In one chapter of his book, Swafford describes the emnity that Brahms developed for Bruckner. This emnity could be said to be due to politics, both musical and of the other kind. In the late 19th century there was a major struggle between Richard Wagner, the revolutionary composer of operas, and his followers, on the one hand, and the anti-Wagnerians, on the other. The anti-Wagnerians tended to be traditionalists, like Brahms--though Brahms himself kept himself out of the fray for the most part and even expressed an admiration for Wagner. After Wagner's death, Bruckner, a devoted follower of Wagner, was widely perceived as Wagner's successor as the "pope" of the Wagnerian movement (whether or not he wanted to be), and thus became the target of the anti-Wagnerians, like the music critic Eduard Hanslick, who was merciless in his attacks on Bruckner's music, much to the latter's dismay. Brahms, perhaps sensing that Bruckner was a less formidible figure than Wagner, also expressed disdain for Bruckner. The situation was further complicated by the intrusion of actual politics. In late 19th century Austria, Wagner's music tended to be supported by political conservatives who emphasized the glories of what they perceived of as Germanic culture. Many of them were Catholic and some were outspokenly anti-Semitic. Consequently, after Wagner's death, many of these Austrian conservatives rallied around Bruckner as his successor. The Austrian liberals, for their part (somewhat confusingly perhaps), supported musical traditionalists like Brahms, and tended to view anti-Semitism as (in Brahms' own words) "vileness."
In the midst of his discussion of this musical/political fracas, Swafford says the following about Bruckner:
Bruckner himself, though conservative and Catholic, disavowed anti-semitism, or at least kept his prejudices out of sight...If many of Bruckner's supporters were antisemites--that was their own affair; he needed all the friends he could get. (p. 503, emphasis mine)
I have to confess that from the first time I read this passage I have felt the highlighted phrase to be rather a cheap shot. Yes, it was no doubt true that many conservative Austrian Catholics at the time were, sad to say, anti-Semitic (it is perhaps easier for me to say this since I am not Catholic!), but it is also quite likely that at least some of them were not. Swafford cites no actual evidence that Bruckner was possibly anti-Semitic and even admits that "the young Gustav Mahler was not [Bruckner's] only disciple of Jewish background." To my knowledge, no one has ever accused Bruckner of treating his disciples of "Jewish background" the way Wagner treated the conductor Hermann Levi, a great champion of Wagner's music whom, nonetheless, Wagner tormented for his Jewishness. Bruckner no doubt at times exhibited some peculiar behavior, as he did when he interrupted the disinternment of Beethoven's remains when they were being prepared for reburial in a Vienna cemetery, and insisted on holding the deceased composer's skull before it was reburied. Nevertheless, there is no record, as far as I know, that Bruckner ever expressed anti-Semitic sentiments. Perhaps he should have disavowed his supporters who were anti-Semitic, but even Swafford admits, given the hostility he faced, Bruckner " needed all the friends he could get."
I realize there are no ground rules about what an author may or not say about a subject, but it seems to me that he or she should be very careful about even suggesting that someone might have been guilty of something reprehensible like anti-Semitism without evidence. From my reading of his book, I have the impression that Swafford is not a fan of Bruckner or Bruckner's music (I should acknowledge that I am, to a point), which is his right. Nevertheless, I don't think that gives him license to say whatever he wants to say about the man himself. Moreover, I have to say that it would be very tempting for me to suggest that by even raising the possibility that Bruckner might have been anti-Semitic Swafford reveals his own prejudice against Catholics, but that would also be unfair given a lack of clear evidence. Still, it is always possible for two to play this game,
To close, it is ironic that Brahms himself called Bruckner a "swindle" and predicted that his music would be soon forgotten. As it has turned out, he was quite wrong. Interestingly, Brahms thought that he himself after his death would become a largely forgotten figure like the composer Cherubini, whom he admired. Fortunately for us, he turned out to be wrong about that as well!
Image of Anton Bruckner from wikipedia.org