The year 1868 marked a watershed for Anton Bruckner, both as composer and as musician. His compositional output ran a musical gamut from works in the strict Phrygian mode to his expansive First Symphony. The offertory Inveni David belongs to this period and reflects a convergence of Bruckner's varied activities and creative impulses. Although not one of the composer's Cecilian pieces, the work does look back to the sacred music of the Renaissance in its bolstering of the chorus with a quartet of trombones, reminiscent of Giovanni Gabrieli and the other composers of the Venetian school.

While the work looks to the past in its externals, its processes not only reflect the efforts of Bruckner the contemporary symphonist but also look ahead to characteristics of his later music. Commencing in F minor with a stern triadic theme, typical of the later composer, the music moves tentatively through ranging modulations. It is halfway through, however, that an abrupt shift to the parallel major and the use of insistent dotted rhythms reveal the familiar mature Bruckner. The trombones, largely punctuating the chorus in the opening, now come into their own; tonal shifts can be discerned but do not threaten the established key. As with the later Te Deum and similar works, the second half reiterates text almost obsessively—in this case the sole word "Alleluja," which leads to a conclusion of vigor and affirmation.

© Wayne Reisig, All Music Guide