Music TheoryPrint

Anton Bruckner

Afferentur regi

(Led to the king), WAB 1, is a motet, which Anton Bruckner composed on 7 November 1861 on the text of the Offertorium of the

History#

is the second of the two “great motets” during a “fruitful though brief” period of Bruckner’s compositional career following Sechter’s tuition, the other motet being the Ave Maria WAB 6. was premiered in St. Florian Abbey on the feast day of Saint Lucy, 13 December 1861. An early draft for choir alone was found in a monastic archive at Kremsmünster Abbey. The original manuscript is not extant, but several transcriptions were found in the archive of St. Florian Abbey.

Text#

The text is derived from , which is Psalm 44 in the Vulgata. :

Setting#

The 38-bars piece scored in F major for mixed choir and three trombones ad libitum is a polyphonic offertory. The piece is in ternary form, with an opening motive drawn from a pre-existing Latin plainchant. is stylistically similar to faux bourdon, a technique employed primarily in medieval and Renaissance music. Bruckner quoted from the in the movement Qui cum Patre et Filio, part of the Credo of the Mass in D minor.

Selected discography#

Bruckner’s was recorded at first in 1965 by Giulio Bertola with the Coro Polifonico Italiano a cappella (LP: Angelicum LPA 5989) A selection of the about 30 recordings: * Simon Halsey, City of Birmingham Symphony Wind Ensemble & Chorus, Bruckner: Mass in E minor & Motets – Conifer CDCF 192, 1990 * Hans-Christoph Rademann, NDR Chor Hamburg, Anton Bruckner: Ave Maria – Carus 83.151, 2000 * Dan-Olof Stenlund, Malmö Chamber Choir, Ausgewählte Werke. MKKCD 051, 2004 * Michael Stenov, Cantores Carmeli, Benefizkonzert Karmelitenkirche Linz – CD/DVD issued by the choir, 2006, and on YouTube. * Duncan Ferguson, Choir of St. Mary’s Cathedral of Edinburgh, Bruckner: Motets – CD: Delphian Records DCD34071, 2010 * Philipp Ahmann, MDR Rundfunkchor Leipzig, Anton Bruckner & Michael Haydn - Motets – SACD: Pentatone PTC 5186 868, 2021

Sources#

  • Max Auer, Anton Bruckner als Kirchenmusiker, G. Bosse, Regensburg, 1927
  • Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XXI: Kleine Kirchenmusikwerke, Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Hans Bauernfeind and Leopold Nowak (Editor), Vienna, 1984/2001
  • Cornelis van Zwol, Anton Bruckner 1824–1896 – Leven en werken, uitg. Thoth, Bussum, Netherlands, 2012.
  • F-Dur, WAB 1 Critical discography by Hans Roelofs
  • Can be heard on YouTube:
  • A live performance by Johannes Kleinjung with the Universitätschor München (2011): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbM9Hkn3FVg
  • A live performance by Gilles Michels with the Student Choir of Utrecht (24 June 2017): – Bruckner USKO
  • A live performance by Andrew Lewis with the Elgin Master Chorale (26 February 2018): Bruckner - Afferentur regi, WAB 1
Composer
Anton Bruckner