MUSIC SATURDAY - BACH

“I was obliged to be industrious. Whoever is equally industrious will succeed equally well.” - Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) 

I am currently working on the new edition of one of my published works and it involves a lot (and I mean a REAL LOT!) of proof-reading. This is a task that requires much concentration and it is quite tiring on both eyes and brain. One thing that makes the task a little easier is to listen to some music while I am working. Bach always works for me in this context and the music seems to enhance my concentration.

Here is a collection of pieces that I enjoy listening to while I am working. It is Bach's works for the viola da gamba: Sonatas for viola da gamba and obligato harpsichord & Suite for viola da gamba. In this instance performed by Paolo Pandolfo [viola da gamba] and Rinaldo Alessandrini [harpsichord]. 

Sonata in G major BWV 1027:
1. Adagio 0:01
2. Andante 4:26
3. Allegro ma non tanto 7:57
4. Allegro moderato 10:30 

Sonata in D major BWV 1028:
5. [Adagio] 13:24
6. [Allegro] 15:19
7. Andante 18:46
8. Allegro 23:13 

Sonata in G minor BWV 1029:
9. Vivace 27:02
10. Adagio 32:19
11. Allegro 38:39 

Suite for Viola da gamba in D minor [Transcription from Suite Cello No.5 BWV 1011 and Suite for Lute BWV 995 (arr. Paolo Pandolfo)]:
12. Prélude 42:06
13. Allemande 48:12
14. Courante 54:08
15. Sarabande 56:28
16. Gavottes I et II 1:00:12
17. Gigue 1:04:21

MUSIC SATURDAY - BACH FOR EASTER

“A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.” - Mahatma Gandhi 

J.S. Bach (1685 – 1750) wrote an enormous amount of music (much of it secular), however, like most composers of his age, he spent most of his professional life writing and directing music for the church. Consequently, he wrote well over 200 sacred cantatas (sometimes up to one a month) to provide music for the busy church calendar. 209 survive to the present day and of these, around 25 were written for the period starting on Easter Sunday and ending on Pentecost, four weeks later. Therefore, we have an embarrassment of riches to choose from for this season. Here is his “Der Himmel lacht, die Erde jubilieret” BWV 31 of 1715.

1. Sonata
2. Chorus (S, A, T, B) at 2:33
The heavens laugh!
The earth doth ring with glory,
And all she beareth in her lap;
Our Maker liveth!
The Highest standeth triumphant
And is from bonds of death now free
He who the grave for rest hath chosen,
The Holy One, seeeth not corruption.
3. Recit. (B) at 6:09
O welcome day!
O soul, again be glad!
The A and O,
The first and also last one,
Whom our own grievous guilt in death’s own prison buried,
Is now torn free of all his woe!
The Lord was dead,
And lo, again he liveth;
As liveth our head, so live as well his members.
The Lord hath in his hand
Of death and also hell the keys now!
He who his cloak
Blood-red did splash within his bitter passion,
Today will put on finery and honour.

Text: Salomo Franck. 21 April 1715, Weimar 1
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Ton Koopman, Director

MUSIC SATURDAY - JOHANN PHILIPP KIRNBERGER

“The flute is the true magical rod that changes all it touches in the inward world; an enchanter’s wand at which the secret depths of the soul open. The inward world is the true world, the moonlight that shines into our hearts.”― Jean Paul Friedrich Richter 

Johann Philipp Kirnberger (also Kernberg; 24 April 1721, Saalfeld – 27 July 1783, Berlin) was a musician, composer (primarily of fugues), and music theorist. He was a student of Johann Sebastian Bach. According to Ingeborg Allihn, Kirnberger played a significant role in the intellectual and cultural exchange between Germany and Poland in the mid-18th century.

Between 1741 and 1751 Kirnberger lived and worked in Poland for powerful magnates including Lubomirski, Poninski, and Rzewuski before ending up at the Benedictine Cloister in Lvov (then part of Poland). He spent much time collecting Polish national dances and compiled them in his treatise “Die Charaktere der Taenze” (Allihn 1995, 211). He became a violinist at the court of Frederick II of Prussia in 1751. He was the music director to the Prussian Princess Anna Amalia from 1758 until his death.

Kirnberger greatly admired J.S. Bach, and sought to secure the publication of all of Bach’s chorale settings, which finally appeared after Kirnberger’s death; see Kirnberger chorale preludes (BWV 690–713). Many of Bach’s manuscripts have been preserved in Kirnberger's library (the “Kirnberger collection”).He is known today primarily for his theoretical work “Die Kunst des reinen Satzes in der Musik” (The Art of Strict Composition in Music, 1774, 1779).

