Bach on Good Friday - The Saint Matthew Passion

Serenity

Bach wrote his greatest work for the Good Friday of 1727, his monumental St. Matthew Passion. This description by musicologist David Gordon says it best: "The massive yet delicate work, with its multiple levels of theological and mystical symbolism, its powerful and dramatic biblical teachings, and its psychological insight, is one of the most challenging and ambitious musical compositions in the entire Western tradition." [Note: You can read Gordon's excellent essay on this great work here. I highly recommend it!]

I've chosen the beautiful performance of this, Bach's greatest work, by the orchestra and chorus of the Collegium Vocale Gent, under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe. A warning: Save listening to this until you're settled for the day or night; it's almost three hours long. Enjoy!

Photo © 2006 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Sunday Bach - Palm Sunday

A patch of Corn Speedwell

Bach wrote one cantata for Palm Sunday, BWV 182, Himmelskönig, sei willkommen, in 1714. You would have thought, considering both Bach's tendencies and the importance of Palm Sunday in the church calendar, that this would be a grand, sweeping, majestic thing. But this is an early cantata, and the mood is very intimate, written for a small chamber choir and orchestra. Here's what the late Craig Smith from Emmanuel Music had to say:

Bach Cantata BWV 182 was one of the earliest works written in Weimar and is thus one of Bach's earliest cantatas. It has a charming chamber-sized orchestration of recorder, one violin, two violas, cello and organ. The opening sinfonia has the sound of early morning about it. The recorder and solo violin trade off piquant dotted lines against the pizzicato of the other strings. The opening chorus is delightfully child-like in its portrayal of Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem. The solo bass intones a line from Psalm 40 as an introduction to the stirring aria with the strings. The solo recorder returns as the obbligato to the poignant alto aria. This is the beginning of the transition of the cantata from the joyous entrance into Jerusalem to a meditation on the Passion. The continuo aria with tenor is a further passion-like piece. It would not be out of place in one of the Passion settings. After the penultimate chorale prelude on the tune "Jesu Kreuz, Leiden und Pein," the light chorus "So lasset uns gehen in Salem der Freuden" ends the cantata.

I've chosen the recording of this charming cantata by the Montréal Baroque under the direction of Eric Milnes. Enjoy!

Photo © 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

Sunday Bach - Fifth Sunday in Lent

South Mountain view, Shippensburg, PA

Today is the fifth Sunday in Lent, and again Bach has no cantata for this occasion, so I went looking in his cantatas for no specific occasion, and I found this gem from 1734, BWV 97, In allen meinen Taten, a chorale cantata that seems to have been composed for a wedding. The late Craig Smith, musicologist and founder of Emmanuel Music, has this to say about this work:

Bach Cantata BWV 97 is sui generis. It has as its text the first nine verses of the well-known hymn "Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen," originally a tune by the Renaissance composer Isaac but taken over by Paul Fleming in 1642 to become a mainstay of the Lutheran Chorale repertoire. Bach not only sets the nine verses unchanged but treats the whole cantata as a baroque suite; each aria, duet and the opening chorus are identifiable as movements in the suite form. The work opens with a grand French Overture, the traditional beginning of the form. The orchestra of oboes and strings plays the opening characteristic dotted figurations. At the middle section the chorus with the chorale in the sopranos enters. The bravura orchestral writing is reflected in the brilliant roulades in the lower voices of the chorus.The second verse is set for the bass voice and the continuo as a lively and virtuoso gigue. The third verse of the chorale appears as a secco recitative. The next verse is perhaps the greatest thing in the cantata. This aria for tenor, violin obbligato and continuo is a broad Allemande portraying the mercy and protection of God. This is the most ambitious and far-reaching of all of Bach's violin obbligati in the cantatas. Although the cantata has an autograph date of 1734, the violin writing is more characteristic of the virtuoso writing of the solo violin partitas and sonatas written in Cöthen in the early 1720's. Here the violin portrays a state of God's grace which the tenor punctuates and comments upon. The alto recitative is accompanied by strings and leads into the unusual and thorny aria, also with strings. Here the composer clearly wants to confuse the listener rhythmically with the large number of syncopations and ambiguous downbeats. The lovely duet for soprano, bass and continuo is like virtually every movement in this work more complicated than it seems. The soprano aria with two oboes is abstract and profound in its structure and content. The cantata ends with an elaborate harmonization for the four-voice choir with independent string parts. This great cantata (and it is one of the very best) may seem more abstract and less emotionally involving than some of the more popular earlier works. It certainly is leading to Bach's last profound period of composition of the German Organ Mass, the Musical Offering and the Art of Fugue. Here, as in those great last works, Bach uses what is probably the greatest technique of any composer to sum up the wisdom of the age. Certainly, at the very least, this cantata is a remarkable compendium of all that can be said about this great chorale.

I've chosen a magnificent version of this great cantata by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir under the direction of Ton Koopman. Enjoy!

Photo © 2012 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Sunday Bach - Fourth Sunday in Lent

Corn Speedwell

This week we're back to Sundays in Lent for which Bach didn't write a cantata. This week I chose BWV 150, Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, one of his earliest cantatas, written between 1704 and 1707. It's a penitential text, but unattached to any particular liturgical Sunday or event. Here's what the late Craig Smith, musicologist and founder of Emmanuel Music, had to say about this cantata:

Bach Cantata BWV 150 is an early work, written several years before last week’s Cantata BWV 18. Because the work only exists in a manuscript in another’s hand, there has been speculation that it is not by Bach. Even a cursory examination shows that only Bach could have written such an impressive work. The cantata has a small orchestration: two violins, bassoon, and continuo. After a melancholy Sinfonia, the chorus intones the opening of Psalm 25 in a marching, chromatic, and imitative line. As is the case with most of the cantatas of this era, there are many tempo and character changes within the individual movements. The piece has many impressive moments; the listeners should particularly note the stirring scale rising through the choral and violin parts in the movement “Leite mich.” “Meine Augen” is a heavenly floating thing, gentle in the most wonderful early-Bach manner. The cantata ends with a mighty chaconne. When the volume of the Bach Gesellschaft containing this cantata was first published, Brahms was working on his Fourth Symphony. He immediately incorporated the ground bass of this cantata into the chaconne that ends his symphony.

For this week's performance I've chosen this haunting rendition by the Purcell Choir and the Orfeo Orchestra under the direction of György Vashegyi, recorded at the Budapest Music Center in 2014. Enjoy!

Photo © 2017 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

Sunday Bach - Second Sunday in Lent

Stormy Weather, October 2006

As mentioned last week, Bach wrote no cantatas for Lent other than two for the third Sunday, so I've gone diving into the vaults to look for something written for an occasion outside the liturgical calendar. What I found was Bach's first cantata, written in 1707 while he was organist at St. Blaise church in Mühlhausen. This is BWV 131, Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir, "Out of the depths I cry to thee, O Lord", from Psalm 130. From musicologist Gerhard Scuhmacher:

"Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir (BWV 131) is Bach's earliest extant cantata. The reference at the very end to the commission: 'Set to music at the request of Dr. Georg Christ. Eilmars by Joh. Seb. Bach, organist at Mühlhausen,' also indicates some tension there: Eilmar was the parish priest at St. Mary's, Bach was organist at St. Blaise. Like the 'Actus tragicus' (BWV 106) this cantata was written in 1707, presumably for a penitential service after a fire. The chamber music texture of the orchestration - one violin and two violas (one written in alto clef, the other in tenor clef) indicates the link with the music for the gamba; the scoring is completed by an oboe. As far as the form is concerned, there are no independent arias, recitatives or, except for the rather old-fashioned sinfonia, extended instrumental movements. The structure and arrangement are conditioned by the work's origin in the motet and sacred concerto. It is fascinating to observe, with hindsight, that the particular musical quality of this (probably) first cantata is the result of a desire for symmetry and the conflict between the 'no longer' of the motet and sacred concerto on the one hand, and the 'not yet' of the later cantatas on the other.

Here is an excellent interpretation from Philippe Herreweghe directing the Chorus and Orchestra of Collegium Vocale Gent in 1992. Enjoy!

Photo © 2006 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

Sunday Bach - First Sunday in Lent

The creek in Winter, Dykeman Spring Nature Park, Shippensburg, PA

Bach only wrote two cantatas for the Lenten season, for Oculi, the third Sunday in Lent. Apparently it was somehow taboo to make a joyful noise during the penitential Lenten season. So as I've done in past years, I'll pick a cantata from Bach's cantatas not associated with a particular Sunday in the Lutheran liturgical calendar. And this year I've decided to take my cue from Brian McCreath on his weekly Bach Hour on Sunday mornings on WCRB, WGBH Boston's classical music station. This week Brian chose BWV 106, and I wholeheartedly agree.

