Papers by Bernhard Rainer
Historic Brass Society journal, Dec 1, 2017
Historic Brass Society journal, Dec 1, 2016
When one considers the music of Anton Bruckner (1824-96) today, it is hard to imagine that the br... more When one considers the music of Anton Bruckner (1824-96) today, it is hard to imagine that the brass chorales of his symphonies were ever played on instruments other than on wide-bore German trombones that were developed ca. 1835 by C. F. Sattler in Leipzig 1 and the predominantly American instruments that evolved from them. Bruckner also employed trombones prominently in his early Masses-mostly doubling the voice parts colla parte, a technique well known from the great Viennese composers Haydn, Mozart, and Schubert. As evidenced by the instruments of this period, the bore size of Viennese trombones remained nearly unchanged from the sixteenth century into the third decade of the nineteenth century. This is clearly documented by the set of trombones by Joseph Huschauer from 1813 and by a tenor trombone, dated 1823, by Joseph Riedl (Figures 1 and 2). 2 A step toward a wider bore in Viennese trombones probably was made by Riedl around 1830, as can be seen from an undated instrument preserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. 3 It therefore at first seems logical that Bruckner's early works were played with slide trombones of the kind made in Vienna in the period of Schubert and Beethoven. However, with his first larger works, Bruckner not only took up the tradition of the Viennese Classic, but also found himself in an environment that was very strongly informed by contemporary secular and sacred music with wind instruments, an environment that had a substantial influence on his first compositions. In this context, one can even speak of Bruckner's "wind-music socialization." 4 At that time, however, this environment found itself in a major process of transformation with regard to brass instruments. The newly invented valve instruments found entry into light, military, and art music, and thus it was at a very early stage that the valve trombone found use in the orchestras and ensembles that are known to have performed Bruckner's music. Although Bruckner, unlike other famous nineteenth-century composers, such as Giuseppe Verdi, obviously never composed trombone parts specifically for valve trombones, it will be shown here when and in which works Bruckner heard his own music performed on such instruments, and which works were played on slide trombones. Moreover, the performance practice with respect to early tubas will be examined. 5 Bruckner's oeuvre is clearly divided into three main creative periods. His ten-year sojourn in St. Florian (1845-55) was followed by his employment as cathedral organist in Linz (1855-68), with the subsequent years, up to his death, spent in Vienna (1868-96). Local performance situations and opportunities naturally have ramifications for the works of a composer. The fact that Bruckner prominently featured brass
It is well known that in 1812 Ludwig van Beethoven composed the Three Equali for Four Trombones (... more It is well known that in 1812 Ludwig van Beethoven composed the Three Equali for Four Trombones (WoO 30) for the Linz Cathedral Kapellmeister Franz Xaver Glöggl. A letter from Glöggl to Robert Schumann, however, suggests that the composer originally composed four pieces. An examination of the autograph score of WoO 30 (D-B, Mus.ms.autogr.Beethoven, L.v., Grasnick 9), held by the Staatsbibliothek Berlin, seems to confirm this: one page of the manuscript most likely became detached. In 2018, an anonymous example of an equale turned up in the Diocesan Archives in Linz. Although the newly found manuscript (A-Lld-49) is not in Beethoven’s hand, comparison with additions written on the autograph of WoO 30 identifies it to be that of Glöggl. The Linz source is a working sketch of an arrangement for three vocal parts made from a four-part trombone movement. One possible scenario is that Glöggl, who is not otherwise known as a composer, used Beethoven’s presumed fourth equale for this purpose. This is indicated by aspects such as key relationships and the identical, unusual key designation of all the compositions in question. It is more likely, however, that the rediscovered piece—a simple chorale—belongs to an older class of repertoire.
Musicologica Austriaca, 2022
It is well known that in 1812 Ludwig van Beethoven composed the Three Equali for Four Trombones (... more It is well known that in 1812 Ludwig van Beethoven composed the Three Equali for Four Trombones (WoO 30) for the Linz Cathedral Kapellmeister Franz Xaver Glöggl. A letter from Glöggl to Robert Schumann, however, suggests that the composer originally composed four pieces. An examination of the autograph score of WoO 30 (D-B, Mus.ms.autogr.Beethoven, L.v., Grasnick 9), held by the Staatsbibliothek Berlin, seems to confirm this: one page of the manuscript most likely became detached.
