With the Seventh, however, the matter is clear. With one exception: With or without? The cymbal crash with which Bruckner, on Nikisch’s advice, marked the climax of the Adagio, that mighty dirge dictated to the Linz composer upon hearing the news of the revered Richard Wagner’s death. He listened to Nikisch and inserted the cymbal crash as an additional percussion part in the margin of the manuscript. Later, he crossed it out, erased the strikethrough, and added “Not valid” over the whole matter. And ever since, it has been the subject of veritable religious wars. Yet artistically, none of this is a big deal and structurally it’s pretty irrelevant. This is already evident from the strange fact that the timpani, also added on Nikisch’s advice, mostly plays along unobtrusively.
The cymbal crash, however, divides the conductor community. Those who use it are quickly accused of being driven by effect. This clearly shows that Herbert Blomstedt is on the other side. Effects for their own sake are abhorrent to him. So, the cymbal crash was missing from the dozen or so performances that Herbert Blomstedt has conducted at the Gewandhaus since 1997.
He will be there on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. “I guess I have to face the fact that it’s authentic,” the 97-year-old honorary conductor comments on his change of heart. It is the result of long discussions with musicologists and meticulous study of the new Bruckner Complete Edition edited by Paul Hawkshaw, the publication of which was an obligation for Blomstedt, a great, outstanding Bruckner conductor for decades. “Because as a conductor,” he says, “you can never stop studying, because science is always uncovering new things.”
Excerpt from Leipziger Volkszeitung article