Bruckner: Requiem; Psalms 112 & 114

Featuring

Joan Rodgers
Catherine Denley
Maldwyn Davies
Michael George
Matthew Best
Colin Sheen

Phillip Conway-Brown
Roger Brenner
Corydon Singers
English Chamber Orchestra
Anton Bruckner

Did you know?

1/7

Critical Reception

The Requiem, composed when Bruckner was 25, is considered the first full demonstration of his promise as a composer, despite its neglect.

Composer Biography

Bruckner's period of deliberate creative abstinence led to the belief that he was a late starter, writing no music of worth before the age of forty.

Recording & Production

This album features the first recording of Bruckner's Psalm 114 (116), which was skilfully realized by Matthew Best from a previously unclear and incomplete manuscript.

Composition History

Bruckner composed his Requiem in D minor and Psalm 114 before his rigorous technical studies with Simon Sechter, during which he was allowed to compose almost nothing.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Bruckner's work represents a lifelong search for inner and outer peace, and his natural indecisiveness and lack of confidence led to an obsession with revision.

Album & Artwork

The front illustration of the album features 'Gothic Cathedral by Water' (1823) by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, reproduced by permission of the Nationalgalerie, Berlin.

Compositional Technique

Bruckner's Requiem maintains an austere sound with an orchestra consisting only of strings and trombones, with a horn replacing one trombone in the Benedictus.