Ton Koopman Complete Cantatas Vol. 13

terug

Complete Cantatas
Ton Koopman
Vol. 13

Chorale Cantatas from the cycle of the
Leipzig church cantatas, 1724-25 (III)

by Christoph Wolff

morgenstern.jpg - 31760 Bytes

Introduction

Volume 13 in this CD presentation contains the third series of chorale cantatas from the second annual cycle Bach composed for Leipzig. Following the discussion of the nine individual works, a chronology shows the order in which they were first performed during 1724-25.

Music criticism in the modern sense did not exist in the eighteenth century, so we do not really know anything about how the public responded to Bach's music. One of the few comments we have is in a newspaper report of Bach's first appearance in the capacity of Cantor of St Thomas's, presenting a cantata on 30 May 1723, but we learn only that it was received with approbation, even applause. There are no negative comments of any date, so we can assume that the reception of Bach's cantatas as a whole was good. While it is unlikely that anyone, even his own composition pupils, had any deeper understanding of Bach's art as represented in the cantata, and especially in the chorale cantata, yet the chorale cantatas seem to have been especially popular and not just with their composer. After his death, for instance, Anna Magdalena Bach sold the performance materials for them to St Thomas's School - clearly, they were prized. There are also references to various performances of them given after 1750, whereas there is no evidence of any later interest in the other cantatas. Among Bach's immediate successors at St Thomas's, Gottlob Harrer directed performances of BWV 41 , 94 and 133 and Johann Friedrich Doles BWV 62 and 93. In 1755, in the interval between Harrer's death and Doles's appointment, Christian Friedrich Penzel, Prefect (senior chorister) of St Thomas's School.

The fact that the chorale cantatas were based on well-known hymn tunes very probably contributed to their popularity. They embody in a special form the "intricate" style that Bach himself ascribed to his sacred cantatas: the unfolding of highly diverse formal structures, not confined to the often positively monumental opening choral movements. The range is enormous, from the backward-looking conservatism found in BWV 38 to the modern musical language of BWV 1 . The arias, too, exploit a wide variety of formal options: solo, duet, trio, with obbligati on all kinds of instruments, and with or without reference to the chorale melodies on which the cantatas are based . The recitatives show a similar willingness to experiment in regard to the inclusion of cantus firmus elements, going so far as to use a complete hymn tune as a continue part in BWV 38.

The cantata "Wie schon leuchtet der Morgenstern" BWV 1 was heard for the first time on the Feast of the Annunciation, 25 March 1725. It is based on the hymn by Philipp Nicolai (1599; the melody is older), the first and last verses of which are presented as movements 1 and 6. Movements 2-5 use a revised version of the chorale's inner verses, which also allude to the gospel reading for the day (Luke 1: 26-38: the Angel Gabriel's annunciation to the Virgin Mary of the birth of Christ). The large forces needed to perform the cantata correspond to the importance of the feast, which interrupts the musical desert of Lent: the four-part vocal ensemble is supported by an orchestra with two horns and two oboi da caccia. There are concertante parts for the two violins in the opening chorus and the aria No.5. The opening movement, using the whole ensemble, follows the layout of the extended cantus firmus, which is presented by the soprano. Both the short recitatives are followed by arias, the first a trio, the second a quartet. The final chorus is embellished by a horn obbligato.

The cantata "Nun komm der Heiden Heiland" BWV 62, for Advent Sunday, was first performed on 3 December 1724. Bach had already written a cantata in Weimar with the opening movement of the hymn -No.l in every Lutheran hymnbook since the Reformation - which opens the church year. In that first version of 1714 (BWV 61) the first verse of Luther's hymn (1524) is followed by free verses by Erdmann Neumeister (1714), but in 1724 Bach adhered strictly to the hymn. As usual in the chorale cantatas, movements 1 and 6 relay the verses of the hymn as they stand, while the inner verses are restructured as recitatives and arias. The autograph score of 1724 has the Leipzig order of service entered in Bach's hand - as with the Advent cantata BWV 61 this is obviously not just a sign of where the cantata came in the liturgy but also, and primarily, marking the tact that the church year starts on the first Sunday in Advent. The simple instrumentation (strings and two oboes only; the horn serves merely to underpin the cantus firmus) is appropriate for a season of abstinence. In the opening chorus, the chorale melody informs the structure of the whole movement, although the cantus firmus is taken by the soprano. The succeeding solo movements offer a great variety of sonorities and graded expressive values, with Christ's glory praised in the aria No.4 and the recitative No.6 (unusually, a duet). As an appendix to the recording of BWV 62, we add the alternative version of movement 4. This dispenses with the octave doubling of the bass part by violin and viola, which is not in the original parts, and provides a harmonized continuo (as in the autographscore).

