| Requiem | |
|---|---|
| by Anton Bruckner | |
 The young Bruckner | |
| Key | D minor |
| Catalogue | WAB 39 |
| Form | Missa pro defunctis |
| Dedication | In memory of Franz Sailer |
| Performed | 15 September 1849: St. Florian Monastery |
| Published | 1930 |
| Recorded | 1970 |
| Movements | 6 |
| Vocal | SATB choir and soloists |
| Instrumental | orchestra and organ |
The Requiem in D minor, WAB 39, is a Missa pro defunctis composed by Anton Bruckner in 1849.
The Requiem in D minor, a setting of the Missa pro defunctis for mixed choir, vocal soloists, three trombones, one horn, strings and organ with figured bass, [1] was composed by Bruckner in memory of Franz Sailer, the notary of the St. Florian Monastery, who bequeathed Bruckner a Bösendorfer piano. [2] The Requiem was premiered on 15 September 1849 in the St. Florian Monastery, a year after Sailer's death. A second performance occurred on 11 December 1849 in the Abbey of Kremsmünster. [3] The manuscript is archived in the St. Florian Monastery. [4]
In 1892, Bruckner revised the score and gave it to Franz Bayer. Bayer performed it on 4 December 1895 in Steyr for the funerals of parish priest Johann Evangelist Aichinger. The Österreichische Nationalbibliothek acquired the revised score from Bayer's widow in 1923. [3]
Total duration: about 37 minutes [1]
The Requiem is most likely Bruckner's "first truly large-scale composition and probably his first significant work." [5] "[It] is amazing what he achieved, especially if we look at the great double fugue of the Quam olim Abrahae, written at least six years before he even commenced his thorough contrapuntal studies with Simon Sechter!" [6] "The Requiem was Bruckner's first larger-scale composition and also his first work with orchestra. [When reviewing it in 1892,] as a highly self-critical seventy-year-old, Bruckner passed judgement on the work as follows: Es is' net schlecht! ('It is not bad!')." [1]
There is clear influence of Mozart throughout the work.
[There] are many passages reminiscent of what was even then, in 1848/49, a past age (the very opening points irresistibly to Mozart's Requiem in the same key), and though the very inclusion of a figured bass for organ continuo strikes one as backward looking, there are already several flashes of the later, great Bruckner to come. [6]
[Despite it] is by no means a perfect masterpiece... [it] can be said to be the first full demonstration that the young man was a composer of inestimable promise. ... [The] expressively reticent opening of the opening of the Requiem, with his softly shifting syncopations in the strings ... already faintly anticipates one or two of his own symphonic passages in the two earlier D minor symphonies, for instance Nos. '0' and 3... [We] cannot escape the solemn beauty of this music, which already has the authentic atmosphere of natural genius. [7]
During the years following the composition of the Requiem, Bruckner wrote a number of small choral works as well as two works on a larger canvas: a Magnificat (1852) and the Missa solemnis in B-flat minor (1854). Strangely enough these do not quite measure up to the qualities inherent in the earlier Requiem. [6]
Bruckner made a slight revision of the score in 1892. He gave Franz Bayer the revised score. Bayer performed the revised work on 4 December 1895 in Steyr for the funerals of the parish priest Johann Evangelist Aichinger. The Österreichische Nationalbibliothek has acquired the revised score from Bayer's widow in 1923. [3]
There are three different editions in the Gesamtausgabe :
The Requiem remains still somewhat in the background of other Bruckner's works. Most of the about 20 recordings of it are live performances, which were not brought to the commercial market.
According to Hans Roelofs, Schönzeler's 1970 LP recording, which was a true pioneer work, has, in spite of subsequent recordings, hold his status. Matthew Best's CD recording is currently still the reference. Farnberger's recording (1997) with the St. Florianer Sängerknaben, which was recorded in the St. Florian Abbey, provides the listener with a whiff of authenticity. Out of the more recent recordings, Roelofs picks out Janssens' recording of 2006 with the Laudantes Consort, and Susana Acra-Brache's recording of 2010 with the Grupo Vocal Matisses. [9]
Joseph Anton Bruckner was an Austrian composer and organist best known for his symphonies and sacred music, which includes Masses, Te Deum and motets. The symphonies are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, strongly polyphonic character, and considerable length. Bruckner's compositions helped to define contemporary musical radicalism, owing to their dissonances, unprepared modulations, and roving harmonies.
The Te Deum in C major, WAB 45, is a setting of the Te Deum hymn, composed by Anton Bruckner for SATB choir and soloists, orchestra, and organ ad libitum.
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.
The Mass No. 2 in E minor, WAB 27 is a setting of the mass ordinary for eight-part mixed choir and fifteen wind instruments, that Anton Bruckner composed in 1866.
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.
The Magnificat, WAB 24 is a setting of the Magnificat for SATB choir and soloists, orchestra and organ composed by Anton Bruckner in 1852.
Psalm 146 in A major by Anton Bruckner is a psalm setting for double mixed choir, soloists and orchestra. It is a setting of verses 1 to 11 of a German version of Psalm 147, which is Psalm 146 in the Vulgata.
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.
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.
The Bruckner Gesamtausgabe is a critical edition of the works of Anton Bruckner. Published by Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag Wien in Vienna, it comprises three successive editions.
The Windhaager Messe, WAB 25, is a missa brevis composed by Anton Bruckner in 1842.
The Kronstorfer Messe, WAB 146, is a missa brevis composed by Anton Bruckner in 1843-1844.
The Messe für den Gründonnerstag, WAB 9, is a missa brevis composed by Anton Bruckner in 1844.
Ave Maria, WAB 5, is a setting of the Latin prayer Ave Maria by Anton Bruckner.
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.
Os justi, WAB 30, is a sacred motet composed by Anton Bruckner in 1879. Os Justi is a Gregorian chant used as gradual of the Commune Doctorum, and as introit I and gradual II of the Commune Confessoris non Pontificis.
Libera me, WAB 22, is the second of two settings of the absoute Libera me, composed by Anton Bruckner in 1854.
The Mayer Cantata, WAB 60, is a cantata composed by Anton Bruckner in 1855. It is the second of three larger-scale occasional compositions, and the composer's first extended composition for large wind ensemble and choir.
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