The well-tempered tuning systems known as “Kirnberger II” and “Kirnberger III” are associated with his name, as is a rational version of equal temperament.

Here are some of his flute sonatas played by Frank Theuns (flute), Richte van der Meer and Ewald Demeyere (continuo).

CARNAGE IN MELBOURNE

“Sin lies only in hurting others unnecessarily. All other "sins" are invented nonsense.” - Robert A. Heinlein 

Five people, including a 3-month-old baby and a 10-year-old child, were killed, with at least 20 people injured after a man deliberately mowed his car into terrified pedestrians in Melbourne's Bourke Street Pedestrian Mall last Friday. This was an incident nobody expected and most of us could hardly believe when the news first broke. Our beautiful, welcoming and quiet city was shattered by the heinous act of a murderous madman.

In the wake of the carnage doctors are still trying to save the lives of others hospitalised and who are critically injured. Eye-witnesses are seeking to come to terms with what happened when the 26-year-old driver ploughed his maroon Commodore at high speed into terrified shoppers, tourists and families, as he recklessly drove at speed through the pedestrian mall. Police had earlier called off a pursuit of the car in suburban Melbourne on safety grounds. At the mall, they rammed his vehicle and shot him after the carnage in the City. He has been arrested and is under guard in hospital.

The man, identified as Dimitrios Gargasoulas, was wanted for allegedly stabbing his brother before the mall murders, and for taking a woman hostage (she luckily escaped). He is believed to have been bailed last week for the assault of his mother's partner. Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said the man had no links to terrorism but an extensive criminal history linked to family violence. He also had mental health and drug-related issues.

At this point, the murderer is still in hospital and has not been interviewed by police; thirty-seven people have been treated in Melbourne hospitals after the attack and four remain in a critical condition. Five families are mourning the loss of their loved ones: A 3-month-old baby, a 10-year-old girl, two men, aged 25 and 33, and a woman, 32. The grief of the families is inconsolable, the murderer's action indefensible, the public outcry unable to be quelled and our bail laws in question.

While we all wish suspected criminals to be treated humanely and all suspects to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, common sense and a criminal history dictates that those who are a high risk for repeat offences should not be bailed. Had this murderer not been let out on bail, we would not now be mourning innocent lives unjustly taken.

Bach's “Agnus Dei” from the B Minor Mass sung by Andreas Scholl and accompanied by Collegium Vocale Gent, Conducted by Philippe Herreweghe is the only tribute I can pay to the lives lost in vain. May their souls rest in peace, may the grief of their families be lessened by time, may those who suffer from their injuries be healed. And may our society find some solutions to the increasing problems that our lifestyle and our augmenting urbanisation are creating.

MUSIC SATURDAY - BACH'S CHRISTMAS ORATORIO

“Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas.” - Dale Evans

The Christmas Oratorio (German: Weihnachts-Oratorium), BWV 248, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 and incorporates music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a now lost church cantata, BWV 248a. The date is confirmed in Bach’s autograph manuscript.

The next performance was not until 17 December 1857 by the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin under Eduard Grell. The Christmas Oratorio is a particularly sophisticated example of parody music. The author of the text is unknown, although a likely collaborator was Christian Friedrich Henrici (Picander). The work belongs to a group of three oratorios written towards the end of Bach’s career in 1734 and 1735 for major feasts, the others being the Ascension Oratorio (BWV 11) and the Easter Oratorio (BWV 249). All parody earlier compositions, although the Christmas Oratorio is by far the longest and most complex work.

The oratorio is in six parts, each part being intended for performance on one of the major feast days of the Christmas period. The piece is often presented as a whole or split into two equal parts. The total running time for the entire work is nearly three hours. The first part (for Christmas Day) describes the Birth of Jesus, the second (for December 26) the annunciation to the shepherds, the third (for December 27) the adoration of the shepherds, the fourth (for New Year's Day) the circumcision and naming of Jesus, the fifth (for the first Sunday after New Year) the journey of the Magi, and the sixth (for Epiphany) the adoration of the Magi.

Here it is in a version with director, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, the Concentus Musicus Wien; Peter Schreier – Tenor’ Robert Holl – Bass; Soloists of the Tolzer Knabenchor and Chorusmaster: Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden.

PARTS 1-3

PARTS 4-6


The illustration is “The Nativity with Donors and Saints Jerome and Leonard” by Gerard David (Netherlandish, Oudewater ca. 1455–1523 Bruges) ca. 1510–15.

