Te Deum (Bruckner)-Cedar Herald Index

The Te Deum in C major, WAB 45, is a setting of the Te Deum hymn, composed by Anton Bruckner for choir and soloists, orchestra, and organ ad libitum.

History

Bruckner started work on his Te Deum from 3 to 17 May 1881, when he was finalising his Symphony No. 6. After finishing his next Symphony No. 7, Bruckner resumed work on his Te Deum on 28 September 1883. The vocal and orchestral score was completed on 7 March 1884. The ad lib. organ part was added on a separate score on 16 March 1884. The composer dedicated the piece A.M.D.G. "in gratitude for having safely brought me through so much anguish in Vienna."

Te Deum (Bruckner)

The Te Deum was premiered in the Kleiner Musikvereinssaal in Vienna on 2 May 1885, with soloists Frau Ulrich-Linde, Emilie Zips, Richard Exleben, and Heinrich Gassner, with the choir of the Wiener Akademischer Richard Wagner Verein, and Robert Erben and Joseph Schalk substituting for the orchestra on two pianos. Hans Richter conducted the first performance with full orchestra on 10 January 1886 in the in Vienna.

Te Deum (Bruckner)

Thereafter, there were almost thirty more performances within Bruckner's lifetime. The last performance, which Bruckner attended, was conducted by at the suggestion of Johannes Brahms. On his copy of the score, Gustav Mahler crossed out "" (for choir, solos and orchestra, organ ad libitum) and wrote "" (for the tongues of angels, seekers of God, chastened hearts, and souls purified in the fire!). The composer himself called the work "the pride of his life".

Te Deum (Bruckner)

The first performance in the United States occurred at the Cincinnati May Festival on 26 May 1892. Theodore Thomas conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati May Festival Chorus and the soloists Corinne Moore-Lawson, Marie Ritter-Goetze, Edward Lloyd and George Ellsworth Holmes.

The draft version of 1881 and the first sketch of 1883 are stored in the archive of the Kremsmünster Abbey. The voice and orchestral score, and the ad lib. organ score of 1884 are stored in the archive of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek.

Versions and editions

Draft version of 1881 (Ed. Franz Scheder) The draft version of 1881, the manuscript of which is stored in the archive of the Kremsmünster Abbey, includes the vocal scores and some basic orchestration. It is shorter than the final version (357 bars versus 513 bars). In particular, the Aeterna fac is different and much shorter, and the final fugue is not yet composed. Final version of 1884: Rättig, Vienna (1885), Nowak (1962) The Te Deum was first published in 1885 by Theodore Rättig, who paid Bruckner 50 florins, "the only money he ever earned as a composer in the whole of his life." Another important difference with Bruckner's other first publications is that there are few differences between it and the original manuscript. "The most important [difference] being the absence of the trombone and double-bass tuba chords at bars 275 and 283 of the "Salvum fac" section. At bar 26 the second clarinet has a different note, and in the first edition the clarinets are in B flat instead of in A as in the original manuscript." with no recomposition from the Schalk brothers.

Setting

The work is set for choir and soloists, orchestra (2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in A, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in F, 3 trumpets in F, alto, tenor and bass trombones, contrabass tuba, timpani in C and G, and strings), and organ ad libitum .