Anton BRUCKNER (1824-1896)
Mass No. 2 in E minor, WAB 27 (rev. 1882) [31:31]
Te Deum, WAB 45 (1884 Version) [20:01]
Hanna-Elisabeth Muller (soprano), Ann Hallenberg (alto), Maximilian Schmitt (tenor), Tareq Nazmi (bass)
Collegium Vocale Gent
Orchestre des Champs-Élysées/Philippe Herreweghe
Texts and notes included.
rec. 2012 at KKL Luzerne (Te Deum); 2019 at the Philharmonie, Essen (Mass)
PHI LPH034 [51:40]
Many people have a mid-life crisis, but Bruckner’s was especially severe. In 1868, at the age of 44, he suffered a nervous breakdown, at least partially due to overwork, and had to make a three-month stay in a sanitarium. On his return to his home in Linz he applied for the posts held by his recently-deceased teacher Simon Sechter and which he conditionally obtained. He thus, in a very short time, went from provincial organist and composer of church music to conservatory professor and composer of symphonies in Vienna, the musical capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The present disc, conducted by Philippe Herrweghe, gives us two choral works, one from two years before that pivotal year of 1868, and one from eighteen years after.
Bruckner wrote five masses in his Linz period, of which the three numbered ones are the best-known. The first and third masses are scored for soli, chorus and orchestra, but the second was originally given an outdoor performance and so scored for chorus and fifteen wind and brass (two each of oboes, clarinets, bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, and three trombones). There are several influences at play in the
Mass No. 2, one being that of Palestrina, as approved by the Roman Catholic Caecilian movement of the time, which advocated a return to Renaissance models in church music. Conversely, the mass also closely follows the Viennese model of the “grand mass”, as propounded by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert, anathema to the Caecilian movement. Over all of this is the personality of Bruckner himself and his increasing interest in symphonic form; indeed, he had already written three symphonies (Nos. 00, 0, 1). It is typical of Bruckner’s greatness that out of these elements he fashioned not only a coherent whole, but a great choral work.
With the austere opening of the Kyrie of the Mass No. 2 there is no doubt we are in the world of Palestrina. But the beautiful melodic line is more classical in nature and at the same time more Brucknerian, and the movement ends with a typical Bruckner coda. Bruckner’s use of the woodwinds in the Gloria movement is very original, but even more notable is the use of the chorus in the “Domine Deus’ and “Misere nobis” sections. The Gloria ends with an imaginative double fugue in which the brass is featured.
The opening of the Credo movement is another perfect synthesis of the Mass’ various elements and again features imaginative woodwind writing. There is a serenity and sense of power to this movement that reminds one of the adagios of the last three symphonies. But all this changes at the words “Et resurrexit”, which is given a full-scale Bruckner “blaze-up” and triumphal coda. The following Sanctus movement features beautiful part-writing for the chorus followed by a dramatic Hosanna section. The Benedictus is stately and gentle with much of the thematic material carried by bassoons and horns, before the second Hosanna. The Agnus Dei movement seems slightly more modern, per the 1860’s. This movement breathes the utmost sincerity, but has none of the pleading or despair frequently found in musical settings of the Agnus Dei, and the end of the work is quiet, but confident.
By 1883, almost twenty years after the composition of the Mass No. 2, Bruckner was an established figure in the Viennese musical world as composer, professor at the University, and concert organist. He had written five more symphonies since coming to Vienna (Nos. 2-6) and was starting work on the Symphony No. 7 [see link], his “break-through” work with the general public. But he paused while working on the Symphony No. 7 to write his Te Deum, one of only two large scale religious works he wrote after moving to Vienna. The Te Deum is chromatic even by Brucknerian standards and has a sense of pace and drama all its own.
The Te Deum is in five movements and scored for four soloists, chorus and orchestra (with organ
ad lib.). The first notes establish the almost operatic sense of drama as well as the equal balance of soloists, chorus, and orchestra. The setting of the
"Patrem immensae” section is especially dramatic, as is the “Tu es dexteram” at the end of the movement. The second and fourth movements are similar in tone, both serene and gently devout, each with a prominent violin solo-some of the loveliest music Bruckner ever wrote. In between these two movements the drama of the opening returns in the Aeterna fac with its multiple iterations of the words
"in gloria numerari”. The final In te, domine speravi combines the emotional and rhythmic elements of the preceding movements with rising levels of intensity, leading to one of the great codas of choral music.
The PHI label is Philippe Herreweghe’s own. Herreweghe first recorded the
Mass No. 2 in 1989 and has long been known as a strong advocate for Bruckner. In his new version he provides a solemn but serene reading, one that goes to the heart of the work. Herreweghe’s handling of the individual choral lines is masterly, as is that of the essential parts for wind, although he is slightly hampered by the somewhat muddy recording. In the
Te Deum recording issues again surface: the chorus sounds very distant as compared with the soloists and orchestra. This is not to criticize the actual singing of the chorus, which is fine in both works, and the soloists in the
Te Deum are uniformly excellent. While there have been scores of recordings of the
Te Deum, each conductor must fashion his own response to the unique questions of tempi, dynamics and dramatics, posed by this unique piece. Herreweghe’s performance can be said to be on the stately side, although he maintains enough momentum to keep things exciting and his renditions of the second and fourth movements are lovely. In the last movement he generates sufficient drama to erase most doubts, and this plus his fine version of the
Mass No. 2 makes this a very distinguished addition to the Bruckner recorded legacy.
William Kreindler