In 2018, an anonymous example of an equale turned up in the Diocesan Archives in Linz. Although the newly found manuscript (A-Lld-49) is not in Beethoven’s hand, comparison with additions written on the autograph of WoO 30 identifies it to be that of Glöggl. The Linz source is a working sketch of an arrangement for three vocal parts made from a four-part trombone movement. One possible scenario is that Glöggl, who is not otherwise known as a composer, used Beethoven’s presumed fourth equale for this purpose. This is indicated by aspects such as key relationships and the identical, unusual key designation of all the compositions in question. It is more likely, however, that the rediscovered piece—a simple chorale—belongs to an older class of repertoire.
Music & Practice, Vol. 9, 2021
As music historiography has made evident, vocal performance practice of Schubert’s time differed ... more As music historiography has made evident, vocal performance practice of Schubert’s time differed substantially from the customs of conventional modern lied singing.
This study begins with biographical details on Anton Rösner and August Swoboda, whose works on vocal pedagogy can be described as relevant sources for contemporary performance practice due to their artistic proximity to Schubert’s circle of performers and the composer himself. Other relevant sources on ornamentation are then considered, before individual ornamental elements in Schubert’s lieder are examined in the light of these sources. Finally, portamento – a phenomenon mostly frowned upon today – is discussed, as it, too must undoubtedly have belonged to the practice of lied singing in Schubert’s time.
André Gaby (org.), Music in Antiquity Middle Ages & Renaissance. Mirabilia Journal 33/2 (2021), 2021
In the 1560s Alessandro Striggio composed monumental works such as his Missa sopra Ecco si beato ... more In the 1560s Alessandro Striggio composed monumental works such as his Missa sopra Ecco si beato giorno à 40 and a 40-voice motet, both of which can be proven to have been performed in Munich in 1567 and 1568. Analysis of the performing forces of Munich’s Cantorey of this time concludes not only that the instrumental participation of these performances must have been significant, but also that the works were transposed downward. Furthermore, a hypothesis is proposed that the Munich performance of an untitled 40-voice motet in 1568 involved Striggio’s Ecce beatam lucem à 40, which itself may constitute a contrafactum of Ecco si beato giorno, a madrigal that circulated in copies during the decade.
Andrea Gottdang, Bernhold Schmid (eds.), Andacht – Repräsentation – Gelehrsamkeit. Der Bußpsalmencodex Albrechts V. (BSB München, Mus.Ms. A), Schriftenreihe der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek, vol. 8, Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag, 2020
Musica Theorica, 2021
Giovanni Gabrieli’s posthumously published motets In ecclesiis and Benedictus es, Dominus ( Sacra... more Giovanni Gabrieli’s posthumously published motets In ecclesiis and Benedictus es, Dominus ( Sacrae symphoniae ... liber secundus , 1615) show obvious characteristics of self-quotation and reworking. An analysis of the works focuses on a characteristic ascending-fifths sequence which has been called “Monte Romanesca” by Robert Gjerdingen who introduced the term for the eighteenth century. In this study, the term is expanded to include music from the end of the sixteenth century for the first time. Further analysis concentrates on motivic and modal connections as well as special harmonic features such as chromatic-third relationships. Additionally, several other works of the composer are considered, showing that Gabrieli built on highly sophisticated harmonic, motivic, and formal compositional strategies in his large-scale oeuvre. Also, apparent processes of imitation in the Missa sine nomine of Gabrieli’s pupil Alessandro Tadei suggest that the younger composer used either or both of...
Historic Brass Society Journal , 2017
Historic Brass Society Journal Vol. 28 , 2016
When one considers the music of Anton Bruckner (1824-96) today, it is hard to imagine that the br... more When one considers the music of Anton Bruckner (1824-96) today, it is hard to imagine that the brass chorales of his symphonies were ever played on instruments other than on wide-bore German trombones that were developed ca. 1835 by C. F. Sattler in Leipzig 1 and the predominantly American instruments that evolved from them. Bruckner also employed trombones prominently in his early Masses-mostly doubling the voice parts colla parte, a technique well known from the great Viennese composers Haydn, Mozart, and Schubert. As evidenced by the instruments of this period, the bore size of Viennese trombones remained nearly unchanged from the sixteenth century into the third decade of the nineteenth century. This is clearly documented by the set of trombones by Joseph Huschauer from 1813 and by a tenor trombone, dated 1823, by Joseph Riedl (Figures 1 and 2). 2 A step toward a wider bore in Viennese trombones probably was made by Riedl around 1830, as can be seen from an undated instrument preserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. 