Der Abendhimmel, WAB 55

1862 song composed by Anton Bruckner

Der Abendhimmel
Secular choral work by Anton Bruckner

Key	A-flat major
Catalogue	WAB 55
Text	Joseph Christian von Zedlitz
Language	German
Composed	January 1862 (1862-01): Linz
Published	1932 (1932): Regensburg
Vocal	TTBB quartet

Der Abendhimmel ("The evening sky"), WAB 55, is a song composed by Anton Bruckner in 1862.

History

Bruckner composed this first setting of "evening song" Der Abendhimmel in January 1862. He used for the composition a text of Joseph Christian von Zedlitz, which he would also use for a second setting of the song in 1866. Bruckner dedicated the song to the men's quartet Anton Munsch [Anton Munsch (1st tenor), Anton Stiefler (2nd tenor), Eduard Benoni (1st bass) and Mathias Weissmann (2nd bass)].^[1]^[2]

The piece was performed first in a transcription for men's choir by the Liedertafel Frohsinn on 4 July 1900. The commentator of the Linzer Zeitung (7 July 1900) wrote over a eine herrliche Schöpfung unseres heimischen Meisters Dr. Anton Bruckner (a wonderful composition of our national master Dr. Anton Bruckner).^[1]

The original manuscript is stored in the archive of Österreichische Nationalbibliothek.^[1]^[3] It was first issued in Band III/2, pp. 18–20 of the Göllerich/Auer biography.^[1]^[3] It is issued in Band XXIII/2, No. 15 of the Gesamtausgabe.^[4]

Text

Der Abendhimmel is using a text of Joseph Christian von Zedlitz.

Wenn ich an deiner Seite
Im Abenddunkel geh’,
Den Mond und sein Geleite,
Die tausend Sterne seh’,

Dann möchte ich den Mond umfangen
Und drücken an meine Brust,
Die Sterne herunterlangen
In voller, seliger Lust,

Mit ihnen die Locken dir schmücken
Und schmücken die schöne Brust,
Ich möcht’ dich schmücken und drücken
Und sterben von Wonn’ und Lust.

When I walk at your side
In the evening darkness,
And see the moon and its escort
Of thousand stars,

Then I want to embrace the moon
And hug her at my breast,
Sprawl the stars down
In full blissful lust,

Decorate your locks with them
And adorn your beautiful bosom,
I could to decorate and hug you
And die of delight and lust.

Music

The 38-bar long work in 6/8 is in A-flat major. It is scored for TTBB quartet a cappella.^[1]^[3]

Discography

There are two recordings of Der Abendhimmel, WAB 55:

Guido Mancusi, Chorus Viennensis, Musik, du himmlisches Gebilde! – CD: ORF CD 73, 1995
Thomas Kerbl, Quartet of the Männerchorvereinigung Bruckner 08, Anton Bruckner – Männerchöre – CD: LIVA 027, 2008

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e U. Harten, p. 41
^ C. Howie, Chapter III, p. 90
^ ^a ^b ^c C. van Zwol, pp. 723-724
^ Gesamtausgabe – Weltliche Chöre

Sources

August Göllerich, Anton Bruckner. Ein Lebens- und Schaffens-Bild, c. 1922 – posthumous edited by Max Auer by G. Bosse, Regensburg, 1932
Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XXIII/2: Weltliche Chorwerke (1843–1893), Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Angela Pachovsky and Anton Reinthaler (Editor), Vienna, 1989
Uwe Harten, Anton Bruckner. Ein Handbuch. Residenz Verlag [de], Salzburg, 1996. ISBN 3-7017-1030-9.
Cornelis van Zwol, Anton Bruckner 1824–1896 – Leven en werken, uitg. Thoth, Bussum, Netherlands, 2012. ISBN 978-90-6868-590-9
Crawford Howie, Anton Bruckner - A documentary biography, online revised edition

External links

Der Abendhimmel, WAB 55: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
Free scores for Der Abendhimmel, WAB 55 in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
Der Abendhimmel As-Dur, WAB 55 – Critical discography by Hans Roelofs (in German)
A live performance (20 February 2022) by Y Kawaguchi by overdubbing his voice: Der Abendhimmel

