Key A-flat major Text Joseph Mendelssohn Dedication Liedertafel Frohsinn | Catalogue WAB 80 Language German | |
 | ||
Composed November 1869 (1869-11): Vienna | ||
Mitternacht (Midnight), WAB 80, is a song composed by Anton Bruckner in 1869.
Contents
History
Bruckner composed the song on a text of Joseph Mendelssohn in November 1869, for the 25th anniversary of Linz Liedertafel Frohsinn. The piece was performed on 15 April 1870 by Frohsinn in the Volksfesthalle in Linz.
The work, of which the original manuscript is stored in the archive of Liedertafel Frohsinn, was first issued by Doblinger in 1903. It was reissued in 1911 by Viktor Keldorfer (Universal Edition), together with the two other Bruckner's "night-songs" (Um Mitternacht, WAB 89 and WAB 90). The song is issued in Band XXIII/2, No. 25 of the Gesamtausgabe.
Text and music
Um Mitternacht uses a text by Joseph Mendelssohn.
The 84-bar long work in A-flat major is scored for TTBB choir, tenor soloist and piano. Strophe 1 is sung by the choir with an ostinato of the piano. In strophe 2, bars 49-58 (Mir ist das Herz so andachtschwer), the soloist is singing with accompaniment of the choir and unison lines of sixteenth notes of the piano. The piece is ending pianissimo.
Selected discography
Mitternacht, WAB 80, is one of the most popular Bruckner's Weltliche Chorwerke. The first recording of Mitternacht was by Willi Schell with the Cronenberger Männerchor in 1956 – 45 rpm: Tonstudio Wolfgang Jakob (Dortmund)
A selection of the other recordings: