Symphony No. 7 in E major

Bruckner's Seventh Symphony (1881-83) was the work that finally won him international recognition after decades of neglect, and it remains the most beloved and accessible of his mature symphonies. The opening movement introduces one of the most majestic main themes in all symphonic literature; but the heart of the work is the Adagio second movement, written as Bruckner sensed Wagner was dying and completed with a funeral peroration for four Wagner tubas that he called the greatest thing he had ever written. The triumphant Scherzo and genial Finale complete a journey from aspiration to celebration that is characteristically Brucknerian in its vast architecture and cosmic serenity.