rssThe vocal sense is the most important factor in the hearing of polyphony. One hears counterpoint far less in terms of its component notes than in terms of the transitions between these notes. - Ralph Kirkpatrick
2010, June 08
Bach and Karg-Elert
Two composers for organ, in Leipzig, 200 years apart.
Sigfrid Karg-Elert 1920: Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr Op. 65 No. 23 Hinsz-Organ at Leens
J.S. Bach 1720: Allein Gott in der Höh BWV 662 Bosch-Schnitger, Vollenhove
J.S. Bach 1720: Allein Gott in der Höh BWV 664 Hinsz-Organ at Leens
2010, May 27
Bach's motets and motet style
In many cantatas, Dürr refers to a "motet style". What does this mean?
J.S. Bach and the German Motet by Daniel R. Melamed: Front matter pages
J.S. Bach and the German Motet by Daniel R. Melamed at Google Books
J.S. Bach and the German Motet by Daniel R. Melamed in the Cambridge catalog
J.S. Bach and the German Motet by Daniel R. Melamed at aLibris
Janette Tilley. Review of Melamed, Daniel R., J. S. Bach and the German Motet. H-German, H-Net Reviews. October, 2006. URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=12387
The word motet was applied to various styles of music, depending on time and locale. The German motet between 1700 and 1750 was characterized by specific types of text and music.
- Sacred vocal music for a four part choir, or for two choirs, each four parts
- If instruments were added, they followed the vocal lines, were not independent
- Music was contrapuntal, imitative, sometimes incorporating techniques of fugue
- Setting of a biblical text (Sprüche)
- A chorale was sometimes sung in counterpoint to the biblical text
- Not so dramatic as the oratorios and cantatas, no characters or roles
Important to writers of the motets was the well-regulated harmonic coherence (Melamed p 18, quoting Scheibe); the text was secondary (perhaps because it was familiar to the listeners) and clarity of the words was sacrificed to the flow of the harmony.
Melamed (p17 quoting Mattheson), writes: In this motet style, both the understanding of the words (that is, the sense of the text) and the proper, natural course of a pleasant melody suffer too much.
Melamed p 13, distinguishes between 'motets' and 'concertos' by the role of the instruments. In motets, the instruments doubled the voices; in concertos, instrumental parts were independent.
To recap, motets in Germany in Bach's time were written for voice, with instruments sometimes added to double the voice parts. The form is imitative, related to fugue, presents a biblical quote and sometimes incorporates a chorale melody (Choralmotette). They differed from the cantatas, which Bach called concertos.
Melamed's chronology of the motets: (p 102)
159a 1712/13 or older
228 1715
160 before 1725
225 1726/27
226 1729
227 1723-1735
229 before 1731
118 1736/37
118 1746/47
230 no date
Melamed lists some cantatas with chorales set in motet style:
4.5, 182.7, 2.1, 38.1, 121.1, 28.2, 14.1, 80.1.
He also lists cantatas with biblical texts set in motet style:
29.2, 64.1, 68.5, 71.3, 108.4, 144.1, 179.1.
Dürr refers to the motet style in other cantata sections, among them BWV 21.9, 28.2, 187.1, 2.1, 46.1, 14.1, 121.1. 144.1, 179.1, 63.1, 63.7 and 71.7.
It is impossible to convey the character of the motet style in words; I am just beginning to explore this area myself and I will discuss the motets in their chronological order, and the cantata sections as they arise. Listening to the music is the best way to develop an understanding.
My recordings of the Bach motets
BWV 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 159a, 118b
Conductor: Masaaki Suzuki
Ensemble: Bach Collegium Japan
Release Date: 2/2/2010
Bis 1841
YouTube BIS Suzuki preview
BWV 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 118/231, Anh 165, 144, 38, 159a, deest BC C8
Conductor: Jörg Straube
Nord Deutscher Figural Chor, Baroque Brass of London, Bach-Orchester Hanover
Release Date: 9/30/2003
Thorofon CTH 2481/2
Nord Deutscher Figural Chor Website
Seven pages of more recordings of the Bach motets on Bach-Cantatas.com
Web References
Obviously it is possible to write forever about motet style, 16th century counterpoint and the Bach motets. Here are some resources I found. I will try to address some issues with each separate piece as it is posted.
by Carol Traupman-Carr on Bach 101
BWV 226
BWV 228
BWV 229
BWV 230
BWV 159a
Short article about the motet form, author unknown
Article on Bach-Cantatas.com
Article by Hoffmann on Bach-Cantatas.com
Steve Schwartz, very nice review and description
Article about Bach motets by Natalie Beck
The music
Hilliard ensemble on YouTube | ||
|
159a 225 1 225 2 225 3 226 1 226 2 226 3 |
227 1 227 2 227 3 227 4 227 5 227 6 227 7 227 8 227 9 227 10 227 11 |
228 1 228 2 228 3 229 1 229 2 229 3 229 4 230 |
John Eliot Gardiner on YouTube: Der Gerechte kommt um, a five part vocal piece, SSATB, originally an a cappella composition probably by Johann Kuhnau on the text "Tristis est anima mea", which was translated into German and instruments added, probably by Bach.
2010, May 20
Cantata BWV 199
JS Bach Cantata BWV 199: Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut
(My heart is bathed in blood)
Eleventh Sunday after Trinity Aug 12 1714
Weimar Cantatas
Scoring: Two recorders, Two violas da gamba, Continuo
Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass
Key: Weimar c minor, Leipzig d minor
Bärenreiter vol 8; p 49
Reading: Epistle 1 Corinthians 15: 1-10
Reading: Gospel Luke 18: 9-14
Words: Georg Christian Lehms
A frequently recorded favorite solo cantata for soprano, perhaps written for Bach's wife Anna Magdalena. The music moves from sinfulness to remorse to forgiveness in accord with the gospel of the day. The music for this piece exists in at least three versions; it was a favorite of Bach's too. Green (p 422) states that a version from Leipzig is a step higher and includes a violoncello piccolo. Here is a blogpost about one experience with such an instrument. Green also states that the oboe parts in movements 2 and 8 are conspicuous and challenging. He states that the viola (violoncello piccolo) obbligato part is idiomatic but difficult.
Idiomatic instrumental writing: better use of the unique properties of each type of musical instrument. Idiomatic music: Parts or pieces which are written both within the natural physical limitations of the instrument and human body and, less so or less often, the styles of playing used on specific instruments. Idiomatic music bears characteristics that are associated with the specific strengths or weaknesses of a particular instrument. For example, in the Baroque era composers begin to write idiomatic music for instruments; trumpet or string parts were no longer interchangeable with vocal parts. Here is a long technical paper presenting a 'theory of idiomaticism'
In the liner notes for the Harnoncourt edition, Nele Anders points out Bach varied the instrumental accompaniment to the vocal part in each movement in order to avoid the monotony that could result from a solo voice throughout. He also describes the Baroque text of the recitatives as extravagant.
Nicholas Anderson, p 291 Oxford Composer Companion: J.S. Bach, describes the sixth part, a chorale setting of consummate beauty. The voice is accompanied by an obbligato viola, one of only two instances where the viola is employed in this capacity. An indication of how often Bach performed the work, however, is given by the variety of different instruments he called upon at one time or another to accompany the voice in this chorale. A cello seems to have been used on at least one occasion at Weimar, while a viola da gamba took the part at Cöthen, perhaps reflecting the favoured status enjoyed by an instrument cultivated and played both by Prince Leopold himself and by Christian Ferdinand Abel.
BWV 199.6 'Ich, Dein Betruebtes Kind': viola Alice Harnoncourt, soprano Barbara Bonney, 1989
C.S. Terry discusses the chorale in a PDF excerpt from Cantata 199 and 163
Chorale melody on Bach-Cantatas.com
Whittaker (vol 1 p 74) quotes an article by Dr. F. Noack who asserts that Bach's music bears certain resemblances to a previous setting by Christopher Graupner, a prolific composer who was one of the three men proposed for the cantorship of St. Thomas's, the other two being Telemann and Bach. It is evidently, then, one of the numerous instances where Bach worked over the compositions of other people, not disdaining to take what good he might find in them and reshaping in his own way, a practice which seems reprehensible in these days of strict copyright laws, but which was accepted as quite permissible and honest at that time. It is this which makes Bach the most comprehensive composer of his or any other age; all streams flow into the great river which is sufficiently vast and powerful to absorb them all and yet retain its own unpolluted individuality. Which paragraph goes to show that flowery language is not confined to the Baroque. This reminds me of the legend that Beethoven once said "Bach sollte nicht Bach, sondern Meer heissen" (Bach should not be called Bach (brook) but Meer (sea).
