Psalm 146 (Bruckner)

Last updated
Psalm 146
by Anton Bruckner
Bruckner circa 1860.jpg
The composer, c.1860
Key A major
Catalogue WAB 37
Form Psalm setting
Composedc.1850 (c.1850) c.1856 (c.1856): St. Florian & Linz
Performed28 November 1971 (1971-11-28) (28 November 1971 (1971-11-28)): Nürnberg
Published1996 (1996)
RecordedMay 1972 (1972-05) (May 1972 (1972-05))
Movements6
Vocal SSAATTBB choir and SATB soloists
InstrumentalOrchestra

Psalm 146 in A major (WAB 37) by Anton Bruckner is a psalm setting for double mixed choir, soloists and orchestra. [1] It is a setting of verses 1 to 11 of a German version of Psalm 147, which is Psalm 146 in the Vulgata.

Contents

History

It is not known what occasion prompted Bruckner to compose this large-scale work or whether there was any performance in Bruckner's lifetime. [1] The composition was presumably initiated during the St. Florian period (c.1850) and completed in c.1856 (at the latest 1858) in Linz, when Bruckner was studying with Simon Sechter. [2] [3]

When it was written, for whom, and why it was allowed to languish unperformed are all unanswered questions. Its cantata-like structure ... and stylistic affinity with the Missa solemnis place it in the late St. Florian years, though its enormous dimensions ... are difficult to reconcile with the resources of the monastery. [4]

A sketch of the work is stored in the archive of Wels. An incomplete manuscript and a completed copy with annotations are stored in the archive of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek . A critical edition was published by Paul Hawkshaw in 1996 [5] in Band XX/4 of the Gesamtausgabe. [3] [2]

The first performance of Bruckner's Psalm 146 by Wolfgang Riedelbauch with the Hans-Sachs-Chor, the Lehrergesangverein Nürnberg and the Nürnberger Symphoniker occurred in the Meistersingerhalle of Nürnberg on 28 November 1971. [2] Six months later another performance by the same ensembles was recorded in the Colosseum-Studio and put on LP. Other performances occurred in May 1975. [6]

A second wave of performances occurred about twenty years later by Heinz Wallberg with the Niederösterreichiches Tonkünstler Orchester, the choir of the Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien and the Kammerchor der Musikhochschule Wien, first in Vienna on 8, 10 and 11 November 1991 and on 13 November in Baden near Vienna. [2] [7]
About three years later, the American premiere occurred on 13 January 1995 in the Alice Tully Hall by Leon Botstein with the American Symphony Orchestra and the Canticum Novum Singers. The American premiere used the score prepared by Hawkshaw for the Bruckner's Gesamtausgabe. [8]

Twenty years later, during the 25th Ebrach Summer Music Festival, a next performance by Gerd Schaller with the Philharmonie Festiva orchestra and the Philharmonic Choir of Munich occurred on 6 September 2015. Schaller's live performance is put on CD by Profil Hänssler.

During the Brucknertage 2023 in St. Florian, Psalm 146 was performed on 18 and 19 August by Rémy Ballot with the Altomonte Orchester and the St. Florianer Chorakademie. [9] [10]
Celebrating Bruckner's bicentennial 2024, Psalm 146 was performed on 7 June 2024 by Franz Anton Krager conducting the Texas Music Festival Orchestra & Chorus in the Moores Opera House Houston TX. [11]
Psalm 146 will also be performed on 19 july 2024 in the Biserica Neagră of Brașov on 20 July 2024 and the Ateneul Român of Bucharest, Romania. [12]

Recordings of Wallberg's and Botstein's live performances are put in the Bruckner archive. [13]

Text

Lob Gottes wegen seiner Wohlthaten (Praise God for his well-doings)

