Key D minor Form Patriotic song Language German | Catalogue WAB 63 Text Erich Fels | |
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Composed 29 April 1892 (1892-04-29): Vienna | ||
Der deutsche Gesang ("The German song"), WAB 63, is a patriotic song composed by Anton Bruckner in 1892, one year before Helgoland.
Contents
History
Bruckner composed Der deutsche Gesang on 29 April 1892 for the Erstes deutsch-akademisches Sängerfest (First German-academic singers' festival), which would happen in Salzburg in June 1892. The performance on 5 June under the baton of Raoul Mader was a "Kracher" (a huge success).
The original manuscript is stored in the archive of the Universitätssängerschaft 'Barden zu Wien' in Vienna. The song was first published in 1911 by Viktor Keldorfer (Universal Edition). The piece, also called Das deutsche Lied, was performed several times till the years 1930. It is put in Band XXIII/2, No. 35 of the Gesamtausgabe.
Text and music
The work uses a text by Erich Fels, pseudonym of Aurelius Polzer.
The 87-bar long work in D minor, which shows affinities with the patriotic Germanenzug (1863), Sängerbund (1882) and Helgoland (1893), is scored for TTBB choir and brass band (4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones and contrabass-tuba).
Discography
There are four recordings of Der deutsche Gesang: