The brief, untroubled "Afferentur regi" comes from an eventful year in Anton Bruckner's life. The harsh blow of his mother's death the previous year was alleviated somewhat when the young musician (who was, after all, thirty-seven) was appointed conductor of the Liedertafel Frohsinn in Linz (a seemingly pleasant position which later came to a premature end when Bruckner resigned in anger over a prank). Shortly afterward, Bruckner completed his theoretical studies with Kitzler, and thus Bruckner had a dual incentive to "stretch out" and create some vocal works with the prospect of immediate performance. The offertorium "Afferentur regi" is a work of its time, reflecting the early Romantic period. It gives little glimpse of even the earlier mature Bruckner or the archaic beauty of his modal Cecilian pieces. But the brief piece is well crafted and pleasant, showing that Bruckner was considerably fluent in conventional utterance even during his belated student years. In F major, it is predominantly diatonic with minimal modulation, mostly to the relative minor. The accompanying trombones are assigned a highlighting role, blending into the overall texture. However, the wide vocal leaps and the use of a long held bass pedal on A from bars 17 to 24 are striking and the cadence at bars 33-34 is anticipatory of the trio of the Fifth Symphony. But that aside this is an unproblematic little piece, the work of a young man who even during a time of sadness and change could still give praise in a joyful spirit.

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