Aequale, for alto, tenor & bass trombones No. 1 in C major, WAB 114

• Date: ca. 1847
• Composer: Anton Bruckner
• Period: Romantic (1820-1869)

Review

The two Aequali for three trombones in C minor of Anton Bruckner date from 1847, when being a musician was but part of Bruckner's myriad duties as a teacher at the St. Florian school. As with most of his music from those years, they are well-crafted and expressive, even though the character of the composer is not yet evident in them. Sometimes these two pieces are inserted into the sequence of a Bruckner Mass and the effect is pleasing and appropriate.

Before its aggressive entry into the world of jazz and popular music, it is easy to forget that the trombone once occupied a position of solemn dignity. Mozart used trombones in his Requiem; Beethoven reserved them for very special effect in his fifth and ninth symphonies, and Berlioz spoke of the trombone's noble quality. Here in these two brief works, Bruckner, no mean hand at writing for the brass, turned his attention to the trombone exclusively. The works were apparently intended for a solemn occasion. The first is imbued with the flavor of Mendelssohn and Schumann, yet one may notice early on a striking progression which will reappear (perhaps unintentionally) towards the end of the first movement of the Ninth Symphony a half century later. The second is even more solemn in nature and chordal in texture. The contrasts between forte and pianissimo hearken back to the antiphonal brass writing of Gabrieli and the other Venetian Renaissance composers whose music Bruckner knew well. ~ Wayne Reisig, Rovi

Albums with Complete Performances of the Work

Title	Date
Bruckner Motets	1998
Bruckner: Mass in E minor; Libera me; Aequalis Nos. 1 & 2	1986
Bruckner: Mass in E minor; Libera me; Zwei Aequale	1986
Bruckner: Mass in E minor; Motets	1992
Bruckner: Masses; Te Deum	1996
Bruckner: Messe en mi mineur; Motets	1992
Bruckner: Motets	2011
Bruckner: Sacred Motets	1997
Bruckner:Mass No. 2/Motets	1990
Choral Works of Anton Bruckner	1991
German Music for Trombones	1993

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