Johannes Brahms: Geistliches Lied, Op. 30 - "Lass dich nur nichts nicht dauren"

I'd like to recommend this most exceptional of Brahms' many fine choral works, for pleasure as well as for study.

Besides being as beautiful and brilliant as anything else the man ever wrote, and as if that were not enough in itself, this motet is also an astonishing tour-de-force of contrapuntal mastery - so naturally and fluidly presented that one barely realises that what amounts to a technical miracle is taking place. It really is amazing. To my knowledge, only Bach was capable of better, and I say that with more than a little hesitation.

I'm attaching a link to a fine recording by the Choir of St. Clement's Episcopal, Philadelphia, as well as a PDF score. I hope you'll find it worth a few minutes, or possibly more for worthwhile analysis.

Chorally, this motet is a double canon at the seventh for most of its length, switching to the second during the Amen - both difficult feats to accomplish musically, as any of you who may have tried it will know; the canonic treatment of the organ part is intermittent, but when it is in gear, the piece essentially becomes a triple canon - almost incomprehensible. The choral counterpoint is perfectly rigid for most of the piece, relaxing only at cadence points. In the Amen it does break ranks, though only slightly, and for inarguable aesthetic reasons. That Amen alone is worth waiting for - to my sensibilites one of the most sublime moments in all of Brahms' oeuvre.

This work should be required study for any serious student of counterpoint.

Johannes Brahms: Lass dich nur nichts nicht dauren.

Brahms, Johannes - Lass dich nur nichts nicht dauren.pdf

Normally I just love brahms. So I opened the mp3 and pdf. Halfway I realized this imitative texture was really long, in fact so litteral it is a canon. Then I read your post already saying it was a canon, haha. A tour de force indeed. Thanks for sharing

Very beautiful piece. Thanks!

(Can Brahms ever end a piece with something other than a plagal cadence though? :P Not that I mind. Plagal cadences rock.)

Very beautiful piece. Thanks!

(Can Brahms ever end a piece with something other than a plagal cadence though? :P Not that I mind. Plagal cadences rock.)

haha. but in a canon in second or seventh, a authentic cadence will end with somewhere an added note (2nd, 4th 6th or 7th)

Cramer - astute observation, never thought of that.

And yes I have a great recording of all of brahm's choral works on a Hyperion CD. Actually some of Brahms choral works were rigorous contrapuntal exercises between Joachim and he. It is amazing how beautiful the stuffed turned out.

Graham - I think bach and brahms were equal contrapuntally. And you will be surprised to hear this but i think it is with some sections of Stravinsky's Sacre a true revival in contrapuntal writing occured that explored paths different from Bach's. Wouldn't say Stravinsky approached those two - I'd leave that to Schoenberg as coming very near.

One reason i think Bach and Brahms are equal as Brahms contrapuntal was from Fux and as time went on studying the Rennaissance and Baroque masters as a choral director. Note too that around Brahms time, though there was plenty of contrapuntal writing - it was very instrumental based to the point vocal polyphony from the Baroque and earlier periods I think suffered until Mendelssohn revisited it with such works as Elijah and even in his piano set of preludes and Fugues (they themselves are worth checking out - I will say not all of the same quality but quite a few beauties, they also work better (some of them) on the organ). So thinking of what brahms did --- and you must give credit to Bruckner, my God his motets are equally as great (and I think at times surpass Brahms for how much he does in a shorter amount of time and yet it sounds very effortless and logical),

Proviso: Much of this is taste based .... I know the Chopin fans will argue there is a ton of counterpoint in several of his works. I agree but it is instrumental counterpoint and some very progressive and cool stuff in that area.