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.

Libera me ("Deliver me"), WAB 22, is the second of two settings of the absoute Libera me, composed by Anton Bruckner in 1854. He composed the motet during his stay in Sankt Florian for the absoute of the funeral of prelate Michael Arneth. The original manuscript is lost, but several copies of it are found in the archive of the St. Florian Abbey, the Kremsmünster Abbey and the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek. The motet was first published in an appendix of band 7-10 of Musica divina, Vienna, 1922. It is put in Band XXI/17 of the Gesamtausgabe.

The in total 94-bar work in F minor is scored for SSATB choir, 3 trombones and figured bass (organ, cello and double bass). It is in five parts, separated by cadences on the responses Quando cœli and Dum veneris: (1) Libera me, Domine: homophonic, 18 bars, ending pianissimo on per ignem with a bare fifth, (2) Tremens fac: five-voice fugato, 23 bars, ending in homophonic fortissimo on Quando cœli, (3) Dies illa: 25 bars, in canon, with a variety of imitative textures, ending in homophonic fortissimo on Dum veneris, (4) Requiem aeternam: 10 bars, a chorale sustained by the trombones, and (5) First part da capo

Part 3 contains dissonances similar to those found in the Agnus Dei of the later Mass in E minor. Apart from its significance as a precursor to Bruckner's mature style, the F minor Libera me is effective on its own terms. The music is heartfelt and profound, and is a gracious, if rather austere, rendering of the text.

Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libera_me,_WAB_22).

Although originally created for Mixed Chorus (SSATB), 3 Trombones, Cello, Bass & Organ, I created this Interpretation of "Libera me II" ("Deliver me" WAB 22) in F Minor for Winds (Flute, Oboe, French Horn & Bassoon) & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).