This year my Thanksgiving time is a particularly thankful one. As you probably know, I had a cardiac crisis in September and October, and I owe a great deal of thanks to my nearby family, my brother Don and sister-in-law Terri, for being there and getting me to the doctors and tests and all that I needed to get to. I am also grateful to all of my family and friends for the support and well wishes I received. And of course to the doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who made sure I'm still around to enjoy the rest of the blessings I'm thankful for. What would those blessings be? The wonderful Earth we all live on, with all its beauty and brilliance and mystery. It's a blessing just to be alive!
This year I'm going to give you a bunch of music to celebrate the holiday. "All Good Gifts" from the movie version of Godspell; my "Simplicity" slideshow featuring the Shaker Hymn "Simple Gifts" performed by Alison Krauss and Yo-Yo Ma; Peter Mayer's Thanksgiving song "Coming Home"; and Mary Chapin Carpenter's "Thanksgiving Song". Enjoy! And enjoy your Thanksgiving!
“In November, the trees are standing all sticks and bones. Without their
leaves, how lovely they are, spreading their arms like dancers. They
know it is time to be still.” ―
Cynthia Rylant,
In November
Today's walk in the park was magical. The light was subdued, the special late Autumn colors glowed, and the air smelled like tannin and evergreen. It's days like these that make me love November!
November in the Dykeman wetland
Mallard couples in the Dykeman creek
An Autumn still life under the water in the north duck pond
Bach wrote three cantatas for the 23rd Sunday after Trinity, and today we'll be listening to the first one - BWV 163, Nur jedem das Seine! (Only his own!, Weimar 1715). This is a solo cantata, and despite the somber subject the music is quite joyful. This is considered one of Bach's greatest pre-Leipzig cantatas, and probably one of the best examples of the close collaboration with his librettist of the time, poet Salomo Franck. Here's the late Craig Smith of Emmanuel Music on this work:
Bach
Cantata BWV 163 is one of his greatest works from
the Weimar era. While at the sophisticated court
at Weimar, Bach had access to probably the best poet
of his career, the director of the mint, Salomo Franck.
Franck's poetry often uses money as a metaphor. Here
it is central to the bass aria. The work starts with
a measured tenor aria with strings that restates
Christ's rather heated reply to the questioning
Pharisees. Both Bach and Franck ignore the passion
of the charge by Jesus of hypocrisy. They are interested
in the question of sacred versus secular issues.
The cantata has an interesting scheme. The opening
aria uses the whole range of the orchestra. The next
aria exploits the bass and the lower instruments.
The soprano-alto recitative and duet are predominantly
high in range. The division of range subtly exploits
the low range for things earthly and the high for
thins heavenly. The opening tenor aria is almost
acedemic in its metrical insistence on the declamation.
The following bass aria uses two celli as the obbligati.
The darkness of the two instruments combined with
the bass voice produce a texture very like the descent
into the earth in Wagner's Das Rhinegold. It is one
of Bach's most daring sonorities. The soprano and
alto recitative is not only high and light but very
complicated in its myriad of detail. The duet itself
is gorgeously simple and songful with the strings
playing the chorale "Meinem Jesusm lass ich
nicht" on top of the texture. The work ends
with a four-part harmonization of the chorale "Wo soll ich fliehen
hin."
Today's performance is from a recording by the Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart and the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart under the direction of Helmut Rilling. Enjoy!
“Now Autumn’s fire burns slowly along the woods
And day by day the dead leaves fall and melt.”
William Allingham - Autumnal Sonnet
I woke up in the semi-darkness this morning, and by the quality of what light there was coming in the window I could tell the sky was overcast. A perfect day for an Autumn hike! I needed to walk on fallen leaves today, kicking through the piles and crunching them underfoot, the ultimate joy of the season. So after breakfast and the usual morning activities at the computer, I tied on my boots and headed for the Cumberland Valley Rail Trail. It was definitely a soul-clearing walk; here are some of the sights along the way.
It was drizzling and in the 30s when I got up this morning, and still in the upper 30s/low 40s when I went out for my weekly walk in the park and grocery run. So today's walk in the park was slightly damp. But it brought out the existing colors in the otherwise drab November landscape. Come take a look.
Drip, drip, drip...
A cattail marsh along the Dykeman Walking Trail behind the ball fields
An empty nest in the Dykeman wetland
A Carolina Wren in the wetland who was not at all pleased with my presence
Looking toward a very misty Timber Hill from the top of the meadow
Self-portrait of the happy wanderer, taken with my cell phone
Bach wrote three cantatas for the 22nd Sunday after Trinity, and this week I've chosen the first one, BWV 22, Was soll ich aus dir machen, Ephraim? (What should I do with you, Ephraim? Leipzig 1723). This is a solo cantata featuring bass, alto, and soprano voices. This cantata explores the tension between deserved punishment and merciful forgiveness based on the gospel lesson of the day, the parable of the wicked servant (Matthew 18:23-35). Here's Ryan Turner of Emmanuel Music on this cantata:
Was soll ich aus dir machen, Ephraim?, BWV 89, relates how
Jesus tells the parable of the wicked servant (Matthew 18:23-35) as an
answer to Peter’s question: “Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against
me, and I forgive him? till seven times?” The central theme of the
cantata, therefore, probes the tension between deserved punishment and
merciful forgiveness. First performed in October of 1723 in Leipzig, the
source of text for the outer movements is certain, while the text for
the recitative/aria pairings of the soprano and alto is unknown.
