Two Aequali

The Two Aequali, WAB 114 & 149, were composed by Anton Bruckner in 1847.

Bruckner composed the two Aequali in end January 1847 during his stay in St. Florian Abbey. He composed them for the funeral of his aunt Rosalia Mayrhofer (1770–1847).

The manuscript of the first Aequale (WAB 114) is stored in the archive of the Seitenstetten Abbey. The work was first published in band II/2, p. 83 of the Göllerich/Auer biography.

The sketch of the second Aequale was retrieved later in the archive of the St. Florian Abbey. In the sketch the part of the bass trombone is missing. It was then put as addendum (WAB 149) to the already issued WAB classification.

The two Aequali are issued in Band XXI/14 of the Gesamtausgabe.

The two Aequali in C minor, with 34 and 27 bars, respectively, are score for alto, tenor and bass trombones. In the edition of the Gesamtausgabe the missing part of the bass trombone of the second Aequale has been completed by Hans Bauernfeind.

The works are choral-sized with in WAB 114 a typical folklike melody in sixths. Similar musical sets were later used in the so-called Choräle in Bruckner's later symphonies.

Bruckner's two Aequali are popular pieces for trombone ensembles and are also often put as additional pieces to recordings of choral works.

The first recording occurred in 1970:

A selection among the about 50 recordings: