Catalogue WAB 18 Dedication Alois Dorfer | ||
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Published 1868 (1868): Wilhering Abbey |
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.
Contents
History
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. 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.
In 1886, Bruckner made a new version of the motet for men's choir, which was published in the journal An den schönen blauen Donau, band 1, No. 8, p. 240, F. Mamroth, Vienna.
The Gesamtausgabe includes two settings of the 1868 version in Band XXI/24, and the 1886 setting in Band XXI/35.
Music
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.
A new version of the motet in G minor, which Bruckner composed in 1886, is one bar shorter (23-bar long). It uses verses 1, 2, 7 and 8 of Riepl's text and is set for TTBB choir a cappella.
Selected discography
The first recording occurred in 1976:
1868 version
There are a few other recordings of the first setting, all with deviations from the score:
There is only one recording of the second setting:
1886 version
There are two recordings of this version: