("In April"), WAB 75 is a lied composed by Anton Bruckner in .
History Bruckner composed the lied on a text by Emanuel Geibel during his stay in Linz. He dedicated the lied to his pupil Helene Hofmann, Pauline Hofmann's younger sister.C. Howie, Chapter III, p. 117C. van Zwol, pp. 717-718
The date of composition is uncertain. It was originally supposed that the lied was composed in 1868. Because it was dedicated to "Helene Hofmann", Angela Pachovsky put the date "before 18 September 1865" instead, i.e., before Helene's wedding with Heinrich Heissler.
The manuscript is lost, but a copy is stored in the archive of the St. Florian Abbey. In 1898 the work was issued by Bernhard Herzmansky by Doblinger. The first performance occurred on 5 February 1903 by Gisela Seehofer in a concert of the Wiener Akademischer Wagner-Verein,U. Harten, p. 210 during which Seehofer also sang Bruckner's Ave Maria, WAB 7 and Wie bist du, Frühling, gut und treu.
The song is issued in Band XXIII/1, No. 5 of the .Gesamtausgabe – Lieder für Gesang und Klavier
Text
The song uses a text by Emanuel Geibel. You, damp spring evening, How much I love you, The sky full of clouds, With only a star here and there.
As a gentle ethereal breath, The air hums so intensely, From all the valleys rises A warm fragrance of violets.
I would like to conceive a song Similar to this evening, But I can not find the sound, So dark, mild and mellow.
Music The 60-bar long work in A major is scored for solo voice and piano.
Discography There are four recordings of Im April: Robert Holzer (bass), Thomas Kerbl (piano), Anton Bruckner Lieder/Magnificat – CD: LIVA 046, 2011. NB: Transposed in G major.Can also be heard on YouTube: A. Bruckner - Im April Ulf Bästlein (baritone), Sascha El Mouissi (piano), Ich blick’ in mein Herz und ich blick' in die Welt - CD Gramola 99136, 2017 Elisabeth Wimmer (soprano), Daniel Linton-France (piano) in: Bruckner, Anton – Böck liest Bruckner II – CD Gramola 99237, 2020 Erinnerung - Bruckner in St. Florian, Alois Mühlbacher (countertenor), Franz Farnberger (grand piano) – CD: Solo Musica SM 450, 2024 Günther Groissböck (bass), Malcolm Martineau (piano) - Männerliebe und Leben – CD Gramola 99294, 2024
References
Sources Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XXIII/1: Songs for voice and piano (1851–1882), Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Angela Pachovsky (Editor), Vienna, 1997 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
Im April As-Dur, WAB 75 – Critical discography by Hans Roelofs A translation of Geibel's text is also available on The LiederNet Archive: "You damp spring evening". Äneas Humm, Doriana Tchakarova (piano): Anton Bruckner - Songs, Humm – Tchakarova Vanda Mencaglia, Stephen Kramer (piano): A. Bruckner - Im April, WAB 75 Rüdiger Büll, Ulrike Zeitler (piano): Frühlingslied, WAB 68, and Im April, WAB 75