
In 2024, September 4th sees us break out the cake for Anton Bruckner’s 200th birthday party. (There may be organ music.) The National Library use their extensive collection of Bruckner material to present an overview of the life and selected works of the great composer.
- Includes original manuscripts of every symphony(!)
- Also letters, documents, photos etc.
- Runs Mar 21, 2024 to Jan 26, 2025
- See also:
The Pious Revolutionary
(Page from the autograph of Bruckner’s 7th symphony; press photo © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek)
Music offers a direct connection to the lives and eras of the composers: a connection reinforced when you get to see, for example, the instrument they composed on or the apartment they once lived in.
Imagine, if you will, one of the world’s great classical composers. A man who blessed us with (more or less) nine symphonies. Now imagine being able to see the original manuscript of just one of those works.
Such a treat to envisage Bruckner (1824-1896) hunched over that very paper, poised in inspiration, pen then darting forward to turn a vision into notes on the page.
What if you could see all nine of his symphonic autographs?
The Anton Bruckner exhibition in the Prunksaal (state hall) of the National Library provides exactly that opportunity.

(Bruckner photographed by Anton Paul Huber in 1891 ; press photo © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek)
The library has a quite remarkable Bruckner collection that began with the composer’s own will, which saw his more prominent autographs and similar paraphernalia go to what was then the court library.
Further acquisitions built such a collection of letters, photos and documents that it now resides on the prestigious Memory of Austria national register of UNESCO’s Memory of the World project.
The exhibition offers a brief overview of Bruckner’s (musical) biography and those nine symphonies (the last unfinished).
We discover, for example, that his move from a provincial social hierarchy guided by conservative and church tradition to a more open and cosmopolitan Imperial city at the end of the 19th-century led to creative tensions.

(Bruckner’s passport in 1880; press photo © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek)
Bruckner’s output seems to be a synthesis of these different environments. A man whose appearance and behaviour reflected his provincial upbringing and strong religious beliefs, but whose music often travelled new and innovative paths.
Photos, sheet music and various other documents illustrate the Bruckner chronology. And music stations allow you to listen to some of his work (with headphones provided: this is a library, after all).
There is a certain frisson to seeing the autographs of the symphonies, complete with handwritten notes or a corrective slip of paper: a creator rarely completes a work of art; they just decide when to release its current iteration for public consumption.
Other impressive items include Bruckner’s black hat (!) and a dedication copy of the 5th symphony from November 4th, 1878 with its gorgeous title page like an illuminated medieval manuscript.

(Opera singer Elina Garanča, Chairman of Raiffeisen Holding NÖ-Wien Mag. Erwin Hameseder, and General Director of the Austrian National Library Dr. Johanna Rachinger in the exhibition. Garanča recently sponsored the original manuscript of Bruckner’s Te Deum as part of the library’s book adoption programme; press photo © Katharina Schiffl)
The displays can only dip into the character of the man behind the music, leaving a sense of mystery that would only be resolved by further reading. But then don’t all creatives carry that air of complexity that defies a simple one-room summary?
Dates, tickets & tips
Delve into the world of Bruckner from March 21st, 2024 to January 26th, 2025. The exhibition requires no special extra fee: just a standard entrance ticket for the lovely Prunksaal.
If you can’t make it, the National Library has put up an online portal with digital copies of their entire Bruckner collection.
Should the exhibition inspire you to follow in the footsteps of Bruckner in Vienna, then I have a location guide for you. Discover those places important to his life, works and legacy.
And, to end the musical day, perhaps take in an evening concert?
After all, when in Vienna…do as the Viennese do. Which means dwell on the misery of the human condition over coffee and cake enjoy an orchestral or ensemble performance in the capital city of classical music.
How to get to the State Hall
Reach the Prunksaal off the historical and entirely central Josefsplatz square. Find travel tips at the end of the main article on the National Library.
Address: Josefsplatz 1, 1010 Vienna