Psalm 112 (1863) is an assured post-Sechter product, a trenchant B flat major setting of a song of praise, introduced (as in the previous work) by an Alleluia. Bruckner uses a full classical orchestra, and the chorus is double. There is some rich and sonorous writing, and the central fugue (on Alleluia) is a much more fluent affair than the one in Psalm 114 (116). Perhaps the full-scale recapitulation creates some stiffness rather than satisfying symmetry, but the whole thing has an enthusiastic punch and an already mature skill in execution that would make it an enjoyable acquisition for amateur choirs. Bruckner had already written one full-sized mass in 1854 and his next large choral work after this Psalm was to be the powerful Mass in D minor of the following year, the first of the three great Masses—so here we find him gazing, perhaps not fully realizing the fact, down the long road of the rest of his creative life, the Masses looming on the horizon and the Symphonies far beyond that.

from notes by Robert Simpson © 1987