Text Friedrich von Sallet Dedication Josef Hafferl | Catalogue WAB 73 | |
 | ||
Composed 24 November 1864 (1864-11-24): Linz | ||
Herbstlied (Autumn song), WAB 73, is a romantic song composed by Anton Bruckner in 1864. The song, scored for men's choir and two soprano soloists, figures an autumn walking with nightingale song.
Contents
History
Bruckner composed the song on a text of Friedrich von Sallet on 24 November 1864.
Bruckner dedicated the song to his friend Josef Hafferl, chairman of the Liedertafel Frohsinn. The piece was performed on 24 November 1867 in the Redoutensaal of Linz by Frohsinn under Bruckner's baton, with Marie Schimatschek and Anna Bergmann as soloists.
A copy of the work, of which the original manuscript is lost, is stored in the archive of the Liedertafel Frohsinn. The piece, which was first issued by Viktor Keldorfer (Universal Edition) in 1911, is issued in Band XXIII/2, No. 16 of the Gesamtausgabe.
Text and music
Herbstlied is using a text by Friedrich von Sallet.
The 69-bar long work in F-sharp minor is scored for TTBB choir, two soprano soloists and piano. Strophe 1 is sung by the men's choir. Strophe 2 (from bar 17) is sung by the two soprano soloists, who are figuring the song of the nightingales, with accompaniment of the men's choir. Strophe 3 is sung again by the men's choir. Strophe 3, which is sung again by the two soprano soloists with accompaniment of the men's choir, is ending pianissimo.
In the Göllerich/Auer biography, the song is described as ein treffliches Stimmungsbild herbstlicher Naturromantik (a felicitous evocation of autumnal nature-romanticism).
Discography
The first recording of Herbstlied was by Theodor Rehmann with the Aachener Domchor in 1938 – 78 rpm: Electrola EG 6530 (transcription for choir)
There is a single other recording: