Music is full of curiosities—works, often by major composers, that call for such unusual performing forces that they remain obscure, or that only appear in arrangements for other instruments; think, for instance, of Mozart's works for the glass harmonica, or Schubert's arpeggione sonata. Among the most interesting of these is Anton Bruckner's Abendzauber (Evening Magic). Scored for solo voice, four horns, chorus, and three yodelers, it is almost certainly unique, and is understandably unfamiliar to most. However, unusual as the ensemble may be, Abendzauber is anything but a deliberate attempt to be different; it is a remarkable and evocative work that manages to capture the spirit of the Austrian highlands with great originality.

Its composition dates from the year 1878, a trying time for the composer. The disastrous premiere of the Third Symphony had been the previous December, and there was a litany of criticism from the Viennese press. One cannot help but suspect that the hyper-sensitive Bruckner was in search of some spiritual comfort; it is not an unreasonable stretch to suggest that Abendzauber represents an attempt to connect with memories of his home in the Alps of Austria. The use of the yodelers, the horn signals and the nature-inspired text would seem to imply that the composer was thinking back to a happier, or at least a more peaceful, time in his life.

Mattig's poem explores the spiritual aspects of communion with nature. The horns and the yodelers exchange a signal figure that alternates with long-held tones in the voices; together, these sounds convey a sense of suspended time. Against this accompaniment, the tenor delineates a nocturnal seascape bordered by fields and majestic cliffs, the moonlight rendering the latter as well-lit halls. The yodeling is never raucous; it relies instead on the rapid alternation of pure vowel sounds and is used sparingly as a highlight. Contemporary with the Sixth Symphony and the revisions of the Fourth, Abendzauber is quite unlike anything else in Bruckner's output—a study in ultra-mysticism from a most mystical composer.

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