Josef Anton Bruckner (1824 – 1896) 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. His compositions
helped to define contemporary musical radicalism, owing
to their dissonances, unprepared modulations, and
roving harmonies.
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Josef Anton Bruckner (1824 – 1896) 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. His compositions
helped to define contemporary musical radicalism, owing
to their dissonances, unprepared modulations, and
roving harmonies.
Unlike other musical radicals such as Richard Wagner
and Hugo Wolf, Bruckner showed respect, even humility,
before other famous musicians, Wagner in particular.
This apparent dichotomy between Bruckner the man and
Bruckner the composer hampers efforts to describe his
life in a way that gives a straightforward context for
his music. Hans von Bülow described him as "half
genius, half simpleton". Bruckner was critical of his
own work and often reworked his compositions. There are
several versions of many of his works.
His works, the symphonies in particular, had
detractors, most notably the influential Austrian
critic Eduard Hanslick and other supporters of Johannes
Brahms, who pointed to their large size and use of
repetition, as well as to Bruckner's propensity for
revising many of his works, often with the assistance
of colleagues, and his apparent indecision about which
versions he preferred. On the other hand, Bruckner was
greatly admired by subsequent composers, including his
friend Gustav Mahler.
Libera me ("Deliver me"), WAB 22, is the second of two
settings of the absoute Libera me, composed by Anton
Bruckner in 1854. He composed the motet during his stay
in Sankt Florian for the absoute of the funeral of
prelate Michael Arneth. The original manuscript is
lost, but several copies of it are found in the archive
of the St. Florian Abbey, the Kremsmünster Abbey and
the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek. The motet was
first published in an appendix of band 7-10 of Musica
divina, Vienna, 1922. It is put in Band XXI/17 of the
Gesamtausgabe.
The in total 94-bar work in F minor is scored for SSATB
choir, 3 trombones and figured bass (organ, cello and
double bass). It is in five parts, separated by
cadences on the responses Quando cœli and Dum veneris:
(1) Libera me, Domine: homophonic, 18 bars, ending
pianissimo on per ignem with a bare fifth, (2) Tremens
fac: five-voice fugato, 23 bars, ending in homophonic
fortissimo on Quando cœli, (3) Dies illa: 25 bars, in
canon, with a variety of imitative textures, ending in
homophonic fortissimo on Dum veneris, (4) Requiem
aeternam: 10 bars, a chorale sustained by the
trombones, and (5) First part da capo
Part 3 contains dissonances similar to those found in
the Agnus Dei of the later Mass in E minor. Apart from
its significance as a precursor to Bruckner's mature
style, the F minor Libera me is effective on its own
terms. The music is heartfelt and profound, and is a
gracious, if rather austere, rendering of the text.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libera_me,_WAB_22).
Although originally created for Mixed Chorus (SSATB), 3
Trombones, Cello, Bass & Organ, I created this
Interpretation of "Libera me II" ("Deliver me" WAB 22)
in F Minor for Winds (Flute, Oboe, French Horn &
Bassoon) & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).
PARTITION