Discussions in the Week of June 1, 2003

Aryeh Oron wrote (June 3, 2003):
BWV 133 - Introduction

The chosen work for this week (June 1, 2003) is the Chorale Cantata BWV 133 ‘Ich freue mich in dir’ (I rejoice in you) the 3^rd Day of Christmas [Christmas Tuesday, St John's Day].

Background
The extensive commentary below is quoted from the liner notes to Emmanuel Music’s recording of this cantata on Koch International. It was written by Craig Smith, musical director of Emmanuel Music (1999) [5]:

See: Cantata BWV 133 - Commentary

Recordings
The details of the recordings of this cantata can be found at the following page of the Bach Cantatas Website: Cantata BWV 133 - Recordings

This cantata has 7 complete recordings: Michael Gielen (1952, has never been issued in CD form), Helmuth Rilling (1980) [2], Gustav Leonhardt (1983) [3], John Eliot Gardiner (1988) [4], Craig Smith & Emmanuel Music (1999) [5], Pieter Jan Leusink (1999) [6], and Ton Koopman (2000, included in his newly released ‘Complete Cantatas – Vol. 13’ [7]). All last 5 are HIP. Through the page of the Music Examples from this cantata:
Cantata BWV 133 – Music Examples
you can listen to two complete recording: Leonhardt [3] (at David Zale Website) and Leusink [6] (contributed by Leo Ditvoorst, and temporarily located at the BCW):

Additional Information
In the page of recordings mentioned above you can also find links to the original German text and various translations, four of which were contributed by members of the BCML: English (Francis Browne), French (Jean-Pierre Grivois), and Hebrew (Aryeh Oron), and Spanish (Francisco López Hernández). Francis Browne also contributed the Text & English translation of the chorale by Kaspar Ziegler, upon which the cantata is based. There are also links to the Score (Vocal & Piano version) and to commentaries: in English by Simon Crouch, and in Spanish by Julio Sánchez Reyes (CantatasDeBach).

I hope to see many of you participating in the discussion.

Thomas Braatz wrote (June 4, 2003):
BWV 133 - Provenance:

See: Cantata BWV 133 - Provenance

Dürr’s Commentary:

See: Cantata BWV 133 - Commentary

Thomas Braatz wrote (June 5, 2003):
BWV 133 - Commentaries:

See: Cantata BWV 133 - Commentary

Neil Halliday wrote (June 6, 2003):
BWV 43 - A "Modern" view? (+133)

[snip] See: Cantata BWV 43 - Discussions

A quick view of BWV 133: I found Harnoncourt's scratchy strings and endless staccato unlistenable: Leusink [6] was an improvement in the first movement, where his light approach to this non-serious, happy music works well, with the 'chirpy' oboes sounding quite charming behind the relatively sweet sounding upper strings. But the
light, 'brittle' sound of the violins in the 4^th movement (soprano aria), had me longing for a rich 'cantabile' of a kind available only on modern strings, the better to express what Robertson described as "... one of the finest pieces of sustained and exquisite lyrical writing in the whole range of the cantatas."

Thomas Braatz wrote (June 9, 2003):
BWV 133 - The Recordings:

This week I listened to the following recordings:

Rilling (1980) [2]; Leonhardt (1983) [3]; Gardiner (1998) [4]; Leusink (1999) [6]

Timings:

TT (from slowest to fastest):

Leonhardt (20:47); Rilling (20:25); Leusink (19:30); Gardiner (18:45)
Mvt. 1: Rilling (4:37); Leusink (4:29); Leonhardt (4:16); Gardiner (4:11)
Mvt. 2: Leonhardt (5:28); Rilling (5:12); Leusink (4:16); Gardiner (4:07)
Mvt. 3: Rilling (1:01); Gardiner (0:59); Leonhardt (0:56); Leusink (0:56)
Mvt. 4: Leonhardt (8:15); Leusink (7:42); Gardiner (7:25); Rilling (7:15)
Mvt. 5: Rilling (1:08); Leusink (1:00); Gardiner (0:58); Leonhardt (0:56)
Mvt. 6: Rilling (1:12); Leusink (1:07); Gardiner (1:05); Leonhardt (0:56)

[2] Rilling:
The outer mvts. are performed with a substantial feeling of joy that is perceptible in both the playing of the instruments and the singing of the choir. The playful figures in the violins are played vivaciously, but with a solid, non-staccato, non-scratchy sound from which a feeling of strong faith and feeling emanates. There are interesting variations in dynamics throughout, but, if there is one flaw to call attention to, it is the lack of a solid choral sound in the chordal sections where the vibratos of these trained choir members tend to undermine the strong affirmation of faith that is expressed in the words of the chorale text. Nevertheless both 1st and last mvts. are portrayed more convincingly than in most of the other recordings.

Huttenlocher’s overdone attempt at expressiveness in his bass recitative lacks any sense of true sincerity. Hardin has some interesting expressive moments in his recitatives, but tends to overdo just a bit his interpretation of Adam facing God in the Garden of Paradise. His voice need not become ugly in order to convey this idea.

Soffel’s rendition of the alto aria is excellent with wonderfully flowing coloraturas on ‘getrost’ and ‘unbegreiflichs.’ At times, she has a slight, fast tremble in her voice when she tries push her voice to the limit, but other softer moments are very moving indeed. Augér’s soprano aria begins with such vocal perfection with a very sensitive accompaniment by Rilling, that it is hard to believe the stark contrast of the middle, ‘Largo’ section which Rilling takes much too fast and Augér sings with an angry voice about those ‘who have hearts as hard as a rock.’ This is, on the one hand very surprising because some commentators suggested that this should be treated very tenderly (the Bassettchen is involved here), but on the other hand, this would seem to be a very viable interpretation of the text that is being sung. I am still rather puzzled by Bach’s setting of this text and his use of “Bassetchen” here.

[3] Leonhardt:
There is a night-and-day contrast between the Rilling and the Leonhardt recordings. On the positive side, the listener will be able to hear a difference in the quality of voices with the Hannover Boys’ Choir taking the top 2 parts and Herreweghe’s Collegium Vocale Gent supplying the lower parts. In this Leonhardt recording the balance between both groups is very good (which is not often the case – usually the lower parts are too weak.) In any case, the overall vocal sound produced is closer to what Bach may have heard when he performed this cantatas. Here, however, the similarities cease, because Leonhardt’s performance practices involve accenting and separating notes even when this is not called for in the score (it is one thing to separate subsequent notes when punctuation marks occur in the text, but to insist on doing this elsewhere creates a non-legato, non-cantabile effect which is contrary to singing generally and is not documented in either Mattheson’s or Agricola’s books which inform us about performance practices during Bach’s lifetime.) Leonhardt uses excessive staccato which causes the light, scratchy sound of the strings. He ‘pokes’ at the 3-note (quarter notes) motif with extreme staccato which then, in turn, is picked up the choir which al‘pokes’ at its successive quarter notes. Another problem Leonhardt creates with his performance practice is that the beautiful ‘passing’ notes (these are the moving 8th-notes in contrast to the mainly steady stream of quarter notes in the c.f.) are lost to the listener. Because the 1st of each pair of 8th notes receives a heavy accent, the second becomes unaccented to such an extreme degree that it is no longer audible. This is doing a great disservice to Bach’s music because the listener only gets to hear half of the notes that Bach wrote into the score. In such an instance, a theory about performance practice has led to outright distortion and modification of Bach’s music. For this reason, a performance such as this should be noted as Bach-Leonhardt since it has deviated considerably from the original score.

Both the tenor and bass recitatives suffer from the usual distortion of shortened accompaniment of the secco portions of these recitatives. This practice, based upon a supposed unwritten tradition that some claim to have existed, claims that Bach wrote into his scores long note values which he really meant to have performed with very short ones. This is very much contrary to almost anything else that Bach ever notated as a composer as he was quite meticulous, much more meticulous than other contemporary composers in putting down on paper precisely what he wanted to hear.

Jacobs’ alto aria is executed extremely well. There is a wonderful blend between the oboi d’amore and Jacobs’ special voice quality which is quite clear and very listenable. Leonhardt takes great care to observe Bach’s dynamic markings carefully with many echo-like passages and to provide an appropriately delicate bc accompaniment. The boy soprano, Hennig, although he does not have the expressive range of a very good soprano such as Augér, nevertheless delivers the German text so that it is understandable to the listener. There is hardly any contrast between the two sections that make up this mvt., but somehow, this does not seem to affect the believability of this rendition very much. This is a truly remarkable performance (Holton’s and Fuge’s imitation of this pale considerably in comparison for reasons given below.)

[4] Gardiner:
Although not much faster than Leonhardt’s rendition, Gardiner’s treatment lacks the substance of Leonhardt’s because he (Gardiner) insists upon taking the orchestral accompaniment very lightly. The members of his choir sing with a bit more conviction than Leonhardt and certainly much more than Leusink, and, although Gardiner ‘puts them through their paces’ by pushing them almost to the extreme when they have to maneuver their way through the florid 16th-note passage (ms. 93-96 of Mvt. 1), they maintain a balanced, sustained, non-wavering sound that surpasses Rilling’s choir sound [2]. There are reasonable attempts at expressive interpretation whereby Gardiner never forgets the important cantabile, legato singing that expresses strong faith.

