Helgoland (Bruckner)

Helgoland
by Anton Bruckner
The composer, c. 1890/1895
Key	G minor
Catalogue	WAB 71
Form	Patriotic cantata
Dedication	Men's Choir of Vienna
Performed	8 October 1893 – Hofburg Palace, Vienna
Published	1893 (vocal and piano score)
Recorded	1977 – Wyn Morris, Ambrosian Male Voice Chorus and Symphonica of London
Movements	7
Vocal	TTBB choir
Instrumental	Orchestra

Helgoland, WAB 71, is a secular, patriotic cantata for male choir and orchestra, composed by Anton Bruckner in 1893. Since Bruckner did not complete the 9th symphony, Helgoland is his last complete work.

History

One year earlier, Bruckner had already composed another, shorter patriotic work, Der deutsche Gesang (WAB 63), that was premiered at the First German Academic Song Festival in Salzburg in June 1892.

Helgoland was composed in April 1893 for the Men's Choir of Vienna^[1] to celebrate its 50th birthday.^[2][3] The text was written by August Silberstein, who had already provided poems, which Bruckner set to music (Germanenzug in 1864, and Vaterlandslied in 1866).

The setting was a case of interest, as the Frisian island of Heligoland had just been given to Germany in 1890 by Great Britain (in exchange for Zanzibar). Helgoland was conducted on 8 October 1893 by the Men's Choir of Vienna and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Eduard Kremser's baton in the Winterreitschule of the Hofburg Palace.^[2][3]

Bruckner legated the manuscript to the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek. The work was first published as vocal and piano reduction score by Cyrill Hynais in 1893. The vocal and orchestral score was posthumously issued by Doblinger, Vienna in 1899.^[2][3] It is put in Band XXII/2 No. 8 of the Gesamtausgabe.^[4]

Text and music

A bird's-eye view of the island of Heligoland

A map of Heligoland from 1910, 14 years after Bruckner's death

The text from August Silberstein's Mein Herz in Liedern focuses on the Saxon people of the island who are threatened by the invasion of the Romans, but divine intervention saves them:

Hoch auf der Nordsee, am fernesten Rand Erscheinen die Schiffe, gleich Wolken gesenkt; In wogenden Wellen, die Segel gespannt, Zum Eiland der Sachsen der Römer sich lenkt! O weh um die Stätten, so heilig gewahrt, Die friedlichen Hütten, von Bäumen umlaubt! Es wissen die Siedler von feindlicher Fahrt! Was Lebens noch wert, auch Leben sie raubt! So eilen die Zagen zum Ufer herbei, Was nützet durch Tränen zur Ferne geblickt; Da ringet den Besten vom Busen sich frei Die brünstige Bitte zum Himmel geschickt: Der du in den Wolken thronest, Den Donner in deiner Hand, Und über Stürmen wohnest, Sei du uns zugewandt! Lass toben grause Wetter, Des Blitzes Feuerrot, Die Feinde dort zerschmetter! Allvater! Ein Erretter aus Tod und bitt'rer Not! Vater! Und siehe, die Welle, die wogend sich warf, Sie steiget empor mit gischtenden Schaum, Es heben die Winde sich sausend und scharf, Die lichtesten Segel verdunkeln im Raum! Die Schrecken des Meeres, sie ringen sich los, Zerbrechen die Maste, zerbersten den Bug; Der flammenden Pfeile erblitzend' Geschoss, Das trifft sie in Donners hinhallendem Flug. Nun, Gegner, Erbeuter, als Beute ihr bleibt, Gesunken zu Tiefen, geschleudert zum Sand, Das Wrackgut der Schiffe zur Insel nun treibt! O Herrgott, dich preiset frei Helgoland![1] ^ Helgoland text

On the North Sea's most distant horizon Ships appear that resemble clouds; In billowy waves with tension on the sail The Romans approach the Saxons' isle. Alack! The holy lieus, hitherto preserved, The peaceful homes surrounded by trees! The settlers are aware of the adverse armada! Everyone being worth living, as they also steal life! Even those who hesitated now rush to the shore For looking with tears in the eyes is of no use; Thus, from the most valuables' bosoms A prayer is sent to the sky: Thou who art enthroned in the clouds, Who hast thunder in thy hand And who demandest tempests, Help us! Let dreadful storms bluster, Lightning's fire, And smash yonder foes! Lord! Our saviour from death and bitter hardships! Father! And look, the wave, that was billowing Turns into froth-like foam, The winds arise and they bolt fiercely, Even the brightest sails are darkened! The horrors of the ocean are relinquished, They burst the masts and the bows; The all-igniting arrows of lightning Strike them while thunder accompanies their flight. Now, enemy, looter, you stay as a loot, Sunk to the ocean's depth, dashed to the sand, Your ships' wreckage floats towards the island! O Lord, the free Heligoland praises thee!

The 317-bar long composition in G minor, scored for TTBB male choir and orchestra (2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, contrabass tuba, timpani, cymbal and strings), is set as a three-part sonata form with coda.

The piece is full of strength and enthusiasm, and carries the mark of Wagner's influence.^[5] The orchestral introduction depicts already the atmosphere of storm and fate, which hangs over the text. The first part (first three strophes) depicts the approach of the enemies and the announcement of the prayer, the mid-part (next two strophes) depicts the invocation of the deity, and the third part (reprise with development) depicts the storm and the sinking of the enemies. The coda on the last verse "O Herrgott, dich preiset frei Helgoland!, with a cymbal crash near the end (bar 309),^[2] is a hymn to the deity.^[3]

Duration: about 13 minutes.^[4]

Discography

Helgoland is seldom played for such a mature work, and many noted Brucknerian conductors have neglected to record it, though Daniel Barenboim has done it twice, at the time of his playing the symphonies of Bruckner with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

There are only four commercial recordings of the work:

• Wyn Morris, Symphonica of London, Ambrosian Choir – LP: Symphonica SYM 11 (with Wagner's "Das Liebesmahl der Apostel"), 1977; transferred to CD: IMP PCD 1042, 1993; CD: Klassic Haus KHCD-2012-043, 2012 (with Symphony No. 6 by Heinz Bongartz)
• Daniel Barenboim, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Choir – LP: DG 2707 116, 1979 (with Symphony "No. 0" and Psalm 150); transferred to DGG CDs: 6 October 6 1992 and 1 May 1995.
• Daniel Barenboim, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus – CD: Teldec 0630 16646-2, 1992 (with Symphony No. 1); reissued on CD: Elektra/Wea/Teldec, June 16, 1998; in a CD-box of Barenboim's Berlin cycle by Warner Classics, 10 January 2006.
• Alberto Hold-Garrido, Choruses for Male Voices and Orchestra, Lund Student Singers and Malmö Opera Orchestra – CD: Naxos 8572871, 2012

References

1. Called the Vienna Male Singing Society (Wiener Männergesangvereins) in Volume XXII/2 No. 8 of the Bruckner Complete Edition
2. C. van Zwol, pp. 714-715
3. U. Harten, p. 193
4. Gesamtausgabe – Kantaten und Chorwerke mit Orchester
5. Patrick C Waller review for Barenboim's BPO Bruckner cycle

Sources

• Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XXII/2: Kantaten und Chorwerke II (1862–1893), Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Franz Burkhart, Rudolf H. Führer and Leopold Nowak (Editor), Vienna, 1987
• Uwe Harten, Anton Bruckner. Ein Handbuch. Residenz Verlag, Salzburg, 1996. ISBN 3-7017-1030-9.
• Cornelis van Zwol, Anton Bruckner - Leven en Werken, Thot, Bussum (Netherlands), 2012. ISBN 90-686-8590-2

External links

• Helgoland g-Moll, WAB 71 Critical discography by Hans Roelofs (German)
• A not-issued recording by Takashi Asahina can be heard on John Berky's website: Helgoland by T. Asahina with the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra (1987)
• A performance of the vocal and piano reduction score by Jerzy Cichocki with the Victoria Scholars (2012) can be heard on YouTube: Victoria Scholars: Helgoland