(Forget-me-not), WAB 93, is a cantata composed by Anton Bruckner in 1845.
History When he stayed in Kronstorf, Bruckner composed in 1845 the first version of this cantata as (Musical essay in chamber style), which he signed as (candidate) for his (teacher aggregation).C. Howie, Chapter I, p. 31U. Harten, pp. 296-297 Bruckner's examination, which was held in Linz on 27 and 28 May 1845, was successful.C. van Zwol, p. 711
A slightly modified,C. van Zwol, pp. 58-59 second version was dedicated to Alois Knauer, the parish priest of Kronstorf. The performance occurred on 21 June 1845 (Knauer's name day) or the evening before.
The third version, entitled (Forget-me-not), was sent to Friedrich Mayer, who was at that time prebendary and choirmaster of the St. Florian Abbey, to remind him of the promise to provide Bruckner with an employment in the Abbey after his successful teacher examination. It is not known when it was performed.U. Harten, p. 464
The manuscripts of the first and second versions are stored at the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek. The manuscript of the third version is stored in the archive of the St. Florian Abbey. A facsimile of the third version was first issued in band I, pp. 286–300 of the Göllerich/Auer biography.
The three versions of the cantata are put in Band XXII/1 No. 1 of the .Gesamtausgabe – Kantaten und Chorwerke mit Orchester
Text
The work is based on the eleven-strophe poem (The mother and her child) by W. Dobelbaur. Morgenblatt für gebildete Stände, 14 (230): p. 921, 25 September 1820Wonderfully blossoming on the meadow were many flowers, red and blue, White and yellow, and among them The grass rippled in the most alluring green.
The lovely boy sat on his mother's lap, And asked: “Dear mom, I am grown enough, Let me jump among the little flowers, I want to sing my little song to them!”
“So jump down”, said the mother then, “Restless you, you will not cease, But come back soon, sweet little boy! So jump and sing your little song!”
She kissed the boy heartily, who jumped Sprightly down the little hill, Soon he sang his little song in the shady valley, Jubilant; “Now I have everything!“
Up and down floated his song. His mother called: “Bring up flowers, Do not forget the flowers, light blue and small, They will be down there along the creek!”
The mother enjoyed the joyful floating Of the little angel among the flowers, She prayed thankfully, mindful That the boy was a gift from Heaven.
The flowers kissed the boy's mouth, They nodded to him in a dainty round, He laid down exhausted among them, And whispered: “I will go to sweet sleep.”
Hidden under the flowery cover, The boy fell soon sweet and silent asleep; The mother called, but always in vain, “Where is my little child, Lord of my life?”
She hurries, whining loudly, down to the valley, Called shuddering her darling hundred times, Cried heartbreakingly, in tormenting urge. There she saw – a shimmering snake!
It curled and rustled away through the grass, Barely breathing, the mother spied at the place, A cry of horror from her breast, And she sank down, unconscious.
Like a wilted flower in the dawn, So lay her lovely darling dead! With a painful smile in his pale face, His little hand held firmly – forget-me-not.
Setting The cantata in D major is scored for choir, soloists and piano. The 149-bar long work is in seven movements: Eingangschor: Es blühten wunderschön auf der Aue - four-part mixed choir Recitative: Der Knabe saß hold auf der Mutter Schooß - soprano and alto Arie: Sie küsste den Knaben herzlich - soprano and alto Duet: Die Mutter erfreute das freudige Schweben - soprano and alto, Allegro Quartet: Verborgen unter blumiger Hülle - soprano, alto, tenor and bass Duet: Die ringelt' und raschelt' im Grase fort - tenor and bass, Moderato Schlußchor: Wie welkt ein Blümchen im Morgenroth - eight-part mixed choir a cappella, Andante The third version is 7 bars shorter (142 bars), and the first duet: soprano and alto, is replaced by a duet: soprano and tenor.
References
Sources August Göllerich, Anton Bruckner. Ein Lebens- und Schaffens-Bild, – posthumous edited by Max Auer by G. Bosse, Regensburg, 1932 Uwe Harten, Anton Bruckner. Ein Handbuch. , Salzburg, 1996. Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XXII/1: Kantaten und Chorwerke I (1845–1855), Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Franz Burkhart, Rudolf H. Führer and Leopold Nowak (Editor), Vienna, 1987 (Available on IMSLP: Neue Gesamtausgabe, XXII/1. Kantaten und Chorwerke Teil 1: Nr. 1-5) Cornelis van Zwol, Anton Bruckner 1824–1896 – Leven en werken, uitg. Thoth, Bussum, Netherlands, 2012. Crawford Howie, Anton Bruckner - A documentary biography, online revised edition A rendition of the cantata using a notation software can be heard on Vergissmeinnicht, WAB 93c – entire chorus practice
External links
Musikalischer Versuch nach dem Kammer-Styl D-Dur, WAB 93 a/b, Vergißmeinnicht D-Dur, WAB 93c - Critical discography by Hans Roelofs