MUSIC SATURDAY - J.F. WALTHER

“To play only what is written is the domain of science. To realize what is not written is the domain of art.” - Jean Langlais

Johann Gottfried Walther (18 September 1684 – 23 March 1748) was a German music theorist, organist, composer, and lexicographer of the Baroque era. Walther was born at Erfurt. Not only was his life almost exactly contemporaneous to that of Johann Sebastian Bach, he was the famous composer’s cousin.

Walther was most well known as the compiler of the Musicalisches Lexicon (Leipzig, 1732), an enormous dictionary of music and musicians. Not only was it the first dictionary of musical terms written in the German language, it was the first to contain both terms and biographical information about composers and performers up to the early 18th century. In all, the Musicalisches Lexicon defines more than 3,000 musical terms; Walther evidently drew on more than 250 separate sources in compiling it, including theoretical treatises of the early Baroque and Renaissance. The single most important source for the work was the writings of Johann Mattheson, who is referenced more than 200 times.

Some further information on Walther can be found in the book Musica Poetica by Dietrich Bartel. On page 22, Bartel quotes Walther’s definition of musica poetica, or musical rhetoric, as:

“Musica Poetica or musical composition is a mathematical science through which an agreeable and correct harmony of the notes is brought to paper in order that it might later be sung or played, thereby appropriately moving the listeners to Godly devotion as well as to please and delight both mind and soul…. It is so called because the composer must not only understand language as does the poet in order not to violate the meter of the text but because he also writes poetry, namely a melody, thus deserving the title Melopoeta or Melopoeus."

Walther was the music teacher of Prince Johann Ernst von Sachsen-Weimar. He wrote a handbook for the young prince with the title Praecepta der musicalischen Composition, 1708. It remained handwritten until Peter Benary’s edition (Leipzig, 1955). As an organ composer, Walther became famous for his organ transcriptions of orchestral concertos by contemporary Italian and German masters. He made 14 transcriptions of concertos by Albinoni, Gentili, Taglietti, Giuseppe Torelli, Vivaldi and Telemann. These works were the models for Bach to write his famous transcriptions of concertos by Vivaldi and others. On the other hand, Walther as a city organist of Weimar wrote exactly 132 organ preludes based on Lutheran chorale melodies. Some free keyboard music also belongs to his legacy.

Here are the complete organ works of Walther if you have a spare two-and-a-half hours to listen to them.

MUSIC SATURDAY - EASTER ORATORIO

“The symbolic language of the crucifixion is the death of the old paradigm; resurrection is a leap into a whole new way of thinking.” - Deepak Chopra

The Easter Oratorio (German: Oster-Oratorium), BWV 249, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, beginning with Kommt, eilet und laufet (“Come, hasten and run”). Bach composed it in Leipzig and first performed it on 1 April 1725.

The first version of the work was completed as a cantata for Easter Sunday in Leipzig on 1 April 1725, then under the title Kommt, gehet und eilet. It was named “oratorio” and given the new title only in a version revised in 1735. In a later version in the 1740s the third movement was expanded from a duet to a four-part chorus. The work is based on a secular cantata, the so-called “Shepherd Cantata” Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen, BWV 249a which is now lost, although the libretto survives. Its author is Picander who is also likely the author of the oratorio’s text. The work is opened by two instrumental movements that are probably taken from a concerto of the Köthen period. It seems possible that the third movement is based on the concerto’s finale.

Unlike the Christmas Oratorio, the Easter Oratorio has no narrator but has four characters assigned to the four voice parts: Simon Peter (tenor) and John the Apostle (bass), appearing in the first duet hurrying to Jesus’ grave and finding it empty, meeting there Mary Magdalene (alto) and “the other Mary”, Mary Jacobe (soprano). The choir was present only in the final movement until a later performance in the 1740s when the opening duet was set partly for four voices. The music is festively scored for three trumpets, timpani, two oboes, oboe d’amore, bassoon, two recorders, transverse flute, two violins, viola and continuo.

The oratorio opens with two contrasting instrumental movements, an Allegro concerto grosso of the full orchestra with solo sections for trumpets, violins and oboes, and an Adagio oboe melody over “Seufzer” motifs (sighs) in the strings. The first duet of the disciples was set for chorus in a later version, the middle section remaining a duet. Many runs illustrate the movement toward the grave. Saget, saget mir geschwinde, the aria of Mary Magdalene, is based on words from the Song of Songs, asking where to find the beloved, without whom she is “ganz verwaiset und betrübt” (completely orphaned and desolate), set in the middle section as Adagio, different from the original. The words are close to those opening Part Two of the St Matthew Passion. The final movement in two contrasting sections resembles the Sanctus composed for Christmas 1724 and later part of the Mass in B minor.

