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Soviet-born conductor Semyon Bychkov leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Bruckner's Symphony No. 8.

Anton Bruckner His Life Anton Bruckner was born in Ansfelden, Austria in 1824 to a schoolmaster and organist father with whom he first studied music. He worked for a few years as a teacher's assistant, fiddling at village dances at night to supplement his income. He studied at the Augustinian monastery in St. Florian, becoming an organist there in 1851. He continued his studies to the age of 40, under Simon Sechter and Otto Kitzler, the latter introducing him to the music of Richard Wagner, which Bruckner studied extensively from 1863 onwards. Soon after ending his studies, he wrote...

I've always had a soft spot for the symphonies of Anton Bruckner (1824-1896). Although I am a huge classical music fan, I am not an expert. Therefore, I will fall back on those who are experts. Jim Svejda is a well known musicologist and announcer for KUSC in Los Angeles. In his book The Insider's Guide to Classical Recordings*, Svejda begins his article on Bruckner by saying, "More than those of any other great composer--and be assured that this squat, homely, diffident man ranks with the greatest composers of the Romantic era--the symphonies of Anton Bruckner need all the help...

"U.N. ambassadors from several nations are disputing assertions by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry that he met for hours with all members of the U.N. Security Council... Speaking before the Council on Foreign Relations in New York in December 2003, Mr. Kerry explained that he understood the 'real readiness' of the United Nations to 'take this seriously' because he met 'with the entire Security Council, and we spent a couple of hours talking about what they saw as the path to a united front in order to be able to deal with Saddam Hussein.' But of the five ambassadors...