(At midnight),
WAB 90, 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 1886 on a text of Robert Prutz. About twenty years earlier Bruckner had already composed a
song on the same text.
History
Bruckner composed the song on a text of Robert Prutz on 11 February 1886, for the (Men's singing association of
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: StraĂźburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
). The piece was performed on 15 April 1886 by the Liedertafel ''Frohsinn'' in the . Because of performance difficulties (
humming voices and many
modulations), the choir was enhanced by a
harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...
.
[U. Harten, pp. 454-455][C. van Zwol, p. 729]
The work, of which the original manuscript is stored in the ''
Ă–sterreichische Nationalbibliothek'', was issued in the same year by the ''
Strassburger Sängerhaus'', and thereafter (1911) by
Viktor Keldorfer Viktor Josef Keldorfer (14 April 1873 – 28 January 1959) was an Austrian conductor of male voice choirs, in particular from 1922 to 1954 of the ''Wiener Schubertbund'', and was a chairman of choir associations.
Life
Keldorfer was born in Salzbur ...
(
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 ...
), together with the other setting (
''Um Mitternacht'', WAB 89) and the other "midnight-song"
''Mitternacht'', WAB 80.
It is issued in Band XXIII/2, No. 33 of the .
[Gesamtausgabe – Weltliche Chöre](_blank)
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Music
The song is using the text by Robert Prutz, which Bruckner had already used for ''Um Mitternacht'', WAB 89.
The 93-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 F minor is scored for choir and tenor soloist. Strophe 1 is sung by the choir. Strophe 2 (, bar 31) and strophe 3 are sung by the tenor soloist with accompaniment of humming voices. Strophe 4 (, bar 58) is sung by the choir.
Discography
''Um Mitternacht'', WAB 90, is less popular than the previous setting WAB 89. A selection among the few recordings:
* Guido Mancusi
Guido Mancusi (born 14 June 1966) is an Austrian-Italian conductor and composer.
Life
Born in Portici near Naples, Mancusi was the son of the Neapolitan conductor Enrico Mancusi and the Viennese singing teacher Ines Mancusi and grew up in Naples ...
, Chorus Viennensis, Herbert Lippert
Herbert Lippert (born 7 October 1957) is an Austrian operatic tenor.
Life
Born in Linz, Lippert was a soloist with the Vienna Boys' Choir, studied music teaching at the University of Vienna and graduated with distinction. As a member of the ense ...
(tenor), ''Musik, du himmlisches Gebilde!'' – CD: ORF CD 73, 1995
* Thomas Kerbl, Männerchorvereinigung, ''Weltliche Männerchöre'' – CD: LIVA054, 2012
References
Sources
* ''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. .
External links
''Um Mitternacht'' f-Moll, WAB 90
– Critical discography by Hans Roelofs
* .
* The recording by the Männerchorvereinigung Bruckner 12 can be heard on YouTube
''Um Mitternacht'', WAB 90
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Um Mitternacht'', WAB 90
Weltliche Chorwerke by Anton Bruckner
1886 compositions
Compositions in F minor