Anton Bruckner

List of compositions

Symphonies

Symphonies (1863–1896)
Symphony in F minor (1863)
No. 1 in C minor (1866/1891)
Symphony in D minor (1869)
No. 2 in C minor (1872/1877)
No. 3 in D minor (1873/1877/1889)
No. 4 in E♭ major (Romantic; 1874/1878–1880/1888)
No. 5 in B♭ major (1876)
No. 6 in A major (1881)
No. 7 in E major (1883)
No. 8 in C minor (1887/1890)
No. 9 in D minor (1896) (unfinished)

Other orchestral

Four Orchestral Pieces (1862)
Overture in G minor (1862–1863)
March in E-flat major (1865)
Symphonisches Präludium (1876)

Sacred works

Masses	Masses (1842–1868) Windhaager Messe (1842) Kronstorfer Messe (1843) Messe für den Gründonnerstag (1844–1845) Requiem in D minor (1849) Missa solemnis (1854) Mass No. 1 in D minor (1864) Mass No. 2 in E minor (1866/1882) Mass No. 3 in F minor (1868/1883/1893)
Cantatas	Psalm settings (1852–1892) Psalm 114 (1852) Magnificat (1852) Psalm 22 (c. 1852) Psalm 146 (c. 1856) Festive Cantata: Preiset den Herrn (1862) Psalm 112 (1863) Te Deum (1881–1884) Psalm 150 (1892)
Motets	Motets (c. 1835–1892) Pange lingua (c. 1835/1891) Libera me (c. 1843) Asperges me (1843–1844) Two Asperges me (1844–1845) Tantum ergo (1845) Tantum ergo (1845–1846) Dir, Herr, dir will ich mich ergeben (c. 1845) O Du liebes Jesu-Kind (1845–1846) Herz Jesu-Lied (1845–1846) Four Tantum ergo (1846/1888) Tantum ergo (1846/1888) In jener letzten der Nächte (c. 1848) Two Totenlieder (1852) Libera me (1854) Tantum ergo (c. 1854) Ave Maria (1856) Ave Maria (1861) Afferentur regi (1861) Pange lingua (1868) Inveni David (1868) Iam lucis orto sidere (1868/1886) Locus iste (1869) Christus factus est (1873) Tota pulchra es (1878) Os justi (1879) Ave Maria (1882) Christus factus est (1884) Salvum fac populum tuum (1884) Veni Creator Spiritus (c. 1884) Ecce sacerdos magnus (1885) Virga Jesse (1885) Ave Regina caelorum (c. 1886) Vexilla regis (1892)
Other works	Organ works (1835–1890) Two Aequali (1847)

Secular vocal

Cantatas	Cantatas (1845–1893) Vergißmeinnicht (1845) Entsagen (c. 1851) Arneth Cantata: Heil Vater! Dir zum hohen Feste (1852) Mayer Cantata: Auf Brüder! auf (1855) Festgesang: Sankt Jodok sproß (1855) Germanenzug (1865) Helgoland (1893)
Lieder	Lieder (1850–1882) Der Mondabend (c. 1850) Frühlingslied (1851) Wie bist du, Frühling, gut und treu (1856) Herbstkummer (1864) Im April (c. 1865) Mein Herz und deine Stimme (1868) Volkslied (1882)
Choral works	Weltliche Chorwerke (1843–1893) An dem Feste (1843) Das Lied vom deutschen Vaterland (c. 1845) Ständchen (c. 1846) Der Lehrerstand (c. 1847) Sternschnuppen (c. 1848) Das edle Herz (c. 1851) Die Geburt (1852) Vor Arneths Grab (1854) Laßt Jubeltöne laut erklingen (1854) Des Dankes Wort sei mir vergönnt (at the latest 1855) Das edle Herz (1857) Am Grabe (1861) Du bist wie eine Blume (1861) Der Abendhimmel (1862) Herbstlied (1864) Um Mitternacht (1864) Trauungschor (1865) Der Abendhimmel (1866) Vaterlandslied (1866) Vaterländisch Weinlied (1866) Mitternacht (1869) Nachruf (1877) Das hohe Lied (1876–1879) Abendzauber (1878) Zur Vermählungsfeier (1878) Sängerbund (1882) Volkslied (1882) Trösterin Musik (1886) Um Mitternacht (1886) Träumen und Wachen (1890) Der deutsche Gesang (1892) Tafellied (1893)