Bruckner and brevity - his shortest pieces

Since the average length of a Bruckner symphony is more than one hour and large-scale sacred works tend to be equally long, it might come as a surprise that Bruckner's oeuvre includes pieces so short that they could be mistaken as written by another famous composer of the same first name, namely Anton Webern.

Some short pieces include: Two Funeral Songs (Totenlieder WAB 47, 48), Andante (WAB 130) and Perger Prelude for the organ (WAB 129), Abendklänge (WAB 110), Das Lied vom deutschen Vaterland (WAB 78).

The shortest, however, are a few choral pieces, which he himself called 'mottos', each of which lasts a dozen seconds or so. They are little gems aimed to put choir members in high spirits.

What are their lyrics about? Mostly about singing but they tend to carry nationalistic overtones. You can judge for yourself by looking at the words and translations below (these are my own translations, hopefully faithful, considering my limited knowledge of German).

Ein jubelnd Hoch in Leid und Lust	Joyful cheering in happiness and misery
Dem deutschen Lied aus voller Brust.	from a German song sung at full breast.
Lebt wohl, ihr Sangesbrüder	Live well, my choir singers
Lang noch ertönen eure Lieder.	Let your songs resound still for a long time.
Des Höchsten Preis, des Vaterlandes Ruhm	The highest prize, the homeland’s glory
Der keuschen Minne zartes Heiligtum,	Sublime holiness of pure love,
Der frohen Lust, des herben Leides Drang	Joyful desire, acute pain
Verkündet laut der deutschen Männer Sang.	This is what German men sing about loud.
Im Wort und Liede wahr und treu	Honest and free in word and song
Der Heimat und dem Freunde treu,	Devoted to the Homeland and friends,
So hielten's die Alten, so halten's auch wir	Our fathers believed so and so do we
Für und für.	Forever.
Wir alle jung und alt	All of us, young and old
Vom mächt'gen Böhmerwald,	From the mighty Czech Forest,
Vom schönen Moldaufluss	From the beautiful Moldova river
Entbieten unsern Gruß.	We send our greetings.
Das Frauenherz, die Mannesbrust	The woman’s heart, the man’s breast
Durchglüht das Lied mit gleicher Lust.	Fill the song with equal joy.
Freier Sinn und froher Mut	Free thought and good spirit
Des deutschen Sängers Ehr' und Gut!	Honor and well-being of German singers!

Although not comparable to his sacred or orchestral works, they are often witty, compressed and well-designed. Perhaps not masterpieces but rather precious artefacts, quite dusty now, which are worth knowing for anyone interested in Bruckner's music.