Asperges me, WAB 4

For the two other settings of the same text by the composer, see Two Asperges me, WAB 3.

Asperges me (Thou wilt sprinkle me), WAB 4, is a sacred motet composed by Anton Bruckner. It is a setting of the Latin Asperges me, the antiphon used for the celebration of Asperges.

Asperges me
Motet by Anton Bruckner
Apă sfințită by Constantin Daniel Stahi
Key	F major
Catalogue	WAB 4
Form	Antiphon
Text	Asperges me
Language	Latin
Composed	1843/1844: Kronstorf
Dedication	Celebration of Asperges
Published	1932 (1932): Regensburg
Vocal	SATB choir

History

In 1843–44, Bruckner composed this first setting of Asperges me during his stay in Kronstorf.^[1][2] It is not known when it was performed at that time.^[1][2]

The work, the original manuscript of which is lost, exists as a transcription by Arthur Bauer. The motet was first published in volume III/2, pp. 140–141 of the Göllerich/Auer biography.^[1][2] It is put in volume XXI/4 of the Gesamtausgabe.^[3]

Music

The work is a setting of 32 bars in F major of the Asperges me for mixed choir a cappella.

According to the Catholic practice, the incipit ("Asperges me") is not composed and has to be intoned by the priest in Gregorian mode before the choir begins. The score is in two sections. Section 1 (7 bars) begins with "Domine, hysopo" and ends with "dealbabor". Section 2 (18 bars) begins with the remaining of the text, and is followed by the doxology ("Gloria Patri"). Thereafter the incipit is repeated by the choir in unison, concluded by a da capo of section 1. The second section contains audacious modulations, similar to the contemporaneous Kronstorfer Messe.^[4][2]

Discography

There is a single commercial recording of Bruckner's first Asperges me:

• Philipp von Steinäcker, Vocalensemble Musica Saeculorum, Bruckner: Pange lingua - Motetten - CD: Fra Bernardo FB 1501271, 2015