Josef Anton Bruckner (1824 – 1896) was an Austrian
composer and organist best known for his symphonies and
sacred music, which includes Masses, Te Deum and
motets. The symphonies are considered emblematic of the
final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of
their rich harmonic language, strongly polyphonic
character, and considerable length. His compositions
helped to define contemporary musical radicalism, owing
to their dissonances, unprepared modulations, and
roving harmonies.
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Josef Anton Bruckner (1824 – 1896) was an Austrian
composer and organist best known for his symphonies and
sacred music, which includes Masses, Te Deum and
motets. The symphonies are considered emblematic of the
final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of
their rich harmonic language, strongly polyphonic
character, and considerable length. His compositions
helped to define contemporary musical radicalism, owing
to their dissonances, unprepared modulations, and
roving harmonies.
Unlike other musical radicals such as Richard Wagner
and Hugo Wolf, Bruckner showed respect, even humility,
before other famous musicians, Wagner in particular.
This apparent dichotomy between Bruckner the man and
Bruckner the composer hampers efforts to describe his
life in a way that gives a straightforward context for
his music. Hans von Bülow described him as "half
genius, half simpleton". Bruckner was critical of his
own work and often reworked his compositions. There are
several versions of many of his works.
His works, the symphonies in particular, had
detractors, most notably the influential Austrian
critic Eduard Hanslick and other supporters of Johannes
Brahms, who pointed to their large size and use of
repetition, as well as to Bruckner's propensity for
revising many of his works, often with the assistance
of colleagues, and his apparent indecision about which
versions he preferred. On the other hand, Bruckner was
greatly admired by subsequent composers, including his
friend Gustav Mahler.
Bruckner's Psalm 22, WAB 34, is a setting of a German
version of Psalm 23, which was psalm 22 in the Vulgata.
Amongst the five psalm settings composed by Bruckner,
Psalm 22 is the only one with piano accompaniment. The
work was composed in circa 1852 in St. Florian, but it
is unknown when it was performed at that time. The
manuscript is stored in the archive of the St. Florian
monastery. The first known performance occurred on 11
October 1921 in St. Florian by Franz Xaver Müller. It
was first published in Band II/2, pp. 119–130 of the
Göllerich/Auer biography. It was edited by Paul
Hawkshaw in 1997 in Band XX/2 of the Gesamtausgabe.
The 131-bar work in E-flat major is scored for SATB
choir and soloists, and piano. The setting of the first
part is in general homophone, with a few imitations on
"So will ich nichts Übles fürchten", "Du has bereitet
einen Tisch", "wie herrlich ist er!" and "Und deine
Barmherzigkeit". As in Bruckner's contemporaneous
Magnificat the verses are sung as an Arioso
alternatingly by the choir and the soloists. From bar
43 onwards, the last verse is sung by the choir as a
fugue, which evolves, on bar 115, in an ending a
cappella Chorale.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalm_22_(Bruckner)).
Although originally created for Chorus (SATB) & Piano,
I created this Interpretation of the "Der Herr ist Hirt
und Versorger" (The Lord is shepherd and caregiver WAB
34) in Eb Major for Winds (Flute, Oboe, French Horn &
Bassoon) & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).
PARTITION