Bruckner, Joseph Anton - Offertorium: Afferentur Regi for String Quartet WAB 1 Quatuor à cordes |
Compositeur : | Bruckner, Joseph Anton (1824 - 1896) | ||||
Instrumentation : | Quatuor à cordes | ||||
Genre : | Classique | ||||
Tonalité : | Fa majeur | ||||
Arrangeur : Editeur : | MAGATAGAN, MICHAEL (1960 - ) | ||||
Droit d'auteur : | Public Domain | ||||
Ajoutée par magataganm, 22 Mai 2021 Josef Anton Bruckner (1824 – 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first 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. Although Bruckner wrote a great deal of sacred choral music (including not only his grandly conceived Mass No. 3, but also his more intimate Mass No. 2 and his astringent motets, which fuse Renaissance and nineteenth century techniques), he is best known for his symphonies: two unnumbered apprentice works, eight completed mature symphonies, and the first three movements of a Ninth (The finale has been reconstructed by several hands, but most performances include just the movements Bruckner completed). The symphonies, influenced to some extent by Wagner and identified with his school by the Viennese public, are monumental: expansive in scale, rigorous (if sometimes gigantist) in formal design, and often elaborate in their contrapuntal writing. Their sonorities are stately and organ-like; the Viennese critic Graf wrote that Bruckner "pondered over chords and chord associations as a medieval architect contemplated the original forms of a Gothic cathedral." Despite occasional folk influences in the scherzos, his symphonies are uniformly high-minded, even religious, in spirit. Together, they form the weightiest body of symphonies between Schubert (whom he greatly admired) and Mahler. The brief, untroubled "Afferentur regi" comes from an eventful year in Anton Bruckner's life. The harsh blow of his mother's death the previous year was alleviated somewhat when the young musician (who was, after all, thirty-seven) was appointed conductor of the Liedertafel Frohsinn in Linz (a seemingly pleasant position which later came to a premature end when Bruckner resigned in anger over a prank). Shortly afterward, Bruckner completed his theoretical studies with Kitzler, and thus Bruckner had a dual incentive to "stretch out" and create some vocal works with the prospect of immediate performance. The offertorium "Afferentur regi" is a work of its time, reflecting the early Romantic period. It gives little glimpse of even the earlier mature Bruckner or the archaic beauty of his modal Cecilian pieces. But the brief piece is well crafted and pleasant, showing that Bruckner was considerably fluent in conventional utterance even during his belated student years. In F major, it is predominantly diatonic with minimal modulation, mostly to the relative minor. The accompanying trombones are assigned a highlighting role, blending into the overall texture. However, the wide vocal leaps and the use of a long held bass pedal on A from bars 17 to 24 are striking and the cadence at bars 33-34 is anticipatory of the trio of the Fifth Symphony. But that aside this is an unproblematic little piece, the work of a young man who even during a time of sadness and change could still give praise in a joyful spirit. Source: Allmusic (https://www.allmusic.com/composition/afferentur-regi-o ffertorium-for-chorus-3-trombones-in-f-major-wab-1-mc00 02355020). Although originally written for Chorus (SAT) & 3 Trombones, I created this Interpretation of the Offertorium: Afferentur Regi (WAB 1) in F Major for String Quartet (2 Violins, Viola & Cello). Partition centrale : | Afferentur regi (3 partitions) | |