Here it is performed by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Lisa Larsson, Elisabeth von Magnus, Gerd Türk, Klaus Mertens, conductor Ton Koopman (Erato, 1998).

HAPPY EASTER!

IMMORTAL BACH

"Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence." -  Robert Fripp

If you read my blog, you already know that J.S. Bach is one of my favourite composers. There is always something new to discover in his music, even (or should I say, especially) in the pieces one has heard many times before. As well as the mathematical precision, the elegance of the logic behind each note that this master has written down and its immense musical significance in relation to the other notes around it, there is pure emotion and deep feeling that one cannot help but be involved in and moved by. The cantatas are a beautiful world to explore. Here is a famous tune from one of them.

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (BWV 645)
(Wake up, the voice is calling us)
Aarnoud de Groen plays the organ of the Bethlehemkerk, The Hague. Enjoy!

THESAURUS THURSDAY - EBULLIENT BACH

“If we were all determined to play the first violin we should never have an ensemble. Τherefore, respect every musician in his proper place.” - Robert Schumann

The ‘Word for the Day’ today was inspired by this music that I heard on the radio this morning:

It is J.S. Bach's "Brandenburg Concerto No 3", BWV1048, and the word is:

ebullient |iˈboŏlyənt; iˈbəlyənt| adjective

1 cheerful and full of energy: She sounded ebullient and happy.

2 archaic or poetic/literary (of liquid or matter) boiling or agitated as if boiling: Misted and ebullient seas.

DERIVATIVES

ebullience |əˌbʊljəns| noun

ebulliently |əˌbʊliəntli| adverb

ORIGIN late 16th cent.(in the sense [boiling] ): from Latin ebullient- ‘boiling up,’ from the verb ebullire, from e- (variant of ex-) ‘out’ + bullire ‘to boil.’

And it certainly is very bubbly, energetic, cheerful, ever-forward moving music! Bach could create something this remarkably complex and intricate and make it sound so simple and facile. And of course such is the case with all six of his Brandenburg Concertos, which are masterpieces of the baroque!

MUSIC SATURDAY - BACH VIOLIN CONCERTOS

“Happiness is a thing to be practiced, like the violin.” - John Lubbock

Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March [O.S. 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He enriched established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France.

Bach’s compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor, two Passions, and over three hundred sacred cantatas of which nearly two hundred survive. His music is revered for its technical command, artistic beauty, and intellectual depth.

Bach was born in Eisenach, Saxe-Eisenach, into a great musical family. His father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, was the director of the town musicians, and all of his uncles were professional musicians. His father probably taught him to play the violin and harpsichord, and his brother, Johann Christoph Bach, taught him the clavichord and exposed him to much contemporary music.

Apparently at his own initiative, Bach attended St. Michael’s School in Lüneburg for two years. After graduating he held several musical posts across Germany: He served as Kapellmeister (director of music) to Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, Cantor of the Thomasschule in Leipzig, and Royal Court Composer to Augustus III.

Bach’s health and vision declined in 1749, and he died on 28 July 1750. Modern historians believe that his death was caused by a combination of stroke and pneumonia. Bach’s abilities as an organist were respected throughout Europe during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognised as a great composer until a revival of interest and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. He is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.

Here are his violin concertos, played by Elizabeth Wallfisch, Pavlo Beznosiuk and Catherine Mackintosh accompanied by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

1. Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041

Allegro moderato - 0:00

Andante - 3:50

Allegro assai - 9:37

2. Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042

Allegro - 13:10

Adagio - 21:05

Allegro assai - 27:03

3. Double Violin Concerto in D minor, BWV 1043

Vivace - 29:50

Largo, ma non tanto - 33:38

Allegro - 40:01

4. Concerto for 3 Violins and Strings in D major, BWV 1064

Adagio - 44:43

Allegro - 51:22

Allegro - 57:04

5. Violin Concerto G minor, BWV 1056

Allegro - 1:01:45

Largo - 1:05:32

Presto - 1:08:10

6. Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C minor, BWV 1060

Allegro - 1:11:20

Adagio/ Largo - 1:16:14

Allegro - 1:20:58

7. Violin Concerto in D minor BWV 1052a

Allegro - 1:24:34

Adagio - 1:32:40

Allegro - 1:39:20

8. Concerto for Flute, Violin, Harpsichord and Strings in A minor, BWV 1044

Allegro - 1:47:31

Adagio ma non tanto e dolce - 1:55:54

Tempo di Allabreve - 2:01:52

MUSIC SATURDAY - JS BACH'S BRANDENBURG CONCERTOS

“The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.” - Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach (born Eisenach, 1685; died Leipzig, 1750) was born into a musical family and he received his earliest instruction from his father. After his father’s death in 1695, Bach moved to Ohrdruf, where he lived and studied organ with his older brother Johann Christoph. He also received an education at schools in Eisenach, Ohrdruf, and Lüneburg.

Bach’s first permanent positions were as organist in Arnstadt (1703-1707) and Mühlhausen (1707-1708). During these years, he performed, composed taught, and developed an interest in organ building. From 1708-1717 he was employed by Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Weimar, first as court organist, and after 1714, as concertmaster. During this period, he composed many of his best organ compositions; in his capacity as concertmaster, he was also expected to produce a cantata each month. In Weimar, Bach’s style was influenced by his study of numerous Italian compositions (especially Vivaldi concertos).

Bach’s next position, as Music Director for the Prince Leopold of Köthen (1717-1723), involved entirely different activities. Since the court chapel was Calvinist, there was no need for church compositions; Bach probably used the Köthen organs only for teaching and practice. His new works were primarily for instrumental solo or ensemble, to be used as court entertainment or for instruction. Among the important compositions at Köthen were the Brandenburg Concertos, the first volume of Das wohltemperirte Clavier (The Well-Tempered Clavier), the “French” and “English” Suites for harpsichord (although the “English” Suites may be from the Weimar period), and most of the sonatas and suites for other instruments. Bach also composed a few cantatas for special occasions (birthdays and New Years).

In 1723, Bach was appointed cantor at the St. Thomas Church and School, and Director of Music for Leipzig, positions which he retained for the rest of his career. His official duties included the responsibility of overseeing the music in the four principal churches of the city, and organising other musical events sponsored by the municipal council. For these performances, he used pupils from the St. Thomas School, the city’s professional musicians, and university students. Bach divided his singers into four choirs (one for each of the four main churches); he personally conducted the first choir, which sang on alternate Sundays at St. Thomas and St. Nicholas. His usual performing group consisted of around sixteen singers and eighteen instrumentalists, although these numbers could be augmented for special occasions.

During his first six years in Leipzig (1723-1729), Bach’s most impressive compositions were his sacred cantatas (four yearly cycles), and the St. John and St. Matthew Passions. Bach apparently gave virtuoso organ recitals in Leipzig and on various tours, although he had no official position as organist in Leipzig. After 1729 Bach no longer concentrated so completely on composing sacred vocal music. For services, he re-used his own substantial repertory of cantatas, and turned increasingly to the music of his contemporaries. In 1729-1737 and 1739-1741, he was director of the Leipzig Collegium Musicum, an organisation which had been founded by Telemann in 1704. This group of professional musicians and university students performed weekly concerts (out-of-doors in the summer, and at Zimmerman's coffee-house in the winter). Although no specific programs for these concerts have survived, Bach apparently revived and many of his instrumental compositions from Köthen, wrote new works (e.g., secular cantatas), and conducted pieces by other composers.

During the 1730s, Bach renewed his interest in keyboard compositions, and prepared the first three volumes of his Clavier-Übung (Keyboard Practice) for publication (1731, 1735, 1739); the fourth volume appeared in 1741-1742. In the 1730s, he also showed considerable interest in the royal court at Dresden, and was named “Hofkomponist” (court-composer) in Dresden in 1736.

During Bach’s last decade (the 1740s), he completed or revised several large-scale projects which he had started earlier. The Well-Tempered Clavier, Vol. II; a manuscript collection of chorale preludes (known as the “Leipzig 18”, comprising revisions of Weimar pieces), and the B minor Mass. Other new works showed an increased interest in fugal and canonic writing: Musikalische Opfer (Musical Offering); the canonic variations for organ on “Vom Himmel hoch”; and Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue). In the 1740s, Bach made various journeys, most notably to the court of Frederick the Great in 1747. He continued a lively interest in the building of organs, and kept informed about the latest developments in the construction of harpsichords and pianofortes.

Here are Bach’s six sublime Brandenburg Concertos BWV 1046 – 1051 with the Münchener Bach-Orchester, directed by Karl Richter at the harpsichord.