Program booklet for the event
Anniversarium MMXXIV
Anton Bruckner felt a deep connection to the men's choral societies so characteristic of the 19th century from a young age. In the 1840s, he founded male quartets in both Kronstorf and St. Florian, in which he himself took part as second and first bass respectively, and joined the "Frohsinn" choral society in Linz in 1856, where he was subsequently elected choirmaster twice. From 1843 onwards, Bruckner wrote works for such choral societies for 50 years, i.e. his entire creative life, and was already described as an "important composer of male choirs with and without orchestra" in Julius Schuberth's Musikalisches Conversations- Lexicon in 1877. His contemporaries Bedřich Smetana and Peter Cornelius, who together with Bruckner form the trio of 200-year-olds, followed in his footsteps and created a large number of patriotic, festive, nature, hunting, mourning and love songs for unaccompanied male choir.
In order to present as broad a cross-section as possible of this charming but largely forgotten repertoire, two high-calibre male choirs have joined forces: the renowned Chorus Viennensis, consisting of former Viennese choirboys, and the up-and-coming a cappella male ensemble Sonat Vox, whose members sang in the Windsbach Boys' Choir in their childhood, two top-class male choirs have joined forces to perform the music of the three jubilarians, sometimes alternately, sometimes together, on German and Czech texts, thus presenting a programme that is as unusual as it is unforgettable.
Anton Bruckner (1824–1896)
"An dem Feste" in D flat major for four-part male choir a cappella, WAB 59a (1843)
Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884)
Prayer (Modlitba) for male choir a cappella, JB 1:120 (1880)
Peter Cornelius (1824–1874)
Five funeral choruses for male voices, op. 9 (1869)
Bedřich Smetana
Píseň na moři (Song on the Sea) for male choir a cappella, JB 1:106 (1876-77)
Anton Bruckner
"Lebt wohl, ihr Sangesbrüder" A major for four-part male choir a cappella, WAB 83, No. 2 (1851)
Der Abendhimmel (I) in A flat major for male quartet a cappella, WAB 55 (1862)
Bedřich Smetana
Music (Věno) for male choir a cappella, JB 1:119 (1880)
- Break -
Peter Cornelius
Sonnenaufgang, Nr. 3 aus: Drei vierstimmige Männerchöre, o. op. (1844)
Anton Bruckner
Träumen und Wachen As-Dur für Tenor-Solo und vierstimmigen Männerchor a cappella, WAB 87 (1890)
Peter Cornelius
Der alte Soldat, Nr. 1 aus: Drei Männerchöre, op. 12 (1873)
Peter Cornelius
„Es war ein alter König“, Nr. 2 aus: Drei vierstimmige Männerchöre, o. op. (1844)
Anton Bruckner
Ständchen G-Dur für Männerquartett a cappella, WAB 84, Nr. 2 (um 1846)
„Im Wort und Liede wahr und frei“ C-Dur für vierstimmigen Männerchor a cappella, WAB 148, Nr. 1 (1869)
Sternschnuppen F-Dur für vier Männerstimmen a cappella, WAB 85 (um 1848)
Am Grabe f-moll für vierstimmigen Männerchor a cappella, WAB 2 (1861)
Der Abendhimmel (II) F-Dur für vierstimmigen Männerchor a cappella, WAB 56 (1866)
Trösterin Musik c-moll für vierstimmigen Männerchor a cappella, WAB 81b (1877)
Peter Cornelius
Sunrise, No. 3 from: Three four-part male choirs, op. op. (1844)
Anton Bruckner
Dreaming and Waking in A flat major for tenor solo and four-part male choir a cappella, WAB 87 (1890)
Peter Cornelius
The Old Soldier, No. 1 from: Three male choirs, op. 12 (1873)
Bedřich Smetana
Festchor für Männerchor a cappella, JB 1:99 (1870)
Peter Cornelius
„There was an old king", No. 2 from: Three four-part male choirs, op. op. (1844)
Anton Bruckner
Serenade in G major for male quartet a cappella, WAB 84, No. 2 (around 1846)
"Im Wort und Liede wahr und fei" in C major for four-part male choir a cappella, WAB 148, No. 1 (1869)
Shooting Stars in F major for four male voices a cappella, WAB 85 (c. 1848)
At the grave in F minor for four-part male choir a cappella, WAB 2 (1861)
The Evening Sky (II) in F major for four-part male choir a cappella, WAB 56 (1866)
Music of the Comforter in C minor for four-part male choir a cappella, WAB 81b (1877)
Chorus Viennensis
Sonat Vox
Michael Schneider,
Justus Merkel | Direction
