Herbeck: Selected Sacred Works

This edition presents a selection of Johann Herbeck’s sacred choral works with instrumental accompaniment representing his association with important Austrian organizations and institutions. Texts in Latin and German are featured, along with both mixed and men’s choruses. The earliest examples represent Herbeck’s basic musical ability at the age of fifteen as a student at the Heiligenkreuz Abbey in Lower Austria (two settings of “Tantum ergo,” 1847) and his greater competence just a few years later as a member of the Church of the Piarists in Vienna (“De profundis,” 1851). Only five years later, his two lengthy works for men’s chorus and military brass band, which he conducted in his debut as director of the Wiener Männergesang-Verein (“Psalm: Der Herr ist mein Licht” and “Te Deum,” 1856), exhibited mature musical mastery. The same level of competence is evident in his works for mixed chorus that he performed upon being named founding conductor of the Viennese Singverein (“Sperent in te,” 1858) and before and after becoming the imperial Hofkapellmeister (“Adoro te,” 1864; “In ecclesiis,” 1867).