Kronstorfer Messe

History#

Bruckner composed the Kronstorfer Messe, WAB 146, in 1843–1844, while he was a schoolteacher’s assistant in Kronstorf. This Choral-Messe in D minor for mixed choir a cappella was presumably intended for the Lenten season. The work, the manuscript of which was archived in the St. Florian Monastery, was premiered by Augustinus Franz Kropfreiter on 1 December 1974 in the church of the monastery. The work is put in Band XXI/41 of the .

Setting#

The work is divided into four parts: # Kyrie - Adagio, D minor # Sanctus - Adagio, B-flat major # Benedictus - Andante, F major # Agnus Dei - Adagio, F major Total duration: about 5 minutes. This Missa brevis, also called , exhibits relationships to Palestrina’s style. The mass survives only in a fragmentary state, without Credo. The manuscript, with, on the front page, an autograph indication “Sine Gloria”, contains two blank pages with an autograph indication that they were to contain a Credo in F major. Alike the contemporaneous Asperges me in F major (WAB 4), the Agnus Dei in F major contains audacious modulations.

Note#

The Sanctus is re-used in a slightly modified setting for that of the next Messe für den Gründonnerstag.

Discography#

There are two recordings of the Mass: *Jussi Kauranen, Pirkanpojat boys’ choir, Tampere (Finland), Tuhansin Kielin – CD PPCD 02, edited by the choir, 1998 *Sigvards Klava, Latvian Radio Choir, Bruckner: Latin Motets – CD Ondine OD 1362, 2019

Sources#

• Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XXI: Kleine Kirchenmusikwerke, Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Hans Bauernfeind and Leopold Nowak (Editor), Vienna, 1984/2001
• Uwe Harten, Anton Bruckner. Ein Handbuch. , Salzburg, 1996. .
• James Garrat, Palestrina and the German Romantic Imagination, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2004.
• John Williamson, The Cambridge Companion to Bruckner, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2004.
• Cornelis van Zwol, Anton Bruckner – Leven en Werken, Uit. Thot, Bussum, NL, 2012.

External links#

• Messe ohne Gloria und Credo / Kronstorfer Messe, d-mol WAB 146 Critical discography by Hans Roelofs
• Smaller sacred works (1835–1892) Gesamtausgabe – Volume XXI
• Live performances of the Kronstorfer Messe:
• Michael Stenov with the Cantores Carmeli (13 April 2017): Anton Bruckner – Kronstorfer Messe WAB 146, etc.
• Repina Siyana with the Choir Aeternitas (2022): Хор Aeternitas - Kronstorfer Messe
• Raffaella Benori with the Ensemble vocale de’ Medici (5 March 2022): A. Bruckner - Messe in D ohne Gloria und Credo – with organ colla parte
• John James with the Cerddorion Vocal Ensemble (3 March 2024): In Praise of Palestrina, Stanford and Bruckner – Kyrie at 1:10, Sanctus, Benedictus & Agnus Dei at 21:20