Frühlingslied, WAB 68

History#

Bruckner composed the lied on a text of Heinrich Heine in 1851 for “the name-day of a blossoming spring rose” (), Bruckner’s 16-year old pupil Aloisia Bogner, for whom he also composed Der Mondabend and the piano works Lancier-Quadrille, WAB 120, and Steiermärker, WAB 122. The manuscript is stored in the archive of the of Linz.

Text#

Frühlingslied is based on a text by Heinrich Heine, with one minor change:

Music#

The 24-bar long work in A major is scored for solo voice and piano. This easy composition displays no relationship with Mendelssohn’s Frühlingslied. The voice score is conducted cantabile, and the piano accompaniment uses a continuous figuration.

Discography#

There are two recordings of Frühlingslied: * Robert Holzer (bass), Thomas Kerbl (piano), Anton Bruckner Lieder/Magnificat – CD: LIVA 046, 2011. NB: Transposed in F major. * Elisabeth Wimmer (soprano), Daniel Linton-France (piano) in “Bruckner, Anton – Böck liest Bruckner I” – CD – Gramola 99195, 3 October 2018

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/1: Lieder für Gesang und Klavier (1851–1882), Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Angela Pachovsky (Editor), Vienna, 1997
• 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#

• Frühlingslied A-Dur, 1851 - WAB 68 – Critical discography by Hans Roelofs
• Heine’s original text with an English translation is available on The LiederNet Archive: Sweet chimes are softly filling my soul
• Rüdiger Büll, Ulrike Zeitler (piano) - Frühlingslied, WAB 68, October 2024: Frühlingslied, WAB 68, and Im April, WAB 75