(At midnight), WAB 89, is a

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

composed by

Anton Bruckner Joseph Anton Bruckner (; ; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer and organist best known for his Symphonies by Anton Bruckner, symphonies and sacred music, which includes List of masses by Anton Bruckner, Masses, Te Deum (Br ...

in 1864.

History

Bruckner composed the song on a text of Robert Prutz on 12 April 1864, for the Linz Liedertafel ''Sängerbund'' (the rival of Liedertafel ''Frohsinn''). The piece was performed on 11 December 1864 by ''Sängerbund'' in the ''Redoutensaal'' under Bruckner's baton.C. van Zwol, p. 724C. Howie, Chapter III, p.88 The work, of which the original manuscript is stored in the ''

Österreichische Nationalbibliothek The Austrian National Library (, ) 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 Vienna. Since 2005, some of the collection ...

'',U. Harten, p. 454 was first issued by Viktor Keldorfer (

Universal Edition Universal Edition (UE) is an Austrian classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, it originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market. The firm soon expanded to become one of t ...

) in 1911, together with the other setting ( ''Um Mitternacht'', WAB 90) and the other "midnight-song" ''Mitternacht'', WAB 80. It is issued in Band XXIII/2, No. 17 of the .Gesamtausgabe – Weltliche Chöre
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Text

''Um Mitternacht'' uses a text by Robert Prutz.

Music

The 56-

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

long work in

F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp ...

is scored for choir, alto soloist and piano. In strophe 1 the F-minor key forms the mystic background, from which the men's choir, accompanied by

pedal point In music, a pedal point (also pedal note, organ point, pedal tone, or pedal) is a sustained Musical note, tone, typically in the bass note, bass, during which at least one foreign (i.e. consonance and dissonance, dissonant) harmony is sounded in ...

s and

unison Unison (stylised as UNISON) is a Great Britain, British trade union. Along with Unite the Union, Unite, Unison is one of the two largest trade unions in the United Kingdom, with over 1.2 million members who work predominantly in public servic ...

lines of the piano, emerges in

open fifth In music theory, a perfect fifth is the musical interval corresponding to a pair of pitches with a frequency ratio of 3:2, or very nearly so. In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is the interval from the first to the last of the ...

s. Strophes 2 and 3 are sung by the alto soloist with accompaniment of the choir. In strophe 4 the melody of strophe 1 is sung again by the choir and the soloist. Bars 14-16 (end of strophe 1) and 27-34 (strophe 3) are sung ''a cappella''. The song is ending pianissimo with the piano alone. In the first issue of 1911, Keldorfer wrote "" (The enchantment of the poetry of the moonlight has apparently captivated fully Bruckners sensible nature. In the ban of such dreamily mystic feelings he composed three 'midnight-choirs').

Discography

, WAB 89, is one of the most popular Bruckner's ''Weltliche Chorwerke''. The first recording of , WAB 89, was by Robert Kühbacher with the

Wiener Sängerknaben The Vienna Boys' Choir () is a choir of boy sopranos and altos based in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the best known boys' choirs in the world. The boys are selected mainly from Austria, but also from many other countries. The choir is a private ...

and Robert Kühbacher (Piano) in 1955 – LP: Philips N 00726 R A selection of the about 10 other recordings: * Hubert Günther, Ingrid Günther (alto), Männergesangverein Concordia Hamm, Willy Nölling (piano), ''Musik im Schloss'' – LP: Garnet G 40 107, c. 1976 *

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 ...

, Julia Bernheimer (alto),

Chorus Viennensis Chorus Viennensis is a male choir associated with the Vienna Boys Choir. It was founded in 1952. The choir has won the Grand Prix du Disque Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor ...

, Walter Lochmann (piano), ''Musik, du himmlisches Gebilde!'' – CD: ORF CD 73, 1995 * Thomas Kerbl, Katrin Wundsam (alto), Männerchorvereinigung Bruckner 08, Mariko Onishi (piano), ''Anton Bruckner – Männerchöre'' – CD: LIVA027, 2008 * Jan Schumacher,

Alison Browner Alison Margaret Browner (born 22 September 1957) is an Irish mezzo-soprano opera singer. Life Born in Dublin, Ireland, Browner graduated in Music at Trinity College with a Bachelor of Arts while she also studied singing and violin at the Colle ...

(mezzo-soprano), Camerata Musica Limburg, Andreas Frese (piano) ''Serenade. Songs of night and love'' – CD: Genuin GEN 12224, 2011 * Markus Stumpner, ''Erinnerung - Bruckner in St. Florian'', Sankt Florianer Sängerknaben – CD : Solo Musica SM 450, 2024

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 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

*
''Um Mitternacht'' f-Moll, WAB 89
– Critical discography by Hans Roelofs * Can be heard on YouTube: ** The performance by the

(1955)
''Um Mitternacht'' (WAB 89)
** A performance by Esteban Urzelai with the Suhar Choir
''Um Mitternacht'' (WAB 89)
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Um Mitternacht'', WAB 89 Weltliche Chorwerke by Anton Bruckner 1864 compositions Compositions in F minor