If you're interested in neither history nor classical music, this probably isn't a post you'd want to read. But if you're at all curious about prominent protocels, by all means let us proceed. It is my contention that the case of Anton Bruckner's inceldom is considerably more interesting and genuine than that of Ludwig van Beethoven's inceldom, despite the latter case being mentioned much more often whenever protocels are being discussed.
Anton Bruckner was born in 1824 in a village near the city of Linz in Austria. After spending his youth in a peasant family and social milieu, he obtained a post first as a village teacher and then as an organist at a local church.
Mostly self-taught as a musician, he progressed slowly yet steadily up the ranks of the Austrian musical hierarchy. Eventually he became a professor at the Vienna Conservatory. His famous series of nine symphonies (or ten, if you count an early student piece) wasn't commenced until Bruckner was middle-aged. Other than the symphonies, he also composed some excellent church music, as well as his beautiful string quintet in F major. The latter is his only noteworthy effort in chamber music.
Bruckner died in 1896, having never married, and with his 9th Symphony left unfinished. While during his lifetime he had a few admirers (among them his young student Gustav Mahler), major public recognition of Bruckner's talents as a composer only arrived in the second third of the 20th century. One of the composer's latter-day fans was one Adolf Hitler, who paid his respects at Bruckner's grave after the Anschluss. For most of his contemporaries, Bruckner's music was too complicated, and too grand in a Wagnerian sort of way. His Eighth Symphony lasts close to one and a half hours in playing time.
There are many anecdotes about Bruckner's social awkwardness, especially with foids, and his rustic mannerisms that he never could quite get rid off. His clothes were sloppy, but not in the charming bohemian kind of way. Rather he made the impression of a farmer in a second-hand suit that didn't fit. (See photos below.)
Bruckner fell in love easily and often, but apparently his feelings were never reciprocated. A cute face could set his heart aflame. He was keen to marry a Catholic virgin not above the age of twenty, an obsession that deepened as he grew older and more desperate. His last infatuation, which troubled him when he was already past seventy, was with a seventeen-year old girl. Alas, she was Protestant and would not convert to Catholicism, so that the nascent marriage plan fell through. (It would probably have been a marriage of convenience.) Bruckner was often depressed about his inceldom, at one point even suffering a nervous breakdown that necessitated a stay at a sanatorium, around the time when he was 40.
Finally, Bruckner was almost the victim of a proto-Metoo scandal. He had apparently had the nerve to address a foid music student of his a bit too amicably as "meine Liebe" (my darling, or honey). The girl's parents protested, and Bruckner was almost fired from his teaching position. This was averted by Bruckner deciding to only teach male students henceforth.
Anton Bruckner was born in 1824 in a village near the city of Linz in Austria. After spending his youth in a peasant family and social milieu, he obtained a post first as a village teacher and then as an organist at a local church.
Mostly self-taught as a musician, he progressed slowly yet steadily up the ranks of the Austrian musical hierarchy. Eventually he became a professor at the Vienna Conservatory. His famous series of nine symphonies (or ten, if you count an early student piece) wasn't commenced until Bruckner was middle-aged. Other than the symphonies, he also composed some excellent church music, as well as his beautiful string quintet in F major. The latter is his only noteworthy effort in chamber music.
Bruckner died in 1896, having never married, and with his 9th Symphony left unfinished. While during his lifetime he had a few admirers (among them his young student Gustav Mahler), major public recognition of Bruckner's talents as a composer only arrived in the second third of the 20th century. One of the composer's latter-day fans was one Adolf Hitler, who paid his respects at Bruckner's grave after the Anschluss. For most of his contemporaries, Bruckner's music was too complicated, and too grand in a Wagnerian sort of way. His Eighth Symphony lasts close to one and a half hours in playing time.
There are many anecdotes about Bruckner's social awkwardness, especially with foids, and his rustic mannerisms that he never could quite get rid off. His clothes were sloppy, but not in the charming bohemian kind of way. Rather he made the impression of a farmer in a second-hand suit that didn't fit. (See photos below.)
Bruckner fell in love easily and often, but apparently his feelings were never reciprocated. A cute face could set his heart aflame. He was keen to marry a Catholic virgin not above the age of twenty, an obsession that deepened as he grew older and more desperate. His last infatuation, which troubled him when he was already past seventy, was with a seventeen-year old girl. Alas, she was Protestant and would not convert to Catholicism, so that the nascent marriage plan fell through. (It would probably have been a marriage of convenience.) Bruckner was often depressed about his inceldom, at one point even suffering a nervous breakdown that necessitated a stay at a sanatorium, around the time when he was 40.
Finally, Bruckner was almost the victim of a proto-Metoo scandal. He had apparently had the nerve to address a foid music student of his a bit too amicably as "meine Liebe" (my darling, or honey). The girl's parents protested, and Bruckner was almost fired from his teaching position. This was averted by Bruckner deciding to only teach male students henceforth.
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