Bach composed the cantata "Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn" BWV 96 for the 18th Sunday after Trinity, which fell on 8 October in 1724. The text is based on the hymn by Elisabeth Creutziger (1524), the first and last verses of which are used as they stand, while the three middle verses are revised to serve as two recitative-aria pairs. By this means the author of the cantata text was able to make the connection with the gospel for the day (Matt. 22, 34-46: the commandments to love God and one's neighbour; can David's son be David's lord?), which is particularly clear in movement 2. In addition to a four-part chorus (members of which also take the solos) and strings with continuo accompaniment, four kinds of winds are required: piccolo and transverse flutes, two oboes and horn (to underpin the cantus firmus in movements 1 and 6). For a later performance, in 1734, Bach substituted a piccolo violin for the piccolo flute, and yet later, in 1744/47, a trombone for the horn. The length and rich sonorities of the opening movement, in a dancing 9/8 metre against which the chorale melody emerges clearly in long note values, lend the cantata unusual weight. But the two solo arias (movement 3 accompanied by transverse flute, movement 5 by two oboes and strings) also contribute to the special artistic character of the work. Bach took the text in movement 5 ("Bald zur Rechten, bald zur Linken") as an opportunity to alternate between oboes and strings, as these players faced each other in separate galleries in St Thomas's.

The cantata "Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir" BWV 38, for the 21st Sunday after Trinity, was performed for the first time on 29 October 1724. The basis of the work is Martin Luther's hymn of the same name, sung to its own melody. Luther's text is used word for word in the first and last movements, and in the inner verses is adapted to allude to Jesus's words from the gospel for the day (John 4: 47-54; the healing of the nobleman's son).
Bach did without wind obbligati in this cantata. Appropriately for this hymn from the dawn of the Reformation, Bach set the opening chorus in the style of sixteenth-century motets, emphasizing the church-modal character of the melody (E in the Phrygian mode instead of E minor: the first three consecutive notes in the continue are E-F-G, that is, F sharp is omitted). The chorus is accompanied colla parte by four trombones - a scoring which returns in the last movement. Unusually, the chorale melody is used by the continue in the recitative No.4. The vocal trio in No.5, in which soprano, alto and bass conjoin in strict polyphony, is especially expressive. The intensity runs on into the final choral movement, which begins with an emphatic dissonance.

The cantata "Wer nur den lieben Gott laßt walten" BWV 93, for the 5th Sunday after Trinity, was first performed on 9 July 1724. The work is based on Georg Neumark's hymn of that name (1657), sung to its own melody. Verses 1, 4 and 7 are used as they are, the remainder revised as recitatives and arias, casting a spotlight on theological concepts inspired by the gospel for the day (Luke 5, 1-11: Peter's miraculous draught of fishes). It is scored for the relatively modest forces of four-part chorus, strings, two oboes and continue, the norm for this non-festive period of the church year. The whole ensemble is used in the opening chorus, in which the chorale is presented line by line in choral blocks with polyphonic introduction. Movements 2 and 4-7 are also based on the melody and text of the hymn, No.4 as a setting of the chorale for soprano and alto with instrumental cantus firmus, No.5 as recitative for tenor with troped chorale, No.6 as soprano aria with obbligato oboe and allusions to the chorale in the continue; the chorale returns as usual in the final movement.

The cantata "Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ" BWV 33, for the 13th Sunday after Trinity, was heard for the first time on 3 September 1724. It is based on the melody and text of the hymn by Konrad Hubert (1540). Hubert's first and last verses are used as they stand in the cantata, while movements 2-5 present the inner verses in textual revisions referring to the gospel for the day (Luke 10, 23-37: parable of the Good Samaritan). The work is scored for the usual four-part chorus, members of which also sing the alto, tenor and bass solos; in addition to strings the instrumental ensemble has only two oboes, which is not unusual for the non-festive season. The opening chorus presents an elegant elaboration of the chorale material in which the homophony of the individual lines breaks down into imitative sections. The venerable old hymn tune does not return until the final movement; of the inner movements, only the aria No.5 offers allusions to it. No.5 is particularly refined, with the tenor and bass duet partnered by an instrumental duet of the oboes.

