' (Hail Mary),
WAB 7, is a setting of the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
prayer
Ave Maria
The Hail Mary ( la, Ave Maria) is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary (the Annunciation) and Mary's s ...
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 ...
.
History
When staying in
Wels
Wels (; Central Bavarian: ''Wös'') is a city in Upper Austria, on the Traun River near Linz. It is the county seat of Wels-Land, and with a population of approximately 60,000, the eighth largest city in Austria.
Geography
Wels is in the H ...
during the summer of 1881 Bruckner met Luise Hochleitner, a singer with a beautiful
alto
The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...
voice.
[C. van Zwol, p. 269] Bruckner promised to dedicate to her an ''Ave Maria''. The work, which was composed on 5 February 1882, —almost 20 years after his
more famous motet— is for alto (or
baritone
A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...
) solo voice and keyboard (organ, piano or
harmonium
The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...
).
The original manuscript is lost, but there are fair copies of it at the ''
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek
The Austrian National Library (german: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in center of Vi ...
'' and the Abbey of
Kremsmünster
Kremsmünster is a town in Kirchdorf an der Krems District, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Settled in 777, it is home to the Kremsmünster Abbey.
The Abbey was founded 777 by Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria and is one of the oldest abbeys of ...
. The work was published in 1902 as an appendix to No. 13 of the ''Neue Musikzeitung'',
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
.
[C. van Zwol, p. 707] The first public performance occurred during a concert of the ''Wiener Akademischer Wagner-Verein'' on 5 February 1903 by Gisella Seehofer, who then also premiered Bruckner's
''Wie bist du, Frühling, gut und treu'' and
''Im April''.
[C. van Zwol, p. 718] The motet is put in Band XXI/29 of the '.
Gesamtausgabe - Kleine Kirchenmusikwerke
/ref>
Setting
The 81-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 ...
demanding work, scored in F major
F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor
F minor is a minor scale based on F, consis ...
, requires a singer with a two-octave
In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...
broad tessitura
In music, tessitura (, pl. ''tessiture'', "texture"; ) is the most acceptable and comfortable vocal range for a given singer or less frequently, musical instrument, the range in which a given type of voice presents its best-sounding (or character ...
.
Like the two earlier settings of ''Ave Maria'', the name ''Jesus'' is sung thrice (bars 23–31).interlude
Interlude may refer to:
*a short play or, in general, any representation between parts of a larger stage production
*''Entr'acte'', a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production
*a section in a movement of a musical piece, se ...
(bars 32–38) and goes then on with the second part (''Sancta Maria''), which quotes the 20-year earlier setting.pianissimo
In music, the dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings still require interpretation by the performer dependin ...
'' in unison
In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm.
Definition
Unison or per ...
. After a repeat of ''Sancta Maria'', it is ending by a two-octave descending arpeggio
A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves.
An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...
on ''Amen'' (from F5 to F3) and a short instrumental postlude (bars 76–81).
Selected discography
The first recording was:
* Ingrid Günther (alto), Herbert Günther (BRT-Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester), ''Bruckner – Missa Solemnis in B'' – LP: Garnet G 40 170, c. 1980
In the majority of the about 20 recordings the singer is skipping the lower octave of the ''Amen''. A selection among the few recordings, in which the singer is doing it faithfully:
* Anne-Marie Owens (mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...
), Peter King (organ), ''Mass No. 2 / Motets'' (Simon Halsey) – CD: Conifer CDCF 192, 1990
* Peter Matuszek (baritone), Vladimir Roubal (organ), ''Canti Sacri'' – CD: Rosa RD 151-2, 1994
* Sigrid Hagmüller (alto), Rupert Gottfried Frieberger (organ), ''Anton Bruckner – Oberösterreichische Kirchenmusik'' – CD: Fabian Records CD 5112, 1995
* Vera Ilieva (mezzo-soprano; transposed to A-flat major
A-flat major (or the key of A-flat) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has four flats.
The A-flat major scale is:
:
Its relative minor is F minor. Its parallel minor, A-flat minor, ...
), Burkhard Pütz (organ), ''Ave Maria'' – CD: CSD 100 057, 1999
References
Sources
* ''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.
* Uwe Harten
Uwe Harten (born 16 August 1944) is a German musicologist, who works in Austria.
Life
Born in , Harten grew up in Hamburg, where he was a boy soprano at the Staatsoper. He took over the roles of a child. In Hamburg he also began his studies of ...
, ''Anton Bruckner. Ein Handbuch''. , Salzburg, 1996. .
External links
*
Ave Maria F-Dur, WAB 7 (1856)
Critical discography by Hans Roelofs
* The following live performances can be heard on YouTube:
** Ulrike Martin (alto), Frederik Blum (piano), 2008
''Ave Maria'', WAB 7
** Ewa Mikulska (alto), Andrzej Mikulski (organ), 2011
''Ave Maria'', WAB 7
** Tatiana Rubinskaya (mezzo-soprano), Anasyasiya Sidelnikova (organ), 2012
''Ave Maria'', WAB 7
** Martha Swiderska (mezzo-soprano) with string quartet accompaniment, 2013
''Ave Maria'', WAB 7
** Martina Hübner (alto), Angela Amodio (organ), 2019
''Ave Maria'', WAB 7
{{Authority control
1882 compositions
Motets by Anton Bruckner
Compositions in F major