Josef Anton Bruckner (1824 – 1896) was an Austrian
composer and organist best known for his symphonies and
sacred music, which includes Masses, Te Deum and
motets. The symphonies are considered emblematic of the
final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of
their rich harmonic language, strongly polyphonic
character, and considerable length. His compositions
helped to define contemporary musical radicalism, owing
to their dissonances, unprepared modulations, and
roving harmonies. (+)
Josef Anton Bruckner (1824 – 1896) was an Austrian
composer and organist best known for his symphonies and
sacred music, which includes Masses, Te Deum and
motets. The symphonies are considered emblematic of the
final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of
their rich harmonic language, strongly polyphonic
character, and considerable length. His compositions
helped to define contemporary musical radicalism, owing
to their dissonances, unprepared modulations, and
roving harmonies.
Unlike other musical radicals such as Richard Wagner
and Hugo Wolf, Bruckner showed respect, even humility,
before other famous musicians, Wagner in particular.
This apparent dichotomy between Bruckner the man and
Bruckner the composer hampers efforts to describe his
life in a way that gives a straightforward context for
his music. Hans von Bülow described him as "half
genius, half simpleton". Bruckner was critical of his
own work and often reworked his compositions. There are
several versions of many of his works.
His works, the symphonies in particular, had
detractors, most notably the influential Austrian
critic Eduard Hanslick and other supporters of Johannes
Brahms, who pointed to their large size and use of
repetition, as well as to Bruckner's propensity for
revising many of his works, often with the assistance
of colleagues, and his apparent indecision about which
versions he preferred. On the other hand, Bruckner was
greatly admired by subsequent composers, including his
friend Gustav Mahler.
Iam lucis orto sidere (Now that the daylight fills the
sky), WAB 18, is a motet composed by Anton Bruckner in
1868. The work is also known as In S. Angelum custodem
(In the custody of the holy angel). Bruckner revised
the composition in 1886. Bruckner composed this motet
in the summer of 1868 for the Schutzengelbruderschaft
("Guardian angel confraternity") of Wilhering Abbey.
Bruckner dedicated it to Adolf Dorfer, the abbot of the
abbey. Bruckner set the music on the text written by
Robert Riepl, one of the priests working at the abbey.
The motet was performed in the same year in the abbey.
Riepl's text is an adaptation of the text used by
Orlande de Lassus. Bruckner's original manuscript,
which was stored in the abbey, is lost. A copy of it is
stored in the archive of the Kremsmünster Abbey and
two other copies are found in the Austrian National
Library. The motet was published in 1868 by the
Wilhering Abbey.
The first version in Phrygian mode, which Bruckner
composed in 1868, is 24-bar long. Two settings are
extant: a first with all eight verses of Riepl's text
for SATB choir a cappella, and a second with only one
verse of a different text for SATB choir and organ. The
motet is a simple, modally inspired piece and
homophonic throughout.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iam_lucis_orto_sidere,_W
AB_18).
Although originally created for Chorus (SATB), I
created this Interpretation of "In S. Angelum custodem"
("In the custody of the holy angel" WAB 18) for String
Quartet (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).
PARTITION