The cantata "Ich freue mich in dir" BWV 133, first performed on the third day of Christmas, 27 December 1724, is based on the hymn of that name by Caspar Ziegler (1697), sung to its own melody. This is thus one of the newest of the chorales used by Bach in the 1724-25 cycle, which otherwise shows a preference for the "classical" repertory of hymns from Luther to Gerhardt. The adaptation of the inner verses stays close to Ziegler's original text without making any reference to the gospel for the day (the feast of St John the Evangelist). The first and last verses of Ziegler's text are unchanged in the two outer movements.
The work is differently scored from the cantatas composed for the first two days of Christmas that year, in that two oboi d'amore are the only winds. In view of the workload the Christmas season imposed on his ensemble, Bach pragmatically doubled the vocal parts in the opening movement with instruments, using a cornett to support the chorale melody in the soprano line. The chorale is heard once more (before the concluding movement) as a quotation in the tenor recitative No.3. The two arias stand out by reason of their unusually high artistic quality: No.2 a quartet movement for alto with two oboes and No.4 a soprano solo with string accompaniment, with a striking change of tempo from the simple time of the outer sections to a siciliano (12/8, Largo) in the middle.

The cantata "Das neugeborne Kindelein" BWV 122 was composed for the Sunday after Christmas and first performed on 31 December 1724 (the first performance of the New Year's Day cantata BWV 41 followed the next day). Movements 1,4 and 6 are based on the hymn by Cyriacus Schneegass (1597), sung to its own melody. The other movements use freely revised versions of the text, with no reference to the Bible readings for the day. The work's aural character is determined by an unusually opulent wind contingent, with three recorders and three oboes, evoking the shepherds who came to see the Christ-Child in the manger. The opening chorus presents an expansive arrangement of the chorale, with the cantus firmus in the soprano. The chorale tune is heard again in the recitative No.3 (played by the recorders) and in the trio aria No.4 (sung there by the alto, framed by the duet of soprano and tenor). The first aria (with continuo accompaniment) and the last recitative (with strings) do not use the chorale, but it returns in the closing chorus.

The cantata "Ich hab in Gottes Herz und Sinn" BWV 92, for Septuagesima Sunday, was first performed on 28 January 1725. The hymn by Paul Gerhardt (1647), sung to the tune of "Was mein Gott will das g'scheh allzeit" (1572), provides the basis for the work. Five verses are used word for word in movements 1, 2,4,7 and 9, the remainder are altered to serve the cantata format without reference to the gospel for the day. The sources are definitive: the score in the composer's own hand and the original parts of 1725. The distinctive chorale tune is heard in five of the movements: in the two outer movements as usual (sung by the full choir in the opening movement with soprano cantus firmus, and in the closing chorus) but also in the recitative No.l (lines of the chorale, slightly altered, are inserted in the bass solo and there are also allusions in the continue), in No.4 in a setting for four soloists (with the cantus firmus in the alto) and in the recitative No.7 (chorale troping in all four vocal parts).

The Soloists

The English soprano Deborah York graduated from Manchester University with a First Class Honors Degree in music and went on to study at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, with Laura Sarti. She now studies with Janice Chapman.

Deborah York performs and broadcasts regularly with many of Europe's leading groups and orchestras. Her concert performances have included a recital with The King's Consort at the Tonhalle, Zurich; a recital at Wigmore Hall with Michael Chance and Julius Drake, a recital of songs by Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Poulenc with Julius Drake at the 1998 Saintes Festival, Un Viaggio a Roma with Concerto Italiano and Rinaldo Alessandrini, Bach's Magnificat (BWV 243), Weihnachts-Oratorium (BWV 248) and St. John Passion (BWV 245) with Collegium Vocale Gent and Philippe Herreweghe, Bach’s St Markus Passion (BWV 247) with Ton Koopman, Messiah with Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert; Purcell's Fairy Queen with Markus Creed and Freiburger Barockorchester, and Vivaldi's Laudate Pueri with La Stagione, Frankfurt.

Deborah York's operatic roles have included Anne Truelove in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress in the celebrated Cox/Hockney Glyndebourne production for New Israeli Opera; Mirror in Harrison Birtwistle's The Second Mrs Kong for Glyndebourne and Glyndebourne Touring Opera; Emilia in Händel's Flavio for Opera Theatre Company, Dublin and Covent Garden Festival; Servilia in La Clemenza di Tito for Glyndebourne Touring Opera; Barbarina (Figaro) and Giannetta (L'Elisir d'Amore) at Covent Garden, Ismene in Telemann's Orfeus and Iris in Händel's Semele, both with René Jacobs at the Berlin Staatsoper, and Euridice in Monteverdi's Orfeo at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. (source: http://www.bach-cantatas.com)

