TITLE: Mass No.2 in E minor (1864)

COMPOSER: Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Anton Bruckner composed a mass in B flat minor, D minor, F minor and E minor. He was a master of Renaissance polyphony. Bruckner was born to a father who was a schoolmaster. He was the eldest of eleven children. He showed signs of great musical ability as early as the age of four, even though he was not a prodigy. His father died in 1837, leaving his mother to send young Bruckner to accept the refuge offered the gifted boy as Saengerknabe in the sacred music school of St. Florian. He was there for four years. Bruckner wanted to become a school master like his father, and he added private studies in academic subjects to his music practice in order to gain admission to the teacher's preparatory school at Linz.

At Linz he prepared himself for the final examination for a regular schoolmaster's license. He passed the test in 1845, and experienced the good fortune of an immediate appointment to St. Florian, where he had been sent as a younger man. Bruckner composed several works during this time, that spoke of love and passion. However, he turned to a complete devotion to music, determined to be a virtuoso of the keyboard. Bruckner had a gift for free improvisation on the organ. In 1851 the post of organist at St. Florian became vacant and Bruckner, who had been assigned as substitute, was officially appointed to the position. Bruckner made it a habit of practicing ten hours a day on the piano and three hours on the organ.

In January, 1856, he entered an open competition for the vacant position of organist at the Cathedral in Linz, which he easily won, astonishing all by his incredible powers of improvisation on given themes. Bruckner was organist at Linz for twelve years. He continued to study the contrapuntal chains forged by the famous Viennese musical grammarian, Simon Sechter.

After two years of work, on July 10, 1858, he passed Sechter's test in Harmony and Thorough-bass. Then on August 12, 1859, he passed Elementary Counterpoint; April 3, 1860, Advanced Counterpoint; and on March 26, 1861, Canon and Fugue. He heard Wagner's Tannhauser in 1863, which set him free as if spiritually touched, motivating him to compose at new heights of unrestrained self-expression. The very next year during his residency in Linz he composed the Mass No. 2 in e minor.

MOVEMENTS: 6 Mass Movements

• Kyrie 7' 45"
• Gloria 6' 32"
• Credo 10' 34"
• Sanctus 3' 32"
• Benedictus 6' 27"
• Agnus Dei 5' 45"

PERFORMANCE TIME: 39' 15"

INSTRUMENTATION: 16 Wind Instruments and Chorus

• 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns, 2 Trumpets, 3 Trombones and Chorus (Pure or Austro Latin Text)

EDITIONS: Available for Purchase

• Schirmer Music Company - http://www.schirmer.com/catalogs.html

COMPOSITION SKETCH AND MUSICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Bruckner's Mass No. 2 in E minor was first performed while the new cathedral in Linz was being erected. The work was dedicated to Bishop Franz Joseph Rudigier. The first performance was scored for chorus with organ accompaniment. By the second performance in 1885, the chorus was accompanied by wind band. Bruckner achieves a style of purity and loftiness in his work, capturing the essence of Renaissance polyphony.

The Kyrie is in ternary form and begins in e minor. The first section uses male and female voices in antiphonal style. The middle section builds up a contrapuntal texture through the combination of two short motives with a B major completion. The third section is a recapitulation of the first, but with full chorus. The instrumental accompaniment is optional in this movement only.

The Gloria is in C major and from this point on, the instrumental accompaniment plays an important role thematically and textually. Bruckner uses ternary form with an extended coda in this part of the mass. The first movement is homophonic. The middle section begins calmly with the melody in horns. The third section is the recapitulation of the first with a conclusion of a powerful double Amen fugue.

The Credo, in C major is also a three part work that employs some material heard in the second mass movement. The first section opens in a traditional liturgical setting. The second section is in two parts, Adagio and Allegro. The third is a recapitulation of the first.

The Sanctus is completely different from the previous mass movements. Bruckner utilizes a canonic statement in G major surrounded by free voices. The entire movement has many qualities that can be compared to the musical style and sound of the Renaissance composer Palestrina.

The Benedictus returns to C major and is the most through-composed of all of the movements. It opens with a chromatic French horn statement declaring the primary motive. The movement concludes with a short coda on "Hosanna in excelsis". The final movement, Agnus Dei, returns to the original key of e minor. Bruckner recalls the opening theme of the Kyrie. The movement is in three sections. The first two sections both rise to a climax and then fade away. The third section again rises dynamically to another climax, however, this time falling into a sublime "dona nobis pacem" set in E major.

SELECTED RECORDINGS:

RELATED WEBSITES:

Bruckner Biography - http://www.netaxs.com/~jgreshes/mahler/brucknerbio.html

Bruckner Works List - http://www.austria-tourism.at/personen/bruckner/