Salvum fac populum tuum, WAB 40 explained

Salvum fac populum tuum
Composer:	Anton Bruckner
Key:	F major
Catalogue:	WAB 40
Type:	Motet
Text:	Verses of the Te Deum
Language:	Latin
Vocal:	choir

Latin: Salvum fac populum tuum ("O Lord, save thy people"), WAB 40, is a motet composed by Anton Bruckner in 1884.

History

The motet, based on a few verses of the Te Deum, was composed on 14 November 1884, presumably on request of Franz Xaver Witt for the Cecilian society. The manuscript is archived at the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek.^[1] The motet was first published in band IV/2, pp. 496–497 of the Göllerich/Auer biography.^[2] It is put in Band XXI/31 of the German: Gesamtausgabe.^[3]

Music

The 57-bar motet in F major for choir a cappella, is based on the verses "Salvum fac populum tuum" till "Quem ad modum speravimus in te." of the Te Deum.

This, for Bruckner a quite unique composition, which uses the same verses as part 4 of his Te Deum, alternates passages in unison, in Falsobordone and in polyphony.^[2]

Discography

There are a few recordings of Bruckner's Salvum fac populum tuum:

• Robert Jones, Choir of St. Bride's Church, Bruckner: Motets – CD: Naxos 8.550956, 1994
• Alois Koch, choir of the St. Hedwig's Cathedral, Anton Bruckner: Messe in e-Moll – CD: Ars Musici 1186-2, 1996 (with accompaniment of trombones)
• Balduin Sulzer, Mozart Chor Linz, Bruckner – CD: AtemMusik Records ATMU 97001, 1997
• Hans-Christoph Rademann, NDR Chor Hamburg, Anton Bruckner: Ave Maria – CD: Carus 83.151, 2000
• Philipp von Steinäcker, Vocalensemble Musica Saeculorum, Bruckner: Pange lingua - Motetten - CD: Fra Bernardo FB 1501271, 2015
• Sigvards Klava, Latvian Radio Choir, Bruckner: Latin Motets, 2019 – CD Ondine OD 1362
• Christian Erny, The Zurich Chamber Singers, Bruckner Spectrum - CD : Berlin Classics LC06203, 2022

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 XXI: Kleine Kirchenmusikwerke, Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Hans Bauernfeind and Leopold Nowak (Editor), Vienna, 1984/2001
• Cornelis van Zwol, Anton Bruckner 1824–1896 – Leven en werken, uitg. Thoth, Bussum, Netherlands, 2012.
• Uwe Harten, Anton Bruckner. Ein Handbuch., Salzburg, 1996.

External links

• • • Salvum fac populum tuum F-dur, WAB 40 Critical discography by Hans Roelofs
• Live performances
  • Landesjugendchor Vorarlberg (2016): Salvum fac populum tuum
  • Ecclesia Cantic - Halle aux Grains, Toulouse (7 May 2023): Salvum fac populum tuum

Notes and References

1. U. Harten, p. 374
2. C. van Zwol, pp. 707-708
3. http://www.mwv.at/TextBruckner/Katalog/kirchenmusik.htm Gesamtausgabe - Kleine Kirchenmusikwerke