List of piano compositions by Anton Bruckner explained

Anton Bruckner composed about fifty small piano works, the earliest in 1850, the last in 1868.

Works for piano for two hands

Seven works are edited in Band XII/2 of the Bruckner's German: Gesamtausgabe.^[1] These works were mainly composed for his piano pupils during his stay in St. Florian (1845–1855) and in Linz (1855–1868).^[2]

• Four Lancier-Quadrille, WAB 120, in C major, compiled in from melodies from Albert Lortzing's Der Wildschütz and Zar und Zimmermann, and Gaetano Donizetti's La fille du régiment,^[3] as exercise for his piano pupil Aloisia Bogner:^[4] German: Gesamtausgabe, Band XII/2, No. 1^{[5] [6]}
• German: Steiermärker (From Steiermark), WAB 122, a 32-bar long piece in G major, composed also in for Aloisia Bogner:^[4] German: Gesamtausgabe, Band XII/2, No. 2^[5] It is a kind of stylised Ländler in A-B-C-A form.^[6]
• German: Klavierstück, WAB 119, an 18-bar long "piece for piano" in E-flat major, composed in for teaching purpose: German: Gesamtausgabe, Band XII/2, No. 3^{[5] [7] [8]}
• German: Sonatensatz, WAB 243, a 194-bar long first "movement of a sonata" in G minor, found on pp. 157–164 of the German: [[Kitzler-Studienbuch]]: German: Gesamtausgabe, Band XII/2, No. 7 (Addendum). The partially missing score for the left hand has been completed by Walburga Litschauer.^{[9] [10]}
• German: Stille Betrachtung an einem Herbstabend (Quiet meditation on an autumn evening), WAB 123, a 58-bar long piece in F-sharp minor. A paraphrase of Mendelssohn's Lied ohne Worte opus 30, No. 6, which Bruckner composed on 10 October 1863 for Emma Thanner: German: Gesamtausgabe, Band XII/2, No. 4^{[7] [11]}
• Fantasie, WAB 118, a 119-bar long, two-part "fantasia" in G major composed on 10 September 1868 for Alexandrine Soika: German: Gesamtausgabe, Band XII/2, No. 5^{[7] [9]}
• German: Erinnerung (Remembrance), WAB 117, a 52-bar long piece in A-flat major composed in : German: Gesamtausgabe, Band XII/2, No. 6^{[9] [12]}

Piano works composed during Kitzler's tuition

About fifty other piano works, which Bruckner composed in 1862 during Kitzler's tuition,^[13] are found in the Kitzler-Studienbuch:^{[14] [15]} A not exhaustive list:

Works for piano for four hands

• Drei kleine Stücke, WAB 124, three easy pieces (G major, G major and F major), composed in 1853, 1854 and 1855 for the children of Josef Marböck, to be played on their father's birthday: German: Gesamtausgabe, Band XII/3, No. 1^[9]
• Quadrille, WAB 121, composed in for Marie Ruckensteiner German: Gesamtausgabe, Band XII/3, No. 2.^[16] It consists of six parts: Pantalon (A major), Été (D major), Poule (A major), Trénis (F major), Pastourelle (D minor) and Finale (E major). An Straussian orchestration of the piece by Wolfgang Dörner (*1959) was premiered by Christian Thielemann during the 2024 New Year's Concert.^{[17] [18]}

Selected discography

There are about 10 recordings of Erinnerung, WAB 117. The other piano compositions are much less recorded.

Six recordings are dedicated to Bruckner's piano works:

