[3] He had also arranged for Bruckner's career to be supported in other ways, including financial assistance from the nobility, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Vienna.

[8] Bruckner had some trouble finding a publisher for the work, but in late 1890 the Haslinger-Schlesinger-Lienau company agreed to undertake publication.

The premiere was twice scheduled to occur under the young conductor's direction during 1891, but each time Weingartner substituted another work at the last minute.

However, Weingartner admitted, in a letter to Levi, that the real reason he was unable to perform the symphony was because the work was too difficult and he did not have enough rehearsal time: in particular, the Wagner tuba players in his orchestra did not have enough experience to cope with their parts.

[12] After a Munich performance by Levi was cancelled because of a feared outbreak of cholera, Bruckner focused his efforts on securing a Vienna premiere for the symphony.

Although some of the more conservative members of the audience left at the end of each movement, many of Bruckner's supporters were also present, including Hugo Wolf and Johann Strauss.

In both versions, this section of the movement contains a massive, augmented three-part statement of the main theme, impressively given on full orchestra in combination with the Bruckner rhythm of the second subject group.

This combination of the main two themes of the exposition rises pitch-wise by a third until the orchestra drops away, leaving a single flute accompanied by a timpano.

In the 1887 version, this solemn passage leads to what many consider an unconvincingly premature victory coda, which sounds the main theme in C major.

It has been suggested by some scholars that the coda was inspired by the climax of the Dutchman's monologue in Wagner's Der fliegende Hollander, with the words, "Ihr Welten endet euren Lauf, ewige Vernichtung, nimm mich auf!".

The Trios, however, are quite different: the 1890 version was rewritten as an adumbration of the ensuing Adagio movement, featuring the harps, and the tempo was slowed down: This Scherzo is Bruckner's largest, lasting around 14 or 15 minutes in most performances.

The movement opens in an unusual way; while it is in 44 time, the string accompaniment is made up of a mix of uneven triplets and eighth notes.

The development presents these three themes and other elements in ways which recollect earlier parts of the symphony, both episodically and in simultaneously parallel combinations.

Part scores show that the tonal ambiguity of the symphony's opening was not how Bruckner originally envisaged the main theme: the rhythm was to fit an arpeggiated contour in C minor.

[23] The 1887 version was premiered by Hans-Hubert Schönzeler for the BBC in 1973,[24] and has thereafter been recorded by Dennis Russell Davies, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Eliahu Inbal, Georg Tintner, Michael Gielen, Kent Nagano, Simone Young, Franz Welser-Möst and Fabio Luisi.

This Adagio, which already requires triple woodwind, has been edited by Dermot Gault and Takanobu Kawasaki[29] and recorded by Akira Naito with the Tokyo New City Orchestra.

But in it we have a fascinating view of the work-in-progress of Bruckner the eternal reviser, looking for the most expressive realization of his lofty thoughts and melodic inspiration.

[6]Some scholars such as Deryck Cooke and Robert Haas have suggested that the 1890 revision was the product of Bruckner's insecurity and pressure from his colleagues such as Josef Schalk.

[33] Against this, Leopold Nowak pointed out that there is no evidence of handwriting in the 1890 manuscript other than Bruckner's own;[33] according to testimony of his friends and associates, the composer was resistant to interference.

[33] The scoring is fuller and more grandiloquent than in 1887, with subtler textures and harmonies in the woodwind in particular, allowed for by the increased size of this section of the orchestra.

The alterations were made by Joseph Schalk and Max von Oberleithner, almost certainly without Bruckner's direct involvement, but were probably approved by the composer before publication.

"[36] This edition is available in complete recordings by Wilhelm Furtwängler, Hans Knappertsbusch, Josef Krips, William Steinberg, George Szell, Bruno Walter and Takeo Noguchi.

In an 1891 letter to conductor Felix Weingartner, Bruckner gave extramusical associations to several parts of the symphony:[43] In the first movement, the trumpet and horn passage based on the rhythm of the [main] theme in the Todesverkündigung [the annunciation of death], which gradually grows stronger, and finally emerges very strongly.

Finale: At the time our Emperor received the visit of the Czars at Olmütz;[45] thus, strings: the Cossacks; brass: military music; trumpets: fanfares, as the Majesties meet.

[47] In an unsigned programme note at the 1892 first performance Joseph Schalk elaborated Bruckner's program, adding references to Greek mythology (Aeschylus's Prometheus, Zeus or Cronus, etc.)

On 29 September 1944, the Preussische Staatskapelle Berlin, conducted by Herbert von Karajan, recorded the last three movements of the 8th Symphony with the finale in experimental stereophonic sound.

"[48] The first commercial recording of the complete symphony was made by Eugen Jochum with the Hamburg State Philharmonic Orchestra in 1949 for Deutsche Grammophon.

Jochum later recorded it in studio with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1964 for Deutsche Grammophon, and in 1976 with the Dresden Staatskapelle for EMI using the Nowak 1890 edition both times.

Karl Böhm, in a studio recording with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1976 for Deutsche Grammophon used the Nowak 1890 edition, but with one Haas passage in the finale.

Some conductors preferred to record the first version of the symphony: A digitisation of the North American premiere of the 1887 version by Georg Tintner with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada[51] and a performance by Gennady Rozhdestvensky with the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra (March 10, 2009) can be heard on John Berky's website.