Tantum ergo, WAB 42

For the other settings of the same text by the composer, see Tantum ergo, WAB 32; Tantum ergo, WAB 43; Four Tantum ergo, WAB 41; and Tantum ergo, WAB 44.
Tantum ergo
Motet by Anton Bruckner
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament
KeyD major
CatalogueWAB 42
FormHymn
TextTantum ergo
LanguageLatin
Composed9 June 1846 (1846-06-09): St. Florian Abbey
Published1893 (1893): Innsbruck
VocalSSATB choir
InstrumentalOrgan

Tantum ergo ("Let us raise"), WAB 42, is a setting of the hymn Tantum ergo composed by Anton Bruckner in 1846.

History

Bruckner composed this motet on 9 June 1846 during his stay in St. Florian Abbey. The autograph voice score, without the organ score, is present in the archive of the St. Florian Abbey.[1]

In 1888, Bruckner revised this setting, together with the revision of previous four Tantum ergo. The revised version of the five Tantum ergo was published first by Johann Groß, Innsbruck in 1893.[2]

The 1846 and 1888 versions are put in Band XXI/13 and 38 of the Gesamtausgabe respectively.[3]

Music

The works is scored in D major for SSATB choir and organ. The first setting is 36-bar long. The bars 21-32 are optional.[1] In the 31-bar long revised version these optional bars are removed and a 3-bar Amen is added.[2]

This fifth Tantum ergo is characterised by its marked solemness. After a climax on novo cedat rituit it goes on, diminuendo, to an intimate quasi-Mozartian coda.[4]

Selected discography

The first recording occurred in c. 1931:

  • Ludwig Berberich, Münchner Domchor – 78 rpm: Christschall 118A (2nd version, a cappella)

1846 version

There are only two recordings of this first version:

  • Thomas Kerbl, Chorvereinigung Bruckner 09, Anton Bruckner Chöre/Klaviermusik – CD: LIVA 034 (first strophe only)
  • Christian Erny, The Zurich Chamber Singers, Bruckner Spectrum - CD: Berlin Classics LC06203, 2022 (with a few deviations from the score)
Note: A live performance – without organ accompaniment – by Philipp von Steinäcker is available in the Bruckner Archive.[5]

1888 version

A selection among the about 20 recordings:

References

  1. ^ a b C. van Zwol, p. 702
  2. ^ a b C. van Zwol, p. 709
  3. ^ Gesamtausgabe - Kleine Kirchenmusikwerke
  4. ^ M, Auer, p. 54
  5. ^ Bruckner Archive
  6. ^ Bruckner, Anton (composer); Stenov, Michael (conductor) (2006-11-26). Anton Bruckner – Motette "Tantum ergo sacramentum" à 5 voces und Orgel (Online video). YouTube. Retrieved 2014-12-29.

Sources

  • Max Auer, Anton Bruckner als Kirchenmusiker, G. Bosse, Regensburg, 1927
  • 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. ISBN 978-90-6868-590-9