  1. Alleluja! Lobet den Herrn; denn lobsingen ist gut: liebliches und zierliches Lob sey unserm Gott!
  2. Der Herr bauet Jerusalem, versammelt die Zerstreuten von Israel.
  3. Er heilet, die geschlagenen Herzens sind, und verbindet ihre Wunden.
  4. Er zählet die Menge der Sterne, und benennet sie Alle mit Namen.
  5. Groß ist unser Herr, und groß seine Macht, und seiner Weisheit ist kein Maaß.
  6. Der Herr nimmt auf die Sanften, und demüthigt die Sünder bis zur Erde.
  7. Singet dem Herrn mit Danksagung: lobsinget unserm Gott mit der Harfe.
  8. Er decket den Himmel mit Wolken, und bereitet Regen der Erde. Er läßt Gras wachsen auf den Bergen, und Kräuter zum Dienste der Menschen.
  9. Er gibt dem Vieh seine Speise, und den jungen Raben, die zu ihm rufen.
  10. Er hat nicht Lust an der Stärke des Rosses, noch Wohlgefallen an den Beinen des Mannes.
  11. Der Herr hat Wohlgefallen an denen, die ihn fürchten, und an denen, die auf seine Barmherzigkeit hoffen. [14]

Setting

Psalm 146 is the largest of Bruckner's psalm settings. The 652-bar long work in A major is scored for SSAATTBB choir and SATB soloists and orchestra (1 flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 4 trombones, timpani and strings). The work (total duration about 30 minutes) is divided into six parts:

  1. Introduction: "Alleluja! Lobet den Herrn". Langsam, A major Choir with soprano soloist and solo horn
  2. Recitative: F sharp minor veering to D major
    1. "Der Herr bauet Jerusalem". Kräftig Bass soloist and trombones
    2. "Er heilet die geschlagenen Herzens sind". Weich Soprano soloist and horns
    3. "Er zählet die Menge der Sterne". Frisch Tenor soloist and woodwinds (oboes & bassoons)
  3. Choir: "Groß ist unser Herr". Schnell, D minor veering to D major Double choir in antiphony
  4. Arioso with Choir:
    1. Arioso: "Der Herr nimmt auf die Sanften". Nicht zu langsam, B flat major Soprano, tenor and alto soloists, with solo oboe and violin
    2. Choir: "Singet dem Herrn mit Danksagung". Etwas bewegter, E flat major
    3. Bridging arioso:
      1. "Er läßt Gras wachsen auf den Bergen" Soprano soloist
      2. "Er gibt dem Vieh seine Speise" Tenor soloist with solo clarinet
      3. "Er hat nicht Lust an der Stärke des Rosses" Bass soloist with solo bassoon, veering to E minor
  5. Arioso: "Der Herr hat Wohlgefallen an denen, die ihn fürchten". Nicht schnell, E major Soprano soloist
  6. Finale with Fugue: "Alleluja! Lobet den Herrn", A major
    1. Final choir: Etwas schnell
    2. Fugue: Nicht schnell Choir with soloists at the end

As in the Missa solemnis there are clear influences of Haydn and Schubert, particularly in the ariosos. There are in the Finale two passages with brass instrument chords followed by an Alleluja , for which Bruckner drew his inspiration from the Hallelujah of Händel's Messiah , on which he often improvised on organ. [3]

For the first time Bruckner is using a full orchestra, with yet some archaism such as the use of horns (part 4) and trombones (part 6) in homophony with the choir. [4] "[The] closing Alleluja ... is Bruckner's most extended fugue prior to the Fifth Symphony." [4] The five-minute long fugue is more mature than the quite formal fugues of Bruckner's previous works a consequence of Sechter's tuition. [3] Bruckner uses, e.g., an inversion of the theme in its development.

Psalm 146 is also remarkable as the first piece in which Bruckner experimented with organic thematic integration on a large scale ... [It] also deserves to be heard more often for the lovely string pianissimo in its opening bars that foreshadows the beginning of both the D minor and F minor Masses. [4]

Discography

There are two publicly available recordings:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johann Ludwig Bach</span> German composer

Johann Ludwig Bach was a German composer and violinist.

