Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) concentrated his work with unprecedented exclusivity on two genres: large-scale church music and symphonic music. The judgment of his music has been as polarized from the very beginning as that of no other composer of his time, reflecting the ongoing irritations surrounding a life’s work that can be rejected as a document of composed anarchy, admired as an overwhelming testament to Catholic spirituality, or seen as a precursor to New Music. Even during his lifetime, hidden behind a wall of anecdotes, the composer Anton Bruckner stands in an almost irreconcilable contradiction to all these stereotypes. This handbook, as the most comprehensive and up-to-date compendium on Bruckner's life, work, and reception, aims to facilitate access to this challenging composer. Renowned authors from the field contribute to it.