During the last months of 1883, the painter Vincent van Gogh lived in the heathlands of the Dutch province of Drenthe in order to be able to reflect on himself again in harmony with nature after a time in the city of The Hague that was characterised by personal defeats. In a letter to his brother Theo, he poses the question: What makes me most human? After complaining about social conventions and the absurdity of claiming to know and foresee everything, his answer culminates in the exclamation set to music here.
Bertold Hummel composed this short motet at the suggestion of the Schott publishing house in 1984. He set the same text to music again the following year in the seventh movement of his 8 Fragments from Letters by Vincent van Gogh for baritone and string quartet op. 84 , thus emphasising his inner involvement in his statement.

Martin Hummel