Symphony No. 9 d-Minor – Finale-Fragment 1895/96

Bruckner left the Finale of his Ninth Symphony unfinished. The consecutive numbering of the four-page manuscript sheets shows that part of the autograph material has been lost. Close examination of the existing sources refutes the notion that the extant material simply contains confused sketches; on the contrary, the numerous sketches and pages of full and short score are evidence that Bruckner was working according to a clear and bold concept. Nobody can say what shape and form Bruckner would finally have given to this his last Finale. Abstaining from speculation of any kind, the Bruckner Complete Edition reconstructs this mighty torso on the exclusive basis of the composer's autographs and a critical screening and ordering of the sources.

The 136 pages of music in the study score follow Bruckner's own pagination and are followed by six pages of the composer's sketches and notes for the coda. The German-English text section contains an instructive foreword, a chapter 'On the Edition', and synoptic charts on the sources.