Schaffe in mir, Gott, ein rein Herz - Johannes Brahms - Harmonium Choral Society Chamber Singers

Wellspring - May 2023
Under the direction of Dr. Anne J. Matlack
Harmonium Choral Society Chamber Singers
Grace Episcopal Church, Madison, NJ
Vocal and choral works represent a third of the great 19th-century German composer Johannes Brahms’s output. His mentor Robert Schumann encouraged young composers to study vocal
polyphony. Composed around 1860, the motet Schaffe in mir, Gott, ein rein Herz is divided into
three sections, each corresponding to a verse from Psalm 51. The first movement is based on a
canon between the soprano and bass at the octave in augmentation (slower). The middle movement is a chromatic fugue set to the words “cast me not away from your countenance” with
more inverted and augmented counterpoint, tightly overlapping to create a conflict between major and minor. The third movement brings comfort in a lilting rhythm, and more canons at the 7th between the tenors and basses, then echoed in the treble voices. In closing tenors and basses return with a new canon, which gives way to a joyful fugue based on the motet's opening theme.
Despite the very technical compositional/counterpoint techniques just described, the work is perceived by the listener as expressive and romantic rather than pedantic, as a prayer for inspiration.
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