London Symphony Orchestra/Rattle

The air shimmers and glows, and somewhere in the mists, a solitary horn gives a lonely call. The stuff of fairytales? The truth is, it’s impossible to write about Bruckner’s majestic Fourth Symphony without letting the imagination soar; he never wrote anything more colourful or poetic. In Germany they call it the ‘Romantic’ symphony, and it’s easy to hear why. 
 
Sir Simon Rattle loves this symphony, and he’s aware, too, that Bruckner’s inspiration burned so brightly that he ended up with more ideas than he could actually use. “There is much wonderful music which remains almost entirely unplayed” he says, and today he steps inside Bruckner’s workshop to explore some of the music that didn’t make the final cut. Then he conducts the entire symphony in all its splendour: music that never gets any less stirring, and has never sounded so fresh.