Ragin is quite difficult to listen to in the alto aria. This vocalist should not sing Bach arias. Gardiner’s extremely fast tempo and light accompaniment are probably a deliberate attempt to get through this mvt. as quickly as possible. (Why prolong the misery, if you don’t have to?) Both Podger’s tenor recitative and Schwarz’ bass recitative are quite acceptable although suffer slightly from some of the weaknesses of demi voix. The soprano aria sung by Fuge, another demi voix slightly more penetrating than Holton’s voice, is another example where Gardiner hurries the tempo in order to distract the listener from the obvious deficiencies of this voice. The expressive qualities of this voice are practically nil.

[6] Leusink:
In both the outer mvts. for choir and full instrumental ensemble, Leusink fails to deliver a convincing performance. The attitude of the choir toward the music is much too relaxed in order to be convincing. The singing would be best characterized as being insipid. This may be partly due to the fact that the enunciation of the words tends to be quite indistinct. This in itself conveys the attitude of not caring or taking the text seriously. We are simply given an acceptable sight-reading of the music without very much effort being applied to other important aspects of the music.

Buwalda’s singing is out of character with the meaning of the text in his aria. The characteristic mannerisms of his voice are generally not conducive toward creating a believable rendition of the text. Ramselaar’s recitative suffers from his usual affectations that undermine any sense of sincerity which he attempts to convey by exaggerating his feelings so much that they become unreal. Schoch’s rendition of his recitative suffers from too much sameness of expression. Holton even more so seems not to understand the words she is singing nor is there much of an attempt to pronounce the words understandably. Her naïve, child-like simplicity soon becomes boring since her voice lacks much in the way of any kind of variation of expressiveness. Holton is a prime example of a demi voix with all the deficiencies that characterize such a voice. She can ‘hit’ all the notes with a trembling voice and maneuver her way through some difficulties just because most of her vocal production is sotto voce throughout.

Personal Preferences:

The choral sections: Rilling [2] and Gardiner [4] (but not Gardiner’s orchestral accompaniment which is too light.)

The alto aria: Soffel (Rilling [2]) and Jacobs (Leonhardt [3]) equally excellent renditions in both the non-HIP and HIP styles

The soprano aria: Augér (Rilling [2]) and Hennig (Leonhardt [3]) equally excellent renditions in both non-HIP and HIP styles.

Bradley Lehman wrote (June 9, 2003):
vii o7...

< Thomas Braatz wrote: This is doing a great disservice to Bach’s music because the listener only gets to hear half of the notes that Bach wrote into the score. >
...iii - vi. ii o7...

< In such an instance, a theory about performance practice has led to outright distortion and modification of Bach’s music. >
...V - iii6 - vii o6 - VI - ii - V...

< For this reason, a performance such as this should be noted as Bach-Leonhardt since it has deviated considerably from the original score. >
... V7 - i.

< (Why prolong the misery, if you don’t have to?) >
III+ ...

Lalis Ivan wrote (June 9, 2003):
This is my first try to evaluate cantata recordings, so please, don't laugh. I have Leonhardt recording [3] and I downloaded Leusink [6], using the link on Bach Cantatas website.

I did not find any faults with Leonhardt [3]. I think I would need an example of what Tom calls a scratchy sound of violins which evokes something unpleasant and which I fail to find in this recording. Choirs convey very well atmosphere of joy and happiness that Jesus was born. Both arias are sung exquisitely, especially the alto one.

The Leusink recording [6] well may have a subtitle - "Yeah, great" as it fails to convey any joy whatsoever. It's well sung, no doubt, but it is emotion-less, IMO. The problem with soprano is not that she chose to sing with white voice to avoid difficulties, but that she sang with white voice to sound like boy soprano. She does this pretty well, actually and does not sound that strained as many other sopranos do, but the result is what I call a sweet & dull style. Here I agree with Tom that it gets boring after a while and that from an adult person one expects more than being able to sound like a child.

Aryeh Oron wrote (June 9, 2003):
BWV 133 - Recordings

Last week I have been listening to 6 complete recordings of Cantata BWV 133:

[2] Helmuth Rilling ()
[3] Gustav Leonhardt (1983)
[4] John Eliot Gardiner (1998)
[5] Craig Smith & Emmanuel Music (1999)
[6] Pieter Jan Leusink (1999)
[7] Ton Koopman (2000)

The Opening Chorus & the two Arias – Background and personal preferences

Bach derived from the poetic libretto six splendid movements, most of them are really memorable. Due to limitations of time, I chose to concentrate in my short review on only three, but my unhesitant recommendation is listening to this cantata in its entirety. As in last week review, the short background preceding the list of my personal preferences for the recordings of these three movements, is quoted from Alec Robertson’s book ‘The Church Cantatas of J.S. Bach’ (1972).

Mvt. 1 Chorus
The melody of the chorale, in the top part, is simply harmonised up to the sixth of the eight lines, ‘Ach, wie ein süsser Ton’ (Ah, how sweet a sound), when the sopranos sustain ‘Ton’ for three and a half bars, while the other voices move independently below. The attraction of the movement is provided by the orchestral part in which the chief motif characterises the ‘sweet sound’. Each line of the chorale is followed by a ritornello and indeed, the orchestral part could stand, without the chorale, as a Sinfonia. It is most exhilarating, a dance of joy.

Preferences: Smith/Emmanuel [5], Rilling [2], Gardiner [4], Leonhardt [3], Koopman [7], Leusink [6]

The big surprise here is the spirited singing of Emmanuel Music. Smith’s tempi [5] along the whole cantata are usually somewhat slower than the other modern recordings of this cantata, and as a result his rendition gains in depth and inner conviction. Rilling [2] is not far behind, but sounds a little bit heavy for the demands of chorus. Koopman [7] changed recording label, but has not got rid of his bad habit of performing the choruses far too fast. The singing of the choir and the playing of the orchestra are first rate, but who can follow the details and be convinced by the message when it is performed in such velocity?.

Mvt. 2 Aria for Alto
These words refer to the Gospel, St. John 1: 1-14, ‘The word became flesh’.

Preferences:
Contraltos/Mezzo-sopranos: Soffel/Rilling [2], [gap] Gottwald/Koopman [7], Westbrook-Geha/Smith [5]
Counter-tenors: Jacobs/Leonhardt [3], Ragin/Gardiner [4], [gap] Buwalda/Leusink [6]

Doris Soffel was a capable oratorio singer before she started her successful operatic career. Her rendition of the aria for alto gives the outmost satisfaction and her identification with the message she has to convey is very convincing.

Mvt. 4 Aria for Soprano
The ‘sweet sound’ of the first verse of the chorale is now discovered to be ‘My Jesus is born’, to which Bach gives a phrase that might well have come from the chorale. The soprano has her own melody and it takes 24 bars for her to reveal what is ‘Sweetly ringing in her ear’! The ringing of bells is realistically depicted by alternate open and stopped strings without continuo but with repeated notes on the viola, possibly to suggest a larger bell. The time changes from 4/4 to 12/8 in the middle section of the aria. ‘Who does not understand Jesus’ name and in whom it does not penetrate the heart, must have a heart rock.’ This very ordinary sentence drawn from Bach one of the finest pieces of sustained and exquisite lyrical writing in the whole range of the cantatas.

Preferences: Hennig/Leonhardt [3], Augér/Rilling [2], [gap], Holton/Leusink [6], York/Koopman [7], Fuge/Gardiner [4], Colton/Smith [5]

Last week I sang the praises of Peter Jelosits, the excellent boy who sings the aria for soprano from Cantata BWV 43 in Harnoncourt’s rendition, and here we have another fine boy, although somewhat different. His voice is appealing and his attacks are precise, but he seems to have short breath. Nevertheless, his singing is delightful, much better both vocally and expressively than most female sopranos in this aria. The exception is, of course, Arleen Augér with rich expression, which gives individual meaning to every word. Individuality would not be the right word to describe the singing of the other four sopranos. None of them is bad, but there is not much to choose between them, as they sound very similar to each other.

Conclusion

Movements to take away: the opening chorus with Smith/Emmanuel Music [5], the aria for Alto with Soffel/Riling and the aria for Soprano with Hennig/Leonhardt [3].

Neil Halliday wrote (June 11, 2003):
Ivan Lalis wrote:
"I think I would need an example of what Tom calls a scratchy sound of violins which evokes something unpleasant and which I fail to find in this (Leonhardt's) recording [3]."
You can go to dovesong.com, and listen to the 1st movement of BWV 56 (Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen) performed by Richter, and contrast this with the Leonhardt version [3] at the David Zale site; you will notice the striking difference in the timbres of the upper strings. Without discussing the relative superiority of one over the other, I note that more than one commentator has had problems with period string sound - I can recall Itzhac Perlman stating in an article, a number of years go, that he turned off period violin performances when they appeared on the radio. From my perspective, the "scratchy" sound ( I do not say this is a feature of all period string recordings) has a similar effect to the breaking of chalk on a blackboard...

In a later post (#5352), Johan van Veen wrote:
"You are absolutely right. Playing music of the late 19^th century on 18^th century instruments is just as ridiculous as playing music of the 18th century on late 19th century instruments. What puzzles me is why almost everyone agrees with the first statement and many people disagree with the second."
The answer to that puzzle lies in matters of practicality and experience.