BWV 106, Gottes Zeit is die allerbeste Zeit (God's time is the very best of times), also known as Actus Tragicus, was written for the funeral of Bach's uncle in 1707. It's one of his earlier cantatas and is considered the best of his pre-Leipzig work. Musicologist Craig Smith had this to say about it:

Bach Cantata BWV 106 is his first great cantata and remains one of his most touching pieces. Written for the funeral of his uncle, it has a personal and passionate quality unique in his output. It is scored for the unusual combination of two recorders two violas da gamba and continuo. This soft-edged instrumental combination produces not only instrumental but vocal writing of the utmost delicacy and refinement. As is usual in Bach early works there are not set arias and choruses but everything is blended together into a large arc. (From the Emmanuel Music website)

This 1966 recording by Karl Richter is a particularly beautiful interpretation of this very beautiful cantata. Enjoy!

Photo © 2017 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Sunday Bach - Quinquagesima Sunday

South Mountain, Shippensburg, PA

Today is Quinquagesima Sunday, the Sunday before the start of Lent. Bach wrote 4 cantatas for this Sunday in the liturgical calendar: BWV 22, Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe, 1723, one of two cantatas composed as his "audition" for the post of Kantor at St. Thomas' in Leipzig; BWV 23, Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sons, the second composed for that Leipzig audition; BWV 127, Herr Jesu Christ, wahr' Mensch und Gott, 1725, a chorale cantata; and BWV 159, Sehet! wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem, 1729, a solo cantata. Enjoy!

Photo © 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

Sunday Bach - Sexagesima Sunday

Today is Sexagesima Sunday, the second Sunday before Lent. Bach wrote three cantatas for this occasion: BWV 18, Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt (1713 - 1714), with an interesting introductory sinfonia; BWV 181, Leichtgesinnte Flattergeister (1724), a solo cantata; and BWV 126, Erhalt uns Herr, bei deinem Wort (1725), a magnificent chorale cantata. Enjoy!

Photo © 2013 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

Sunday Bach - Septuagesima Sunday

Today is Septuagesima Sunday, the third Sunday before Lent, which begins the pre-Lenten season known as Shrovetide. Bach wrote three cantatas for this Sunday - BWV 144, Nimm, was dein ist, und gehe hin (1724); a chorale cantata BWV 92, Ich hab in Gottes Herz und Sinn (1725); and a beautiful gem of a solo cantata for soprano, BWV 84, Ich bin vergnügt mit meinem Glücke (1727). Enjoy!

Photo © 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

Sunday Bach - Feast of the Purification of Mary

Today is the 5th Sunday after Epiphany, but Bach didn't write any cantatas for that occasion. However, the Feast of the Purification of Mary is on February 2 (just 3 days ago this year) and Bach wrote several beautiful cantatas for that celebration. I chose three of the loveliest, a chorale cantata and two beautiful solo cantatas for bass voice - BWV 125, Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin; BWV 82, Ich habe genug; and BWV 158, Der Friede sei mit dir. Enjoy!

Photo © 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

Sunday Bach - Fourth Sunday After Epiphany

Bach wrote two cantatas for the fourth Sunday after epiphany - a beautiful solo cantata for alto, BWV 81, Jesus schläft, was soll ich hoffen; and a chorale cantata, BWV 14, Wär Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit. Enjoy!

Photo © 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Sunday Bach - Third Sunday After Epiphany

Today we have three Bach cantatas for the third Sunday after Epiphany - two chorale cantatas, BWV 111 Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit, and BWV 73 Herr, wie du willt, so schick's mit mir; and a little gem of a solo cantata with a beautiful opening sinfonia, BWV 156 Ich steh mit einem Fuß im Grabe! 

Photo © 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Sunday Bach - Second Sunday After Epiphany

Bach composed three cantatas for the second Sunday after Epiphany: a short solo cantata - BWV 155, Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange; a regular cantata - BWV 13, Meine Seufzer, meine Tränen; and a magnificent chorale cantata, BWV 3 - Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid.

Photo © 2016 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Sunday Bach

I'm starting a new weekly feature for this blog today. For the past several years I've been posting one of Bach's liturgical cantatas on my Facebook timeline every Sunday. The idea comes from the late, great WGBH radio host Robert J. Lurtsema, who played a cantata every Sunday morning on his Morning Pro Musica show. Robert J played them in numerical order according to BWV number; after he passed away his successor, Brian McCreath, continued the tradition but played them according to which Sunday in the Lutheran liturgical calendar it was. This order has always made more sense to me, and that's how I've been posting the cantatas on Facebook. And now I've decided to expand that tradition to this blog. Each Sunday I'll post the correct cantata for that day, along with something from my photos.

Today is the first Sunday after the Feast of the Epiphany, and Bach composed three cantatas for that day. I chose BWV 124, "Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht". I'm partial to Bach's chorale cantatas, and this is one of his best.

Photo © 2016 by A. Roy Hilbinger