> As for Bruckner being (possibly) more of a male taste, well, hey, I'm
> probably wrong and maybe it says a lot about me, but I just thought that
> he's just so un-romantic (the title of the 4th notwithstanding), so
> un-erotic, so severe and uncompromising and absolute, and I associate this
> more with masculinity, though of course by no means exclusively.

You may have a point there. Except...
(And, no need to say romantic music lovers are both, men and women.)
Some conductors, actually many, play Bruckner somehow like Wagner. Mainly in what concerns strings, sometimes a notice a kind of charm, which I usually associate with `romantic'.
I hadn't noticed it until I attended a live 'Die Walkyrie'.
So, some people might consider the music kind of romantic, but on the other hand, there's the strength, the tension, and also, the length and the dynamics, the lots of brass (which isn't soft at all), that hardly pleases the common romantic music lover.
I also saw older people (actually, older than me...) leaving the hall by the break, after a Chopin concert, before a Bruckner Third. I wonder if they had any commitment, because I also saw a notorious person leaving the same hall by the break on another concert.
But I do suspect many even avoid Bruckner. I think the common lover of Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, and so on, usually doesn't like Bruckner, unlike the lover of Mahler and Richard Strauss, for example.
I guess we, group members, are a bad example, because I suppose most like almost all the composers I mentioned.
I forgot a detail. I've frequented lots of groups in the past, and still frequent several.  I rarely noticed female members on almost all, and I remember once a female member joining a group by pure chance (found it thru Google, while looking for something else ("bee", actually, retrieving "Beethoven"), and she didn't have any interest on Bruckner, at all. I didn't take it seriously, because a male member also didn't.
 
BTW, I usually interest most people on Bruckner thru the Scherzo of the Ninth; I don't count them anymore.
 
 
Regards,
 
Jorge

--- In antonbrucknerclub@yahoogroups.com, "Len Oakes" <lenoakes@...> wrote:
> Dear Jorge,
> Thanks for that. It actually rang several bells for me.
> I was introduced to Bruckner by an elderly client, well, very elderly
> actually: 89 when we first met. He was a wonderful old man, Polish, had a
> hell of a life, but he insisted I listen and I never really got it while he
> was alive. Then after he died (age 93) I listened again, more from
> sentimentality than anything else. But the first pieces that made an impact
> were the scherzi, specifically the 8th and, to a lesser degree the 9th. The
> 8th in particular seemed so contradictory, so peculiar, funny but yet also
> kinda., kinda., kinda ., well, I'm sure you know what I mean. To be honest I
> still didn't really like them much but I found them fascinating in a way I'd
> never heard before. It was by closely following the repetitions around and
> around that I began to notice the cycles and variations and to work out what
> he was doing and how it all added up to something much greater than the
> parts. So I started listening to the other movements with that new
> understanding and suddenly the slow movement of the 8th fell into place. But
> for me the breakthrough came with the slow movement of the 4th, still for me
> the essence of Bruckner. Now I find I've listened to it so often that I
> can't do so anymore; I need to put it aside for a year or so and re-discover
> it again. Or find another performance and listen anew. I would love to see
> the man who introduced Bruckner to me again and tell him how much he's come
> to mean to me.
> As for Bruckner being (possibly) more of a male taste, well, hey, I'm
> probably wrong and maybe it says a lot about me, but I just thought that
> he's just so un-romantic (the title of the 4th notwithstanding), so
> un-erotic, so severe and uncompromising and absolute, and I associate this
> more with masculinity, though of course by no means exclusively. The first
> time I played the slow movement of the 8th to my wife she was quite blown
> away, and when we listened to the Te Deum together she was quite stunned and
> very impressed. But having said that she still prefers the motets and the
> Quintet I think. And there's the Schubert connection (though I wish someone
> would make a major effort to spell that out for me - I hear it but can't
> articulate what it is). Anyway, her route to much classical music is through
> the Trout Quartet, which carries a similar flavour in some places to the
> Bruckner Quintet.
> Anyway, thanks for the post.
> Regards - Len.
> _____
> From: antonbrucknerclub@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:antonbrucknerclub@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Jorge F
> Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2009 11:10 PM
> To: antonbrucknerclub@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Y! Bruckner] Re: Is AB a guy thing?

>
> Sure ;-)
> To be honest, I can't remember women appreciating Bruckner music, but most I
> discuss music with do not even like classical that much.
> Narrowing the list to the four I think that are relevant examples, I don't
> remember having discussed Bruckner with one that did love classical, another
> one doesn't dislike it (but isn't her first choice), another one couldn't
> stand it, and there is a particular case.
> This one was a former girlfriend, some three or four years ago. She hadn't
> even heard of Bruckner, but got interested due my interest. I borrowed her
> the Fourth and the Seventh symphonies, the ones that most people usually
> like at first, and her silence about them made me suspect she didn't like.
> I asked her about it, and she tried to avoid the subject, just admitting it
> wasn't easy listening.
> Then I tried something else, I'd already tried with others. Without letting
> her know what was being played, I made her listen to both Scherzi, of the
> Fourth and the Seventh, next the Ninth one, and next others.
> She almost jumped, saying "What is that?! That is very funny, very nice,
> indeed! C'mon, tell me what it is!"
> As you must have guessed, my answer was rather laconic, "Bruckner". Period.
> "You sure?", she insisted, "I like it, it's nice.".
> No need to say I reminded her she had the CDs at her place, waiting to be
> listened.
> Anyway, we broke soon after that, and I don't know how far she would have
> gone with the music.
> No, about guys, I happen to know a lot who don't like Bruckner music that
> much, not to mention those who don't like it at all. That is why I don't
> think it is either a women or men affair.
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Jorge
>
> --- In antonbrucknerclub@yahoogroups.com, "Len Oakes" lenoakes@ wrote:
> >
> > Dear Jorge,
> > I only said "most".
> > Okay, just disregard it as my naff attempt to be colourful, and I'll try
> to
> > make all future posts in common time.
> > Regards - Len.
> > _____
> > From: antonbrucknerclub@yahoogroups.com
> > [mailto:antonbrucknerclub@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Jorge F
> > Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 3:59 AM
> > To: antonbrucknerclub@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: Re: [Y! Bruckner] Is AB a guy thing?
> > My copy must be a different one, because there is, at least, one woman in
> > the conference report pictures ;-)
> > Regards,
> > Jorge
> > --- In antonbrucknerclub@yahoogroups.com, "Len Oakes" lenoakes@ wrote:
> > > Dear All,
> > > I've just received my copy of the Bruckner Journal. It contains a report
> > and
> > > photographs from the Sixth Bruckner Journal Readers Conference. Seems
> that
> > > most of the participants were men, and all the posters on this site
> appear
> > > to be male also. Any comments? Implications?
> > > Regards - Len.
> > >
> >
>