During the revival of interest in the baroque, from Mendelsohhn on, people were not concerned about identifying the exact sound of the original instruments, so it made sense to perform these works with the contemporary instruments that were available, ie, the same instruments that you would use, closer to our own time, to perform a Sibelius symphony, for example. The results were often very pleasing, as evidenced by the fame that performers such as Karl Richter and Glenn Gould were able to create for themselves.

One point to consider about the human voice as an instrument, is that its structure has not changed over the last 200 (or 20,000?) years, so that a performance of a Monteverdi madrigal, for example, can also be very effective with modern instruments. Listen to Raymond Leppard and the Glyndebourne chorus on dovesong.com (baroque section).

As far as lovers of Bach are concerned, I find it surprising that they should not also love the symphonies of Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, and Ralph V. Williams, as well as a host of glorious later 20th century music, including good examples in other genres (jazz, pop, etc).

Roland Wörner wrote (J11, 2003):
Neil Halliday wrote:
< One point to consider about the human voice as an instrument, is that its structure has not changed over the last 200 (or 20,000?) years, ... >
The boy sopranos / altos of the 20^th / 21^st century are not equal to those Bach had. Harnoncourt (analogous) in an interview on SFB broadcast, 1985: boys in our time mutate 5 years earlier than in the 18th / 19th century. Bach's sopranos and altos were 18 or 19 years old. Even Haydn and Schubert were singing as boy sopranos in the age of 18. So a boy soprano / alto at Bach's time actually was a young man who had a full developed thorax and lung, also a five years longer full trained voice (and also mind). They must have been totally different from that what we know as a boy soprano / alto in our time.

Peter Bloemendaal wrote (June 11, 2003):
Bach composed the cantata for the 3rd day of Christmas 1724. Just like the preceding one for the 2nd day of Christmas, BWV 121 - "Christum wir sollen loben schon", which we discussed recently, this chorale cantata is based on a hymn in four stanzas. In fact it is a combination of a Christmas carol and a theological interpretation of the birth of Jesus. The first stanza is a pure carol, written in the first person singular, very intimately expressing the joy over the birth of Jesus, my little brother. Also the last stanza shows this very personal character, but here it is a declaration of eternal devotion to Jesus. This effusion of love is the result of the preceding stanzas. Both in the original hymn and the cantata, the intimate reflections and moments of adoration alternate with more theological ideas meant to build up the listeners' faith.

We know this inclusion of theological principles from most of Bach's church cantatas. However, it was a relatively new phenomenon at the time. In "Bach, The Learned Musician", Christoph Wolff explains that before 1700, the Gospel motet was the principle musical piece in the liturgy of the mass. It generally highlighted one or more central Biblical verses from the Gospel reading for the day. "In the later seventeenth century, the Gospel motet was replaced by a concertato motet with aria and chorale supplements and after 1700 by the cantata, at which time the multisectional cantata poetry moved from merely highlighting a passage from the biblical lesson to interpreting as well. The theologian-poet Erdmann Neumeister initiated the development that resulted in the cantata's function as a musical sermon. Therefore, all of Bach's Leipzig cantata texts follow a standard pattern firmly grounded in the bifocal homiletic structure of a Lutheran sermon: explicatio and applicatio, biblical exegesis and theological indtruction succeeded by practical and moral advice."

It is a miracle that Bach not only succeeded in producing so many cantatas in such a short period of time [see my review on BWV 121], but what's more . they are all so wonderful. Dürr mentions that at the bottom of the first page of the score for the "Sanctus" - BWV 232 (also for that same Christmas), Bach had scribbled the words and the melody of the song "Ich freue mich in dir", then unknown in Leipzig. While working on the Sanctus, the song crossed his mind and Bach jotted it down for his cantata for the 2^nd day of Christmas. After all, he knew there was a lot of work to be done yet before the end of the season. These few bottom lines do not prove that he was composing several works simultaneously, though it would not surprise me if he did, but at any rate they show that while working on a piece, his mind was not restricted to the one composition at hand. Probably Bach himself ordered the unknown cantata librettist to reshape the four stanzas of the original Ziegler poem into the regular six for a chorale cantata. So he knew what the text for the first movement was going to be. Bach could have invented the melody himself, but I would say he used the existing melody. It might well have been in one of the hymnals he possessed and he may have heard it sung in church before coming to Leipzig.

The first movement has three contrasting elements, a lively orchestra with the violins and the oboes d'amore in playful concert, the basso continuo laying a highly rhythmical foundation, and over it the uncomplicated, largely homophonic chorale. The restlessness in the basso continuo suggests that there is more at stake here than just the peace and quiet of a nursery with two happy parents and a baby sleeping in a cradle. There is a dark undertone, an echo, reflecting the resistance Jesus was to face and would have to overcome during his short life on earth. They were troublesome times that forced Mary and Joseph to make their out-of-the-way journey (some 70 miles) through mountainous area, unwarranted for a heavily pregnant maiden. The uncomfortable conditions of Jesus' birth and the family's narrow escape from Herod's massacre, in spite of the adoration of the angels, the shepherds and the magi, indicate that He was not exactly welcome in the world at the time. Nor is he now, I am afraid. And then, we know, as Bach did, how Jesus had to suffer at the end his human life. The combination of these elements creates an atmosphere of rejoycing at a small-scale level. Here no exultations of "Joy to the World, the King has come!" but an intimate lullaby for a babe, both human and divine.

The alto aria links up musically to the opening chorale with the warm oboi d'amore in a leading role. They immediately set the theme and the atmosphere that is taken over by the alto, starting with the central word "getrost". Long coloraturas on "getrost" and "unbegreiflichs" show a composer wondering at the incomprehensible nature of God.

The simple tenor recitative secco with a beautiful arioso character leads to the soprano aria, in which the strings play an important part. Opening with the strings, the soprano line "Wie lieblich klingt es in den Ohren" and the echo by the solo violin, Bach immediately gives us a taste of sweetness and loveliness. The aria shows again this division of personal intimacy and its consequence, the fact that one can not but love the name of Jesus or have a heart of stone. Yet, in spite of some dissonants on "harter Felsen", Bach maintains the intimacy and tenderness throughout, as if preferring at this moment not to think of the hardships that would rock Jesus later in life.

The fifth movement, a secco recitative for bass, has a serious character of theological explication and application. Both musically and textually, it points forward to the concluding chorale. When the bass has put forward the statement that every one who acknowledges Jesus as Lord, will not die when he dies, the choir applies this creed in a personal resolution: "Then I want to hold on to Jesus alone, in life and death".

Philippe Bareille wrote (June 14, 2003):
[To Roland Wörner] This is not true. There is no reasons to believe that human voice has changed over the past 300 years. Boy's voices start breaking in mid-to-late puberty. In the 17^th century puberty was delayed by a few years compared to today, in part because of poor nutrition. A 12-year old boy of today is as developed as a 15 year old of Bach's time. In other words, puberty used to kick in later but at the same stage of development. Yet as people were shorter by at least 10-15 centimetres, we can postulate that an adolescent of today has probably a larger thorax than his counterpart of the 18^th century. The only advantage of the 18^th century is that boys had more time to get trained and experienced but their voice per se was not different and perhaps even less strong. It is interesting to note that both Sebastian Henning and Peter Jelosits (two outstanding boy sopranos of the H&L series) sung with their soprano voice until the age of 15. (Bach's voice broke at this age). I cannot believe that good boy sopranos in Bach' time were different. Furthermore a boy is talenor not irrespective of his experience.

Discussions in the Week of December 10, 2006

Roar Myrheim wrote (December 10, 2006):
Introduction to BWV 133 - "Ich freue mich in dir"

Week of December 10, 2006

Cantata BWV 133, "Ich freue mich in dir", for Third day of Christmas.

Second Annual Cantata Cycle, Leipzig
Composed for 1^st performance December 27, 1724 in Leipzig.

Main Cantata page: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV133.htm
Previous Discussion: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV133-D.htm
Provenance: (Origin & Owner history): http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Ref/BWV133-Ref.htm
Comentaries: (Smith, Dürr, Spitta, Voigt, Schweitzer, Schumacher, Anderson): http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Guide/BWV133-Guide.htm

Text:

German: http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~wfb/cantatas/133.html
English: http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/BWV133.html
English, interlinear: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/BWV133-Eng3.htm
Other translations: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV133.htm

Score Vocal & Piano: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/BWV133-V&P.pdf

Recordings: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV133.htm#RC

Listen to Leusink recording (free streaming download):
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Stream/BWV133-Leusink.ram

Libretto: Unknown.
Based on Kaspar Ziegler's (1697) chorale with the same name as the cantata.
Chorale Text: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale004-Eng3.htm
Chorale Melody: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/O-Gott-du-frommer-Gott.htm

Readings: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Read/Christmas3.htm
Epistles: Hebrews 1:1-14 "Christ is higher than the angels"
Gospel: John 1:1-14 "Prologue"

======================================

Structure:

1. Chorus SATB (1^st verse of chorale)
Cornetto col Soprano, Oboe d'amore I/II, Violino I/II, Viola, Continuo

2. Aria A (1^st half of 2^nd verse of chorale paraphrased)
Oboe d'amore I/II, Continuo

3. Recitative T (2 last lines = 2 last lines of 2nd verse of chorale)
Continuo

4. Aria S (1^st half of 3^rd verse of chorale paraphrased)
Violino I/II, Viola, Continuo

5. Recitative B (3 last lines = 3 last lines of 3rd verse of chorale)
Continuo

6. Chorale SATB (4th verse of chorale)
Cornetto e Oboe d'amore I e Violino I col Soprano, Oboe d'amore II e
Violino II coll'Alto, Viola col Tenore, Continuo

==================================================

Themes of the cantata:

This chorale cantata is based on a hymn by Kaspar Ziegler (1697). The unknown author has used verses 1 and 4 unaltered in movements 1 and 6 of the cantata. Verses 2 and 3 are paraphrased and partly quoted as explained in the structure chart above.

