Josef Anton Bruckner (1824 – 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-German Romanticism because of their rich
harmonic language, strongly polyphonic character, and
considerable length. Bruckner's compositions helped to
define contemporary musical radicalism, owing to their
dissonances, unprepared modulations, and roving
harmonies.
Ecce sacerd...(+)
Josef Anton Bruckner (1824 – 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-German Romanticism because of their rich
harmonic language, strongly polyphonic character, and
considerable length. Bruckner's compositions helped to
define contemporary musical radicalism, owing to their
dissonances, unprepared modulations, and roving
harmonies.
Ecce sacerdos magnus (Behold a great priest), WAB 13,
is an 1885 sacred motet by the Austrian composer Anton
Bruckner. It is a musical setting of the antiphon of
the same title. This work was composed at the request
of Johann Burgstaller, to be performed at the Linz
Cathedral on the 100th anniversary of the founding of
the diocese. It was completed by 28 April 1885 and sent
to Burgstaller in mid-May. However, the work was not
performed at that event, nor at any other event in
Bruckner's lifetime. The work, the manuscrit of which
is archived at the Wiener Männer-Sangverein, was
edited by Viktor Keldorfer (Universal Edition) in
1911,. It was premiered on 21 November 1921 by the
Vöcklabruck women's choral society.
The antiphon, which was intended as processional music
for the entrance of the bishop into the cathedral, was
thus designed to be "majestic" and "ceremonial" in
character. The work's "most enthralling feature" is
"the antiphonal writing of Gabrielian grandeur" in bars
64–66. Kinder calls the piece "one of Bruckner's
crowning achievements in the small forms" and "a work
of almost barbaric intensity".
The trombones, which usually double the low voices,
occasionally adopt independent lines. The ritornello on
the words "Ideo jurejurando" is expanded and contrasted
with episodes "that seem to trace the evolution of
church music" in their varied use of texture. In
contrast, the harmonic structure is more reflective of
Bruckner's own compositional style. The piece includes
several references to Bruckner's 1854 Libera me,
particularly in the harmonic writing.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecce_sacerdos_magnus_(Br
uckner))
Although originally composed for Mixed Chorus
(SSAATTBB), 3 Trombones & Organ, I created this
arrangement of the Ecce sacerdos magnus (WAB 13) for
Winds (Flute, Oboe, French Horn & Bassoon) and Strings
(2 Violins, Viola & Cello).