Anton Bruckner - Mass No. 3 in F minor, WAB 28 (1868 Manuscript score)

Josef Anton Bruckner (4 September 1824 – 11 October 1896) was an Austrian composer best known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, strongly polyphonic character, and considerable length. Bruckner’s compositions helped to define contemporary musical radicalism, owing to their dissonances, unprepared modulations, and roving harmonies. Mass No. 3 in F minor, WAB 28 (1868) I. Kyrie - Moderato (0:00) II. Gloria - Allegro (9:18) III. Credo - Allegro (21:04) IV. Sanctus - Moderato (40:12) V. Benedictus - Allegro moderato (42:27) — Osanna - Allegro (49:02) VI. Agnus Dei - Andante (49:45) — Dona nobis - Moderato (54:35) Maria Stader (1911-1999) was a Hungarian-born Swiss lyric soprano Claudia Hellmann (1923-2017) was a German contralto. Ernst Haefliger (1919-2007) was a Swiss tenor Kim Borg (1919-2000) was a Finnish bass Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks and Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks conducted by Eugen Jochum (1902-1987) Studio recording, Munich, After the 1867 success of his Mass No. 1 in D minor, Bruckner was commissioned “to write a new Mass for the Burgkapelle.“ Bruckner wrote the first version between Septembers 1867–1868 in Linz (just before his move to Vienna). The first rehearsals, conducted by Johann Herbeck at the court church, the Augustinerkirche, took place in 1868 or 1869, but “were badly attended by orchestral players“ and were “generally unsuccessful.“ Ultimately, Herbeck found the mass “too long and unsingable.“ After various delays, the mass was finally premiered on June 16, 1872, at the Augustinerkirche, with Bruckner himself conducting. Herbeck changed his opinion of the piece, claiming to know only two masses: this one and Beethoven’s Missa solemnis. Franz Liszt and even Eduard Hanslick praised the piece. A second performance occurred in the Hofmusikkapelle on 8 December 1873. The manuscript is archived at the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek. After the third performance (30 July 1876), Bruckner made slight revisions on the Kyrie and the Gloria, and in 1877 on the Credo. He made a further revision on the Credo in 1881, in preparation for performances at the Hofkapelle, mainly to address “difficulties of execution“, but also to take into account what he had learned from studying Mozart’s Requiem, correcting some instances of parallel octaves if not justified by Mozart’s example. In some later performances, Bruckner was in the organ loft rather than on the podium.