Mvt. 1 is a song of rejoice, because Jesus has decided to become our brother.

In Mvt. 2, we are asked to be confident. Things look well for me, because of the incarnation. I have seen God face to face - a clear reference to the Epistle reading from Hebr 1,3: "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being,."

Mvt. 3: In earlier times, we would hide from God's face, but now we need not
be afraid anymore, because we know God's compassionate temper through the
act of the incarnation.

In Mvt. 4 the soprano dwells upon the dearly sounds: My Jesus has been born. This is a message so powerful, that the heart that is not touched by it, must be a hard rock.

Mvt. 5: We need not fear death anymore. Because of Jesus, we do not die even if we die.

The conclusion in Mvt. 6 is that I will live for Jesus, and die in Jesus. (Compare Romans 14,8: "If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord.")

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Short introduction:

Mostly John Eliot Gardiner (from sleeve notes to Pilgrimage CD no. 15)

I find it hard to imagine music that conveys more persuasively the essence, the exuberance and the sheer exhilaration of Christmas than the opening chorus of BWV 133 "Ich freue mich in dir". First performed on 27 December 1724, it is constructed as an Italianate concerto-like movement of infectious rhythmic élan. An anonymous melody evidently new to Bach (he sketched it in at the foot of the score of the Sanctus, also composed for Christmas in 1724 and eventually incorporated into the B minor Mass (BWV 232)) is fitted to Kaspar Ziegler's hymn. Eight lines of text are interpolated between the spirited ritornelli in which, unusually, the second violin and violas are strengthened by the two oboes d'amore, leaving the first violins unaided to shine above the rest. One senses that during this hectic period Bach needed to take into account the cumulative fatigue and reliability of his ensemble. It was probably wise of him to confine the choir to a mostly straightforward chorale harmonisation - line by line and expanding into simple polyphony at the mention of 'Der große Gottessohn'. So with little or no rehearsal, he could rely on his string players to give the necessary zip to this extended concertante dance of joy. The 'süßer Ton' is suggested both by the bell-like crotchets in the first two bars and later by the magical interlacing of sustained inner parts as soon as the choir mention these 'sweet sounds'.

Some of the energy and brilliance of the opening movement spills into its sequel, an A major aria in which both the alto soloist and the pair of accompanying oboes d'amore are called upon to give a firecracker delivery to the opening word 'Getrost!' ('Be of good cheer') before bursting into cascades of semiquavers. Then comes a more reflective circling figure [circulatio - Dürr calls it "Kreisende Achtelfigur"] marked piano (the same as was played loudly by the continuo in the first bar) which is handed to the alto for the parenthesis 'Wie wohl ist mir geschehen' ('How blessed am I'), eventually given three times in rising progression to convey the delight at seeing God face to face.

A brief recitative for tenor twice breaks into solo arioso allusions to the chorale. The key idea of the opening movement's 'sweet sound' is now revealed. It is the announcement 'My Jesus has been born' in the soprano aria (Mvt. 4), to which Bach assigns a melodic phrase that

sounds as it if had been lifted from a chorale or plainsong. The bells ringing in her ears to which the soprano refers are suggested by the violin barriolage of alternating open and stopped strings and a solo flourish in the first violin. A different-sounding bell is tolled in the slow pastoral 'B' section by unison violas and second violins, over which the solo violin and soprano soar in a lyrical meditation on the name of Jesus. Only the chromatic twists allude to the stony heart which refuses to acknowledge it.


New recordings since the last time this cantata was discussed are:

Suzuki: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Suzuki-Vol31.htm
Herreweghe [9]: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Herreweghe-C15.htm
Gardiner: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Gardiner-Rec3.htm#P15

Thomas Braatz wrote (December 10, 2006):
Roar Myrheim wrote:
>>An anonymous melody evidently new to Bach (he sketched it in at the foot of the score of the Sanctus, also composed for Christmas in 1724 and eventually incorporated into the B minor Mass (BWV 232)) is fitted to Kaspar Ziegler's hymn.<<
While this sentence contains a lot of interesting information, I hope that no one will construe it to mean that the chorale melody was actually used again in the B minor Mass (BWV 232). Only the sheet of paper on which Bach sketched the melody (unknown to him at that time) was part of the score for Mus. ms. Bach P13, the Sanctus in D major BWV 238, later to become BWV 232 (III= 3^rd version). This Sanctus mvt. was first performed on December 25, 1723 (Dürr's chronology) and possibly there were repeat performances on Christmas Day during some of the subsequent years, but there is no definite evidence of this, only reasonable conjecture.

It is quite possible that something very similar to the Sanctus mvt. was used (music lost but text still available) as the final mvt. "Glück und Heil" of BWV 249a, a secular birthday cantata "Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen", first performed on February 2, 1725. On April 1, 1725, Bach recycled the Sanctus mvt. as BWV 249/11 "Preis und Dank" in what was at that time still called an Easter cantata (later to become the Easter Oratorio BWV 249).

Who knows? Perhaps Bach had pulled out for possible (or actual) use the score for the already existing Sanctus in D Major during Advent of 1724 while composing BWV 133 and had simply jotted down for himself the new melody for "Ich freue mich in Dir", one which the congregation still was not using with the same text until well into the 1730s.* Perhaps this [its use in BWV 133] was an experiment on Bach's part to see how members of the congregation would react to a new, unaccustomed use of a melody for an already established text?

*This Christmas chorale (Text: Ich freue mich in dir") was still being sung to a different melody ("Nun danket alle Gott") according to the Leipzig Hymnal of 1730.

[NBA KB I/3.1 p. 138]

Thomas Braatz wrote (December 10, 2006):
A correction is necessary!

I had stated:
"Only the sheet of paper on which Bach sketched the melody (unknown to him at that time) was part of the score for Mus. ms. Bach P13, the Sanctus in D major BWV 238, later to become BWV 232 (III= 3^rd stage or version). This Sanctus mvt. was first performed on December 25, 1723 (Dürr's chronology)...<<
Incorrect: the Sanctus in D major BWV 238 with a first performance date on Christmas 1723 [that part is correct] is, however, not at all a part of this picture. It is a separate work that should not be considered here as related to the Sanctus that is later found in the B minor Mass (BWV 232).

Correct: the information about the early use and first performance 1725 dates of the same music (different words for the secular birthday cantata) used later in the B minor mass (BWV 232) is correct. Also its inclusion in what would eventually be called the Easter Oratorio (BWV 249).

The most recent source on which these corrections are based is the NBA KB II/1a from 2005. The Sanctus which has the melody for "Ich freue mich in dir" at the bottom of the first page of the autograph score was
performed for the first time on December 25, 1724 (Dürr's chronology). The inclusion of the chorale melody was only one factor used in pointing to this date.

It appears then that Bach, during Advent of 1724, was working on and composing both the great Sanctus as well as the present cantata, BWV 133, where this new melody was used.

After the performance of the Sanctus on Christmas Day 1724, it then appeared as previously indicated in the birthday cantata on February 23, 1725 followed by its use in the Easter cantata "Kommt, fliehet und eilet" on April 1, 1725. The latter cantata would eventually be transformed into the Easter Oratorio, BWV 249.

Chris Rowson wrote (December 10, 2006):
Thomas Braatz wrote: ...
< After the performance of the Sanctus on Christmas Day 1724, it then appeared as previously indicated in the birthday cantata on February 23, 1725 followed by its use in the Easter cantata "Kommt, fliehet und eilet" on April 1, 1725. ... >
So is this a documented case of Bach using for secular purposes music written for the church?

Ed Myskowski wrote (December 10, 2006):
Chris Rowson wrote:
< So is this a documented case of Bach using for secular purposes music written for the church? >
And in the same post, documented evidence of Bach working in parallel on more than one work?

It is the season when we celebrate some truly astounding mythology: not least Immaculate Conception and Virgin Birth, so perhaps I am hallucinating?

Thomas Braatz wrote (December 10, 2006):
Chris Rowson wrote:
>>So is this a documented case of Bach using for secular purposes music written for the church?<<
Yes, it would appear so, but it is only one isolated mvt. which subsequently reappeared in repeat performances (with different texts, of course) as part of 2(!) birthday cantatas (none of the actual music for these has survived) as well as frequent reuse of this mvt. at Easter time beginning with April 1, 1725, and then again probably a year or two later.

When Bach finally incorporated this mvt. into the B-minor Mass BWV 232, he changed, among other things, the time signature from cut-time ('C' slash) to a regular 4/4 (C), thus giving us further evidence that these time signatures were undergoing a change during Bach's lifetime (one becoming more like the other or one being a 'convention' which was being replaced with 'reality').

The early history of the Easter Oratorio BWV 249 is extremely complicated and there are loose ends even for the birthday cantatas (with shepherds and shepherdesses) with firm documentation of performances of BWV 249a and BWV 249b on February 23, 1725 and August 25, 1726. Although the music for these performances is lost, it (the Sanctus) was most likely used in both secular cantatas.

