Bruckner’s “Ecce sacerdos magnus”: Thunderous Power and Majesty
Anton Bruckner’s sacred motet, Ecce sacerdos magnus, WAB 13 (“Behold a great priest”) begins with an earth-shattering announcement, set in motion by primal open fifths. The Old Testament text celebrates the blessings given to devout men. Scored for eight-part choir, organ, and three trombones, it is music of thunderous power, majesty, and solemn mystery. Growing out of Medieval plainchant, its soaring antiphonal blocks of sound recall the Renaissance strains of Giovanni Gabrieli. As …