| Ave Regina caelorum | |
| Composer: | Anton Bruckner |
| Key: | Gregorian mode |
| Catalogue: | WAB 8 |
| Type: | Motet |
| Form: | Marian Antiphon |
| Text: | Ave Regina caelorum |
| Language: | Latin |
| Vocal: | Voice(s) |
| Instrumental: | Organ |
Latin: Ave Regina caelorum (Hail, Queen of Heaven), WAB 8, is a motet composed by Anton Bruckner in .
The motet was composed in on request of Ferdinand Schölzig, Master of novices at the Klosterneuburg Abbey. The Marian antiphon was performed first on 25 March 1886 (Feast of the Annunciation).
Bruckner's manuscript is stored in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek. The motet was first published in 1910 in the third yearbook of the Klosterneuburg Abbey. It has been re-edited by Wöss in 1921 together with the Zur Vermählungsfeier, WAB 54.[1] It is put in Band XXI/36 of the German: Gesamtausgabe.[2]
The Bruckner's compostition is a not a mere harmonisation of a Gregorian antiphon, but rather a choral paraphrase of the Ave Regina caelorum for voice(s) and organ[3] or, according to Leopold Nowak, an original composition by Bruckner in Gregorian style.[4]
None of the about ten recordings faithfully follows Bruckner's original score. According to Hans Roelofs, only two of the recordings follow it more or less:[5]