However, it is believed this may have been based on older material from
Bach’s Weimar years and the monetary metaphors in the alto and soprano
solo movements are rather reminiscent of the poetry Salomo Franck, the
keeper of the mint and city councilor in Weimar and Bach’s favorite
collaborator.
The opening bass aria text comes from Chapter 11 of the
prophet Hosea: “How can I give you up, O Ephraim!… How can I make you
like Admah! How can I treat you like Zeboim! My heart recoils within me,
my compassion grows warm and tender.” In this context ‘Ephraim’ is an
abbreviation for the northern part of Israel, ‘Admah’ and ‘Zeboim’ are
towns that, as mentioned in Deuteronomy, suffered the same fate –
destruction – as Sodom and Gomorrah. God is essentially pondering what
He should do with those existing communities that continue to show signs
of sinfulness. Bach illustrates God’s wrath in the collision of three
separate instrumental motifs that happen simultaneously and are then
freely interchanged and combined between instrument groups, but never
with any sense of resolution: 1) the turbulent sixteenths of the
continuo, 2) the cries of parallel thirds in the oboes and 3) the
five-note upward arpeggios in the strings that end with a plunging
downward fifth, seventh or ninth. Meanwhile the music comes to a
temporary halt at the end of each anguished question posed by the bass,
representing God’s divided mind.
The cantata now shifts to the parable of the wicked steward
as the alto recitative makes a compelling case for God’s right to
vengeance. Listen for the sharpness at the mention of the mocking of
his name that inflames the fires of vengeance. The threat of punishment
implied here becomes clearer in the inexorable, hammering semi-tone
motives of the alto aria; the text of which derives from James 2:13:
“For he shall have judgment without mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against
judgment.”
With the soprano recitative, the gloom of the opening is left
behind as we are reminded that we are duty bound to ‘forgive them that
trespass against us.’ Given the seriousness of the text – a balance
sheet of sins committed against the drops of Jesus’ redeeming blood –
the aria for soprano and oboe leads us to more welcoming pastures with
its dance-like 6/8 meter and songlike melody. The concluding chorale
extends this sigh of relief. While the prevailing mode is minor, Bach
harmonizes every cadence in the major mode. Not even the mention of
‘Tod, Teufel, Höll und Sünde’ causes the simple harmonic textures to
yield to chromatic intensification.
November is the bridge between Autumn and Winter. The trees are much barer, the flowers have turned to seed and down, and the world slowly turns monochrome, with touches of brown and russet and dark evergreen here and there. The Winter Solstice may not be until December 21, but December 1 is the meteorological beginning of Winter and November is when the world trims down in preparation for the Winter snows. Today's walk in the Dykeman Spring Nature Park gives some glimpses of all that.
A lone,withered leaf in the Dykeman wetland
A leaf fallen on a wooden walkway
Old, ragged cattails in the wetland
November reflections on the north duck pond
Bare trees up on the meadow
Yes, I have music to go with this photographic walk. Max Richter is a German-born British composer who is considered one of the more influential voices in post-minimalist composition. This piece, "November", is from his 2002 debut album Memoryhouse, recorded with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. I felt that the mood of this piece perfectly matched that of the photos. Enjoy!
Bach wrote four cantatas for the 21st Sunday after Trinity; this week I've chosen the second of those works - BWV 38, Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu Dir (Out of the depths I cry to thee, Leipzig 1724). Part of a trend in his second season at Leipzig, Bach composed this chorale cantata based on a hymn by Martin Luther; it has gravity and depth, written in an antique (for those times) style to emphasize its ties to Lutheran history. Here's the late Craig Smith of Emmanuel Music on this cantata:
All of Bach’s motet-style
choruses in the 2nd Jahrgang are set to Luther chorales.
There is a sense of bedrock theology to these works
that makes them different than any other chorales.
The conscious archaicism of these settings gives them
a weight and seriousness unlike any others. The chorale “Aus
tiefer Not schrei’ ich zu dir” is a work
that always brings out his most heavily contrapuntal
style. The two chorale preludes on the tune in the
3rd part of the Clavierübung contain some of his
most ingenious contrapuntal wizardry. The large setting
with pedals is unique in Bach in that it has a double
pedal part. Every note of the work derives from the
melody, but the actual long-note statement of the tune
is in the top pedal part. Bach doesn’t hesitate
to make a stretto of the theme right at the very beginning.
The contour of the opening of the tune is so highly
profiled that it is easily recognizable in even the
densest counterpoint. Even the smaller setting for
manuals only in the Clavierübung immediately jumps
into a dense contrapuntal world with the theme appearing
in inversion as a countersubject in the 2nd bar of
the piece. Most of the pieces for manuals only in the Clavierübung are much more casual than this, so
that it is clear that Bach throughout his career sees
this tune as a special case.
