Anton Bruckner's Psalm 150, WAB 38, is a setting of Psalm 150 for mixed chorus, soprano soloist and orchestra written in 1892.

History

Richard Heuberger asked Bruckner for a festive hymn to celebrate the opening of the exposition on 7 May 1892, but Bruckner did not deliver the piece in time for Heuberger's purpose.

The work was premiered in the Musikvereinsaal in Vienna on 13 November 1892, with the and the soprano soloist Henriette Standthartner and Wilhelm Gericke conducting.C. van Zwol, pp. 698–699 The concert also included a Schubert overture and Liszt's Piano Concerto in E-flat major, followed by Richard Strauss' Wandrers Sturmlied and Mendelssohn's Loreley.U. Harten, p. 345

The manuscript, which was dedicated to Wilhelm Ritter von Hartel, is stored in the archive of the Austrian National Library. It was first issued in November 1892 with another dedication to , by , as well as a vocal and piano reduction score by Cyrill Hynais. The work is issued by in volume XX/6 of the .

Text (Exhortation for praising God)

Setting Bruckner's Psalm 150 in C major is scored for choir and soprano soloist, and orchestra (2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones (alto, tenor and bass), contrabass tuba, timpani, and strings).Anton Bruckner Critical Complete Edition – Psalms and Magnificat

Unlike the other psalm settings composed some 40 years earlier, for which he used a German-language Bible approved by the Catholic Church,Joseph Franz von Allioli, Die Heilige Schrift des alten und neuen Testamentes, Dritter Band (mit Approbation des apostolischen Stuhles), 4. Auflage, Landshut, 1839 Bruckner used this time the German-language Luther Bible for the text.

The 247-bar long piece starts out in C major, alla breve, with a tempo marking of (More slowly! Festive, strong) as the choir sings "Hallelujah" several times before moving on to the second line of the psalm. At rehearsal letter , marked (more moving), begins the listing of instruments with which to praise God. At , (More slowly) follows "" At , with a return to the initial tempo, Bruckner repeats the opening "Hallelujahs", but at (bar 165) follows with "a complex fugue"D. Watson, p. 96 starting with the words "" once again (Slowly). Another return to the initial tempo at marks the beginning of the coda with the words "". The theme of the fugue is related to that of the fugue of Bruckner's fifth symphony and that of the Adagio of his ninth symphony.

The last time Bruckner improvised at the organ, he used melodies from this psalm setting.E. Meier, p. 50 Psalm 150 "shares both the key and the triumphant mood of rapturous exaltation of the ."

Selected discography The first recording (c. 1950) was by Henry Swoboda with the and the , LP: Westminster WAL 201 (with Symphony No. 6 and Psalm 112). Swoboda's historical performances of Psalms 112 & 150 and Richard Strauss' Wandrers Sturmlied have been recently transferred to CD by Klassic Haus Restorations."Bruckner Psalms 112 & 150; Strauss Sturmlied", Klassic Haus Restorations

Among the ten other recordings, Hans Roelofs selects the following four recordings: Eugen Jochum, Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin and Berliner Philharmoniker, 1965, LP: DG SLPM 139137/8 (with Symphony No. 7). This recording, which has been transferred to CD as part of the 4-CD box set DG 423 127-2, remains according to Hans Roelofs the reference. Daniel Barenboim, Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, 1979, LP: DG 2707 116. This recording has been transferred to CD: DG 437 250-2 (with Symphony No. 0 and Helgoland). It is more widely available as part of a ten-CD set DG 477 8903 containing Symphonies 0-9, the Te Deum, and Helgoland. Matthew Best, Corydon Singers & Orchestra, 1992, CD: Hyperion CDA66599 (with Mass No. 3) Helmuth Rilling, Gächinger Kantorei and Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, 1996, CD: Hänssler Classic 98.119 (with Mass No. 2 and the Te Deum)

References

Sources , Anton Bruckner als Kirchenmusiker, Gustav Bosse Verlag, Regensburg, 1927, Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XX/6: Psalm 150 (1892), Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, (editor), Vienna, 1964 Elisabeth Meier, "An 'inner' biography of Bruckner", Bruckner Studies edited by Timothy L. Jackson and Paul Hawkshaw, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1997 Nicholas Rast, "A checklist of Essays and Reviews by Heinrich Schenker", Music Analysis, 7 no. 2, Blackwell Publishing, 1988 Derek Watson, Bruckner, J. M. Dent & Sons, London, 1975 Uwe Harten, Anton Bruckner. Ein Handbuch. Residenz Verlag, Salzburg, 1996. . , Anton Bruckner – Leven en Werken, Thot, Bussum (Netherlands), 2012.

External links Psalm 150 C-Dur, WAB 38 Critical discography by Hans Roelofs

, Donald P. Jenkins with the Colorado Springs Chorale and Philharmonic (2014) , Antonio Grosu with the Chœur de Chambre and the Orchestre Symphonique de la Grande Région de Luxembourg (2019)