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Four *Tantum ergo*
Four Tantum ergo
Motets by Anton Bruckner
	Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament
Key	B-flat major, A-flat major, E-flat major, C major
Catalogue	WAB 41
Form	Hymn
Text	Tantum ergo
Language	Latin
Composed	1846: St. Florian Abbey
Dedication	A.M.D.G.
Published	1893: Innsbruck
Vocal	SATB choir
Instrumental	Organ ad lib. (1846 version) a cappella (1888 version)

The four Tantum ergo ("Let us raise"), WAB 41, are settings of the hymn Tantum ergo composed by Anton Bruckner in 1846.

History

Bruckner composed these four motets A.M.D.G. in 1846 at the beginning of his stay at St. Florian Abbey. The original manuscript, which was stored in the archive of Neuer Dom of Linz, was lost in the process. Voice scores can still be found in the archive of the St. Florian Abbey.^[1]

In 1888, Bruckner revised these four settings, as well as the next setting in D major.^[2] The revised version of the five Tantum ergo was published first by Johann Groß, Innsbruck in 1893. In this first edition the ordering for the 4 compositions was deviating from the original ordering by the composer. The WAB ordering, which is based on this first edition, deviates also from the original ordering by the composer.^[2]

The 1846 and 1888 versions are put in Band XXI/12 and 37 of the Gesamtausgabe respectively.^[3]

Music

The works are scored for SATB choir and organ ad lib. The first setting, in B-flat major (WAB 41.3) is 25-bar long. The three other settings in A-flat major (WAB 41.4), E-flat major (WAB 41.1), and C major (WAB 41.2), are 24-bar long. Afterwards a 2- (3-)bar Amen was added to the settings.^[1]

In the 1888 version the settings are score for mixed choir a cappella. In the setting in E-flat major the Dresdner Amen is used on "ritui" (bars 15-16).^[4]

Selected discography

The first recording occurred in 1931:

Ferdinand Habel, Domchor zu St. Stephan (Vienna) – 78 rpm Christschall 130A (Tantum ergo in C major, 1846 version)

1846 version

There is a single recording with all four Tantum ergo:

Thomas Kerbl, Chorvereinigung Bruckner 09, Anton Bruckner Chöre/Klaviermusik – CD: LIVA 034 (first strophe only)

1888 version

There are four recordings with all four Tantum ergo:

Magnar Mangersnes, Domchor Bergen, Bruckner: Motets – CD: Simax PSC 9037, 1996
Petr Fiala, Tschechischer Philharmonischer Chor Brno, Anton Bruckner: Motets - CD: MDG 322 1422-2, 2006
Erwin Ortner, Arnold Schoenberg Chor, Anton Bruckner: Tantum ergo - CD: ASC Edition 3, issue of the choir, 2008
Sigvards Klava, Latvian Radio Choir, Bruckner: Latin Motets, 2019 – CD Ondine OD 1362

References

^ ^a ^b C. van Zwol, p. 702
^ ^a ^b C. van Zwol, p. 709
^ Gesamtausgabe - Kleine Kirchenmusikwerke
^ M, Auer, p. 52

Sources

Max Auer, Anton Bruckner als Kirchenmusiker, G. Bosse, Regensburg, 1927
Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XXI: Kleine Kirchenmusikwerke, Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Hans Bauernfeind and Leopold Nowak (Editor), Vienna, 1984/2001
Cornelis van Zwol, Anton Bruckner 1824–1896 – Leven en werken, uitg. Thoth, Bussum, Netherlands, 2012. ISBN 978-90-6868-590-9