Muenchener Philharmoniker since 1979 died in Paris, aged 84. He will be buried in Paris"
http://www.wizvax.net/akira/celi/SoLong/FranckERNOULD.html

I use as reference 22h GMT. For the birth I use 12h GMT. Positions are in the sidereal zodiac in order to make the comparisons:

Celi_birth TL66 = 24Sa55 r
Celi_birth Sun = 25Ge16
Celi_death Deucalion = 25Vi02
Bruckner_death Sun = 25Vi29

Celi_death Sun = 27Ca40
Celi_death TD10 = 28Cp07 r
Celi_birth Quaoar = 27Ca43
Bruckner_death Ixion = 27Ca30
Bruckner_birth Apogee = 27Cp53

Celi_birth CR46 = 19Aq29 r
Bruckner_birth Sun = 19Le12

In terms of Occam's Razor, the primary relationships between Celibidache and Bruckner are, in order of priority:

1-) Bruckner Sun / Celi CR46 (birth)
2-) Bruckner Sun / Celi Deucalion (death)
3-) Celi death Sun-TD10 / Bruckner death Ixion (or Celi death Sun-TD10 / Bruckner birth Apogee)
4-) Celi birth Sun-TL66 / Bruckner death Sun

As conclusion, one can say: Celibidache's special sensitivity to TL66 brings forth the escathological, apocalyptical nature of Bruckner's music, but this seems to be more an aspect of Celibidache himself. In terms of Bruckner, the relationship between the two is clearly centered on Deucalion (death) and CR46 (birth). But Bruckner's spiritual legacy (Bruckner's death Sun, his spiritual presence and inmortality) is clearly triggering in a specially critical, conflicting, excentric way (the square) Celibidache's Sun/TL66 axis of destiny.

I just discovered Celibidache's Bruckner recordings with the Munich Philarmonic a couple of months ago. Perhaps the death Bruckner Sun squaring the birth Celi's Sun-TL66 axis signifies the way in which Celibidache is able to produce in my soul a "standstill of time" so powerful and beautiful that it takes me away to another dimension of being, in a way that no other conductor has done before (and I have been listening to recordings of Bruckner since  I was 15).

As you can confirm in the multiple commentaries on him found in the Web, Celibidache was justly famous for being able to do this when interpreting Bruckner's music, of which he often said was "God's greatest gift".

Juan

________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________

Date: Sun, 24 Apr 2005 15:16:21 -0600
Subject: [Centaurs] Georg Tintner and Bruckner

Another conductor who has come to my attention these past months is Georg Tintner (1917-1999), especially when one considers the way he died: at age 82, when almost suddenly in the lapse of less than 2 years he passed from being practically unknown to be considered "one of the greatest living Bruckner conductors", he threw himself from the balcony of his 11th-storey apartment in Halifax, Nova Scotia, terminating that way his struggle with cancer after he realized he could no longer perform. He died the next day, October 2, 1999, apparently during the night:

http://www.ocsm-omosc.ca/uv-en/v7_n1E.pdf
"On October 3, 1999, Nova Scotia and the whole world woke up to the terrible news that Georg Tintner, Mister T. to us at Symphony Nova Scotia, had died the previous night in Halifax."

Sun = 14,44 Virgo (sidereal, Oct 3 1999 3h GMT used as reference)
TL66 = 14,41 Aries r
Varuna = 14,56 Gemini

This event shocked the musical world ( and the city of Nova Scotia, I presume) and to many (as for me as well) it was the last courageous act of a man who struggled against ignominy all his life.

Less than 2 years later, his daughter, Hephzibah Tintner, died of throat cancer at the age of 30, on June 21, 2001:
http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/catz_htf_hephzibah_tintner.asp

http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA20030430004
"Hephzibah's career as a ballerina, actor and opera director took her to the artistic capitals of the world, but she was just as at home here in Sydney where she came to start a new life. On 26 April 2000 she was diagnosed with cancer. After a journey through the hospitals and treatments available in this State, she died on 21 June 2001 at the age of 30 years. She was a fit, young vegetarian non-smoker, let alone a hugely talented, gifted and lovely human being."

NOTE: she was born in 1970, but I could not find her birth date.

daughter's death Venus = 20,27 Aries (approx.)
Bruckner's death Venus = 20,31 Lib
Tintner's birth Mars = 19,28 Aries (approx.)