Dürr (p 490) mentions that Graupner had previously set the same text, but does not draw any parallells with the music. He then goes on to describe each movement and closes with the comment: After 1714 Bach revived the work on several occasions—notably during the Cöthen period, 1717-23, and in Leipzig on 8 August 1723—at times in reduced circumstances and with the viola of the chorale arrangement (no. 6) replaced by viola da gamba, cello or violoncello piccolo; and this may be taken as an indication of the esteem in which the work was held by its composer.
The music
BWV 199, 82
Conductor: Craig Smith
Ensemble: Emmanuel Music
Recording Date: 2002
Nonesuch 79692-2
On YouTube BWV 199.2 Soprano aria: Stumme Seufzer, unknown singer
On YouTube BWV 199.5, 6, 7, 8 (6 on cello rather than viola, unknown group)
Instruments and voices for each part
| Section | Text | Instruments, voices |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soprano recitativ, violin I,II, viola, and continuo (NBA: bassoon, violone or violoncello and organ) | |
| 2 | Soprano aria, oboe, and continuo (NBA: violone or violoncello and organ) | |
| 3 | Luke 18:13 | Soprano recitativ, violin I,II, viola and continuo (NBA: bassoon, violone or violoncello and organ) |
| 4 | Soprano aria, violin I,II, viola and continuo (NBA: bassoon, violone or violoncello and organ) | |
| 5 | Soprano recitativ and continuo (NBA: violone or violoncello and organ) | |
| 6 | Chorale | Soprano chorale, viola obbligato and continuo (NBA: violone or violoncello and organ) |
| 7 | Soprano recitativ, violin I,II, viola and continuo (NBA: bassoon, violone or violoncello and organ) | |
| 8 | Soprano aria, violin I,II, viola and continuo (NBA: bassoon, violone or violoncello and organ) |
Biblical references for each part
References for the text: King James Bible and Luther's German Bible
| Part | Scripture | Text |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Luke 18:13 | And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. |
| 3 | Luke 18:13 | Und der Zöllner stund von ferne, wollte auch seine Augen nicht aufheben gen Himmel sondern schlug an seine Brust und sprach: Gott, sei mir Sünder gnädig |
References
Emmanuel Translation BWV 199
London Bach Society Database entry BWV 199
Simon Crouch BWV 199
PDF score: Vocal parts with piano accompaniment
Wikipedia article BWV 199
Discussion from Bach Cantatas Website.
Recordingsfrom Bach Cantatas Website.
2010, May 02
Cantata BWV 172
JS Bach Cantata BWV 172: Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten!
(Ring out, you songs, resound, you strings!)
Whit Sunday May 20, 1714
Weimar Cantatas
Scoring: Trumpets I,II,III, Timpani, Oboe, Violins I,II, Violas I,II, Bassoon
Violincello, Organ obbligato
Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass
Key: C Major
Bärenreiter vol 5; p 273
Reading: Epistle Romans 8:14-17
Reading: Gospel John 14:8-17
Words: probably Salomo Frank
Bach Bibliography
This cantata is a favorite of mine, especially the opening chorus and the closing chorale. Dürr (p 346) remarks that the opening chorus is so celebratory, it might have been used in a lost secular cantata; indeed, I think it is in the same class with the opening of the Christmas Oratorio. Green (p 366) says the trumpet parts in the first part of the opening chorus are high and difficult, and he says the first trumpet part in the third section, the bass aria, is fiendishly difficult with very rapid passagework. I agree, there are thirty-second notes in very long stretches.
Green also describes the cello part in the fifth section as most demanding. He also points out that there are two viola parts in the first and last section. In the final chorale, the first violin, which usually doubles the soprano line, takes the descant. The second violin takes the chorale with the soprano and violas play with the alto and tenor.
Whittaker (v1 p 586) points out that the low C below the bass staff for the singer in the bass recitativ is the lowest sung note in all the cantatas.
Going back to the fifth part, Whittaker spends a very long time. The alto-soprano duet, a dialogue between the soul and the Holy Spirit, is sung in counterpoint with an abbreviated and decorated version of the chorale 'Komm Heiliger Geist Herre Gott'. It is heard in a most ornate form, decorated by the loveliest fioriture twining in and out of the voices like the tendrils of a delicate and luxuriant plant, penetrating, as it were, the innermost corners of the heart offered to the Spirit.
