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Volume
7 here presents, in chronological order of composition, a whopping
12 cantatas from the first cycle composed from mid-1723 to mid-1724.
This is when Bach was Kantor at the Thomasschule (St Thomas School,
not the Thomaskirche or St Thomas Church), Leipzig - the post which
he took up in April 1723 and held up to the end of his life.
As is well known, Bach was taking over from his great predecessor
Johann Kuhnau (1660-1722), whom despite being a skilful composer
himself, only had his works performed occasionally. Bach wasn't
going to be mild about his post however, and characteristically,
set about planning cantata cycles of huge scale. These cantatas
were performed at the Nikolaikirche (left) and the Thomaskirche.
Well,
my experience with Bach's sacred cantatas has generally always been
that at first, the religious text is very boring and repetitive,
but on closer inspection, there often appears interesting things
in the libretto, or Bach may have done something quite smart with
the music's structure, scoring or such like.
Cantata
25 Es ist nichts Gesundes an meinem Leibe is scored for an large
orchestra which includes trumpet, three trombones and three recorders.
The remarkable libretto by Johann Jacob Rambach uses imagery of
body, disease and medicine to reflect on man's sin and its divine
cure. The opening choral lamentation features a superimposed brass
chorale, and is a slow grand movement in Bach's best traditions.
It ends rather abruptly in a semi-resolved state, at which point
the tenor opens his recitative on the sins of the world, cast in
imagery of virus, fever, itch and leprosy. Bass and soprano declare
that no medicine can cure man except... you know. The first sign
of cheer appears as soprano Lisa Larsson, accompanied by chirping
recorders, sings to God in thanks, with bright and sweet voice.
A religious chorale ends the cantata.
Cantata
95: Christus, der ist mein Leben deals with death from the mortal
world and the eternal afterlife: "My death is but a sleep,/ Whereby
my soul will find, when dawns the happy morrow,/ Relief from sorrow."
Unusually, the 5-minute opening chorus is divided into three parts,
the middle section a quite-melodious recitative for tenor! Lisa
Larsson's impassioned cry of "Hear, faithless world", at the beginning
of her recitative, strengthened with a ring of light vibrato, goes
to show how she has risen from strength to strength in this series
of recordings. It is a horrible sin of the producers that up till
now (Vol.8 has been released as I write this), no word has been
spoken of these fine singers - indeed I don't even know how Ms Larsson
looks like! Anyway, she is the beautiful soloist for the cantata's
third movement, a chorale set as a trio for soprano, oboes and continuo
(which includes a lute here, lightly played). Her part goes fairly
low at points.
Tenor
Gerd Türk, who also records on Harmonia Mundi (where I have seen
his bio and photo), employs his smooth and warm voice in the very
lyrical, almost Mozartian aria Ach, schlage doch ("Ah, strike
you now soon, blessed hour"). Accompanying him are two tonally matched
oboes and strings pizzicato, supposedly imitating the death knell
(hence the striking of the "blessed hour"). The final chorale includes
a high part for violins, singing calmly above the chorus.
Cantata
144: Nimm, was dein ist, und gehe hin opens with a choral fugue,
demonstrating the bright clean voices of the Amsterdam Baroque Choir,
one of this series' best assets. The libretto treats the theme of
contentment with "the blessings God has sent thee" with an aria
for alto and then soprano. Alto Bogna Bartosz (Spanish?) makes her
first appearance in this series with her aria here, with confident
singing and regal tone. Only her second aria on disc 1, Larsson
uses her slightly dark but sweet tone for her aria here which I
greatly enjoyed.
The last two cantatas on Disc 1 are quite a delight. First is Cantata
67 Halt im Gedächtnis Jesum Christ: the celebration of Christ's
resurrection begins with a joyful chorus coloured with flutes, oboe
d'amore, bassoon and trumpet. An ascending scale on the word erstanden
("arisen") in the tenor aria is an example of Baroque word painting;
meanwhile the painter Gerd Türk demonstrates his comfort with the
German words.
Another
delight in this series is of course the superb Amsterdam Baroque
Orchestra - listen to the curving turns of the violins in the orchestral
introduction to the bass (representing Jesus) aria "Friede sei mit
euch!". Very remarkable too is the structure of this movement, with
its contrasting sections of tempo and mood, portraying the chorus
of solo soprano, alto and tenor representing the community receiving
Jesus' single serene line ("Peace be unto you").
Cantata
24: Ein ungefärbt Gemüte moralises and instructs upon the virtues
of truth, honest and integrity - to be honest, it's pretty unpalatable
for our cynical late 20th-century culture. But that's where Bach's
music comes in. I am very glad to report that as Koopman's survey
has progressed, the voice of alto Elisabeth von Magnus has also
improved. Some will probably still take exception to her rather
unflattering tone; but at least it has attained some stability which
unfortunately was not always present in earlier volumes. Recitatives
for tenor and bass (one on integrity, the other hypocrisy) frame
the central chorus on "what you would others do to you...". The
final chorale is particularly beautiful, with instrumental obbligato
(the winds are nice) and interludes between the choral text.
On
to disc 2: Cantata 136: Erforsche mich Gott, und erfahre mein
Herz includes a horn in the orchestra, heard to rather trumpetty
effect in the opening fugal chorus with a busy orchestral ritornelli.
