rssI think somehow we learn who we really are and then live with that decision. - Eleanor Roosevelt
2010, July 02
Sigiswald Kuijken and his shoulder cello
Two CDs from Sigiswald Kuijken, the cello suites and the violin sonatas and partitas.
Cello suites on 'shoulder cello'
Performer: Sigiswald Kuijken
Label: Accent 24196
Recorded: 12/4-7/2006 and 12/26-30/2007
Release Date: 2/24/2009
YouTube video: BWV 1007.1 Prelude
YouTube video: BWV 1007.3 Courante
Violin Sonatas and Partitas
Performer: Sigiswald Kuijken
Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 277527
Date: 05/16/2001
YouTube music: BWV 1006.1,2,3
YouTube music: BWV 1006.4,5,6
I spent hours and hours practicing in front of the mirror, which was my best teacher, better than any recording you make of yourself playing, because the sound is depressing. It’s better to open your ears, look in the mirror and see the position of your hand. Even today I tell students not to come to me but just go home and practice in front of the mirror. It’s the best teacher: it doesn’t shout at you, it’s always there, is not expensive, and is friendly and reliable. - Sigiswald Kuijken, on learning to play the violin
Here are recordings that will bring many hours of happiness. I put the music on my iPod and listen while I take my morning and evening constitutional, turning a rather boring walk into something to look forward to. The sound of the shoulder cello is very different from the standard cello; the sound decays faster so that there is not the sense of the notes overlapping, giving the pieces a lighter presence. This recording won't replace my Cello Suites by Yo-Yo Ma, but it does now stand side by side.
Kuijken had the instrument made as a 60th birthday present for himself; he then proceeded to learn the cello suites and prepare for this recording. It is so inspiring that he is seeking new challenges and adding constantly to his repertoire.
- NewOlde Kuijken Bach project
- Kuijken Bach Cantatas at Presto
- Sigiswald Kuijken discusses his Violoncello da Spalla (Dutch)
- Early Music World: An Interview with Sigiswald Kuijken
- La Petite Bande
- Review by Jens F. Laurson for WETA Washington DC public radio
- Dmitry Badiarov, luthier
- Dmitry Badiarov, playing his Violoncello da Spalla
- Dmitry Badiarov, talking about his Violoncello da Spalla
- Badiarov, click on Sounds on left column
2010, June 18
German Cantatas
North German cantatas before Bach
Composer: Matthias Weckmann
Conductor: Konrad Junghänel
Ensemble: Concerto Palatino, Cantus Cölln
Harmonia Mundi HMC 902034
Released: 3/9/2010
A wonderful recording, highly recommended
New Yorker review with sound sample
Mandelsloh, St. Osdag
De Profundis Clamivi
Conductor: Mieneke Van der Velden
Bass: Peter Kooij
Ensemble: L'Armonia Sonora
Released: 9/1/2009
Ramee 604
Recording Details
Review by Mark Sealy
Harmonia Sacrae
Composers: Tunder, Meder, Weckmann and Biber
Conductor: Mieneke Van der Velden
Bass: Peter Kooij
Ensemble: L'Armonia Sonora
Released: 9/1/2009
Ramee 905
Recording Details
Samuel Scheidt: Organ Works from Tabulatura Nova
Composer: Samuel Scheidt
Organist: Wolfgang Stockmeier
Organ: Marcussen Orgel für St. Johann-Baptist, Köln-Thenhoven
Label: CPO 999 105-2
July 1991
St. Johann-Baptist Church, Köln-Thenhoven
Looking forward to Cantata BWV 21, Ich hatte viel Bekümmerniss, I have found it enlightening to listen to some cantatas written in Germany during the Thirty Years War, 1618-1648, by such composers as Matthias Weckmann, Heinrich Schütz and Franz Tunder. The effects of famine, disease and activities of mercenary armies helps me to understand the sadness, dreariness and gravity of much of the Northern German church music of the time. Bach was born 37 years after the 'Peace of Exhaustion'; this would have been during the period of recovery from the war. Although Bach lived and worked in an area not as directly affected by the war as some other areas, he would certainly have been influenced by the musical traditions.
References
Thirty Years War, 1618-1648A political picture of the war, with a great interactive map
Matthias Weckmann biography at WikiPedia
Weckmann bio and organ CDs at Naxos
Weckmann CDs at CD Universe
Weckmann CDs at Presto
Weckmann CDs at Archiv
Complete Organ Works of Matthias Weckmann played by Hans Davidsson
Weckmann's Fugue in d minor, played by James Pressler
A review of Hans Davidsson's dissertation: Matthias Weckmann: The Interpretation of his Organ Music, by Keith Elcombe, Music and Letters 1996
Heinrich Schütz
Heinrich Schütz at Presto
Heinrich Schütz at Archiv
Franz Tunder
Franz Tunder at Presto
Franz Tunder at Archiv
Samuel Scheidt
Samuel Scheidt at Presto
Samuel Scheidt at Archiv
Samuel Scheidt discography
A few Scheidt organ pieces, scroll down
2010, June 14
Motet BWV 159a
JS Bach Motet BWV 159a: Ich lasse dich nicht
(I will not let thee go except thou bless me)
Weimar Cantatas
Key: f minor
Scoring: Double choir
Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass
Words: Genesis 32:26
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
The music
| BWV 159a Rilling | BWV 159a Hilliard Ensemble | BWV 159a Jörg Straube (concludes with four-part chorale) |
Discussion
This short piece, originally ascribed to Johann Sebastian, then to his brother Johann Christoph, and now generally agreed again to be by Johann Sebastian, is composed in one part with two sections, the first using a biblical quote, and the second a chorale. Carol Traupman-Carr gives an excellent description of the form of the music, measure by measure. The ear is easily able to distinguish the two sections. At measure 56 the choirs begin overlapping; at measure 86 the sopranos begin singing the chorale and the choirs come together to sing as one choir in counterpoint to the chorale.
This link gets you to a page where you can download the score of the motet, with old clefs, soprano, alto, tenor, bass.
This page discussing the chorale doesn't mention its appearance in BWV 159a, though BWV 159a is listed as a motet in the list of available recordings.
Melamed discusses aspects of this motet throughout his book. He is primarily concerned with establishing the date of the original performance; custom had dictated that all the motets were written in Leipzig. Melamed is convinced that this motet was written earlier, probably in 1712-13. He offers evidence of the similarity of the style and the substance of the work to other works dated at that time, e.g. BWV 541 and BWV 21.9. He also dates BWV 228 from the same period on the basis of style.
Here is the list of recordings from the Bach Cantatas website.
Text references
King James Bible and Luther's German Bible
| Scripture | Text | |
|---|---|---|
| Genesis 32:26 | And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. | |
| Genesis 32:26 | Und er sprach: Laß mich gehen, denn die Morgenröte bricht an. Aber er antwortete: Ich lasse dich nicht, du segnest mich denn. |
The third verse of the chorale, text and translation:
Weil du mein Gott und Vater bist,
Dein Kind wirst du verlassen nicht,
Du väterliches Herz!
Ich bin ein armer Erdenkloß,
Auf Erden weiß ich keinen Trost
Since you are my God and father
you will not abandon your child,
you fatherly heart!
I am a wretched clod of earth,
on earth I know no consolation.
Charles Sanford Terry's translation:
Lord, thou my God and Father art!
I know thou've given to me thy heart
Nor wilt forget thy child
I am but dust, a thing of clay,
Yet have I thee my course to lay.
The text and translation from Z. Philip Ambrose, removed from its frame.
Here is his home page.
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
