(The birth), WAB 69, is a song composed by Anton Bruckner in 1851 during his stay in St. Florian.
History Bruckner composed this work on a text of an unknown author in 1851 during his stay in St. Florian. On 19 March 1852, he dedicated the song to his friend Josef Seiberl to celebrate his name day.C. Howie, Chapter II, p. 7 It is not known whether it was performed at that time.U. Harten, p. 168C. van Zwol, pp. 721-722
The original manuscript is stored in the archive of Wels. The work, which was first issued in Band II/2, pp. 147-150, of the Göllerich/Auer biography, is issued in Band XXIII/2, No. 8 of the .Gesamtausgabe – Weltliche Chöre
Text Die Geburt uses a text by an unknown author. A stranger landed in the harbour of the world, Had lack at everything, food and money. O stranger, put your foot on the land, We all reach out so friendly to you. Come in, come in, come in, You will be our dear relative.
And once you did your duty fairly, Then you can approach the Father in the Heaven, Then people praise you and enjoy you, And cradle you in the slumbering grave. To rest, to rest, to rest, So you belong to the [heavenly] homeland.
Music The 25-bar long work in D-flat major is scored for choir. The (ardent) first 12 bars, in periods of 4 bars, have to be repeated three times - presumably foreseen for four couplets, of which only one has been retrieved. From bar 13, Und hast du das deine dann redlich getan, the Schubert-like song evolves slower to the end.
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
Die Geburt Des-Dur, WAB 69 – Critical discography by Hans Roelofs A life performance by the Kenyon College Männerchor can be heard on YouTube: Die Geburt, WAB 69