Psalm 83 (Zemlinsky)

Psalm), sometimes also stylized as Psalm LXXXIII and least commonly subtitled A Prayer for Help against Enemies of the People, is a 1900 composition for mixed chorus and orchestra by Austrian composer Alexander von Zemlinsky.

At this time he struggled for the love of his own student Alma Schindler and suffered the loss of his father, Adolf von Zemlinsky, ill with kidney stones, on June 29, 1900.

It was during this summer, as he had time to relax and recover for the upcoming season as a conductor in Vienna's Carltheater, that he decided to focus solely on his personal problems.

However, Zemlinsky omitted several sections of the original text of the Psalm 83 in order to make it reflect his own thoughts and experiences at that time.

[3] The composition is scored for a mixed chorus with soprano, alto, tenor and bass sections, and an orchestra with three flutes (third doubling piccolo), two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets in A and B-flat, bass clarinet in B-flat, three bassoons, four horns in F, three trumpets in F, three trombones, bass tuba, timpani, cymbals, harp and a complete string section.