List of organ compositions by Anton Bruckner

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Although he was a proficient organist, Anton Bruckner left few compositions for the organ.[1][2]

Bruckner has mainly made his name because of his organ playing during his journeys to Nancy, Paris, London and the states of imperial Austria. His celebrity as organist was mainly based on his improvisation skill and the compositions Bruckner left for the organ are of secondary significance in his portfolio. With the exception of the later Perger Präludium with its romantic chromaticism, the few organ works date from his earlier lifetime and are mainly based on the baroque tradition.[3]

Compositions[]

The Bruckner-Orgel, St. Florian Abbey

Only five pieces and two sketches are indubitably autograph compositions:[4]

  • Nachspiel in D minor, WAB 126/1 - a postlude composed in c. 1846. The manuscript with this and the following work is stored in the archive of the St. Florian Abbey – Gesamtausgabe, Band XII/6, No. 1[1][2]
  • Andante in D minor, WAB 126/2 - a prelude composed also in c. 1846 – Gesamtausgabe, Band XII/6, No. 2[1][2]
  • Vorspiel und Fuge in C minor, WAB 131 - a prelude and fugue composed on 15 March 1847. The incomplete manuscript, which is stored in the archive of the Seitenstetten Abbey, was first published in Band II/2, pp. 78–82 of the Göllerich/Auer biography. The incomplete score was completed by Franz Phillip in 1929 – Gesamtausgabe, Band XII/6 No. 3[2][5]
  • Fuge in D minor, WAB 125 - a fugue composed by Bruckner on 7 November 1861 for an examination, which he wanted to have in Vienna on 19 November 1861. The sketch is stored in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek. The final score is found in the Sechter-Studienbuch (library of the Diocese of Münster).[6] – Gesamtausgabe, Band XII/6, No. 4.[5][7]
  • Präludium (Perger Präludium) in C major, WAB 129 - a prelude composed in 1884. A sketch is stored in the archive of the Kremsmünster Abbey. The final score, which was given to Bruckner's pupil Otto Loidol, is put in the Gesamtausgabe, Band XII/6, No. 5.[5]
  • Improvisationskizze Ischl 1890, WAB 240 - themes for improvisation sketched by Bruckner in July 1890 for organ playing during the wedding of Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria with Archduke Franz Salvator in Bad Ischl on 30 July 1890. The sketch, which is stored in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, is put in the Gesamtausgabe, Band XII/9, No. 6.[5] The sketch combines two themes from the finale of Symphony No. 1, which Bruckner was reviewing at that time, the fugato from Händel's Hallelujah and the Kaiserhymne.[8]
    Erwin Horn recorded it in 1990 as Improvisationskizze Bad Ischl (improvisation on the two themes from the finale of Symphony No. 1), and in 2007 as Kaiserliche Festmusik (improvisation on the four themes of the sketch).[9] Horn's first improvisation was later recorded again by Klaus Sonnleitner,[10] Siegfried Petri (2009) and Gerd Schaller (2015).
  • Adagio für Orgel (Adagio for organ) - a sketch in B major, which was found in 1953 in a catalog of the Musikautographen-Sammlung of Louis Koch. It is a first draft for the main theme of the Adagio of the Symphony No. 9 – Gesamtausgabe, Band XII/6, No. 7[5][11]

In addition:

  • Five short organ preludes in E-flat major, WAB 127 & 128, written in c. 1835. Doubts have been cast on their authenticity. They are presumably copies of compositions by Johan Baptist Weiß or another organist – Gesamtausgabe, Band XII/6, No. 8 (Addendum).[5][12]
  • Twenty-two other organ pieces found in Bruckner's Orgelbuch (WAB 334) are presumably also transcriptions of works of Johann Baptist Weiß or other composers. These pieces were edited by Louis Dité in: Vademecum für Organisten, Verlag Weinberger, Vienna, London, 1947. Some of these "apocryphal" works have been recorded by Franz Haselböck and a few other performers as Roman Summereder.[3]

Selected discography[]

  • Franz Haselböck, Brucknerorgel der Piaristenkirche Wien, 19th-Century Austrian Organ Music: Anton Bruckner Complete Works for Organ / Simon Sechter Selected Organ Works – LP: Musical Heritage Society MHS 1972
  • Augustinus Franz Kropfreiter, Bruckner-Orgel (St. Florian Monastery), Verein der Freunde der Oberösterreichischen Stiftskonzerte – LP: ORF/Lesborne L 2955, c. 1973.
    A digitalisation of the LP can be heard on John Berky's website: Organ works by Augustinus Franz Kropfreiter (items 5 to 9)
  • Heinz Lohmann, Klais-Orgel of the Jesuit Church, Mannheim - LP: RBM 3004, 1974; reissued as CD: Klassic Haus KHCD 2012-008, 2011
  • Erwin Horn, Klais-Orgel of the Frauenkirche, Nuremberg, Bruckner Orgelwerke – CD: Novalis 150 071-2, 1990 - with the Improvisationskizze Bad Ischl (improvisation on the finale of Symphony No. 1)
  • Erwin Horn, Bruckner-Orgel (Sankt Florian), Was mir die Liebe erzählt - CD: MOT 13551, 2007 - with the Kaiserliche Festmusik (improvisation on the four themes of the sketch)
  • Klaus Sonnleitner, Kaleidoskop - Die Brucknerorgel in St. Florian - CD: Spektral SRL4-12107, 2011 (except the preludes WAB 127 & 128)
  • Gerd Schaller, Eisenbarth-organ of the Church of the Ebrach Abbey, Bruckner – Mass 3, Psalm 146, Organ works – CD: Profil Hänssler PH16034, 2015 (except the preludes WAB 127 & 128)

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c C. van Zwol, p. 676
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d C. Howie, Chapter II, p. 30
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Hans Roelofs, Anton Bruckner Diskographie - Werke für Orgel
  4. ^ Frühe Orchesterwerke und Instrumentalstücke
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f C. van Zwol, p. 677
  6. ^ Bruckner online - Quellenbeschreibung
  7. ^ C. Howie, Chapter III, p. 120
  8. ^ U. Harten, p. 210
  9. ^ Critical discography of the Improvisationsskizze Ischl 1890, WAB 242
  10. ^ "Festmusik" by Klaus Sonnleitner (1996)
  11. ^ U. Harten, p. 43
  12. ^ C. Howie, Chapter I: p. 12

Sources[]

  • August Göllerich, Anton Bruckner. Ein Lebens- und Schaffens-Bild, c. 1922 – posthumous edited by Max Auer by G. Bosse, Regensburg, 1932
  • Uwe Harten, Anton Bruckner. Ein Handbuch.  [de], Salzburg, 1996. ISBN 3-7017-1030-9.
  • Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XII/6: Organ works (1846–1890), Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Erwin Horn (Editor), Vienna, 1998
  • Cornelis van Zwol, Anton Bruckner 1824–1896 – Leven en werken, uitg. Thoth, Bussum, Netherlands, 2012. ISBN 978-90-6868-590-9
  • Crawford Howie, Anton Bruckner - A documentary biography, online revised edition

External links[]

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