' ("In April"),
WAB 75 is a
lied
In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...
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 .
History
Bruckner composed the
lied
In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...
on a text of
Emanuel Geibel during his stay in
Linz
Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846.
In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...
. He dedicated the lied to his pupil Helene Hofmann, Pauline Hofmann's younger sister.
[C. Howie, Chapter III, p. 117][C. van Zwol, pp. 717-718]
The date of composition is uncertain. It was originally supposed that the lied was composed in 1868.
Because it was dedicated to "Helene Hofmann", Angela Pachovsky put the date "before 18 September 1865" instead,
''i.e.'', before Helene's wedding with Heinrich Heissler.
The manuscript is lost, but a copy is stored in the archive of the
St. Florian Abbey.
In 1898 the work was issued by Bernhard Herzmansky by Doblinger.
The first performance occurred on 5 February 1903 by Gisela Seehofer in a concert of the ''Wiener Akademischer Wagner-Verein'',
[U. Harten, p. 210] during which Seehofer sung also Bruckner's
''Ave Maria'', WAB 7 and
''Wie bist du, Frühling, gut und treu''.
The song is issued in Band XXIII/1, No. 5 of the '.
[Gesamtausgabe – Lieder für Gesang und Klavier](_blank)
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Text
The song uses a text by Emanuel Geibel.
Music
The 60-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 work 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 ...
is scored for solo voice and piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
.
Discography
There are three recordings of ''Im April'':
* Robert Holzer (bass), Thomas Kerbl (piano), ''Anton Bruckner Lieder/Magnificat'' – CD: LIVA 046, 2011. NB: Transposed
In linear algebra, the transpose of a matrix is an operator which flips a matrix over its diagonal;
that is, it switches the row and column indices of the matrix by producing another matrix, often denoted by (among other notations).
The tr ...
in G major
G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor.
The G major scale is:
Notable compositi ...
.
* Ulf Bästlein (baritone), Sascha El Mouissi (piano), ''Ich blick’ in mein Herz und ich blick' in die Welt'' - CD Gramola 99136, 2017
* Elisabeth Wimmer (soprano), Daniel Linton-France (piano) in: ''Bruckner, Anton – Böck liest Bruckner II'' – CD Gramola 99237, 2020
References
Sources
* ''Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XXIII/1: Songs for voice and piano (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
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. .
* Crawford Howie, ''Anton Bruckner - A documentary biography'', online revised edition
External links
*
''Im April'' As-Dur, WAB 75
– Critical discography by Hans Roelofs
* A translation of Geibel's text is also available on The LiederNet Archive
* Robert Holzer's performance can also be heard on YouTube
A. Bruckner - ''Im April''
{{Authority control
Lieder by Anton Bruckner
1865 compositions
Compositions in A-flat major