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Volume
6 in Ton Koopman's Complete Bach Cantatas Edition is a milestone
and the beginning of another journey - this is the first volume
of sacred cantatas composed during Bach's employment as Kantor and
director of music at the Thomaskirche and Nikolaikirche (churches)
at Leipzig, from 1723 to 1750. The cantatas are presented in almost
chronological order. The ones here were composed between May 1723
and May 1724, except for Cantata 69, which actually comes from the
end of Bach's career (1748).
The
first disc couples Cantatas BWV 76, Die Himmel erzählen die
Ehre Gottes ("The glory of God are the Heav'ns declaring")
and BWV 75, Die Elenden sollen essen ("For the meek
shall not go empty"). Averaging 30 minutes each, these God-praising
cantatas represented Bach's debut at Leipzig in May and June 1723,
just a mere 275 years ago. Each is in two parts, each part unified
by the use of the same music for their individual final chorales.
Contemporary reports welcomed the music as a great success.
As usual, the Amsterdam Baroque maintains the high standards of
performance shown in previous volumes. Take the opening chorus of
Cantata 76, with solo parts for each section of the choir; or the
trumpet-accompanied bass aria "Fahr hin" [disc 1: track 5]. BWV
75 is a fairly laid-back affair, but full of amiable music such
as the stringwork in the chorales and sinfonias.
Both
cantatas include effective parts for one each of trumpet, oboe and
oboe d'amore, demonstrating Bach's wonderfully luminescent scoring.
In fact, the continuo group of violin/viola d'amore (Margaret Faultless[!]),
cello (Jaap ter Linden), oboes (Marcel Ponseele), trumpet (Stephen
Keavy) and of course Koopman himself (right) on organ is a common
source of pleasure throughout the discs. You feel so safe with these
people around! (Linden recently did a highly praised account of
the Bach Cello Suites on Harmonia Mundi).
Cantata
BWV 186, Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht ("Fret thee not,
thou mortal soul") is the only other half-hour cantata, also a two-parter,
dealing with themes of salvation. The predominant mood is either
of sorrow or of contented resignation and preaching. Of note is
the soprano-alto duet Laß, Seele, kein Leiden (3:11, "Tho[ugh]'
suffering smart thee")
As
usual for me, throw in a few trumpets and drums into a Bach chorus
and I'm hooked. Thus begins disc 2 with Cantata BWV 190, Singet
dem Herrn ein neues Lied ("Sing unto the Lord a new song"),
composed for the Feast of the Circumcision on New Year's Day 1724.
Certain parts of this cantata are lost and were reconstructed by
Koopman from reliable (re)sources. Anyway, this in no way denies
the fact that it is a finely crafted cantata - the opening chorus
with its exciting changes of pulse, the interchanges between soloists
and chorus, the tenor-bass duet on 2:5, or the concluding chorale
with its proclaiming flourishes on trumpets.
Cantata
179 Siehe zu, daß deine Gottesfurcht nicht Heuchelei sei
begins with a choral fugue with some delicious chromatics. This
14-minute cantata, for the 11th Sunday after Trinity (8 August in)
1723, is scored for strings, oboes, bassoon and continuo. Its relative
austerity (and the somewhat pained atmosphere) reflects the theme
of the "sorry state" of Christianity, beseeching God for mercy.
Cantata BWV 59 Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten,
to my surprise and delight, begins with a stately duet for soprano
and bass (the notes do speak of the uncertain ordering of movements
here), followed by an extended and beautiful recitative for soprano.
A chorale sits in the middle of this 11-minute work. For Bach (left)
of course, size never matters and this is a valuable little gem.
Trumpets
and drums return in Cantata BWV 69, Lobe den Herrn, meine
Seele ("Bless thou the Lord, O my Spirit"), composed and
used during the Inauguration of the Leipzig Town Council, probably
on 26 August, 1748 (just two years before Bach's death). It is a
revised version of Cantata 69a, which shares the same text except
recitatives. Modifications to the music are considerable though
not extensive - some transpositions of key, rescoring of instruments
(BWV 69 trades trumpets for a recorder), and a new final chorale,
majestically reinforced with trumpets and timpani.
The
gentle Cantata BWV 104, Du Hirte Israel, höre ("Thou
Shepherd bountiful, hear us"), sports three different oboes to paint
its pastoral scenery.
BWV
50, Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft ("Now has the Hope
and the Strength") refers in fact to just a single chorus, scored
with an orchestra including trumpets and timpani. It is a dramatic
piece with a jubilant character, which either began or concluded
the lost cantata. A version for double chorus begins the CD while
a single chorus reconstruction ends it, sandwiching three cantatas
in between.
Of
the three discs, the first two contain the more interesting music
with regards to my biases. Of the four soloists, the women (and
their music, perhaps) sing with much more direct appeal.
Soprano
Ruth Ziesak's singing is satisfyingly secure: the sudden rockets
into high registers delivered with ease, and even the occasional
dissonant modulation sung with grace and practised ease. Add a beautiful
vibrato to her fresh but strong voice, and she wins hands down among
the four. Compared to earlier volumes in the series, Elisabeth von
Magnus' voice has become, happily for me and much to her credit,
much more relaxed and refined. This is her fourth appearance in
six volumes.
Of
the guys, I have no complaints of any real consequence. Paul Agnew
is the more distinctive and characterized of the two, and at best
his word painting deserves praise (try 1:10 "Hate ye me, hate ye
me well, /Foul fiends of Hell!"). Oddly, Klaus Mertens' parts throughout
these cantatas never seem to actually descend into the familiar
depths associated with a bass. In fact, his parts sound more like
that of a low tenor. I'm speculating that as a result, he seems
a little out of his element, and sings throughout with a rather
neutral tone - but this is perhaps how it should be in sacred cantatas.
The superb Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and the equally excellent
Amsterdam Baroque Chorus perform with technical brilliance and beautiful
uniformity of tone, colour and musicality. Just occasionally, I
wished they would give some of the big, fast, festive choruses a
little more kick - but again, maybe not for sacred works.
Documentation
in the CD sleeves has been consistently sparse. The serious collector
is expected to follow the CDs with the accompanying books. Three
will be published, and the first one complementing Cantata Volumes
1-3 is already out: The World of the Bach
Cantatas: Early Sacred Cantatas (ISBN 0-393-04106-9).
It is basically a collection of essays by various authorities, prefaced
by Koopman and editted by Christoph Wolff (who writes the notes
in the CD sleeve).
What
is truly unforgivable is that no information regarding the soloists
is provided. This is extremely unfair to them. I for one would like
to see and read about who these fine people are singing for such
a magnificent project.
Oh
well, no major faults in Volume 6. However, if you are just starting
out on the series, try Volume 3 or Volume
4 first. Here, everyone's a winner, especially Bach himself
- whose 250th anniversary we celebrate in just two years' time.
At precisely 1:26 am every morning, CHIA
HAN-LEON puts on his Cape of Brave Fronts and transforms into
"Spray-and-Smack Man", Supreme Grandmaster of the Cockroach Slayers'
Guild.
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3.5.1998 © Chia Han-Leon
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