Backstage pass: principal viola Scott Dickinson discusses Bruckner

For anyone listening to Bruckner for the very first time, how would you describe his music in a few words? And what to look out for when listening?

Radiant, heavenly, multi-dimensional. I suggest clearing your mind and allowing Bruckner’s warmth to envelope you! Like an expertly paced slow burn movie, he can make you feel as though time is unfolding both slowly and fast. Whether he is depicting the delicate flowers, burbling streams and epic mountain vistas of his beloved Alpine pastures or his deep spiritual musings, let yourself be transported. Listen for the thrill of dazzling brass fanfares and chorales, the rich and shiny Wagner tubas right at the back of the orchestra, the thundering timpani drums, the intimate hymns and soliloquies in the woodwind, the glorious harps and the huge glow in the strings. Oh, and see if you can hear the sizzle of percussion , blink and you’ll have missed it! 

The idea of the ‘annunciation of death’ recurs across the symphony. How does that concept come across from within the orchestra?

Bruckner’s unique sense of expectation, tension and release mean that there are plenty of ominous moments, but my personal feeling is that the music guides us upwards to acceptance, perspective and serenity.

What’s it like working with Sir Donald Runnicles?

In our challenging yet ever wonderful profession, nothing is ever routine, especially fascinating indefinability of what makes the relationship between conductor and players flourish. 

Sir Donald fills the room with his graceful, enabling presence and extraordinary combination of knowledge, intuition and verbal and physical eloquence. Often , the sound from the players mysteriously becomes richer, lithe, alive.

Do you have a favourite movement in the symphony?

Now there’s an impossible question! The outer two smoulder and erupt with volcanic intensity, and the Scherzo has boisterous interplay of instruments, but the core of the symphony is the sombre, deeply sonorous Adagio, which is for me one of the great statements of and about humanity. Its beauty is breathtaking and beyond words.   

What do you hope audiences take away from this performance of Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony?

Hope, solace, joy, perspective and much more. Live music is always about shared experience, and we really hope that Bruckner will stir your soul in the way he does ours on stage. 

[Bruckner] can make you feel as though time is unfolding both slowly and fast.