("The German song"), WAB 63, is a patriotic song composed by Anton Bruckner in 1892, one year before Helgoland.
History Bruckner composed on 29 April 1892 for the (First German-academic singers' festival), which would happen in Salzburg in June 1892. The performance on 5 June under the baton of Raoul Mader was a "" (a huge success).C. van Zwol, p. 730
The original manuscript is stored in the archive of the in Vienna.U. Harten, p. 127 The song was first published in 1911 by Viktor Keldorfer (Universal Edition). The piece, also called , was performed several times till the years 1930. It is put in Band XXIII/2, No. 35 of the .Gesamtausgabe – Weltliche Chöre
Lyrics The song uses lyrics by Erich Fels, pseudonym of Aurelius Polzer:
Music The 87-bar long work in D minor, which shows affinities with the patriotic Germanenzug (1863), Sängerbund (1882) and Helgoland (1893), is scored for choir and brass instruments (4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones and contrabass-tuba).
Discography
There are four recordings of Der deutsche Gesang: Robert Shewan, Roberts Wesleyan College Chorale and Brass Ensemble, Anton Bruckner - Sacred and Secular Choral Works – LP: Roberts Wesleyan College Records 41 448, 1983. Remastered to CD: High Definition Tape Transfers HDTT. Robert Shewan, Roberts Wesleyan College Chorale and Brass Ensemble, Choral Works of Anton Bruckner – CD: Albany TROY 063, 1991 Timothy Seelig, Turtle Creek Chorale Dallas, Fort Worth Symphony Brass, Times of the Day – CD: Reference Recordings RR-67, 1995 Thomas Kerbl, Männerchorvereinigung, Blechbläserensemble der Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität Linz, Weltliche Männerchöre – CD: LIVA 054, 2012 Note Der deutsche Gesang has been performed at the Brucknerfest 2022 (Brucknerfest 2022 - Krieg und Frieden (29-09-2022)). A recording is available in the Bruckner Archive.The Bruckner archive
References
Sources Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XXIII/2: Weltliche Chorwerke (1843–1893), Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Angela Pachovsky and Anton Reinthaler (Editor), Vienna, 1989 Cornelis van Zwol, Anton Bruckner 1824–1896 – Leven en werken, uitg. Thoth, Bussum, Netherlands, 2012. Uwe Harten, Anton Bruckner. Ein Handbuch. , Salzburg, 1996. .
External links
Der deutsche Gesang / Das deutsche Lied d-moll WAB 63 Critical discography by Hans Roelofs