(Midnight), WAB 80, is a song composed by Anton Bruckner in 1869.
History Bruckner composed the song on a text of Joseph Mendelssohn in November 1869, for the 25th anniversary of Linz Liedertafel Frohsinn. The piece was performed on 15 May 1870 by Frohsinn in the in Linz.C. van Zwol, p. 726U. Harten, p. 289C. Howie, Chapter III, p.81
The work, of which the original manuscript is stored in the archive of Liedertafel Frohsinn, was first issued by Doblinger in 1903. It was reissued in 1911 by Viktor Keldorfer (Universal Edition), together with the two other Bruckner's "midnight-songs" (Um Mitternacht, WAB 89 and WAB 90). The song is issued in Band XXIII/2, No. 25 of the .Gesamtausgabe – Weltliche Chöre
Text
Mitternacht uses a text by Joseph Mendelssohn. The flowers glow in the moonlight Of the fairy and beautiful midnight, In the tree below, with dense flowers, The stars' sparkle breaks flickering, They embrace the finery of the leaves In the sweet enchantment of midnight.
The air go so softly, so high Like the sound of the bells of distant cathedrals; My heart is heavy in devotion, It rustles around me like Gods teaching, Like organ sound and festive song In the sweet enchantment of midnight.
Music The 84-bar long work in A-flat major is scored for choir, tenor soloist and pianoforte. Strophe 1 is sung by the choir with an ostinato played on the keyboard. In strophe 2, bars 49-58 (), the soloist sings with the accompaniment of the choir and unison lines of sixteenth notes in the pianoforte part. The piece ends pianissimo.
Discography
Mitternacht, WAB 80, is one of the most popular Bruckner's Weltliche Chorwerke. The first recording of Mitternacht was by Willi Schell with the Cronenberger Männerchor in 1956 – 45 rpm: Tonstudio Wolfgang Jakob (Dortmund)
A selection of the other recordings: Walther Schneider, Josef Traxel (tenor), Stuttgarter Liederkranz, Hubert Giesen (piano) – LP: Odeon O/STO 41453, 1961 Guido Mancusi, Herbert Lippert (tenor), Chorus Viennensis, Walter Lochmann (piano), Musik, du himmlisches Gebilde! – CD: ORF CD 73, 1995 Thomas Kerbl, Männerchorvereinigung Bruckner 08, Mariko Onishi (Piano), Anton Bruckner – Männerchöre – CD: LIVA027, 2008 Jan Schumacher, Christoph Prégardien (tenor), Camerata Musica Limburg, Andreas Frese (Piano) Serenade. Songs of night and love – CD: Genuin GEN 12224, 2011
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. . Crawford Howie, Anton Bruckner - A documentary biography, online revised edition
External links
Mitternacht As-Dur, WAB 80 – Critical discography by Hans Roelofs These performances of Mitternacht can be heard on YouTube: Dritan Luca with the Wiener Staatsopernchor (2007): Mitternacht Stojan Kuret with the Vokalna akademija of Ljubljana (2020): Anton Bruckner, Mitternacht WAB 80