Evidence from the state of the autograph score of the Sanctus first performed on December 25, 1724 is that it is a composing score with an amazing number of corrections and 3 preliminary sketches (including the one for the CM (chorale melody) of "Ich freue mich in dir"). Two of the sketches are for the same movement. In all likelihood Bach used Advent 1724 for composing the Sanctus and BWV 133 at almost the same time (at least noting for himself the shape of the CM to which he would soon have to devote more attention). Here is Bach composing music which would soon have to be performed during the very busy holidays including Christmas, New Years, and Epiphany. He would have to rely on the sight-reading capabilities of his vocalists because he knew how much their voices would be strained by the Kurrende (caroling) tradition in which all boys would want to participate. And yet he has soprano and alto arias in BWV 133! What little time he must have had for any rehearsals (one rehearsal would most likely have had to suffice)! He had to be concerned that tvoices would perhaps not hold up under all that singing that was required in church between Christmas and Epiphany.

BTW, at the very bottom of the page of the Sanctus is a note "NB. Die Parteyen sind in Böhmen bei Graff Sporck:" (Nota bene: the parts are in Bohemia at Count Sporck's residence:). The NBA has made no attempt to date this comment by Bach. Most likely, if this had referred to a much later comment towards the end of Bach's life as he was assembling the B minor Mass (BWV 232) into its final form, there would have been a noticeable difference in the style of Bach's handwriting. As it is now left uncommented by the NBA, we can perhaps assume that it was written either nearly at the same time or soon after the first performance, or within a few years after its composition.

Fact: only the doublets from the 1^st performance, Christmas 1724 have survived (Violino Primo, Violino Secundo, Continuo (not figured).

For a repeat performances (perhaps Bach never got the parts back from Count Sporck), Bach had a new set of parts copied out. These were used for repeat performances during the holiday season (probably Christmas again) 1726/1727 and again for Easter in 1727.

Thomas Braatz wrote (December 11, 2006):
BWV 133 Score Samples

Aryeh Oron has kindly placed under BWV 133 Score Samples Bach's first notation of the melody for "Ich freue mich in dir" which was found at the bottom of the first page of the autograph score of the Sanctus (first performed on Dec. 25, 1724) and which went through numerous incarnations (with various texts) until it was finally incorporated into the B minor Mass (BWV 232) circa 20 years later.

Shortly with Aryeh Oron's help, you will find for comparison the melody as Bach set it twice in BWV 133. Both of those versions differ from the original notation or sketch! [You can already view these (BWV 133/1 and BWV 133/6) at the very bottom of the lengthy chorale melody page on the BCW.]

Also, I believe I have made an interesting discovery about a chorale melody which is hinted at in the ritornello section of BWV 133/1. That will also be included soon.

Here is the URL: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/BWV133-Sco.htm

Neil Halliday wrote (December 11, 2006):
BWV 133 recording remarks

Three years ago I wrote (of BWV 133/1): "I found Harnoncourt's [3] scratchy strings and endless staccato unlistenable".

Apart from confusing Leonhardt with Harnoncourt [3], I have become less allergic to period string timbre since that time, and I am not currently so dismissive of this recording. While the strings are more noticeably "period" (ie, `sharp' timbre) than some other ensembles, this recording does have strengths relative to other performances, eg, am I right in saying that the more even dynamic level of the strings, in comparison to the varying dynamic level of the strings in Gardiner's orchestra [8], for example, more vividly captures - expresses in a strong manner - the joy of the music?

BTW, I would not choose Koopman's rushed tempo [7] (and Suzuki's pushing the barrier as well [10]). More comments later.

Thomas Braatz wrote (December 11, 2006):
As promised, additional examples have been added to the existing Bach sketch of "Ich freue mich in dir". For direct comparison, the chorale melody as used by Bach in two mvts. of the BWV 133 have been added. There are some differences worth noting. Bach had to modify his sketch before using it in this cantata.

Bach's key motif (Example 4) in the instrumental ritornello is reasonably based upon the opening of the chorale melody that the Leipzig congregations at Christmas in 1724 expected to hear used with a text with which they were alreday quite familar albeit with a very different chorale melody "Nun danket alle Gott". What a switch!. As long as the opening ritornello section was being presented, the congregations thought they were going to hear the latter CM used, but when the choir begins singing, there is an entirely new melody, one that would only be accepted into the Leipzig hymnal about a decade later.

see: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/BWV133-Sco.htm
[click again on the image of each example to enlarge it]

Bradley Lehman wrote (December 11, 2006):
< http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/BWV133-Sco.htm >
Example 4: incredible! unbelievable!

Examples 2 & 3: for what it's worth, the term is usually "stanza" rather than "verse".

Back to Example 4: don't the last two notes of this chorale melody (i.e. at "getan") usually go A-G rather than G-G? Not that it matters much here, since "Bach" didn't selectively quote those several black notes but only the red ones.

It's also totally awesome how the continuo goes "Nun danket" at the start of the last movement of the St Matthew Passion (BWV 244), C-C-C! Clearly a harking (hearkening? I'm never sure) back to BWV 133 where it's so obvious in the continuo, as demonstrated here in the red notes. Of course, a difference is that it's on the tonic of the scale (in its case, C minor) rather than scale degree ii (as shown here in BWV 133/1, on E minor within a D major movement), but surely that is only a trivial inconvenience.

For that matter, since it's Christmas season, how about "Nun danket" = "Jauchzet froh-" in the basso continuo of the Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248). Nifty!

Chris Rowson wrote (December 11, 2006):
Chris Rowson wrote:
>>So is this a documented case of Bach using for secular purposes music written for the church?<<
Thomas Braatz wrote:
< Yes, it would appear so, but it is only one isolated mvt. which subsequently reappeared in repeat performances (with different texts, of course) as part of 2(!) birthday cantatas (none of the actual music for these has survived) as well as frequent reuse of this mvt. at Easter time beginning with April 1, 1725, and then again probably a year or two later.
The early history of the Easter Oratorio BWV 249 is extremely complicated and there are loose ends even for the birthday cantatas (with shepherds and shepherdesses) with firm documentation of performances of BWV 249a and BWV 249b on February 23, 1725 and August 25, 1726. Although the music for these performances is lost, it (the Sanctus) was most likely used in both secular cantatas. >
Even one isolated movement is earth-shaking for me, as I grew up believing that he never ever used music for secular purposes when it had once been used in church, and have had this belief reinforced in recent years. (I think Wolff states it his biography.)

Chris Rowson wrote (December 11, 2006):
Bradley Lehman wrote:
< Example 4: incredible! unbelievable!
... don't the last two notes of this chorale melody (i.e. at "getan") usually go A-G rather than G-G? Not that it matters much here, since "Bach" didn't selectively quote those several black notes but only the red ones.
It's also totally awesome how the continuo goes "Nun danket" at the start of the last movement of the St Matthew Passion (BWV 244), C-C-C! Clearly a harking (hearkening? I'm never sure) back to BWV 133 where it's so obvious in the continuo, as demonstrated here in the red notes. ... >
Hey, that´s really amazinig - I find those three repeated notes very reminiscent of the three repeated notes of "Gelobet" in BWV 91/1 from a couple of weeks ago.

So maybe that was a forward reference to the three repeated notes of "Nun danket" too. Or the three repeated notes in the SMP (BWV 244). Or as suggested "Jauchzet froh."

Douglas Cowling wrote (December 11, 2006):
Chris Rowsonwrote:
< So maybe that was a forward reference to the three repeated notes of ³Nun danket² too. Or the three repeated notes in the SMP (BWV 244). Or as suggested ³Jauchzet froh S² >
I find it difficult to believe that there is a chorale allusion at the opening of "Jauchzet Frolocket". Bach originally wrote the timpani solo to illustrate the words "Tönet Ihr Pauken" and then reused it for a very generic affect of "joy" in the oratorio. Four repeated tonic notes really do not suggest "Nun Danket Alle Gott" which opens with three repeated notes on the sixth of the scale.

Bradley Lehman wrote (December 11, 2006):
< Bach's key motif (Example 4) in the instrumental ritornello is reasonably based upon the opening of the chorale melody that the Leipzig congregations at Christmas in 1724 expected to hear used with a text with which they were alreday quite familar albeit with a very different chorale melody "Nun danket alle Gott". What a switch!. As long as the opening ritornello section was being presented, the congregations thought they were going to hear the latter CM used, but when the choir begins singing, there is an entirely new melody, one that would only be accepted into the Leipzig hymnal about a decade later. >
Given that the congregation was so confused in their thoughts by such a switch (what a crafty rascal their Bach was!!!!!!!), and given this frustration of their expectations, were they nevertheless able to retain in their memory the outline of the entirely new melody that wouldn't be in the book for another 10 years? I ask this, because their memory capacities and their thoughts are apparently accessible somehow: albeit not elsewhere in print unless we're missing something. Since we now know not only what Bach was thinking and not thinking as the composer, but also the thoughts of his parishioners as well, party. Was Bach just out to prove that the expectations of his customers (his parishioners) weren't always right after all?

