Anton Bruckner (1824-1896), Andante, Vorspiel in D, WAB 130

Anton Bruckner, in full Josef Anton Bruckner, (born Sept. 4, 1824, Ansfelden, Austria—died Oct. 11, 1896, Vienna), Austrian composer of a number of highly original and monumental symphonies. He was also an organist and teacher who composed much sacred and secular choral music.

Life and career.
Bruckner was the son of a village schoolmaster and organist in Upper Austria. He showed talent on the violin and spinet by the age of four, and by age 10 he was deputizing at the church organ. In 1835–36 he studied in Hörsching with his godfather, J.B. Weiss, a minor composer. After his father’s death in 1837, Bruckner entered the monastery-school of St. Florian as a choir boy. This splendid Baroque foundation, with its magnificent organ, was to remain Bruckner’s spiritual home. He trained in Linz as an assistant schoolteacher in 1840–41, and after holding appointments in Windhaag and Kronstorf, he returned to St. Florian as a fully qualified elementary teacher in 1845.