Bruckner: Mass No. 2 in E Minor & Te Deum

Featuring

Philippe Herreweghe
Hanna-Elisabeth Müller
Ann Hallenberg
Maximilian Schmitt
Tareq Nazmi
Collegium Vocale Gent

Orchestre des Champs-Élysées
Anton Bruckner

Did you know?

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Philippe Herreweghe, the conductor, believes Bruckner's music, like Schubert's, is profoundly melancholic and mourns a "paradise lost."

Composition History

The Mass No.2 was originally scored without strings, organ, or solo quartet due to its premiere at an open-air consecration ceremony.

Critical Reception

The premiere of the final version of the Te Deum was so successful that even Eduard Hanslick, a consistent detractor of Bruckner's music, expressed admiration.

Composition History

Bruckner's Mass No.2 in E Minor was commissioned by Bishop Franz-Josef Rudigier of Linz for the consecration of the votive chapel of the New Cathedral.

Compositional Technique

Musicologist Leopold Nowak noted that Bruckner's Mass No.2 combines the a cappella choral technique of Palestrina's time with instrumental coloring from the Viennese Classical School.

Composition History

Bruckner composed the Te Deum while also finalizing his Sixth Symphony and during the composition of his Seventh Symphony, sharing thematic elements with the latter.

Compositional Technique

The Te Deum features an opening figure built on a four-note cell that underpins the entire composition, which musicologist Leopold Nowak called "one of the Master's most prodigious inventions."