Bradley Lehman wrote (December 11, 2006):
Another correction...
< It's also totally awesome how the continuo goes "Nun danket" at the start of the last movement of the St Matthew Passion (BWV 244), C-C-C! Clearly a harking (hearkening? I'm never sure) back to BWV 133 where it's so obvious in the continuo, as demonstrated here in the red notes. Of course, a difference is that it's on the tonic of the scale (in its case, C minor) rather than scale degree ii (as shown here in BWV 133/1, on E minor within a D major movement), but surely that is only a trivial inconvenience. >
Now that I've actually looked at a score of BWV 133 and not merely taken that "score samples" web page on faith, I see that the remark "scale degree ii" was in error. It's really V7/V on the first of those "Nun danket" iterations in the bass (bar 9), i.e. a major triad plus a dominant-seventh, and not "E minor" as guessed. Sorry, my bad. The red notes just had my head in such a whirl, plus my confusion as listener since Bach pulled that old bait-and-switch with a chorale melody not in the hymnal. It's kind of hard to know if a minor or a major chord should be played or imagined, when the bass part omits its figures as seen in the "score samples". Oh well.

Anybody happen to know: in the pubs nearest the Thomaskirche, c1724, what was the policy when customers tried to order entrees that weren't listed on the board? Did the chefs ever try to tease up the expectations by spicing up mystery meat?

Bradley Lehman wrote (December 11, 2006):
Jauchezet & Nun Danket

<< So maybe that was a forward reference to the three repeated notes of ³Nun danket² too. Or the three repeated notes in the SMP (BWV 244). Or as suggested ³Jauchzet froh Š² >>
< I find it difficult to believe that there is a chorale allusion at the opening of "Jauchzet Frolocket". Bach originally wrote the timpani solo to illustrate the words "Tönet Ihr Pauken" and then reused it for a very generic affect of "joy" in the oratorio. >
Of course, the timpani part is as you say. But, the reference was to the continuo part. The fact that it happens to be in unison for some bit of the way is only a minor inconvenience (one only has a couple of drums in a timpani set, after all, not fully chromatic). One would never color the timpani part's notes red, under any circumstances. There is an obscure 17^th century source, unfortunately no longer extant (but fortuitously quoted in a 1923 document that also is unfortunately no longer extant) carefully explaining that timpani notes are supposed to be mauve.

< Four repeated tonic notes really do not suggest "Nun Danket Alle Gott" which opens with three repeated notes on the sixth of the scale. >
Or, for that matter, on the fifth degree. But again, all scale degrees are equivalent if we assume "moveable do" (historically: "ut mueble") in the same way that a piece of furniture might work just as well in one room, as in another. Not to be confused with the oud which is a Middle Eastern instrument, and one Bach probably didn't use more than twice or three times during his career. Certainly not in the Christmas Oratorio.

Chris Rowson wrote (December 11, 2006):
I guess you´re right, but how many chorale melodies are there in JSB´s music which begin with three tonics?

Douglas Cowling wrote:
< So maybe that was a forward reference to the three repeated notes of ³Nun danket² too. Or the three repeated notes in the SMP (BWV 244). Or as suggested ³Jauchzet froh S² >
I find it difficult to believe that there is a chorale allusion at the opening of "Jauchzet Frolocket". Bach originally wrote the timpani solo to illustrate the words "Tönet Ihr Pauken" and then reused it for a very generic affect of "joy" in the oratorio. Four repeated tonic notes really do not suggest "Nun Danket Alle Gott" which opens with three repeated notes on the sixth of the scale.

Douglas Cowling wrote (December 11, 2006):
Brad Lehman wrote:
<< Four repeated tonic notes really do not suggest "Nun Danket Alle Gott" which opens with three repeated notes on the sixth of the scale. >>
< Or, for that matter, on the fifth degree. >
LOL. I stand corrected. Starting on the sixth degree would be proto-Debussyesque.

Douglas Cowling wrote (December 11, 2006):
Chris Rowson wrote:
< I guess you´re right, but how many chorale melodies are there in JSB´s music which begin with three tonics? >
"Ein Feste Burg" is one.

Julian Mincham wrote (December 11, 2006):
Douglas Cowling wrote:
< OL. I stand corrected. Starting on the sixth degree would be proto-Debussyesque. >
What about the amazing opening to the chorus of BWV 109 where the first note on the strong beat of the first bar is a Bb?? The 6th note in the key of D minor?. Pretty cool.

Bradley Lehman wrote (December 11, 2006):
< I guess you´re right, but how many chorale melodies are there in JSB´s music which begin with three tonics? >
19. However, they haven't yet been revealed by the channellers definitively, so "19" is only an estimate. There are all those lost cantatas to contend with, as well, lost even worse than the cases that preserve only the chorale; those are the ones where we especially need the channellers' help. And more gin to go along with any stray tonics. I flipped open the Riemenschneider 371 just now, and randomly hit a page where #207 "Des heil'gen Geistes reiche Gnad'" and #208 "Als vierzig Tag' nach Ostern" both start with three tonics followed by a leap upward of a fifth. So, if one random page delivers this, and another random flip to the page of #188/#189 delivers two more, the true answer should be somewhere around 19, give or take some margin of error. Presumably one would also want to exclude the pieces that start with four tonics, such as #335 "Es ist das Heil uns kommen her", or #341 "Ich dank' dir, lieber Herre". Don't miss #59 "Herzliebster Jesu" with its three, or "O Lamm Gottes" wherever it is. One would also have to discount the various opportunities in which the same tune has two omore texts. Well, the actual counting can be left to pseudo-grad-students, so I'll leave it at that. And, the requisite channelling for the lost cantatas can be delegated to any worthy volunteer, since it doesn't seem to be terribly particular about the meaning of "worthy". The fickle firefly of fate alights where it will, at will.
<>

Bradley Lehman wrote (December 11, 2006):
< What about the amazing opening to the chorus of BWV 109 where the first note on the strong beat of the first bar is a Bb?? The 6th note in the key of D minor?. Pretty cool. >
What, Brahms didn't make that coup up for the first piano concerto? Dang! What a plagiarist! And him a subscriber to the Bach-Gesellschaft and all. No wonder. Well, at least he wrote the piano concerto before the BGA actually arrived at his door, so at least he's safe on that one. Whew. What I'd like to hear, given a time machine, would be to hear Brahms play through the complete Couperin keyboard works on the piano--which he surely did (at least in proofreading) in process of editing the thing for publication. Oh, to be a firefly on that wall or some others.

Douglas Cowling wrote (December 11, 2006):
Bradley Lehman wrote:
< Whew. What I'd like to hear, given a time machine, would be to hear Brahms play through the complete Couperin keyboard works on the piano--which he surely did (at least in proofreading) in process of editing the thing for publication. Oh, to be a firefly on that wall or some others. >
I want to hear Mendelssohn rushing to the piano to provide spontaneous accompaniments when he first heard the Bach Unaccompanied Violin Partitas.

Ed Myskowski wrote (December 11, 2006):
Douglas Cowling wrote:
< Bach originally wrote the timpani solo to illustrate the words "Tönet Ihr Pauken" and then reused it for a very generic affect of "joy" in the oratorio. >
Percussion with the choir? Get outta here! And expressing joy to boot? I am speechless (nearly)!

Bradley Lehman wrote (December 11, 2006):
< Even one isolated movement is earth-shaking for me, as I grew up believing that he never ever used music for secular purposes when it had once been used in church, and have had this belief reinforced in recent years. (I think Wolff states it his biography.) >
Isn't the D minor harpsichord concerto (BWV 1052, most likely from 1730s) a case in point? Its movements came from the cantatas BWV 146 (1726 or maybe 1728+) and BWV 188 (similarly 1728 or soon after).

Bradley Lehman wrote (December 11, 2006):
Douglas Cowling wrote:
< I want to hear Mendelssohn rushing to the piano to provide spontaneous accompaniments when he first heard the Bach Unaccompanied Violin Partitas. >
Same here.

You do, I hope, have a recording of the Schumann accomps to same?

And the delicious two-piano arrangements that Grieg made, keeping a handful of Mozart piano sonatas as they were but adding a wholly new part for a second instrument? Extra harmony, extra counterpoint, wonderful.

Yesterday at church we had a teenager play one of the allemandes from the Bach cello suites, up an octave on viola. He did it very well (if a little bit too stiff in meter...), but it also might have been nice with piano accomp to flesh out more of the bass....

Julian Mincham wrote (December 12, 2006):
Douglas Cowling wrote:
< I want to hear Mendelssohn rushing to the piano to provide spontaneous accompaniments when he first heard the Bach Unaccompanied Violin Partitas. >
Or Brahms transposing the piano part of the Kreutzer sonata up a semitone in performance because the piano was so out of tune.

Julian Mincham wrote (December 12, 2006):
Bradleyt Lehman wrote:
< Isn't the D minor harpsichord concerto (BWV 1052, most likely from 1730s) a case in point? Its movements came from the cantatas BWV 146 (1726 or maybe 1728+) and BWV 188 (similarly 1728 or soon after). >
This is an interesting one. Most Bach scholars assume that it was an arrangement of an earlier lost violin concerto (which might have got around the issue of secular/religious arrangements) for two reasons
1 that has proven to be the case for other keyboard concerti (notably the arrangements of the three existing violin concerti and the 4^th Brandenburg) and
2 quite a bit of the figuration of the outer movements for the solo part is contrived around the violin open strings.

HOWEVER in all known cases the concerti have been transposed down a tone. Were this to have been the case here, the figuration would not sit around the open strings so ideally as it would have originally been in E rather than in D minor.

