(Shooting stars), WAB 73, is a song, which Anton Bruckner composed for his own men's voice quartet in during his stay in the Sankt Florian.
History
Bruckner composed the song on a text of Ernst Marinelli in . He dedicated it to his own men's voice quartet, which was composed of Ludwig Ehrenecker, Franz Schäfler, Johann Nepomuk Hueber and himself. It is not known when the piece was first performed.U. Harten, p. 400C. van Zwol, p. 721C. Howie, Chapter II, p. 22
The original manuscript is stored in the archive of the St. Florian Abbey. The piece was first published in band II/2, pp. 94-96 of the Göllerich/Auer biography. It was thereafter issued in 1954, together with Ständchen, in the Chorblattreihe of Robitschek, Vienna. The piece is issued in Band XXIII/2, No. 5 of the .Gesamtausgabe – Weltliche Chöre
Text
Sternschnuppen is using a text by Ernst Marinelli. When nature tilts her gentle lids Quietely for evening's sleep, And from the shadowy lilac Philomela's song rises,
When Lyra with golden ornament Enters into a sisters' round dance And the world in silent feast Is illuminated by Luna's gentle glance,
Like a silent question A moist glance swings up longingly, If no image of beautiful days The sky will reflect into the heart?
And the shooting stars remind How it was dream in vain, Because the soul's dark foreseeing Is revealed only over there.
Music The 38-bar long work in F major is scored for quartet. In the Göllerich/Auer biography the song is described as follows: (On the whole piece rests the softish romanticism of the at that time popular men's choir-music).
Discography A selection among the few recordings of Sternschnuppen: Guido Mancusi, Chorus Viennensis, Musik, du himmlisches Gebilde! – CD: ORF CD 73, 1995 Hubert Voigt, Thüringer Männerchor Ars Musica, Weltliches und Geistliches – CD issued by the choir, 2012 live
References
Sources August Göllerich, Anton Bruckner. Ein Lebens- und Schaffens-Bild, – posthumous edited by Max Auer by G. Bosse, Regensburg, 1932 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
Sternschnuppen F-Dur, WAB 85 – Critical discography by Hans Roelofs Live performances of Sternschnuppen can be heard on YouTube: the Wagner Society Male Choir of Japan, 11 December 1988: Sternschnuppen the Schwuler Männerchor Zürich, 2015: Sternschnuppen Männerchorkonzert 'Bruckner im Kremstal' - Pfarrkirche Micheldorf, 17 May 2024 (at 22:40)