| Ecce sacerdos magnus | |
|---|---|
| MotetbyAnton Bruckner | |
The altar of the Old Cathedral of Linz
| |
| Key | A minor |
| Catalogue | WAB13 |
| Form | Responsorium |
| Text | Ecce sacerdos magnus |
| Language | Latin |
| Composed | 28 April 1885 (1885-04-28): Vienna |
| Dedication | 100th anniversary of the diocese of Linz |
| Performed | 21 November 1921 (1921-11-21): Vöcklabruck |
| Published | 1911 (1911): Vienna |
| Vocal | SATB choir |
| Instrumental | Organ, 3 trombones |
Ecce sacerdos magnus (Behold a great priest), WAB 13, is an 1885 sacred motet by the Austrian composer Anton Bruckner. It is a musical setting of the antiphon of the same title.
This work was composed at the request of Johann Burgstaller, to be performed at the Linz Cathedral on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the diocese. It was completed by 28 April 1885 and sent to Burgstaller in mid-May.[1][2] However, the work was not performed at that event, nor at any other event in Bruckner's lifetime.
The work, the manuscrit of which is archived at the Wiener Männer-Sangverein,[3] was edited by Viktor Keldorfer (Universal Edition) in 1911.[2] It was premiered on 21 November 1921 by the Vöcklabruck women's choral society.[4]
The motet is issued in Band XXI/33 of the Gesamtausgabe.[5]
The piece of in total 106 bars is a six-part responsoriuminA minor for mixed choir, three trombones and organ:[3]
The antiphon, which was intended as processional music for the entrance of the bishop into the cathedral, was thus designed to be "majestic" and "ceremonial" in character. The work's "most enthralling feature" is "the antiphonal writing of Gabrielian grandeur" in bars 64–66.[1] Kinder calls the piece "one of Bruckner's crowning achievements in the small forms" and "a work of almost barbaric intensity".[4]
The trombones, which usually double the low voices, occasionally adopt independent lines. The ritornello on the words "Ideo jurejurando" is expanded and contrasted with episodes "that seem to trace the evolution of church music" in their varied use of texture. In contrast, the harmonic structure is more reflective of Bruckner's own compositional style. The piece includes several references to Bruckner's 1854 Libera me, particularly in the harmonic writing.[4]
Bruckner's Ecce sacerdos magnus was recorded at first in 1966 by Eugen Jochum with the choir of the Bayerischen Rundfunk (LP: DG 139134/5).
A selection of the about 30 recordings:
The most of the performers are singing the Chorale in Gregorian mode. Only a few are singing it in accordance with the score: Fiala, Ortner and Schäfer.
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