Um Mitternacht, WAB 90

Um Mitternacht
Secular choral work by Anton Bruckner
Moon light in the Saint Sylvester's night
Key	F minor
Catalogue	WAB 90
Text	Robert Prutz
Language	German
Composed	11 February 1886 (1886-02-11): Vienna
Dedication	Strassburger Männer-Sangverein
Published	1911 (1911): Vienna
Vocal	TTBB choir and tenor soloist

For a first setting of the same text by the composer, see Um Mitternacht, WAB 89.

Um Mitternacht ("At midnight"), WAB 90, is a song composed by Anton Bruckner in 1886 on a text of Robert Prutz. About twenty years earlier Bruckner had already composed a song on the same text.

History

Bruckner composed the song on a text of Robert Prutz on 11 February 1886, for the Strassburger Männer-Sangverein (Men's sing-association of Strasbourg). The piece was performed on 15 April 1886 by the Liedertafel Frohsinn in the [Städischer Volksgartensalon] Error: {{Lang}}: unrecognized language tag: German (help). Because of performance difficulties (humming voices and many modulations), the choir was enhanced by a harp.

The work, of which the original manuscript is stored in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, was issued in the same year by the Strassburger Sängerhaus, and thereafter (1911) by Viktor Keldorfer (Universal Edition), together with the other setting (Um Mitternacht, WAB 89) and the other "night-song" Mitternacht, WAB 80. It is issued in Band XXIII/2, No. 33 of the Gesamtausgabe.

Music

The song is using the text by Robert Prutz, which Bruckner had already used for Um Mitternacht, WAB 89.

The 93-bar long work in F minor is scored for TTBB choir and tenor soloist. Strophe 1 is sung by the choir. Strophe 2 (In süssen unbelauschten Tränen, bar 31) and strophe 3 are sung by the tenor soloist with accompaniment of humming voices. Strophe 4 ([So tönet oft das stille Läuten] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), bar 58) is sung by the choir.

Selected discography

Um Mitternacht, WAB 90, which is less popular than the previous setting, was first recorded by Walther Schneider with the Stuttgarter Liederkranz in 1961 (LP: Odeon O/STO 41453). A selection among the few other recordings:

• Guido Mancusi, Chorus Viennensis, Herbert Lippert (tenor), Musik, du himmlisches Gebilde! – CD: ORF CD 73, 1995
• Thomas Kerbl, Männerchorvereinigung, Weltliche Männerchöre – CD: LIVA054, 2012

Sources

• Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XXIII/2: Secular choruses (1843–1893), Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Angela Pachovsky and Anton Reinthaler (Editor), Vienna, 1989
• Cornelis van Zwol, Anton Bruckner 1824–1896 – Leven en werken, uitg. Thoth, Bussum, Netherlands, 2012. ISBN 978-90-6868-590-9
• Uwe Harten, Anton Bruckner. Ein Handbuch. Residenz Verlag, Salzburg, 1996. ISBN 3-7017-1030-9.

External links

• Um Mitternacht f-Moll, WAB 90 – Critical discography by Hans Roelofs Template:Link language
• Free scores by Um Mitternacht, WAB 90 at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP).
• The recording by the Männerchorvereinigung Bruckner 12 can be heard on YouTube: Um Mitternacht, WAB 90