<i>St. Paul</i> (oratorio) Oratorio by Mendelssohn

St. Paul, Op. 36, is an oratorio by Felix Mendelssohn. The composer oversaw versions and performances in both German and English within months of completing the music in early 1836.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Martin Reinthaler</span> German organist, conductor and composer

Carl Martin Reinthaler was a German organist, conductor and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psalm 147</span> Biblical psalm

Psalm 147 is the 147th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version, "Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint version of the Bible, and in the Latin Vulgate/Vulgata Clementina, this psalm is divided into Psalm 146 and Psalm 147. In Latin, Psalm 146 is known as "Laudate Dominum quoniam bonum psalmus", and Psalm 147 as "Lauda Jerusalem Dominum".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass No. 3 (Bruckner)</span>

The Mass No. 3 in F minor, WAB 28, is a setting of the mass ordinary for vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra, and organ ad libitum, that Anton Bruckner composed in 1867–1868.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psalm 150 (Bruckner)</span>

Anton Bruckner's Psalm 150, WAB 38, is a setting of Psalm 150 for mixed chorus, soprano soloist and orchestra written in 1892.

<i>Missa solemnis</i> (Bruckner) 1854 solemn mass composed by Anton Bruckner

The Missa solemnis, WAB 29, is a solemn mass composed by Anton Bruckner in 1854 for the installation of Friedrich Mayer as abbot of St. Florian Monastery on 14 September 1854.

<i>Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille</i>, BWV 120 Sacred cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach

Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille, BWV 120.1, is a sacred cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for the occasion of Ratswechsel, the inauguration of a new town council in a church service, probably before 1730. Parts of the cantata appeared in a wedding cantata and a cantata commemorating the Augsburg Confession in 1730. Bach reworked the choral second movement for the Symbolum Nicenum of his Mass in B minor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psalm 22 (Bruckner)</span>

Bruckner's Psalm 22, WAB 34, is a setting of a German version of Psalm 23, which was psalm 22 in the Vulgata.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psalm 114 (Bruckner)</span>

Bruckner's Psalm 114, WAB 36, is a psalm setting of verses 1 to 9 of a German version of Psalm 116, which is Psalm 114 in the Vulgata.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psalm 112 (Bruckner)</span>

Bruckner's Psalm 112, WAB 35, is a psalm setting for eight-part double mixed choir and full orchestra. It is a setting of a German version of Psalm 113, which is Psalm 112 in the Vulgata.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass No. 1 (Bruckner)</span>

The Mass No. 1 in D minor, WAB 26 by Anton Bruckner, is a setting of the Mass ordinary for soloists, mixed choir and orchestra, and organ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Festive Cantata (Bruckner)</span>

The Fest-Kantate Preiset den Herrn, WAB 16, is a festive cantata composed by Anton Bruckner in 1862 for the celebration of the laying of the foundation stone of the new Mariä-Empfängnis-Dom of Linz.

Matthew Best is an English bass singer and conductor, especially of vocal music. He founded the ensemble Corydon Singers in 1973 and won the Kathleen Ferrier Award in 1981. From 1985, he was also a guest conductor of the English Chamber Orchestra. His recordings with Corydon Singers were made on the Hyperion Records label and focus on choral music by the likes of Anton Bruckner, Johannes Brahms and Felix Mendelssohn. He is currently engaged as Music Director of the Academy Choir Wimbledon and as a Principal Study singing teacher at the Royal Northern College of Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerd Schaller</span> German conductor (born 1965)

Gerd Schaller is a German conductor, best known for his performing and recording rare works, including the first full recordings of Bruckner's output.

<i>Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied</i>, TWV 1:1342–1345

There are four church cantatas by Georg Philipp Telemann sharing the title Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied:

References

Sources