' (At the grave), WAB 2, is an

elegy An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...

composed by

Anton Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germ ...

in 1861, for men's voices a capella.

History

''Am Grabe'' is a revised ''a cappella'' setting of the elegy '' Vor Arneths Grab'', WAB 53. The elegy was performed on the funeral of Josephine Hafferl on 11 February 1861. The original manuscript is stored in the archive of the Liedertafel ''Frohsinn''.C. van Zwol, p. 723 The song, which was edited first by Wöß,

Universal Edition Universal Edition (UE) is a classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, they originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market (which had until then been dominated by Leipzig-base ...

, in 1924, is put in Band XXIII/2, No. 13 of the '.Gesamtausgabe – Weltliche Chöre
/ref> In addition, an autograph slight revision of the song has been found on an undated copy of the manuscript (Mus.Hs. 2104).

Music

The 21-

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

-long, a cappella setting discarded the fourth strophe of Marinelli's text. The voice score of the first two strophes (bars 1-8) is almost identical to that of ''Vor Arneths Grab''. The score of the third strophe is 5 bars longer. From bar 15 the score is different and ends at bars 19-21 alike bars 26-28 of the original setting. A score with another text by

Gottfried Grote Gottfried Grote (15 May 1903 – July 1976) was a German church musician. Born in Oberfrohna, Grote was from 1926 to 1935 organist and choir director of the Bach-Verein (Bach association) in Wuppertal, which later was named ''Wupperfelder Kantorei ...

has been issued by

Schott Music Schott Music () is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe, and is the second oldest music publisher after Breitkopf & Härtel. The company headquarters of Schott Music were fou ...

in 1961. There is also an arrangement by Jeff Reynolds for 4-part trombone ensemble (with optional contrabass trombone part).

Discography

There is only one recording of the full setting of ''Am Grabe'': * Łukasz Borowicz, ''Anton Bruckner: Requiem'', RIAS Kammerchor Berlin, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin – CD: Accentus ACC30474, 2019 - revised version (Cohrs edition, based on manuscript Mus.Hs. 2104). NB: On CD LIVA 027,Thomas Kerbl, Chorvereinigung Bruckner 08, ''Anton Bruckner Männerchöre'' – CD : LIVA 027, 2008 only the first two strophes were recorded.

References

Sources

August Göllerich August Göllerich (2 July 185916 March 1923) was an Austrian pianist, conductor, music educator and music writer. He studied the piano with Franz Liszt, who made him also his secretary and companion on concert tours. Göllerich is known for study ...

, ''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. * Crawford Howie, ''Anton Bruckner - A documentary biography'', online revised edition

External links

* *
Am Grabe f-Moll, WAB 2
Critical discography by Hans Roelofs * Live performances on Youtube: ** Norihiko Inada with the Wagner Society Male Choir of Japan, 11 December 1988
''Am Grabe'', WAB 2
- using Gottfried Grote's text ** M. A. García de Paz with the Choir of the

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S.A. (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española or RTVE, is the state-owned public corporation that assumed in 2007 the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service know ...

, 4 September 2022: ''Am Grabe'' at the 30th minute o
Ciclo de Música Religiosa - Brahms, Mendelssohn, Rheinberger and Bruckner
- using Marinelli's original text ** New York Polyphony, 4 August 2023: ''Am Grabe'' at 1:00:02 o
'Glimpses of Beauty' - Festspiel Europaische Krchenmusik, Johanniskirche, Schwäbische Gmünd
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Am Grabe'', WAB 2 Weltliche Chorwerke by Anton Bruckner 1861 compositions Compositions in F minor