St. Louis Symphony: Bruckner's Ninth

Anton Bruckner's monumental Symphony No. 9 is dedicated to God. The composer labored over it for nine years at the end of his life. By the time he could see the finish line, Bruckner was too weakened to finish the score, leaving only three of the four intended movements completed. But what movements those three are; Bruckner conjures an enormous volume of sound to praise his chosen subject and uses swaths of silence and dissonance in what was at the time an unprecedented manner. Even in its incomplete state it was clear that something new had happened in music. The St. Louis Symphony, led by conductor John Storgårds, performs Bruckner's Ninth for the first time in almost 30 years at 10:30 a.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday (November 30 and December 1) at Powell Hall (517 North Grand Boulevard; www.slso.org). Yes, that's a Friday morning concert on the 30th, so don't sleep in; if you miss this, it may be decades before you hear Bruckner's Ninth in Powell Hall again. Tickets are $25 to $88.