Du bist wie eine Blume, WAB 64

History#

Bruckner composed the song on a text of Heinrich Heine on 5 December 1861. On request of his friend Alois Weinwurm, Bruckner composed the song for the opening concert of the Liedertafel Sängerbund. The piece was performed 10 days later under Bruckner’s baton in the of Linz by four soloists: Hermine and Wilhelmine Ritter, Heinrich Knoll and Ferdinand Hummel. The piece became a favourite of Sängerbund. Bruckner’s manuscript of 5 December 1861 (A-LIsakaWAB64) is stored in the archive of the city of Linz. Another undated work manuscript (Mus.Hs.3166) is stored in the archive of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek. A copy of this work manuscript was first published in Band III/2, pp. 193–196 of the Göllerich/Auer biography.

Text#

The song uses a text of Heinrich Heine’s (Book of Songs).

Music#

The 32-bar long work in F major is scored for SATB quartet.

Discography#

There are three recordings of the song: * Johannes Hiemetsberger, Chorus sine nomine, Romantik rediscovered - European choral gems of the 19th century – CD: Helbling C8352CD, 2017 * Reiner E. Moritz, Anton Bruckner - The making of a giant – BR: Arthaus Musik NTSSC, 2021 A recording of seven motets, and two Weltliche Chorwerke: Du bist wie eine Blume and the premiere of Vaterlandslied by Alexander Koller with Hard-Chor-Linz and the Linzer Sängerakademie, is together with the documentary. :NB: A live performance of the song can be heard on Youtube. * Calmus Ensemble, Bruckner Vocal - Du bist wie eine Blume, WAB 64 – Carus, 2023 – Original performance for voice quartet Note * A fragment, sung by the Chor der Singakademie Linz, can be heard from the 30th minute of the videofilm of Hans Conrad Fischer (1975). * A performance by Stephen Cleobury with the BBC Choir (2011) is put in the Bruckner Archive: Charter Oak COR-2178 (box of 2 CDs).

Sources#

• August Göllerich, Anton Bruckner. Ein Lebens- und Schaffens-Bild, – posthumous edited by Max Auer by G. Bosse, Regensburg, 1932
• Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XXIII/2: Weltliche Chorwerke (1843–1893), Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Angela Pachovsky and Anton Reinthaler (Editor), Vienna, 1989
• Cornelis van Zwol, Anton Bruckner 1824–1896 – Leven en werken, uitg. Thoth, Bussum, Netherlands, 2012.
• Uwe Harten, Anton Bruckner. Ein Handbuch. , Salzburg, 1996. .
• Crawford Howie, Anton Bruckner - A documentary biography, online revised edition

External links#

• Du bist wie eine Blume F-Dur, WAB 64 – Critical discography by Hans Roelofs
• Du bist wie eine Blume – Kentucky All-State Choir at the EKU Choral Day 2023 - EKU Center for the Arts (22 September 2023)
• Du bist wie eine Blume, WAB 64 – Leon Chu conducting the Choir of the Chinese University of Hong Kong - Live, Chung Chi Chapel, 18 April 2024
• Du bist wie eine Blume in an arrangement for String Orchestra and Choir – Andrés Uribe-Jimenéz conducting the Musikverein St. Pölten 1837 (2023)
• Clifford So conducts Bruckner – live performance of Du bist wie eine Blume by the students of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Chorus (2024)