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More than 1,000 singers and instrumentalists in Austria’s largest church.

It began with a mysterious entry penciled onto an ancient musical score in a shaky script written right in the middle of the tenor solo Te ergo quaesumus: “Te Deum of a Thousand Voices, September 8, 1974 4 PM, Cathedral.” St. Mary’s legendary Music Director Joseph Kronsteiner left this inscription like a riddle from the distant past on page 28 of Anton Bruckner’s “Te Deum,” a work that is as closely connected to Linz’s Cathedral as its magnificent altar and enormous steeple. Had there already been a Te Deum of a Thousand Voices? Had Kronsteiner once presided over a performance of Bruckner’s masterpiece in Austria's largest church? This question was the inception of the idea to once again perform Bruckner’s work, his greatest in terms of color and depth of revelation of his innermost self. It also suggested using both organs—the Choir Organ and the Rudigier Organ—to open the space for the mighty unisono of fifths and fourths stacked one atop the other. One conductor, two organists and more than a thousand singers and instrumentalists erected this resounding musical structure for more than 8,000 visitors to Austria's largest church.


WHAT // Church concert
WHEN // October 26, 2009
WHERE // St. Mary’s Cathedral


Free admission

PERFORMING ARTISTS // Wolfgang Kreuzhuber (organ), Rudolf Jungwirth (organ), Ursula Langmayr (soprano), Christa Ratzenböck (alto), Kurt Azesberger (tenor), Reinhard Mayr (bass)
Cathedral Choir, Collegium Vocale Linz, Choir of the Diocese Conservatory, Choir of the High School for Music, Bruckner Choir, church choirs from Linz and vicinity, Cathedral Orchestra (expanded), Josef Habringer (conductor)

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