Keep in mind that Tintner rose to world-wide recognition and praise (albeit very late --too late-- in his life) thanks to his recordings of Bruckner's symphonies for the Naxos label. Immediatly it was recognized that he was a consecrated Brucknerian, yet, very few had heard of him:

This was written in 1999:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3870/is_199901/ai_n8841721
"Georg Tintner's story, a tale of undervalued talent and late-flowering success, is in its way emblematic of this century now almost drawn to its close. Though his career was crowned by the triumph of the symphonic cycle of his beloved Bruckner, recently recorded on the budget Naxos label, for years before that turning-point his reputation had remained in the shadows cast by other names, despite a distinguished career..."

and from http://www.geocities.com/immortalbruckner/tintner.html
"Georg Tintner had a special affinity with Bruckner and conducted his works on five continents. In his last years, he recorded Bruckner's complete eleven symphonies for Naxos, which brought him a worldwide reputation as a Brucknerian. When he had a conversation with the reviewer Richard Whitehouse, he said, 'The worse our age becomes, the more we need music that consoles: music that is full of repose, and is restful in itself. There is space for Bruckner and for Mahler, but for the opposite reasons. Mahler was the prophet of Angst and horror, whereas Bruckner transcends this condition.' "

and this: http://www.scena.org/lsm/sm5-7/tintner-en.htm
"Since the budget record label Naxos began releasing Tintner's recent Bruckner recordings, international critical acclaim has been overwhelming and sales have soared. His interpretations (which have been compared with the best in recording history) and his daring scholarly approach to different Bruckner editions are currently changing the way this composer's work will be performed. Still, as Norman Lebrecht, author of The Maestro Myth and critic for the London Daily Telegraph explains, 'Tintner was one of those all-too-common victims of 20th-century prejudice, an artist who had to attain a venerable age before anyone was prepared to acknowledge his unarguable gifts.'

Bruckner's birth Sun = 19,12 Leo
Bruckner's death Pluto = 20,18 Tau r
Tintner's death CY118 = 20,31 Leo
Tintner's death CZ118 = 21,09 Leo

Transiting CY118 conjunct Bruckner's birth Sun: 24 Oct 1998, 11 Feb 1999, 22 August 1999
Transiting CZ118 conjunct Bruckner's birth Sun: 20 Oct 1997, 10 Feb 1998, 29 August 1998, 30 Jun 1999

We are seeing here CY118 and CZ118 acting as twins (as they did on Sep 11 2001). These transits also correspond *exactly* to the EMI release of Celibidache's live recordings of Bruckner's symphonies 3-9, Mass No.3 and Te Deum, in September 1998. This release was of paramount importance because Celibidache throughout his life refused categorically to record his performances in the studio for the record labels. Before the EMI release in the Fall of 1998, there were only unofficial versions of live recordings of low sound quality. This was the first time music lovers and scholars could listen to Celibidache's Brucknerian spiritual legacy in recordings of high sound quality. It required a special approval from Celibidache's son, who decided for publication against his eccentric father wishes.

One can see the death/life paradoxes of these objects: "resurrecting" or renewing the interest in, and confirming the unconditional admiration and immortality of Bruckner's genius, "God's greatest gift to mankind", but this required death. Life and death together. Precisely what Bruckner's music is about.

Juan

________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________

Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 04:17:23 -0600
Subject: [Centaurs] Celibidache and Bruckner: TL66, 3

I found a birth time for Celibidache in the database of Peter Niehenke: 1:30 p.m.

http://217.160.138.166/DAV_Datenbank/C/CE.HTM

The source not given, just the following reference:

DS : Miscellaneous data collections
2193 : Datensammlung: Gracia Bordoni, Milano -F.Snethlage-

I regret the absurd habit of astrologers of citing other astrologers as source. This leaves the source unknown and undocumented.

Rumania in 1912 was 1h44m24s ahead of Greenwich, so the data is:

July 11, 1912
11h45m36 GMT (13h30m meridian of Bucarest)
46N55 / 26E56 (Roman, Rumania)

Since I used 12h GMT the position of the Sun is practically the same. For the Moon (sidereal):

Moon = 12,31 Tau
Jupiter = 12,46 Sco r
Ixion = 12,57 Leo
Varuna = 13,07 Aqu r

CZ118 = 23,09 Gem
Node = 23,26 Pis r
TL66 = 24,55 Sag r
Sun = 25,15 Gem
Orcus = 26,25 Pis
Venus = 26,44 Gem

Celibidache was a practicing Zen Buddist. This may have to do with TL66, but I feel it is more related in this case to Moon/Ixion/Varuna, i.e., to a way of living (Moon) rather than a transcendental vision (Sun/TL66). As for the negative personal side of his personality, consider the following statement he once made:

[ref.: http://www.emiclassics.com/newreleases/oct98/celi/press.html ]

"The Bruckner tradition? That's what I call cultural murder! Bruckner conductors? They commit cultural murder. There are some so-called Bruckner conductors who have never played a Bruckner symphony! These camel-drivers have not understood a word of Bruckner. Sometimes I ask myself if Bruckner has ever been performed at all."

This may be Moon/Ixion/Varuna in style or form (Moon), but the message is solar: it refers to the individuality of Bruckner, of other conductors, and of himself, and behind all that is the idea of something spiritual or intangible that is utterly beyond routine and commonplace.

Juan