Bruckner Symphony No 8

Sir Simon Rattle conducts Messiaen and Bruckner, two composers as united in their devotion to the Catholic faith as they are divergent in their approaches to writing music.

First Messiaen, the voracious musical omnivore whose Couleurs de la cité céleste is a microcosm of his numerous preoccupations – from birdsong to the book of Revelations – set in a sequence of lively episodes performed by a reduced orchestra centred on the piano. This short piece sets the stage for Bruckner’s monumental Eighth Symphony, a complete contrast with its grand scale and dramatic writing. It is performed here in the 1939 edition prepared by Austrian musicologist Robert Haas.