Pange lingua, WAB 31

Pange lingua (Tell, my tongue),

History

Bruckner composed the motet in c. 1835 when, as eleven-year-old boy, he was studying by Johann Baptist Weiß in Hörsching.^[1][2][3] It is not known whether it was performed at that time. In 1891, towards the end of his life, Bruckner "restored" this beloved very first composition.^[4]

The first version of the work, the original manuscript of which is lost, was found as a transcription by Franz Bayer,

The second version of the motet was first published as a facsimile in 1927 by Max Auer in his book Anton Bruckner as Kirchenmusiker.[5] The first version was first published in band II/1, p. 228 of the Göllerich/Auer biography.^[1][2] The two versions are put in Band XXI/1 and 39 of the Gesamtausgabe.^[6]

Music

The work is a setting of 28

On 19 April 1891 Bruckner made some "restoration" of the work. The differences between the two versions are small, mainly a different articulation in bars 15 and 22, and a reharmonisation of bars 25-27.

Discography

First version

There are two recordings of the first version:

• Philipp von Steinäcker, Vocalensemble Musica Saeculorum, Bruckner: Pange lingua - Motetten - CD: Fra Bernardo FB 1501271, 2015
• Markus Stumpner, Erinnerung - Bruckner in St. Florian, Sankt Florianer Sängerknaben – CD: Solo Musica SM 450, 2024

Second version

There is a single recording of the 1891 version:

• Jonathan Brown, Ealing Abbey Choir, Anton Bruckner: Sacred Motets – CD: Herald HAVPCD 213, 1997

References

Sources

• Max Auer, Anton Bruckner als Kirchenmusiker, G. Bosse, Regensburg, 1927
• 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 XXI: Kleine Kirchenmusikwerke, Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Hans Bauernfeind and Leopold Nowak (Editor), Vienna, 1984/2001
• ISBN 3-7017-1030-9
  .
• Cornelis van Zwol, Anton Bruckner 1824–1896 – Leven en werken, uitg. Thoth, Bussum, Netherlands, 2012.
  ISBN 978-90-6868-590-9
• Crawford Howie, Anton Bruckner - A documentary biography, online revised edition

• Pange lingua, WAB 31: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project - Both versions
• Pange lingua C-Dur, WAB 31 Critical discography by Hans Roelofs (in German)
• A live performance of the first version of the motet by the Vocalensemble b-choired of Linz (26 April 2014) can be heard on YouTube: Pange lingua, WAB 31