Monastery near Linz, Austria, founded about 1071 by Augustinian canons. Manuscripts in the monastery library provide evidence of early vocal music in the abbey church; the neumatic notation is similar to that of the St Gallen school and dates from the 9th century. The monastery school, where music was taught in addition to the liberal arts, provided regular church music. Polyphony was first performed in the first half of the 14th century, and in 1475 one of the monks achieved fame as an organist. Instrumental music was played, both in the church and the monastery, from the 16th century onwards. An inventory of 1612 lists a regal, two ‘double instruments’ and 46 string and woodwind instruments in addition to the main organ. There have been composers at St Florian throughout its existence. Among those recorded in the 17th century were Josef Haug, J.K. Merkl, Melchior Kämpfel and Stefan Vogl. The most famous regens chori of the 18th century was F.J. Aumann. David Fuhrmann initiated the reconstruction of the monastery in Baroque style (1686–1750), and F.X. Chrismann was commissioned to build the organ in the rebuilt church. This famous instrument originally had three manuals, 59 registers and 5230 pipes, and has since been enlarged to four manuals, 103 registers and 7343 pipes. It is known as the ‘Bruckner Organ’ in memory of St Florian’s greatest musician.
Bruckner, born near St Florian in 1824, was a choirboy at the monastery where he was taught music by the monks. Later he himself taught in the surrounding parishes and in St Florian itself. He was also organist at the monastery in the 1840s and 50s; he subsequently lived in Linz and Vienna but often visited St Florian for short periods and is buried there. In 1906–24 F.X. Müller (1870–1948) was director of music at the monastery, where he wrote his Augustinus-Messe (1911) and other works. In 1924 he moved to Linz, where he became Kapellmeister of the cathedral.
The monastery’s music archives must once have been among the richest in Austria; however, through the rebuilding in the 18th century and inept administration in the mid-19th century much material was lost. Nevertheless, the library contains about 121,000 printed volumes and 800 manuscripts.
MGG1 (A. Kellner)
A. Czerny: Kunst und Kunstgewerbe im Stift St Florian (Linz, 1886)
J. Hollensteiner: Das Stift St Florian und Anton Bruckner (Leipzig, 1940)
L. Hager: Die Brucknerorgel im Stift St Florian (Leipzig, 1951)
O. Wutzel: Das Chorherrenstift St Florian (Linz, 1971)
W. Pass: ‘Studie über Bruckners ersten St Florianer Aufenthalt’, Bruckner-Studien, ed. O. Wessely (Vienna, 1975), 11–53
C. Wagner: Augustinerchorherrenstift St. Florian (Vienna, 1986)
ALTMAN KELLNER