• Wolfgang Brunner and Michael Schopper, Anton Bruckner – Piano works – CD: CPO 999 256–2, 1996 (all the piano works issued in Band XII/2 and Band XII/3)
• Fumiko Shiraga, Anton Bruckner – Piano works – CD: Bis-CD-1297, 2001 (the works issued in Band XII/2)
• Ana-Marija Markovina and Rudolf Meister, Anton Bruckner (1824 - 1896), Piano Works – Hänssler Classic, HC17054, 2018 (all the piano works issued in Band XII/2 and Band XII/3, as well as 13 piano works from the Kitzler Study Book)
• Francesco Pasqualotto, Bruckner Complete Piano Music – CD Brilliant Classics 95619, 2019 (the works issued in Band XII/2, and 21 piano works from the Kitzler Study Book)
• Todor Petrov, Bruckner - L'œuvre pour piano seul - CD Forgotten Records FR 1998/9, 2021 (the works issued in Band XII/2, and 39 piano works from the Kitzler Study Book)
• Christoph Eggner, Anton Bruckner - Klavierstücke aus dem Kitzler-Studienbuch - CD Gramola 99282, 2023 (24 piano works from the Kitzler Study Book on a restored Bösendorfer fortepiano which has belonged to Bruckner.)

Sources

• August Göllerich, Anton Bruckner. Ein Lebens- und Schaffens-Bild, – posthumous edited by Max Auer by G. Bosse, Regensburg, 1932
• Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XII/2: Works for solo piano (1850–1869), Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Walburga Litschauer (Editor), Vienna, 1989 (Available on IMSLP: Neue Gesamtausgabe: XII/2. Werke für Klavier zu zwei Händen)
• Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XII/3: Piano works for four hands (1853–1855), Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Walburga Litschauer (Editor), Vienna, 1989
• Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XXV: Das Kitzler Studienbuch (1861–1863), facsimile, Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Paul Hawkshaw and Erich Wolfgang Partsch (Editors), Vienna, 2015
• Uwe Harten, Anton Bruckner. Ein Handbuch., Salzburg, 1996. .
• Cornelis van Zwol, Anton Bruckner 1824–1896 – Leven en werken, uitg. Thoth, Bussum, Netherlands, 2012.
• Crawford Howie, Anton Bruckner – A documentary biography, online revised edition

External links

• • Scores of piano works on John Berky's website
• Werke für Klavier Critical discography by Hans Roelofs
• Live performances of some Bruckner's piano works can be heard on YouTube:
  • Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XII/2 by Vadim Chaimovich
  • The four Lancier Quadrille by Andrzej Jendryczko
  • Steiermärker & Klavierstück Es-Dur by Markus Staab
  • Stille Betrachtung an einem Herbstabend, Steiermärker & Klavierstück Es-Dur by Clark Bryan
  • Stille Betrachtung an einem Herbstabend by "M1kek0" (2010)
  • Erinnerung and Fantasie in G major by Gottfried Hemetsberger
  • The Drei kleine Stücke WAB 124, by Raúl de la Mora & Héctor Ocampo (2011)
  • The Sonatensatz, WAB 243 by Kaori Saeki - Bösendorfer Salon Wien (26 April 2024)

Notes and References

1. http://www.mwv.at/TextBruckner/Katalog/orchester.htm Frühe Orchesterwerke und Instrumentalstücke
2. C. van Zwol, pp. 676–678
3. U. Harten, p. 246
4. The 16-year old Aloisia Bogner, alias Louise or Luise Bogner, was the older daughter of Michaël Bogner, by whom Bruckner had his living accommodation. Bruckner composed for her also the lieder Der Mondabend and Frühlingslied.
5. C. van Zwol, p. 676
6. C. Howie, Chapter II, p. 30
7. C. Howie, Chapter III, p. 118
8. U. Harten, p. 234
9. C. van Zwol, p. 677
10. C. Howie, Chapter III, p. 119
11. C. Van Zwol, pp. 676–677
12. C. Howie, Chapter III: p. 120
13. C. van Zwol, p. 678
14. U. Harten, p. 150
15. https://www.mwv.at/content/show/46-Kitzler-Studienbuch/ Kitzler Study Book – Facsimile
16. C. Van Zwol, pp. 677–678
17. https://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/en/konzerte/new-years-concert/10466/?fbclid=IwAR3-QyFFTi63BtWQwNsu31fYS0n_A46ohPSjdzeixnEBPkuFJ-felk7JQoo New Year's Concert, Musikverein, Vienna (1 January 2024)
18. https://www.abruckner.com/editorsnote/news/a-bruckner-video-watched-by-over-0ne-million-austr/ A Bruckner video watched by over one million Austrians