' ("The noble heart"), WAB 66, is a song 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 December 1857 during his stay in Linz. During his stay in St. Florian, Bruckner had already composed a first setting of the song for men's choir, WAB 65.

History

Bruckner composed the second setting of the work on the same text of Ernst Marinelli in December 1857 during his stay in Linz. It is not known whether the work, which was composed possibly on request of Liedertafel ''Frohsinn'' for a performance as mixed choir,C. van Zwol, p. 723 was performed during Bruckner's life.U. Harten, p. 141 The original manuscript of the work is lost. A sketch of the work is stored in the archive of Enns. The work, of which a copy was issued in Band III/2, pp. 13-17, of the Göllerich/Auer biography, is issued in Band XXIII/2, No. 12 of the '.Gesamtausgabe – Weltliche Chöre
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Music

The second stetting of ''Das edle Herz'' is in the same key and is 8- bars shorter than the first setting of the song. The 38-bar long work in is scored in

A major A major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The key of A major is the only k ...

for choir. The score ends with a 4-bar, instead of 13-bar, chorale.

Discography

There is a single commercial recording of this second setting of ''Das edle Herz'': * Calmus Ensemble, ''Bruckner Vocal - Das edle Herz, WAB 66'' – Carus, 2023 Note: A performance by Stephen Cleobury with the BBC Choir (2011) is put in the Bruckner Archive: Charter Oak COR-2178 (box of 2 CDs).The Bruckner Archive
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References

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

*
''Das edle Herz'' A-Dur, WAB 66
– Critical discography by Hans Roelofs {{DEFAULTSORT:Edle herz, Das Weltliche Chorwerke by Anton Bruckner 1857 compositions Compositions in A major