2. St Florian, 1845–55.

However contented Bruckner may have been in Kronstorf, St Florian remained the centre of his world and on 25 September 1845 he achieved an objective in assuming the position of assistant schoolteacher there. This time he remained at the monastery for ten years, adding to his duties in 1849 the responsibility of singing instructor for the choirboys. Throughout the entire period the careers of schoolteacher and professional musician continued to compete for his allegiance: he studied Latin and travelled to Linz for a variety of classes and examinations with a view to continuing his promotion through the instructors' ranks. Musically he matured from a provincial church organist to a virtuoso player, becoming provisory monastery organist in 1850 when his teacher Kattinger departed for Kremsmünster. He continued his theoretical studies with Marpurg's Abhandlung von der Fuge, copying fugues by Caldara, Mozart and Eybler among others, and began to cultivate an interest in the music of Mendelssohn, whose St Paul was an object of investigation as early as 1848. At the same time traces of his future greatness as a composer began to emerge.

Several local people exerted a positive influence on his musical career: the family of his superior, the schoolteacher Michael Bogner, to whose daughter Aloisia Bruckner was attracted, and for whom he wrote the piano piece Steiermärker (wab122, c1850); the chorus director Ignaz Traumihler (1815–84), to whom he dedicated the Magnificat (wab24, 1852), the Ave Maria of 1856 (wab5) and later the Os justi (wab30, 1879); and his close friend the monastery administrator Franz Sailer, who died on 15 September 1848 and in whose memory Bruckner composed his first notable work, the Requiem in D minor (wab39), completed on 14 March 1849. Sailer bequeathed Bruckner the Bösendorfer piano which he used for the rest of his life. There was also Friedrich Mayer, who had arranged for Bruckner's return to St Florian in 1845 and who succeeded Michael Arneth as prior of the monastery in 1854. Bruckner composed his second important work, the Missa solemnis (wab29), for Mayer's inaugural mass as prior, celebrated on 14 September 1854.

Other works from the second St Florian period include six Tantum ergo settings (wab41, 42 and 44); the beautiful Libera me (wab22) and Vor Arneths Grab (wab53), both for the funeral of Michael Arneth in 1854; Psalms xxii and cxiv (wab34 and 36); and a number of secular cantatas – occasional pieces for celebrations at the monastery. The psalms and cantatas for solo voices and chorus with different combinations of instruments demonstrate a strong Baroque influence, sometimes with more than a hint of Mendelssohn. The enormous Psalm cxlvi (wab37) for double chorus, soloists and orchestra belongs stylistically with these pieces and the Missa solemnis, and probably dates from the late St Florian or early Linz years. Nothing is known about its origins or performance history.

As the 1850s progressed Bruckner became increasingly frustrated, both socially and musically, with St Florian (perhaps because his position as organist remained provisory), and he began to set his sights beyond the monastery walls. On 30 July 1852 he dedicated Psalm cxiv to the Viennese Hofkapellmeister Ignaz von Assmayr, with a request for help in finding a better situation. His dissatisfaction came to a head with his assignment to the servants' table at the banquet after the performance of his Missa solemnis. Still he did not place all his hopes on a musical future; as late as 28 January 1855 he passed the qualifying examinations for high-school teachers in Linz. That summer he applied in secret and unsuccessfully for the position of cathedral organist in Olmütz (now Olomouc). Friedrich Mayer is reported to have been so irate at learning of this attempt to leave the monastery that, when the post of organist at the cathedral in Linz became available later in the year, Bruckner did not apply for fear of arousing any further ire. He rushed to Linz only at the last moment, at the urging of a local organ tuner, Alfred Just, and had to be persuaded by his former teacher Dürrnberger to take part in the audition. Even after being awarded the position on a provisional basis on 13 November 1855 he was ambivalent about pursuing the permanent appointment. He was careful to secure a promise from Mayer to reserve the monastery post for him for two years.

Bruckner, Anton