(At midnight), WAB 90, 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 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 ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

). 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 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 orchestras or ...

.U. Harten, pp. 454-455C. van Zwol, p. 729 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 ...

'', was issued in the same year by the '' Strassburger Sängerhaus'', and thereafter (1911) 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 ...

), 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
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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 * 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 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 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 ...

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 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. .

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