All of the chorale movements in the cantata are profoundly
different from the two organ chorale preludes in one
important sense: in the organ pieces there is a generalized
chromatic language, not only prompted by the melodic
contour but also the Phrygian basis for the melody.
The half step that occurs between the first and second
degrees of the scale in Phrygian melodies always has
great harmonic consequences in tonal works. But by
1739, the year of the publication of the 3rd part of
the Clavierübung, Bach was less interested in
coloring the meaning of the words in his chorale settings.
Thus the kind of specific, harrowing harmonic language
that appears in the second phrase of the Abgesang,
that occurs more or less out of the blue, is clearly
generated from the words “Sünd und Unrecht.” This
kind of specificity is simply not relevant in the organ
pieces, which are clearly not geared to any particular
verse of the chorale. At the same time, there is a
simplicity and openness to the counterpoint in the
cantata that is replaced by something much more dense
in the organ pieces.
Both of the readings for the 21st Sunday after Trinity
are concerned with the steadfastness of faith against
all odds. Certainly Psalm 130, the basis for this chorale,
tests that faith. Both the secco alto recitative and
the tenor aria #3 with oboes refer directly to the
Epistle reading from the 6th Chapter of Ephesians.
In all of the concerted music the motives are derived
from the chorale tune. This is actually achieved in
a fashion rather different than Bach’s usual
manner. One sees the leap of the fifth, first down
and then up, followed by the upward half step imbedded
in the opening oboe melody. Its construction is almost
Beethoven-like in its rigorous classical outlook. Similarly
in the trio #5, the opening motive clearly refers to
the opening of the chorale. The character of the tenor
aria is melancholy rather than stern, and its gentle
rhythmic motion actually is a relief from the austerity
of the opening. The soprano recitative #4 is unique
in Bach, a recitative in which the bass line is a chorale.
In addition Bach does something unusual in that the
opening phrase of the chorale (in a minor) is repeated
in d minor. The rest of the chorale is then finished
in the new key.
The trio is one of three trios in the Leipzig cantatas.
It has an unusual character, nervous and flighty. The
piling up of the three voices in tight counterpoint
increases its agitation. The change from worry to sudden
redemption is astoundingly achieved with the vertiginous
harmony at the cadence, hair-raising in its intensity.
Notice how the rising of the sun is the opening of Aus tiefer Not turned upside-down. We have shown how
the transition is made back to Phrygian e minor of
the final chorale harmonization. The ringing modality
of the harmony is almost heroic in its cast.
I just updated my calendars for sale on Lulu.com, so if you need Christmas/Yule/Solstice presents the time is now! And don't forget, my Yule photo book, On a Cold Winter's Night - Images of Yule, is always on sale. Click here to check it all out! Below are some of the cover pictures to give you a taste.
It's November now and Autumn is moving on apace. It's been an odd Autumn though; trees that were colorful last week are now bare, some trees are newly colorful but half bare, and there are an awful lot of all green trees still holding forth. As far as Fall foliage goes, today's walk in the Dykeman Spring Nature Park was something of a washout, so I concentrated on a plentiful resource for Autumnal color - berries. Add to that some Maple helicopters still hanging on to the tree at the top end of the north duck pond and you have the reason for the title of today's post. Come take a look.
Bach wrote three cantatas for the 20th Sunday after Trinity, and this is the middle one - BWV 180, Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele (Adorn yourself, o beloved soul, Leipzig 1724). This one is a joyous dance of a cantata, and as a flute player myself I especially enjoy the major role this instrument plays in the work. Here's musicologist Simon Crouch on this joyful dance of a cantata:
If anyone doubts the influence of the dance on Bach's sacred
music, let them listen to this cantata. It is hard not to picture the
congregation of St. Thomas' skipping down the aisle during the opening
chorus! This cantata mixes the stories of the Epistle (avoid bad
company, bad habits, etc etc) and the Gospel (the parable of the
marriage of the King's son, in which invitations are sent out but
largely ignored). The opening chorus illustrates the Epistle, the first
aria the Gospel and from then on, things are mixed about.
A summary listen to the following tenor aria strongly supports
Robert Marshall's thesis that Bach must have had a formidably good
transverse flute player available whilst this cantata was written. It
mixes stunning virtuosity with great beauty. It's also interesting to
note an unusual feature in this cantata:
Both transverse flutes and recorders are used. The cantata continues
with a recitative that develops into a beautiful arioso, then a
recitative followed by an air. This latter always makes me giggle a bit,
since it bustles along in a very no nonsense way. I always imagine it
being sung by a very prim soprano wearing a hat. After the final
recitative, there is a very delicate, very beautiful chorale (Jesu, wahres Brot des Lebes).
There was something formless and perfect before the universe was born. It is serene. Empty. Solitary. Unchanging. Infinite. Eternally present. It is the mother of the universe. For lack of a better name, I call it the Tao.
It flows through all things, inside and outside, and returns to the origin of all things.
The Tao is great. The universe is great. Earth is great. Man is great. These are the four great powers.
Man follows the earth. Earth follows the universe. The universe follows the Tao. The Tao follows only itself.
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 25 Translation by Stephen Mitchell
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