Ed Myskowski wrote (December 12, 2006):
Julian Mincham wrote:
<< What about the amazing opening to the chorus of 109 where the first note on the strong beat of the first bar is a Bb?? The 6^th note in the key of Dminor?.Pretty cool. >>
Bradley Lehman wrote:
< BL [...] What I'd like to hear, given a time machine, would be to hear Brahms play through the complete Couperin keyboard works on the piano--which he surely did (at least in proofreading) in process of editing the thing for publication. Oh, to be a firefly on that wall or some others. >
What a great idea for a film. Maybe you could use Old Bach looking over Brahm's shoulder and smiling? Perhaps not smiling, exactly. Lots of grimacing and finger-waggling (not to be confused with flailing of arms).

Well, we can work out the details.

On my walls, the flies are not fire variety. Plenty of the other sort, however. A final bit of miscellany: my spell checker had no problem with finger-waggling, but preferred it without the hyphen. You can imagine my
response! Starts with: <You can all go take a...

Thomas Braatz wrote (December 12, 2006):
BWV 1052's secular origin [was: Introduction to BWV 133...]

Bradley Lehman wrote:
>>Isn't the D minor harpsichord concerto (BWV 1052, most likely from 1730s) a case in point? Its movements
came from the cantatas BWV 146 (1726 or maybe 1728+) and BWV 188 (similarly 1728 or soon after).<<
No, it is not a good case in point since Bach scholars have known since at least 1869, when Wilhelm Rust pointed out in his forward to the BGA various reasons why the original form of this work is a violin concerto probably from the Köthen period. While in the interim a few scholars (Siegele one of the most prominent dissenters) have doubted Rust's conclusion and have even doubted whether this was a genuine work by Bach, the general consensus among Bach scholars today is that it is genuine and that it existed in its earliest form as a violin concerto. [Reconstructions of the violin concerto have been undertaken in the past by Ferdinand David (1873), Robert Rietz (1917) and the NBA VII/7.

From a secular instrumental work, Bach next used it (either 1726 or 1728) in a transcription for organ obbligato in mvt. 1 and with 'Vokaleinbau' (the vocal parts were overlaid/added to the original slow mvt.) in BWV 146/1,2 "Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal in das Reich Gottes eingehen". After that it reappeared in BWV 188/1 "Ich habe meine Zuversicht" (either 1728 or 1729)--this is a fragment sinfonia.

Shortly before leaving Leipzig to go to Frankfurt on the Oder in 1734, C.P.E. Bach made the first transcription of the violin concerto for harpsichord. Very likely he performed it with his Collegium musicum in Frankfurt. There is no evidence that J.S. Bach helped his son with this transcription although it is quite possible that he had suggested it as a possibility to be pursued. This version compared to J.S. Bach's own harpsichord transcription undertaken later shows many weaso that no scholar would ever consider that J. S. Bach had worked on it.

Circa 1738 is the time when J. S. Bach completed the score for his own harpsichord transcription of the violin concerto. He did not use the already existing organ part for his transcription, it would have made his work even more difficult! After completing the score, the harpsichord part still underwent subsequent intensive revision. The NBA gives the original, first version in the appendix and presents the final state "Fassung letzter Hand" as its main printed version in NBA VII/4.

Continue of this part of the discussion, see: Parodies in Bach's Vocal Works - Part 2 [General Topics]

Thomas Braatz wrote (December 12, 2006):
Julian Mincham wrote:
>>HOWEVER in all known cases the concerti have been transposed down a tone. Were this to have been the case here, the figuration would not sit around the open strings so ideally as it would have originally been in E rather than in D minor. <<
The NBA reconstruction is in D minor. Had the original been in a different key (a step higher), it is very likely that the NBA editors would have observed in the autograph the type of error that occurs (even when Bach himself is copying and transposing at the same time) and then is corrected immediately. There is no evidence of such a common transcription error here on Bach's part.

In the NBA score, the E, A, and D open strings are used just where you might expect them to be used in the fast, repeated-note passages (bariolage).

Peter Smaill wrote (December 19, 2006):
BWV 133 Chorale

BWV133/6, "...the final verse of the Chorale in a plain four-part setting". (Dürr).

Indeed so, but it is most beautiful for two reasons. One is the poetic image of "falling asleep in Jesus" and the partly internal rhyme scheme in which repetition as it were lulls the reader to slumber:

Wohlan, so will ich mich
An dich, o Jesu,halten,
Und sollte gleich die Welt
In tausend Stuecken spalten.
O Jesu,dir,nur dir,
Dir leb ich ganz allein;
Auf dich,allein auf dich,
Mein Jesu,schlaf ich ein.

Bach elaborates the effect with a rare (for the Chorales) and simple device; he inserts a beat's rest after the first line and, most effectively, before the last (in at least one version of the setting) , as if denoting a suspirum, a little yawn, by the sleepy Christian. If this version is correct then it is, by chance or design, a case of the words and music reflecting the mood of Bach's by now exhausted choristers on the third day of Christmas 1724.

Douglas Cowling wrote (December 12, 2006):
Peter Smaill wrote:
< Bach elaborates the effect with a rare (for the Chorales) and simple device; he inserts a beat's rest after the first line and, most effectively, before the last (in at least one version of the setting) , as if denoting a suspirum, a little yawn, by the sleepy Christian. >
You're right, it's an extremely rare occurrence: a quick flip shows one example in the Christmas Oratorio and none in the SMP (BWV 244). I like the yawn idea, but does its placement at that point in the text support such a charming addition? I'm more inclined to think that the half note followed by the quarter rest was an indication from Bach that he wanted all the dotted half notes in the chorale to be performed with a full beat's "lift" between lines. It would certainly assist the diction in lines 4-5 where the words "dir", "dich" and "allein" are repeated.

Peter Smaill wrote (December 19, 2006):
[To Douglas Cowling] The sighs (yawns?) in BWV133/6: what do these unusual rests achieve?

The first break as Doug indicates does assist the clarification of the poetic arrangement in that the internal rhyme of "mich" and "dich" which would otherwise almost collide. This break occurs where there is no punctuation at all in the text to suggest it. All the sources show it.

The second break creates an emphasis on "O Jesu, schlaf' ich ein!" and, as Doug suggests also allows the listener to digest the fervency of the preceding repetitive petition, "Auf dich, allein auf dich". And yet.... for me it hangs on whether this second break, which is marked in Reimenschneider and elsewhere but not in the BCW full score, is in the original. in that case the positioning and word painting as well as overall context are united in a brief moment of expectant silence before the final plea for sleep in Jesus occurs.

I wonder what the latest NBA answer to its existence or otherwise may be.

The expression "suspirum" which I used comes from Tovey and checking should have been rendered as "suspirium', which he uses in his analysis of WTCII-9 Fugue (E major):

"At the end the player, instead of quoting "Rule, Britannia," should attend to those crotchet rests in the inner parts , the suspirium or sigh of the sixteenth-century choral writers".

The second break would be the most text-appropriate place for the device to occur - if it does!

Thomas Braatz wrote (December 12, 2006):
Douglas Cowling wrote:
>>I'm more inclined to think that the half note followed by the quarter rest was an indication from Bach that he wanted all the dotted half notes in the chorale to be performed with a full beat's "lift" between lines. It would certainly assist the diction in lines 4-5 where the words "dir", "dich" and "allein" are repeated.<<
Bach notated carefully whatever he wrote down in the score with a good reason. With both the autograph score and the original set of parts extant, the NBA editors decided that Bach had written it down correctly just the way he had wanted it: the only rest (a quarter rest) in the entire chorale appears in m 2 after "mich"/"Welt". Bach also had sufficient opportunity to make corrections to both the score and the parts (there is ample evidence with this cantata just how careful Bach was in this respect).

A decade later, Johann Ludwig Dietel made a careful copy of this chorale (each part on a separate staff). It is an exact copy of the Bach original chorale setting with one difference: Dietel puts a fermata on the last note of the Stollen. Very often in a chorale setting, Bach will omit the fermata in this position. This would mean a very quick pick-up to the next quarter or sixteenth note. It is as if Bach did not want any kind of premature finality to occur at this point in this chorale and quite a number of others as well.

Around the same time in 1736, there is a figured bass version of the chorale with the melody (BWV 465). It shows no rests whatsoever and no fermati at the end of the Stollen and the end of the Abgesang (correction: the final note in the figured bass part does have a fermata, but the soprano part does not). In any case, Bach's actual role as editor and composer of the Schemelli collection/song book appears to be rather haphazard. The figured bass for this chorale certainly seems to be his, but there are others in this collection where his authorship is very much in doubt.

Circa 40 years later, C.P.E. Bach edits his father's chorales (and his edits are with extensive changes to his father's original intentions) and comes up with his 'rendition' of BWV 133/6, now Breitkopf #61. It also has added a fermata at the end of the Stollen and an additional quarter rest before the final phrase (with the preceding dotted half being shortened to a half note. As a result of C. P. E. Bach's goal not to faithfully represent his father's wishes (all the changes and reasoning behind this can be found documented on the BCW), the NBA editors express their sincere regret that they were unable to examine J.S. Bach's original intentions for a number of the "Breitkopf" chorales where the original sources have been lost.

One of the great failings of many modern (mainly HIP) performances in singing a 'simple' 4-pt. chorale is that the final note of phrase is severely abbreviated with reduced intensity. There is far too much 'chopping up' of the phrases/lines of the chorale text and melody. Flipping through a Breitkopf or Riemenschneider collection of the Bach chorale settings will not necessarily give a potential performeaccurate/precise information about Bach's intentions. This is made amply clear by the way this particular chorale was treated by those who subsequently copied and edited it.

