Thomas Heilman wrote:

>Rogher Hecht writes on the Bruckner 2nd:
>
>>The one item I recall is that the horn line near the end of the slow
>>movement was considered treacherous enough at the time to be shifted to
>>the clarinet in a revision.
>
>Thank you, but I imagine that happened well after its premier under
>Bruckner in 1873, just about one year after it was rejected by the VPO.
>And revisions did not go into effect until 1877, if I have all my dates
>right.  What are there now anyhow, 3 maybe 4 versions?

Now I think you're talking about the Third, not the Second.

The following is from David Griegel's paper on Bruckner versions as HTML'd
by Deryk Barker.

   Third Symphony

   The 1873 version is from Wagner's dedication score.  This version
   was submitted to the VPO for performance during the 1874/75 season,
   but was rejected.  The 1874 version, which Bruckner considered to be
   considerably improved, was submitted to the VPO for performance during
   the 1875/76 season, but was also rejected.  According to Carragan,
   it features some great brass parts, much in the style of the 1874
   version of the Fourth.  A rhythmic revision led to the 1876 version;
   only the Adagio of this version has been published so far.  With a
   tiny amount of guesswork, the entire work could be reconstructed.

   The 1877 and 1889 versions each have two separate sources:  the
   original printer's scores and the autograph scores.  There are minor
   differences between the two types of sources at the level of small
   details, but no major differences such as added or cut measures.
   The Oeser and Nowak editions of these versions are based on the
   autograph scores.

   Oeser's edition of the 1877 version and Nowak's edition of the 1878
   version are different interpretations of the same autograph score.
   Nowak includes the coda to the Scherzo inserted into the autograph
   by Bruckner in 1878, whereas Oeser, following Bruckner's written
   instructions, leaves it out.  Nowak labels his score as the 1877
   version, but I call it the 1878 version to distinguish it from those
   editions that leave out the coda.

Roger Hecht