Du bist wie eine Blume
Secular choral work by Anton Bruckner
Junge Dame mit Rosen am Seeufer, Nathanael Sichel
Key	F major,
Catalogue	WAB 64
Text	Heinrich Heine
Language	German
Composed	5 December 1861 (1861-12-05): Linz
Dedication	Liedertafel Sängerbund
Published	1932 (1932): Regensburg
Vocal	SATB quartet

Du bist wie eine Blume (You are like a flower), WAB 64, is a song, which Anton Bruckner composed in 1861.

Bruckner composed the song on a text of Heinrich Heine on 5 December 1861. On request of his friend Alois Weinwurm, Bruckner composed the song for the opening concert of the Liedertafel Sängerbund.^[1]

The piece was performed 10 days later under Bruckner's baton in the Redoutensaal of Linz by four soloists: Hermine and Wilhelmine Ritter, Heinrich Knoll and Ferdinand Hummel. The piece became a favourite of Sängerbund.^[2][3]

Bruckner's manuscript of 5 December 1861 (A-LIsakaWAB64) is stored in the archive of the city of Linz.
Another undated work manuscript (Mus.Hs.3166) is stored in the archive of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek. A copy of this work manuscript was first published in Band III/2, pp. 193–196 of the Göllerich/Auer biography.^[2][3]
A score based on manuscript A-LIsakaWAB64 is issued in Band XXIII/2, No. 14 of the Gesamtausgabe.^[4]

The song uses a text of Heinrich Heine's Buch der Lieder (Book of Songs).

The 32-bar long work in F major is scored for SATB quartet.^[2][3]

There are three recordings of the song:

• Johannes Hiemetsberger, Chorus sine nomine, Romantik rediscovered - European choral gems of the 19th century – CD: Helbling C8352CD, 2017
• Reiner E. Moritz, Anton Bruckner - The making of a giant – BR: Arthaus Musik NTSSC, 2021
  A recording of seven motets,^[6] and two Weltliche Chorwerke: Du bist wie eine Blume^[7] and the premiere of Vaterlandslied by Alexander Koller with Hard-Chor-Linz and the Linzer Sängerakademie, is together with the documentary.

NB: A rehearsal of the song can be heard on Youtube.^[8]

• Calmus Ensemble, Bruckner Vocal - Du bist wie eine Blume, WAB 64 – Carus, 2023 – Original performance for voice quartet

Note

• A fragment, sung by the Chor der Singakademie Linz, can be heard from the 30th minute of the videofilm Das Leben Anton Bruckners of Hans Conrad Fischer (1975).
• A performance by Stephen Cleobury with the BBC Choir (2011) is put in the Bruckner Archive: Charter Oak COR-2178 (box of 2 CDs).^[9]

• August Göllerich, Anton Bruckner. Ein Lebens- und Schaffens-Bild, c. 1922 – posthumous edited by Max Auer by G. Bosse, Regensburg, 1932
• 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.
• Crawford Howie, Anton Bruckner - A documentary biography, online revised edition

• Du bist wie eine Blume, WAB 64: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Du bist wie eine Blume F-Dur, WAB 64 – Critical discography by Hans Roelofs (in German)
• Du bist wie eine Blume – Kentucky All-State Choir at the EKU Choral Day 2023 - EKU Center for the Arts (22 September 2023)
• Du bist wie eine Blume, WAB 64 – Leon Chu conducting the Choir of the Chinese University of Hong Kong - Live, Chung Chi Chapel, 18 April 2024
• Du bist wie eine Blume in an arrrangement for String Orchestra and Choir – Andrés Uribe-Jimenéz conducting the Musikverein St. Pölten 1837 (2023)
• Clifford So conducts Bruckner – live performance of Du bist wie eine Blume by the students of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Chorus (2024)