Deryk Barker wrote:

>Weeeellll.  Bruckner 3rd (in its orginal version) actually contained a
>fair number of quotations from Wagner's music.

To which "original" version does Deryk refer? In her excellent stylistic
study of Bruckner's symphonies, Dika Newlin pretty much debunks the
rumor about Bruckner and Wagner, stating that such rumors stem from
"unfamiliarity with the Urtexte (or original versions of the symphonies)."
Newlin writes: "While Bruckner . . liked to contrast woodwinds, strings,
and brass in pure groups, somewhat in the fashion of organ-resgiters, his
editors retouched this orchestration to suit the taste of the time, mixing
colors and doubling parts in the various choirs so that the whole took on
a much more Wagnerian aspect."

Furthermore, in the case of the 3rd Symphony, as Deryk should know, the
only available early orchestral text already displays inadmissable cuts and
editorial tomfoolery.  In other words, no authentic "original" orchestral
version of the 3rd exists.  For a clearer idea of the original symphony,
Newlin suggests turning to the four-hand piano reduction made by Mahler
before the editors got hold of it.

John Dalmas
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