Bruckner composed the song on a text of Heinrich von der Mattig on 19 October 1877 in memory of his friend Joseph Seiberl, who died on 10 June 1877. The piece was performed nine days later by the Liedertafel Sängerbund in the St. Florian Abbey. The work, of which the original manuscript is stored in the Library of Congress in Washington, was first issued in Band XXIII/2, No. 28a of the Gesamtausgabe.

Original Name Nachruf
Librettist Heinrich von der Mattig
Date of composition 1877 (19 October 1877) in Vienna, Austria
Premiered 1877, October 28th (Abbey) in Sankt Florian, Austria
First published 1911, Universal Edition in Vienna, Austria
Dedicated to Joseph Seiberl
Type Song(s)
Tonality C Minor
Catalogue WAB 81
Spoken language German
Instruments Male Chorus
Organ
Arrangements Anton Bruckner: "Music, the Comforter", WAB 88
Autotranslations beta Anton Bruckner: "Obituary" en do mineur, WAB 81
Anton Bruckner: "Obituary" in do minore, WAB 81
Anton Bruckner: "Obituary" c-moll, WAB 81