List of cantatas by Anton Bruckner

Anton Bruckner composed eight cantatas during his life, the earliest Vergißmeinnicht, in 1845, the last, Helgoland, in 1893.

Kronstorf and Sankt Florian

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The five cantatas, composed between 1845 and 1855 during Bruckner's stay as schoolteacher's assistant in Kronstorf and as organist in Sankt Florian, were Name-day cantatas. These cantatas are put in Band XXII/1 of the Gesamtausgabe.[1]

During his stay as schoolteacher's assistant in Kronstorf Bruckner composed his first cantata:

  • Bruckner composed the cantata Musikalischer Versuch nach dem Kammer-Styl (Musical essay in chamber style), WAB 93, in D major for his teacher aggregation in May 1845.[2][3]
    • He made a second version to celebrate the name day of Alois Knauer, the parish priest of Kronstorf.[2][3]
    • He sent thereafter a third version, which he entitled Vergißmeinnicht (Do not forget me), to remind Friedrich Mayer of the promise to provide him with an employment in the St. Florian Abbey.[2][4]

During his stay as organist in Sankt Florian, Bruckner composed the following four name-day cantatas:

  • Entsagen (Renunciation), WAB 14, is a cantata in B-flat major composed in c. 1851 on a text of Oskar von Redwitz's Amaranth for the name day of Michael Arneth, the prior of the St. Florian Abbey.[5][6]
  • The Arneth Cantata Heil Vater! Dir zum hohen Feste (Hail father! To you on this noble celebration), WAB 61, is a cantata in D major composed in 1852 for the name day of Michael Arneth.[7][8]
    • In 1857, he made a shortened second version as Auf Brüder! auf zur frohen Feier!, for the name day of Friedrich Mayer, the next prior of Abbey.[7][9]
    • In c. 1870, a third version as Heil dir zum schöne Erstlingsfeste was set for a Primitzfeier (celebration of the first Mass) by a newly ordained priest in Kremsmünster.[10][11]
  • The Mayer Cantata Auf, Brüder! auf, und die Saiten zur Hand! (Let's go, brothers! and take the strings into our hands!), WAB 60, is a cantata in D major composed in 1855 for the name day of Friedrich Mayer.[12][13]
  • The Festgesang Sankt Jodok sproß aus edlem Stamme (Festive song "Saint Judoc came from a noble house"), WAB 15, is a cantata in C major composed at the end of 1855 for the name day of Jodok Stülz, the dean of the St. Florian Abbey.[12][14]

Linz and Vienna

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In the 1860s, during his stay in Linz, after the end of Sechter's and Kitzler's tuition, Bruckner composed the following two cantatas:

  • The festive cantata Preiset den Herrn (Praise the Lord), WAB 16, is a religious cantata in D major composed in 1862 for the celebration of the laying of the foundation stone of the new Mariä-Empfängnis-Dom of Linz.[15][16]
  • Germanenzug, WAB 70, is a secular, patriotic cantata in D minor composed in 1863–1864 on a text by August Silberstein for competition at the first Oberösterreichisch-Salzburgisches Sängerbundesfest.[17][18]

Thirty years later, during his stay in Vienna, Bruckner composed this last cantata:

  • Helgoland, WAB 71, is a secular, patriotic cantata in G minor composed in 1893 on another text by August Silberstein to celebrate the 50th birthday of the Men's Choir of Vienna.[19][20]

These three cantatas are put in Band XXII/2 of the Gesamtausgabe.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Gesamtausgabe – Kantaten und Chorwerke mit Orchester
  2. ^ a b c C. van Zwol, p. 711
  3. ^ a b U. Harten, pp. 296-297
  4. ^ U. Harten, p. 464
  5. ^ C. van Zwol, pp. 711-712
  6. ^ U. Harte, p. 145
  7. ^ a b C. van Zwol, p. 712
  8. ^ U. Harten, pp. 192-193
  9. ^ U. Harten, pp. 66-67
  10. ^ C. van Zwol, pp. 712-713
  11. ^ U. Harten, p. 192
  12. ^ a b C. van Zwol, p. 713
  13. ^ U. Harten, p. 66
  14. ^ U. Harten, pp. 151-152
  15. ^ C. van Zwol, pp. 713-714
  16. ^ U. Harten, pp. 152-153
  17. ^ C. van Zwol, p. 714
  18. ^ U. Harten, pp. 174-175
  19. ^ C. van Zwol, pp. 714-715
  20. ^ U. Harten, p. 193

Sources

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  • Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XXII/1: Kantaten und Chorwerke I (1845–1855), Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Franz Burkhart, Rudolf H. Führer and Leopold Nowak (Editor), Vienna, 1987
  • Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XXII/2: Kantaten und Chorwerke II (1862–1893), Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Franz Burkhart, Rudolf H. Führer and Leopold Nowak (Editor), Vienna, 1987
  • Uwe Harten, Anton Bruckner. Ein Handbuch. Residenz Verlag [de], Salzburg, 1996. ISBN 3-7017-1030-9.
  • Cornelis van Zwol, Anton Bruckner 1824-1896 - Leven en werken, uitg. Thoth, Bussum, Netherlands, 2012. ISBN 978-90-6868-590-9
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