Anton Bruckner -- Te Deum -- Score

As a devout Catholic, it is not surprising that Anton Bruckner wrote several sacred choral works. The Latin Te Deum is a popular subject for composers, and Bruckner produced his setting between 1881 and 1884. The text, a hymn of praise and devotion that references the structure of the Apostles Creed dates to at least the 4th Century AD. It is sometimes included among the Ambrosian Hymnal, credited to Saint Ambrose of Milan, and also to Saint Augustine of Hippo, though definitive authorship is unknown. Although most frequently used in the Roman Catholic church, it is also present in Anglican and Lutheran worship, and in some churches of the Calvinist tradition, though less frequently.
Composed in stages between 1881 and 1883, Bruckner set the words with his usual grandeur, with a motif of running eighth-notes in the strings throughout the chorus sections. As with so many of Bruckner's works, it exists in multiple versions, though the 1881 version is noticeably incomplete, so the final published version of 1884 is the one commonly performed.
The English text of the _Te Deum_, from the Book of Common Prayer (colons are pauses):
We praise thee, O God : we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship thee : the Father everlasting.
To thee all Angels cry aloud : the Heavens, and all the Powers therein.
To thee Cherubin and Seraphin : continually do cry,
Holy, Holy, Holy : Lord God of Sabaoth;
Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty : of thy glory.
The glorious company of the Apostles : praise thee.
The goodly fellowship of the Prophets : praise thee.
The noble army of Martyrs : praise thee.
The holy Church throughout all the world : doth acknowledge thee;
The Father : of an infinite Majesty;
Thine honourable, true : and only Son;
Also the Holy Ghost : the Comforter.
Thou art the King of Glory : O Christ.
Thou art the everlasting Son : of the Father.
When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man : thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb.
When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death :
thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.
Thou sittest at the right hand of God : in the glory of the Father.
We believe that thou shalt come : to be our Judge.
We therefore pray thee, help thy servants :
whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with thy Saints : in glory everlasting.
O Lord, save thy people : and bless thine heritage.
Govern them : and lift them up for ever.
Day by day : we magnify thee;
And we worship thy Name : ever world without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord : to keep us this day without sin.
O Lord, have mercy upon us : have mercy upon us.
O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us : as our trust is in thee.
O Lord, in thee have I trusted : let me never be confounded.
Video source: • Bruckner: "Te Deum" mi...
Score sourced through the International Music Score Library Project / Petrucci Music Library: imslp.hk/linkh...
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