Two Totenlieder (Bruckner) Explained

Two Totenlieder
Key:	E-flat major, F major
Catalogue:	WAB 47/1 & 47/2
Type:	Motets
Form:	Elegy
Language:	German
Dedication:	Funeral of Josef Seiberl
Vocal:	choir

The two , WAB 47/1 & 47/2, are elegies composed by Anton Bruckner in 1852.

History

Bruckner composed these two motets in 1852 for the funeral of his friend Josef Seiberl. The original manuscript is in the of Wels and a transcription is in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek.^[1]

The two Totenlieder were first published in band II/2, pp. 141–144 of the Göllerich/Auer biography.^[1] They are put in Band XXI/16 of the German: Gesamtausgabe.^[2]

Text

	You, who go today with me to the tombAnd are now convened by my corps,Do not stick your soul and heart to this vanity	Look only for Gods kingdom and for justice.

Music

The works are scored for choir a cappella. The first setting in E-flat major is 10-bar long. The second setting in F major is 19-bar long.^[1]

Discography

There are a few recordings of the Totenlieder:

• Jürgen Jürgens, Monteverdi-Chor, Bruckner - Music of St Florian Period (II) - CD: BSVD-0111 (Bruckner Archive), 1985 - only the first Totenlied
• Duncan Ferguson, Choir of St. Mary's Cathedral of Edinburgh, Bruckner: Motets – CD: Delphian Records DCD34071, 2010
• Thomas Kerbl, Chorvereinigung Bruckner 2011, Anton Bruckner Lieder/Magnificat – CD: LIVA 046, 2011
• Philipp von Steinäcker, Vocalensemble Musica Saeculorum, Bruckner: Pange lingua - Motetten - CD: Fra Bernardo FB 1501271, 2015
• Łukasz Borowicz, Anton Bruckner: Requiem, RIAS Kammerchor Berlin, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin – CD: Accentus ACC30474, 2019

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.

External links

• • • - Totenlied No.1
• - Totenlied No.2
• Totenlied Es-Dur, WAB 47 and Totenlied F-Dur, WAB 48 Critical discography by Hans Roelofs

Notes and References

1. C. van Zwol, p. 703
2. http://www.mwv.at/TextBruckner/Katalog/kirchenmusik.htm Gesamtausgabe - Kleine Kirchenmusikwerke