Der deutsche Gesang ("The German song"), WAB 63, is a patriotic song composed by Anton Bruckner in 1892, one year before Helgoland.

Bruckner composed Der deutsche Gesang on 29 April 1892 for the Erstes deutsch-akademisches Sängerfest (First German-academic singers' festival), which would happen in Salzburg in June 1892. The performance on 5 June under the baton of Raoul Mader was a "Kracher" (a huge success).^[1]

The original manuscript is stored in the archive of the Universitätssängerschaft 'Barden zu Wien' in Vienna.^[2] The song was first published in 1911 by Viktor Keldorfer (Universal Edition).^[1] The piece, also called Das deutsche Lied, was performed several times till the years 1930.^[2] It is put in Band XXIII/2, No. 35 of the Gesamtausgabe.^[3]

The song uses lyrics by Erich Fels, pseudonym of Aurelius Polzer:

The 87-bar long work in D minor, which shows affinities with the patriotic Germanenzug (1863), Sängerbund (1882) and Helgoland (1893),^[1] is scored for TTBB choir and brass instruments (4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones and contrabass-tuba).

There are four recordings of Der deutsche Gesang:

• Robert Shewan, Roberts Wesleyan College Chorale and Brass Ensemble, Anton Bruckner - Sacred and Secular Choral Works – LP: Roberts Wesleyan College Records 41 448, 1983. Remastered to CD: High Definition Tape Transfers HDTT.
• Robert Shewan, Roberts Wesleyan College Chorale and Brass Ensemble, Choral Works of Anton Bruckner – CD: Albany TROY 063, 1991
• Timothy Seelig, Turtle Creek Chorale Dallas, Fort Worth Symphony Brass, Times of the Day – CD: Reference Recordings RR-67, 1995
• Thomas Kerbl, Männerchorvereinigung, Blechbläserensemble der Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität Linz, Weltliche Männerchöre – CD: LIVA 054, 2012

Note

Der deutsche Gesang has been performed at the Brucknerfest 2022 (Brucknerfest 2022 - Krieg und Frieden (29-09-2022)). A recording is available in the Bruckner Archive.^[4]

• Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XXIII/2: Weltliche Chorwerke (1843–1893), Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Angela Pachovsky and Anton Reinthaler (Editor), Vienna, 1989
• Cornelis van Zwol, Anton Bruckner 1824–1896 – Leven en werken, uitg. Thoth, Bussum, Netherlands, 2012. ISBN 978-90-6868-590-9
• Uwe Harten, Anton Bruckner. Ein Handbuch. Residenz Verlag [de], Salzburg, 1996. ISBN 3-7017-1030-9.

• Der deutsche Gesang, WAB 63: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Der deutsche Gesang / Das deutsche Lied d-moll WAB 63 Critical discography by Hans Roelofs (in German)