There is not agreement about what instrument takes this part; Schweitzer favored the oboe. Apparently one of the versions used a violin. The latest version transferred the part to the organ, which Whittaker deplores: the unemotional tone and inablility to shade with infinite subtleties cannot adequately replace violin or oboe and cello.
Whittaker ends with the remark that The duet is one of the most elaborate numbers in all the church works, the endless convolutions of the three upper lines, the numerous appogiature, producing a marvelous texture and an ecstatic feeling of bliss which no other composer has ever expressed.
Duet (first 2 minutes): Leusink with organ only. Favorite vocals. 4:33
Duet (first 2 minutes): Rifkin oboe, cello. 4:12
Duet (first 2 minutes): Gardiner's second recording: oboe, cello. Favorite instruments. 4:42
Duet (first 2 minutes): Gardiner's first recording: oboe, cello. 4:20
Duet (first 2 minutes): Suzuki oboe, cello. 4:12
Duet (first 2 minutes): Leonhardt oboe, cello. 3:48
All the sopranos seem a little overwhelming except Ruth Holton in the Leusink recording. Her restraint allows the music to stand on its own. The instruments are best brought out by Gardiner in his new recording, both in the duet and in the chorale 172.6 with the violin obbligato. However I do not like Gardiner's repetition of the initial chorus for the ending, though sources say Bach sometimes used it this way.
Chorale 1
C.S. Terry vol 2, p 250 discusses the chorale 'Komm Heiliger Geist Herre Gott' in the fifth part. The melody is played in an obbligato part by the organ, an oboe or a violin, depending on the version of the cantata. Terry states that this is a very free treatment in an abridged form.
This chorale melody is also treated at length on Cantatas.com.
Chorale 2
C.S. Terry vol 2, p 129 discusses the final chorale 'Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern'. This is one of my favorite chorales of the nearly 500 Bach harmonized. The obbligato violin part is truly wonderful.
The music
Suzuki at Presto Cello and organ in duet, but excellent violin obbligato in final chorale.
Gustav Leonhardt, Chorus on YouTube
The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir at Presto
Barbara Schlick (Soprano)
Kai Wessel (Alto)
Cristoph Prégardien (Tenor)
Klaus Mertens (Bass)
Dir. Ton Koopman
Koopman 1 Chorus on YouTube
Koopman 2 recitativ bass 3 aria bass on YouTube
Koopman 4 tenor aria on YouTube
Koopman 5 soprano alto aria 6 chorale on YouTube
Instruments and voices for each part
| Section | Text | Instruments, voices |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Chorus | SATB, trumpet I,II,III, timpani, violin I,II, viola I,II, bassoon, continuo (NBA: violoncello and organ) | |
| 2 Recitativ bass | John 14:23 | Bass, continuo (NBA: violoncello and organ) |
| 3 Aria bass | Bass, trumpets I,II,III, timpani, continuo (NBA: violoncello, bassoon and organ) | |
| 4 Aria tenor | Tenor, violin I,II, viola I,II, continuo (NBA: violoncello and organ) | |
| 5 Aria duet alto soprano | Alto, soprano, organ obbligato or Alto, soprano, oboe or violin and violincello obbligato |
|
| 6 Chorale | SATB, strings, continuo (NBA: bassoon, violoncello and organ) | |
| 7 Chorus | Some recordings repeat the first movement here |
Biblical references for each part
References for the text: Luther's German Bible and King James Bible
| Scripture | Text | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | John 14:23 | Jesus antwortete und sprach zu ihm: Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten; und mein Vater wird ihn lieben, und wir werden zu ihm kommen und Wohnung bei ihm machen. |
| 2 | John 14:23 | Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. |
References
BWV 172 recorded at
Holy Trinity, Long Melford
Gardiner's notes on BWV 172 PDF
John Eliot Gardiner Cantatas PDF
John Eliot Gardiner recording
Emmanuel Notes BWV 172
Emmanuel Translation BWV 172
Discussion from Bach Cantatas Website
Recordingsfrom Bach Cantatas Website
Classical.net discussion, Simon Crouch.
London Bach Society Database entry BWV 172
Answers.com BWV 172