Bradley Lehman wrote (December 12, 2006):
Thomas Braatz wrote:
< Bach notated carefully whatever he wrote down in the score with a good reason. >
Yes, to help practicing musicians do their jobs well. Scores are recipes (sets of instructions, always incomplete) for skilled artisans to use in fashioning convincing performances, within the medium of sound. There will always be a gap between paper notation and the different medium of sound, and it is the job of skilled musicians to fill in that transformation as best our training and experience and taste tell us to do.
<>

Douglas Cowling wrote (December 12, 2006):
Thomas Braatz wrote:
< One of the great failings of many modern (mainly HIP) performances in singing a 'simple' 4-pt. chorale is that the final note of phrase is severely abbreviated with reduced intensity. There is far too much 'chopping up' of the phrases/lines of the chorale text and melody. Flipping through a Breitkopf or Riemenschneider collection of the Bach chorale settings will not necessarily give a potential performer accurate/precise information about Bach's intentions. This is made amply clear by the way this particular chorale was treated by those who subsequently copied and edited it. >
I 'm curious to know why Bach chose to use a half note and a rest at the end of the first line, and dotted halves in the rest of the chorale. It's unlike him to use contradictory notation (unlike Handel), unless we assume that the first line was intended to sound different from the other lines which end with a dotted half. There's nothing in the text which suggests word-painting. Curious.

As to the performance of chorales, there is ample evidence to show that the singing of chorales slowed down in the late 18^th century and 19^th century. So much so that there was a reaction in the late 19^th century which sought reenergize tempos (the tempo of the chorale at the opening of Meistersinger gives us some idea of mid-19th century practice) This "slow tradition" came into the Bach revival very early on.

In many early recordings, we still encounter very slow tempi and the fermatas are actually treated as stops, not as the literary punctuation points that they were in Bach's time. The main problem is that we still tend to think of the concluding chorales in cantatas as congregational hymns rather than concerted chorale variations. With their wonderful harmonizations, word painting and orchestral accompaniment, they really are a separate genre and always deserve more attention than we give them.

Julian Mincham wrote (December 12, 2006):
Thomas Braatz wrote:
< In the NBA score, the E, A, and D open strings are used just where you might expect them to be used in the fast, repeated-note passages (bariolage). >
Yes in D minor but not in E minor. But you haven't addressed the general issue of downward transposition of works that became keyboard concerti.

Neil Halliday wrote (December 13, 2006):
The rhythmic vitality of the opening movement is a significant aspect of the effect of this joyful music. One of the rhythmic structural devices is an emphatic three-crotchet motive that occurs in the first violins, and other times in the continuo, sometimes also in the combined string/oboe parts. This three-note motive (in 4/4 time, with the fourth beat silent) occurs elsewhere in Bach, eg, at the start of the E major violin concerto and the ritornello of BWV 130.

The very opening figure (coming in on the 4^th beat) is a four 1/16^th note figure that occurs extensively in the instrumental parts and animates the entire movement. The score reveals how the various elements are assembled to produce the joyful animation.

Herreweghe [9] and Rilling [2] get my vote in this movement.

The alto aria has a lovely phrase on "Von Angesicht zu Angesicht." (Leonhardt's sample of the aria [3] sounds very convincing).

The soprano aria is very sweet on the ear indeed! The BGA has `solo' written above the 1<sup>st</sup> violin playing the (F# dominant 7<sup>th</sup>) rising and falling arpeggio that introduces the repeated note section (this section reverts back to `tutti'). Does this imply that only one violin plays this arpeggio, in contrast to the rest of the 1^st violin line, where more than one violin is required? (I presume there are many places in Bach's scores where the 1st violins are playing alone, without it being necessary for Bach to add the word `solo' to the score)

The middle section, marked `largo', is played `agitato' by Rilling [2] - a viable interpretation according to the text, as noted by Thomas, but I prefer the `sweet pleading' (my characterisation) of eg, Suzuki's `largo'interpretation (the other samples don't go this far).

In this aria it's interesting to compare Herreweghe's legato strings [9] with the other period groups.

In the final chorale, Herreweghe [9] holds the fermatas decently, but the tempo is a bit quick for a sober/serious presentation of the chorale.

As usual, I dislike the unaccompanied treatment of the seccos - as if these cantatas are mini operas. OTOH, the continuous cello vibrato, with weak harpsichord chords (in Rilling [2]) isn't too attractive, either. (The secco first up in Rilling's BWV 134 is more successful). I"ll just have to play them through myself on the piano!.

Eric Bergerud wrote (December 15, 2006):
As usual repeated listening to Bach lead to greater appreciation of a wonderful work.

I understand fully why female sopranos play a large role in the world of Bach choral music even if originally denied entrance. By and large it's for the best. But this situation makes me appreciate the Teldec series even more at least when it works. And I think it works with Leonhardt's BWV 133 [3]. Rene Jacobs sings the wonderful alto aria and if one wants a male choir, he was certainly one of the best in the business. Personally I am more than satisfied with the singing of the boy soprano from the Hannover Boys Choir. There's no mistaking the "period instruments" in this series and I think Leonhardt's forces make very good use of them. And, granted these recordings are not done in the most advanced digital mode, the Teldec engineers served their artists very well. I gave this work a run through at high volume and it sounded sweet.

To my ears, Leusink [6] comes across very well in this work also. I am not the chairman of the Buwalda fan club, but he does a nice job here. Perhaps I've heard Ruth Holton in better form, but her voice is so distinctive that I can't be critical. Leusink, as usual, opts for middle of the road tempos and, as usual, the approach leads to good Bach. There are no doubt better ensembles out there, and it may be that Leusink knew it and simply played it safe.

I like Gardiner [8] a lot, but this is not my favorite of his works. The choir and ensemble perform very nicely. I can't say that I was terribly impressed with either Derek Ragin singing countertenor or Katharine Fuge in soprano. Mind you, music this lovely always sounds good in hands as skilled as Gardiner's. I simply think there is nothing here that isn't done as well or better than my other two options. (I would like to hear Suzuki in this one [10]. He runs through it nearly 3 minutes faster than Leonhardt [3] who is the slow-poke among the works appearing on our site. I found Leonhardt's tempos [3] most suitable to the work but would like to hear such a significant contrast.)

Peter Smaill wrote (December 27, 2006):
Poetry in Cantata Texts - BWV 133

Recently the traditional view has resufarce- that the texts of the Cantatas are not poetry, or at any rate not very good poetry. I am not in a position to judge relative to the corpus of 18^th century baroque literature, only some of which is available in translation. However, it cannot be denied that some beautiful imagery is incorporated into the Cantata texts, often but not always meditations on death.

Recently I shared with a fluent German speaker the impression that the final chorale of BWV 133 made on first reading, and here is the original posting and response:

<BWV 133/6, "...the final verse of the Chorale in a plain four-part setting".
(Dürr).

<Indeed so, but it is most beautiful for two reasons. One is the poetic image of "falling asleep in Jesus" and the partly internal rhyme scheme in which repetition as it were lulls the reader to slumber:

Wohlan, so will ich mich
An dich, o Jesu,halten,
Und sollte gleich die Welt
In tausend Stücken spalten.
O Jesu,dir,nur dir,
Dir leb ich ganz allein;
Auf dich,allein auf dich,
Mein Jesu,schlaf ich ein.>

Response by German speaking friend (British):

"Yet even in such a small and artless sample you get a glimpse of the beauties of the German language, which is usually taken to be so prolix and laborious. And of course it is (but then so, at its worst, is English). I do not often admit this, but I actually like German poetry better than English poetry: another legacy of my school years. Beautiful as the King James Bible is, I think Luther’s Bible is even better. ....... But I digress...

What I want to point out to you is the use of cases in the poem above. In the first two lines, for example, it could have said `Ich will mich an dir halten’, I want to hold on to you. Instead it says `an dich’, using the accusative, the case of movement: so Jesus moves. In the next two lines, `die Welt sollte in tausend Stücken spalten’, in other words, the world is split into a thousand pieces (dative), so this process has ended in inertia. Dative is again the case in the fifth and sixth lines, recalling a passive human agent. But, brilliantly, the last line returns to the accusative. Normal German would be `auf dir schlaf ich ein’, I fall asleep on you. But here we have `auf dich’, which for once can be rendered (sort of) into English as `I fall asleep on to you’ - though this does not make much sense. But in German it does, not only in evoking movement, but also in recalling `auf dich werde ich mich verlassen’, I will rely on you. German is a complicated language, but it can also say a lot of things that cannot be said in English, at least not with such economy. The words fit the music, indeed."

If even this seemingly simple chorale strophe has such linguistic subtlety, who can say that there is no poetic value in the Cantata texts?

Ed Myskowski wrote (December 28, 2006):
Peter Smaill wrote:
< If even this seemingly simple chorale strophe has such linguistic subtlety, who can say that there is no poetic value in the Cantata texts? >
I will step forward and accept the blame for overstating a point. I think this is worth discussing at some length, once the Xmas seasonal chat blows over.

I never meant to say that there is no poetic value in the texts, only that the enduring artistic value is in the music, not the texts. With the notable exception of the Biblical classics.

Much more to come, and looking forward to civilized discussion on this topic!

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