Sternschnuppen, WAB 85

Sternschnuppen
Secular choral work by Anton Bruckner
Shooting star
Key	F major
Catalogue	WAB 85
Text	Ernst Marinelli
Language	German
Composed	c. 1848 – Sankt Florian
Dedication	Bruckner's own men's quartet
Published	1932 – Regensburg
Vocal	TTBB quartet

Sternschnuppen (Shooting stars), WAB 73, is a song, which Anton Bruckner composed for his own men's voice quartet in c. 1848 during his stay in the Sankt Florian.

History

Bruckner composed the song on a text of Ernst Marinelli in c. 1848. 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.^[1][2][3]

The original manuscript is stored in the archive of the St. Florian Abbey.^[1][2] 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.^[1][2] The piece is issued in Band XXIII/2, No. 5 of the Gesamtausgabe.^[4]

Text and music

Sternschnuppen is using a text by Ernst Marinelli.

Wenn Natur die sanften Lider Still zum Abendschlummer neigt Und dem schattenreichen Flieder Philomelens Sang entsteigt, Wenn mit goldnem Schmuck die Leier In dem Schwesterreigen kehrt Und die Welt in stiller Feier Lunas milder Blick verklärt, Schwingt sich auf wie leises Fragen Sehnsuchtsvoll der feuchte Blick, Ob kein Bild von schönen Tagen Himmel strahlt ins Herz zurück? Und die Sterneschnuppen mahnen, Wie das eitel Träumen war; Denn der Seele dunkles Ahnen Wird nur drüben offenbar.

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.

The 38-bar long work in F major is scored for TTBB quartet.^[2] In the Göllerich/Auer biography the song is described as follows: Über dem Ganzen liegt die weichliche Romantik der damals beliebten Männerchor-Musik (On the whole piece rests the softish romanticism of the at that time popular men's choir-music).^[1]

Selected 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

1. U. Harten, p. 400
2. C. van Zwol, p. 721
3. C. Howie, Chapter II, p. 22
4. Gesamtausgabe – Weltliche Chöre

Sources

• August Göllerich, Anton Bruckner. Ein Lebens- und Schaffens-Bild, c. 1922 – 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. ISBN 978-90-6868-590-9
• Uwe Harten, Anton Bruckner. Ein Handbuch. Residenz Verlag, Salzburg, 1996. ISBN 3-7017-1030-9.
• Crawford Howie, Anton Bruckner - A documentary biography, online revised edition

External links

• Sternschnuppen F-Dur, WAB 85 – Critical discography by Hans Roelofs (German)
• A live performance of Sternschnuppen by the Schwuler Männerchor Zürich (2015) can be heard on YouTube: Sternschnuppen