The first recording (issued on LP in the 1950s) was made by Hausegger with the Munich Philharmonic in the original version (edited by Alfred Orel [de]) in April 1938.

[16] Bruckner expanded the symphonic form extremely using the negative sound of silence, sequencing phases, widened peaks and decay processes.

The musicologist Albrecht von Mossow summarizes this with regard to the Ninth as follows: "To the material developments of modernity must be attributed to Bruckner as with other composers of the 19th century, the increasing emancipation of dissonance, the chromatisation of harmony, the weakening of tonality, the touch of the Triadic harmonics through the increased inclusion of four- and five-tone sounds, the formal breaks within his symphonic movements, and the revaluation of timbre to an almost independent parameter.

"[20] The Ninth Symphony has great waves of development, climax and decay, which music psychologist Ernst Kurth describes as a "contrast of sound-specific breadth and emptiness compared to the previous compression and summit position.

As Rainer Bloss writes (as translated from German): "The main theme of the finale of the 9th Symphony has a peculiarity, because its form is changed, transformed in its last two bars ... Bruckner's 'unusual' two-bar extension demonstrates this modular regression exceptionally".

Paul Thissen sums it up in his analysis (translated from German): "Undoubtedly, the form of integration of quotations used by Bruckner in the Adagio of the Ninth Symphony shows the most differentiated appearance.

A first thematic nucleus sounds in the horns as a "(fundamental) tone repetition in the triple-dotted rhythm, from which the interval of the third, then the fifth dissolves, fits into the underlying metric order structure by caesurating strokes of the timpani and trumpets.

This interval of falling in succession, which also plays a role in the unfinished fourth movement, forms an integral part of the lead motif of the singing period.

The sudden conclusion of the exposition is avoided; It is replaced by a short performance of the motif material of this climax with a new motive for independent accompaniment that determines the character of this passage.

As Clemens Brinkmann states in principle: "Under the influence of Mendelssohn and Wagner, Bruckner used the 'Dresden amen' in his church music and symphonic works".

"[49] In a lament, the first oboe swings up and becomes part of a sequencing phase that spirals steadily, eventually leading to the eruption of the fourth motif: a pentatonic trumpet call repeated in this key [E major] seven times [in each measure] without ever being modified "[50] is presented on a tonally aimless chord face resulting from a multiple quintuplet.

In this sense it is unlimited, infinite and basically atonal..."[50] On this sound surface, the characteristic trumpet fans are literally staged and counterpointed by a fatefully unfurling horn motif.

The crescendo, which has been stretched over a long period, breaks off abruptly, followed by an almost shy-sounding pianissimo part from the woodwinds, which in turn leads to a chorale-like episode of strings and brass.

":[58] As the organ plays a sustained E note on the pedal, the Wagner tubas announce the secondary motif from the Adagio of the Eighth Symphony as the horns recall the beginning of the Seventh.

Indeed, Bruckner's suggestion has been used as a justification for completing the fourth movement, since, in addition to the existence of the fragments of the Finale, it shows (according to scholars such as John A. Phillips[59]), that the composer did not want this work to end with the Adagio.

The corresponding sketch for the 36th bifolio still contains the first eight bars with a lying tone of D. A facsimile edition of Bruckner's surviving final material has been published by Musikwissenschaftliche Verlag Vienna.

In the second half the chorale ascends triumphantly: The opening motif of the Te Deum appears before the development begins, played by the flute.

In his essay, "Approaching a Torso" in 1976, the composer Peter Ruzicka published his research findings regarding the unfinished final movement of the Ninth Symphony.

[74] In 2012, Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker published a recording of a four-movement version of the symphony, edited by a team led by Nicola Samale.

[80] The first attempt of a performing version of the Finale available on disc was by William Carragan (who has done arguably more important work editing Bruckner's Second Symphony) in 1983.

According to William Carragan, to make an own completion of the Finale, one should have three goals in mind: a faithful presentation of the fragments, an appropriate filling-out both horizontally and vertically, and a positive and triumphant ending.

But the finale, even as a fragmented and patched-together assemblage, still has a great deal to tell us about the authentic inspiration and lofty goals of Anton Bruckner, and it is a pity not to take every opportunity offered to become familiar with it and its profound meaning.

[96] In September–October 2021 – in commemoration of the 125th anniversary of the composer’s death, John A. Phillips undertook an additional revision to it, substantive changes being confined to fugue and coda.

Unfortunately, in other fields such reconstruction techniques are accepted far more than in music: In medicine, victims of accidents are more than grateful for the possibility of replacing lost parts of their body by plastic surgery.

Paintings, torsi of sculptures, mosaics and fresco, shipwrecks, castles, theatres (Venice), Churches (Dresden), and even entire ancient villages have been successfully reconstructed.

There are two main different aspects to understand the purpose of this completion... Firstly, besides having to fill in some of the orchestration of the existing parts, there are six gaps in the development/recapitulation that have to be speculatively reconstructed sometimes with the recreate of coherent links.

We only have a few sketches of and some vague testimonies (Heller, Auer and Graf) about the Finale's continuation; we know nothing even about the precise number of bars, but all these hardly give any idea of the global structure Bruckner had in mind.

Additionally, Schaller was able to supplement archival and manuscript material with missing elements in the score by drawing on his experience as a conductor, and applying Bruckner's compositional techniques to the recordings of the complete cycle of all the composer's eleven symphonies.

Gerd Schaller explains a reconstruction in itself as an impossible undertaking: Before work could begin on the completion, though, a number of conceptual questions needed to be addressed...

In the CD "Bruckner unknown" (PR 91250, 2013) Ricardo Luna recorded the Scherzo, the three versions of the Trio (own edition) as well as the Finale fragment – with the coda sketches.