Der deutsche Gesang, WAB 63

 ("The German song"), WAB 63, is a patriotic song composed by Anton Bruckner in 1892, one year before "Helgoland".
History.
Bruckner composed ' on 29 April 1892 for the ' (First German-academic singers' festival), which would happen in Salzburg in June 1892. The performance on 5 June under the baton of Raoul Mader was a "" (a huge success).
The original manuscript is stored in the archive of the ' in Vienna. The song was first published in 1911 by Viktor Keldorfer (Universal Edition). The piece, also called ', was performed several times till the years 1930. It is put in Band XXIII/2, No. 35 of the "".
Lyrics.
The song uses lyrics by Erich Fels, pseudonym of Aurelius Polzer:
Music.
The 87-bar long work in D minor, which shows affinities with the patriotic "Germanenzug" (1863), "Sängerbund" (1882) and "Helgoland" (1893), is scored for choir and brass instruments (4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones and contrabass-tuba).
Discography.
There are four recordings of "Der deutsche Gesang":