Mitternacht, WAB 80
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| Mitternacht | |
|---|---|
| Secular choral work by Anton Bruckner | |
 | |
| Key | A-flat major |
| Catalogue | WAB 80 |
| Text | Joseph Mendelssohn |
| Language | German |
| Composed | November 1869: Vienna |
| Dedication | Liedertafel Frohsinn |
| Published | 1911: Vienna |
| Vocal | TTBB choir and tenor soloist |
| Instrumental | Piano |
Mitternacht (Midnight), WAB 80, is a song composed by Anton Bruckner in 1869.
Bruckner composed the song on a text of Joseph Mendelssohn in November 1869, for the 25th anniversary of Linz Liedertafel Frohsinn. The piece was performed on 15 May 1870 by Frohsinn in the Volksfesthalle in Linz.[1][2][3]
The work, of which the original manuscript is stored in the archive of Liedertafel Frohsinn,[1] was first issued by Doblinger in 1903. It was reissued in 1911 by Viktor Keldorfer (Universal Edition), together with the two other Bruckner's "midnight-songs" (Um Mitternacht, WAB 89 and WAB 90). The song is issued in Band XXIII/2, No. 25 of the Gesamtausgabe.[4]
Text
Mitternacht uses a text by Joseph Mendelssohn.
Die Blumen glüh’n im Mondenlicht |
The flowers glow in the moonlight |
Music
The 84-bar long work in A-flat major is scored for TTBB choir, tenor soloist and piano. Strophe 1 is sung by the choir with an ostinato of the piano. In strophe 2, bars 49-58 (Mir ist das Herz so andachtschwer), the soloist is singing with accompaniment of the choir and unison lines of sixteenth notes of the piano. The piece is ending pianissimo.[2][1]
Discography
Mitternacht, WAB 80, is one of the most popular Bruckner's Weltliche Chorwerke. The first recording of Mitternacht was by Willi Schell with the Cronenberger Männerchor in 1956 – 45 rpm: Tonstudio Wolfgang Jakob (Dortmund)
A selection of the other recordings:
- Walther Schneider, Josef Traxel (tenor), Stuttgarter Liederkranz, Hubert Giesen (piano) – LP: Odeon O/STO 41453, 1961
- Guido Mancusi, Herbert Lippert (tenor), Chorus Viennensis, Walter Lochmann (piano), Musik, du himmlisches Gebilde! – CD: ORF CD 73, 1995
- Thomas Kerbl, Männerchorvereinigung Bruckner 08, Mariko Onishi (Piano), Anton Bruckner – Männerchöre – CD: LIVA027, 2008
- Jan Schumacher, Christoph Prégardien (tenor), Camerata Musica Limburg, Andreas Frese (Piano) Serenade. Songs of night and love – CD: Genuin GEN 12224, 2011