The libretto strikes out at sinners, and describes the purifying
of sins by Christ's blood. The two arias featured here demonstrate
Bach's easy tone and fine craftmanship. The alto aria is taken by
Bartosz with beautiful singing.
The 21-minute Cantata 184: Erwünschtes Freudenlicht is one
of the jewels of this collection. It begins immediately with a pleasant
tenor recitative followed by a gorgeous duet for soprano and alto
accompanied by full orchestra (strings with flutes). The sound of
Larsson's soprano against von Magnus' alto is not only well-matched
but vibrant, ringing with honeyed tone. A solo violin accompanies
the tenor in his aria. The chorus appears only in the last two movements,
first a chorale (listen to the beautifully executed swells and rises,
and the choral trills), and then a very lively final chorus with
a central duet for soprano and bass. The tone of the entire cantata
is almost completely joyous and "cosy".
Cantata
105: Herr, gehe nicht ins Gericht mit deinem Knecht is another
gem, beginning with a 5-minute chorus which would not have been
out of place in a Bach Passion. The slow preludial first part gives
way to a fugal finale, after which von Magnus' pleading recitative
to God paves the way for Larsson's gentle and consoling aria to
fearful and sinners. The repetitive violin figure seems to depict
the latter's "quiver[ing] and quaking", but with the plaintive yearnings
of the oboe, the result is oddly soothing. Larsson creates a tone
of gentle tension even as she sings of the tormented conscience
of the sinful. A very interesting aria. The melodious artistry of
the bass recitative, with lute continuo employed here above a simple
string figure, introduces the confident trumpet-led tenor aria "Kann
ich nur" ("If but Thou, Jesus, be my dear companion"). To be picky,
the words are somewhat incongruous with the mood of Bach's music
throughout this cantata - but who cares...
Disc
2 ends with Cantata 148: Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens,
which starts with a celebratory chorus with trumpet, welcoming the
listener to the court of God. The rest of the music has a tone of
formality though: a solo violin leads the tenor aria again, praising
the sweet and joyful songs of the Angels. Oboe d'amore and oboe
da caccia accompany Bartosz in her aria asking to be embraced by
God's virtues. Both singers perform with much formal elegance and
stable technique, likewise the choir in their 45-second final chorale
- which, remarkably, begins and ends with the word "Amen", an effect
lost in the English translation.
Incidently,
the English translations in the libretto provided in the set follow
certain rhyme schemes. These schemes, however, do not always follow
that of the German original. I suppose that some of the English
versions are based on standard Biblical sources (eg. many of the
psalm settings here). An interesting compromise, but I dread to
wonder if any meanings have been modified/lost.
One
of the most famous cantatas in this set is Cantata 147: Herz
und Mund und Tat und Leben, a half-hour two-parter and home
to the well-known chorale "Jesu, joy of man's desiring". The tune
is used twice to conclude both parts of the cantata, written for
the Feast of the Visitation and first given on 2 July 1723. A festive
chorus with a large orchestra opens the work, here performed lightly.
I'm not particularly pleased with this performance, as the performers
sound uninspired and even uninterested - there is no kick!
The energy comes across much better in Cantata 181: Leichtgesinnte
Flattergeister, though I'd expect more force in the opening
bass arioso deriding "scatterbrained and shallow people". Perhaps
Koopman (right) is bearing in mind the use of these cantatas in
the church in keeping things "soft". At the end of the disc, the
later versions of this opening aria and the final chorus are presented
as appendices.
The
libretto of the work uses the imagery of agriculture. The alto recitative
speaks of the fallen seed of the sinful, who are devoured by the
"fowls of hell"(!) or left to decay. The Word of God is "strewn"
and "scatter[ed]" on barren and bare land to nourish the "goodly
ground", while the tenor sings of the "venomous brambles of pleasure
and gain" which fuel Satan's eternal fires of torment. The joyful
final chorus for four soloists ask God to "make our hearts a fertile
land, /Wherein Thy Word may grow and flourish." An interesting cantata.
Makes me wonder how Bach's music would be like if he had the opportunity
to read some modern poetry!
The
set ends with Cantata 173: Erhöhtes Fleisch und Blut. With
its scoring for flute and strings, I found the musical atmosphere
rather French, especially the opening of the tenor aria. A short
alto aria and a duet for soprano and bass follows and all ends with
a pleasant chorale.
Conclusion:
a worthy addition to the continuing series. And again there is no
info at all on the soloists: I WANT TO KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT THE
SINGERS, dammit!!!! Notes are again minimal and mostly descriptions
on the orchestration - quite boring. It has taken me longer to appreciate
this set (due to the relatively less-"exciting" music), but great
art always takes time to understand, and I'm glad that I didn't
spend the money (choke choke, three full-price...) in vain.
Collectors of the series need not hesitate, but samplers or beginners
should try elsewhere (more exciting stuff: the earlier volumes 4
and 5 - see below). As I type this review, Vol.8 is out - choke
choke, boom! (sound of bomb exploding in my wallet) - and Y2K
(of the "Millenium Bach" fame...) continues its approach.
CHIA
HAN-LEON
receives his fuse on the 18th and lights his bombs thereafter.
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471:
25.4.1999 ©Chia Han-Leon
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