fgottwald.jpg - 5400 Bytes

Franziska Gottwald wurde in Marburg an der Lahn geboren und hatte bereits während ihrer Gymnasialzeit regelmäßig Gesangsunterrricht bei Prof. Eugen Rabine. Ihr Gesangsstudium absolvierte sie an den Musikhochschulen Saarbrücken, Hannover und Weimar. Während dieser Zeit wurde Franziska Gottwald Preisträgerin verschiedener Gesangswettbewerbe und konnte bereits an Theatern wie der Niedersächsischen Staatsoper Hannover und dem Deutschen Nationaltheater Weimar gastieren. Daraufhin wurde sie als festes Ensemblemitglied an das Deutsche Nationaltheater Weimar engagiert. Dort debütierte sie 1998 äußerst erfolgreich als Hänsel in Engelbert Humperdincks "Hänsel und Gretel". Gleichzeitig bereitete sie sich auf ihr Konzertexamen vor. Große Beachtung fanden auch ihre Auftritte als Oberon in Benjamin Brittens "Sommernachtstraum" und als Ramiro in Wolfang Amadeus Mozarts "Gärtnerin aus Liebe", sowie besonders als Cherubino in der "Hochzeit des Figaro" bei den Wernigeröder Schloßfestspielen 1998.
Darüber hinaus hat sich Franziska Gottwald schon während ihrer Studienzeit auch als Lied- und Oratoriensängerin einen Namen gemacht. So wirkt sie bei CD- und Rundfunkproduktionen mit und trat 1998 erstmals im Concertgebouw Amsterdam unter Ton Koopmann auf. Meisterkurse bei Prof. Elio Battaglia und Norman Shetler sowie die Teilnahme am Opernkurs der "Jeunesses Musicales" in Weikersheim unter Dennis Russel Davies bereicherten ihren künstlerischen Werdegang.

Paul Agnew was born in Glasgow and a former Choral Scholar at Magdelen College, Oxford, and is now one of the most versatile tenors of his generation. A long-time member of Anthony Rooley's Consort of Musicke, since turning soloist he has been in great demand with some of the most distinguished period instrument ensembles in the world. He made his debut at the Palais Garnier, Paris, performing the title role in a highly successful production of Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, which subsequently travelled to Nice, Caen, Montpellier and New York. Another major role with William Christie was Jason in Charpentier's Médéé, which toured France, Portugal and the United States.
Other orchestras Paul Agnew has worked with include the English Baroque Soloists (Purcell's King Arthur with John Eliot Gardiner), the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (Bach cantatas) and most particularly the English Concert with whom he has performed The Fairy Queen, Dioclesian, Timon of Athens and King Arthur. More recently he has worked with La Chapelle Royale and Philippe Herreweghe (Berlioz's L'Enfance du Christ), the Academy of Ancient Music (Handel's Joshua), Tafelmusik (Purcell's Dioclesian), the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra (Bach's B minor Mass), the Hanover Band (Schubert's Lazurus) and Les Arts Florissants in Monteverdi's Vespers, which he also recorded for Erato.
Paul Agnew's other recordings for Erato include Mozart's 'Coronation' Mass, several volumes in the complete Bach cantata series, Charpentier's Les Plaisirs de Versailles and an album of Mondonville motets.

Klaus Mertens, the German bass-baritone, has been following studies with Else Bischof-Bornes, Jakob Stämpfli and Peter Massmann and has established an enviable reputation within a remarkably short space of time, and is now very much in demand. His concert career to date has focussed largely upon the Baroque era, working alongside such renowned specialists in the period-instrument field as Ton Koopman, Frans Bruggen, Nicholas McGegan, Rene Jacobs, Philippe Herreweghe and Sigiswald Kuijken. He has already recorded many of the central works of the period, including Monteverdi's Vespers, Bach's B minor Mass and a disc of Charpentier motets for Erato. In addition, he has played a central role in the same company's complete Bach cantata edition under the direction of Ton Koopman.

Mertens has been equally successful in later repertoire. His concert appearances in such stylistically disparate works as Hindemith's Requiem, Mendelssohn's Elijah and Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex have been universally praised, as have his many Lieder recitals. He has appeared at many of the world's most important music festivals, including the Prague Spring, Salzburg, Lucerne and London 'Proms', and has made numerous guest appearances with such internationally acclaimed orchestras as the Chicago Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, Leipzig Gewandhaus and Dresden Philharmonic. His TV appearances include the St John Passion with the Royal Concertgebouw, and a recital of Schubert songs orchestrated by Reger for NDR Hanover.