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).