3 It therefore at first seems logical that Bruckner's early works were played with slide trombones of the kind made in Vienna in the period of Schubert and Beethoven. However, with his first larger works, Bruckner not only took up the tradition of the Viennese Classic, but also found himself in an environment that was very strongly informed by contemporary secular and sacred music with wind instruments, an environment that had a substantial influence on his first compositions. In this context, one can even speak of Bruckner's "wind-music socialization." 4 At that time, however, this environment found itself in a major process of transformation with regard to brass instruments. The newly invented valve instruments found entry into light, military, and art music, and thus it was at a very early stage that the valve trombone found use in the orchestras and ensembles that are known to have performed Bruckner's music. Although Bruckner, unlike other famous nineteenth-century composers, such as Giuseppe Verdi, obviously never composed trombone parts specifically for valve trombones, it will be shown here when and in which works Bruckner heard his own music performed on such instruments, and which works were played on slide trombones. Moreover, the performance practice with respect to early tubas will be examined. 5 Bruckner's oeuvre is clearly divided into three main creative periods. His ten-year sojourn in St. Florian (1845-55) was followed by his employment as cathedral organist in Linz (1855-68), with the subsequent years, up to his death, spent in Vienna (1868-96). Local performance situations and opportunities naturally have ramifications for the works of a composer. The fact that Bruckner prominently featured brass
Books by Bernhard Rainer
Musikkontext, 2021
Das 16. Jahrhundert gilt noch immer als Zeitalter der Vokalpolyphonie – ein Bild, das in diesem B... more Das 16. Jahrhundert gilt noch immer als Zeitalter der Vokalpolyphonie – ein Bild, das in diesem Buch seine längst fällige Korrektur erfährt. Am Beispiel vom Hof Albrechts V. von Bayern mit Orlando di Lasso als Kapellmeister lässt sich dank einer überaus reich fließenden Quellenlage nachweisen, welch zentrales Element Musikinstrumente in der höfischen Musikkultur jener Zeit darstellten. Zunächst geht es um alle von Albrecht V. beschäftigten Instrumentalisten, von denen einige auch als Komponisten hervorgetreten sind. Darauf folgt eine Beschreibung sämtlicher Musikinstrumente am Münchner Hof. Das Hauptaugenmerk liegt jedoch auf der Dokumentation der äußerst vielfältigen instrumentalen Praxis bei Hof, diese enthält ein knappes Dutzend Fallstudien. Darin sind konkrete Besetzungen von einzelnen Werken, welche die Münchner Hofkantorei zur Aufführung brachte, bis ins Detail rekonstruiert.
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Papers by Bernhard Rainer
In 2018, an anonymous example of an equale turned up in the Diocesan Archives in Linz. Although the newly found manuscript (A-Lld-49) is not in Beethoven’s hand, comparison with additions written on the autograph of WoO 30 identifies it to be that of Glöggl. The Linz source is a working sketch of an arrangement for three vocal parts made from a four-part trombone movement. One possible scenario is that Glöggl, who is not otherwise known as a composer, used Beethoven’s presumed fourth equale for this purpose. This is indicated by aspects such as key relationships and the identical, unusual key designation of all the compositions in question. It is more likely, however, that the rediscovered piece—a simple chorale—belongs to an older class of repertoire.
This study begins with biographical details on Anton Rösner and August Swoboda, whose works on vocal pedagogy can be described as relevant sources for contemporary performance practice due to their artistic proximity to Schubert’s circle of performers and the composer himself. Other relevant sources on ornamentation are then considered, before individual ornamental elements in Schubert’s lieder are examined in the light of these sources. Finally, portamento – a phenomenon mostly frowned upon today – is discussed, as it, too must undoubtedly have belonged to the practice of lied singing in Schubert’s time.
Books by Bernhard Rainer
In 2018, an anonymous example of an equale turned up in the Diocesan Archives in Linz. Although the newly found manuscript (A-Lld-49) is not in Beethoven’s hand, comparison with additions written on the autograph of WoO 30 identifies it to be that of Glöggl. The Linz source is a working sketch of an arrangement for three vocal parts made from a four-part trombone movement. One possible scenario is that Glöggl, who is not otherwise known as a composer, used Beethoven’s presumed fourth equale for this purpose. This is indicated by aspects such as key relationships and the identical, unusual key designation of all the compositions in question. It is more likely, however, that the rediscovered piece—a simple chorale—belongs to an older class of repertoire.
This study begins with biographical details on Anton Rösner and August Swoboda, whose works on vocal pedagogy can be described as relevant sources for contemporary performance practice due to their artistic proximity to Schubert’s circle of performers and the composer himself. Other relevant sources on ornamentation are then considered, before individual ornamental elements in Schubert’s lieder are examined in the light of these sources. Finally, portamento – a phenomenon mostly frowned upon today – is discussed, as it, too must undoubtedly have belonged to the practice of lied singing in Schubert’s time.