The Two
Aequali,
WAB 114 & WAB 149, were 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 1847.
History
Bruckner composed the two ''Aequali'' in end January 1847 during his stay in
St. Florian Abbey. He composed them for the
funeral
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
of his aunt Rosalia Mayrhofer (1770–1847).
[C. van Zwol, pp. 702-703]
The manuscript of the first ''Aequale'' (WAB 114) is stored in the archive of the
Seitenstetten Abbey. The work was first published in band II/2, p. 83 of the Göllerich/Auer biography.
The sketch of the second ''Aequale'' was retrieved later in the archive of the
St. Florian Abbey.
[U. Harten, p. 45] In the sketch the part of the bass trombone is missing. It was then put as addendum (WAB 149) to the already issued WAB classification.
The two ''Aequali'' are issued in Band XXI/14 of the '.
Music
The two ''Aequali'' in C minor, with 34 and 27
bars, respectively, are score for alto, tenor and bass trombones. In the edition of the ' the missing part of the bass trombone of the second ''Aequale'' has been completed by Hans Bauernfeind.
The works are
choral
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
-sized with in WAB 114 a typical folklike melody in
sixths. Similar musical sets were later used in the so-called ' in Bruckner's later symphonies.
Selected discography
Bruckner's two ''Aequali'' are popular pieces for trombone ensembles and are also often put as additional pieces to recordings of choral works.
The first recording occurred in 1970:
* Members of the Berliner Posaunenquartett, ''Trombone Equale'' – LP: CBS SOCL 285 (only Aequale No. 1)
A selection among the about 50 recordings:
*
Matthew Best, Corydon Singers, English Chamber Orchestra Wind Ensemble, ''Mass in E minor; Libera me; Zwei Aequale'' – CD: Hyperion CDA66177, 1986
*
Philippe Herreweghe
Philippe Maria François Herreweghe, Knight Herreweghe (born 2 May 1947) is a Belgian conductor and choirmaster.
Herreweghe founded La Chapelle Royale and Collegium Vocale Gent and is renowned as a conductor, with a repertoire ranging from Rena ...
, la Chapelle Royale/Collegium Vocale, Ensemble Musique Oblique, ''Bruckner: Messe en mi mineur; Motets'' – CD: Harmonia Mundi France HMC 901322, 1989
*
Simon Halsey
Simon Halsey, CBE (born 8 March 1958) is an English choral conductor. He is the chorus director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus (CBSO Chorus), a position he has held since 1983, and has been chorus director of the London Symphony Chor ...
, CBSO Wind Ensemble & Chorus, ''Mass in E minor (No. 2) / Motets'' – CD: Conifer CDCF 192, 1990
* Robert Shewan, Roberts Wesleyan College Chorale & Brass Ensemble, ''Choral Works of Anton Bruckner'' – CD: Albany TROY 063, 1991
* Triton Posaunenquartett, ''German Music for Trombones'' – CD: Bis 500644, 1993
* Jonathan Brown,
Ealing Abbey Choir, '' Anton Bruckner: Sacred Motets'' – CD: Herald HAVPCD 213, 1997
*
Hans-Christoph Rademann,
NDR Chor
The NDR Chor (North German Radio Choir) is the choir of the German broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), based in Hamburg. It was founded in 1946, with Max Thurn as the first director of then 55 singers. The group has participated in premiere ...
Hamburg, ''Anton Bruckner: Ave Maria'' – CD: Carus 83.151, 2000
*
Erwin Ortner
Erwin Ortner (born 15 December 1947, in Vienna) is an Austrian conductor, especially of vocal music. He is the founder and artistic director of the Arnold Schoenberg Chor.
References
External links
*
*
Erwin OrtnerArnold Schoenberg Chor
...
,
Arnold Schoenberg Chor
The Arnold Schoenberg Choir (german: Arnold Schoenberg Chor) is a Viennese/Austrian choir which was founded 1972 by Erwin Ortner, who is still its artistic director. The choir has a high reputation both among conductors and among critics and the ...
, ''Anton Bruckner: Tantum ergo'' – CD: ASC Edition 3, issue of the choir, 2008
* Wiener Posaunenquartett, ''Bach & Bruckner'' - CD: Schagerl Records, 2009
* Duncan Ferguson,
Choir of St. Mary's Cathedral of Edinburgh, ''Bruckner: Motets '' – CD: Delphian Records DCD34071, 2010
*
Nigel Short
Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English chess grandmaster, columnist, coach, and commentator, who is the vice-president of FIDE since October 2018. Short earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 19, and was ranked third in the w ...
,
Tenebrae
Tenebrae (—Latin for "darkness") is a religious service of Western Christianity held during the three days preceding Easter Day, and characterized by gradual extinguishing of candles, and by a "strepitus" or "loud noise" taking place in total ...
, ''Brahms & Bruckner Motets'' – CD: Signums Classics SIGCD430, 2015
Some recordings use completions of the score of the bass trombone of the second Aequale, that are not based on that by Hans Bauernfeind. According to Hans Roelofs, the best recording is that by Halsey. Other excellent recordings are those by Best, Herreweghe, Ortner, Rademann and Short.
Hans Roelofs, discograpy of the two Aequali
/ref>
See also
* Aequale
* Drei Equale für vier Posaunen, by Beethoven
References
Sources
* 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. .
* 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 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.
External links
*
*
Zwei Aequale c-Moll für 3 Posaunen
Critical discography by Hans Roelofs
* Live performances can be heard on YouTube:
** Collegium Musicum of Munich (6 February 2011)
Aequale I, WAB 114
an
Aequale II, WAB 149
** Chamber Music on the Fox (26 February 2018)
Aequale I, WAB 114
an
Aequale II, WAB 149
** Recordings in the Sankt Florian Abbey
Aequale No. 1Aequale No. 2
- Bass trombone score of Aequale No. 2 reconstructed by James Justin Kent
** Recordings by members of the trombone section of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Aequale No. 1Aequale No. 2
- Aequale No. 1 using the Göllerich's score; bass trombone score of Aequale No. 2 by unknown author
{{Authority control
1847 compositions
Motets by Anton Bruckner
Compositions in C minor
Compositions for trombone