Cantata BWV 23 - Discussions

Cantata BWV 23
Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sons
Discussions

Discussions in the Week of March 5, 2000

Aryeh Oron wrote (March 5, 2000)
Background

This is the week of cantata BWV 23, according to Marie Jansen's suggestion. We have here the rare opportunity of comparing performances from all the 5 Cantatas Cycles – The 2 complete ones (H/L & Rilling [5]) and the 3 which are still underway (Koopman [6], Suzuki [7], Leusink [8]), as well as the classic Richter [2]. Therefore I am sure that everyone in this group has at least one version of this cantata and I expect many of you to participate in the discussion. As far as I know, Gardiner and Herreweghe have not recorded (yet?) this cantata, neither somebody from the first generation of cantata performers, like Ramin. Where I experienced some difficulties with BWV 181 last week, this one is irresistible through all its four movements, from beginning to end. Bach’s inspiration does not leave him even for a moment.

Duet for Soprano and Alto

Mvt. 1. Duet for Soprano and Alto
Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sons
(Thou very God and David’s son, Thou who from eternity, has, in the distance, already seen minutely my heart’s grief and my body’s pain, pity Thou me)
Translation to English is taken from Robertson’s book.
Soprano, Alto, 2 Oboes, Continuo

Regarding this slow Duet (Mvt. 1), I would like to quote from Robertson, Dürr, Isoyama and Crouch.

Robertson wrote (in his book on Bach Cantatas):
"This libretto, taken from St. Matthew xx.30-34, is the account of two blind men, thereby giving Bach the chance of writing a Duet. The text and the choice of voices show that Bach is treating the healing of blind men as related to the healing of the Christian soul."

Alfred Dürr wrote (in the linear notes to Teldec Cycle):
"Cantata 23 appears to be a work of deep personal commitment and unusual expressive power. Its text links up with the blind man’s prayer for mercy and applies it to the present time and the assembled congregation: not only the eyes of the blind man, but ‘the eyes of all’ wait upon the Lord. In the opening movement Bach combines the instrumental trio of two oboes and continuo and the vocal Duet into skilful quintet of deeply moving intensity."

Tadashi Isoyama wrote (in the linear notes to Suzuki’s recording):
"The movement is in B minor MOLTO ADAGIO. 2 Oboes playing in triplets interweave in sincerity, and the Alto and Soprano go back and forth, now one leading and now the other, in their appeal for pity. The main structure in this piece is a modification of the EXCLAMATIO figure Bach liked so much"

Simon Crouch wrote (in his Cantata Pages):
"I think that I would have given Bach the job as soon as I'd heard the first few bars of the opening movement! There's a superb "double Duet". The two oboes weave an incredible hook (I defy you on hearing this for the first time not to go away humming or whistling this figure, it's totally addictive!) whilst the Soprano and Alto sing a Duet of incredible sadness."

Personal Viewpoint

And I would like to add something personal:
The music of this sublime movement is so descriptive, that you can almost paint a picture according to the music, even with very little understanding of the words. The two blind men sitting at the wayside, waiting for the priest to come, entreating for him, hoping that he is really coming. Is it an early version of ‘Waiting for Godo’ by Samuel Becket? The oboes add to the melancholy and anticipating feeling. The Continuo adds a rhythm of a walking march. A though the waiting blind men hear from distance the voices of the coming convey. I was tempted to hear the various performances of this cantata like different paintings, which was drawn on the same subject.

Review of the Recordings

[4] Gustav Leonhard (1973; Opening Duet: 7:57)
With this performance I am seeing myself looking at an old picture, which has been restored to its original condition. The colours are very bright, you can see every detail, and the combination of colours is very well match. The boy voice sounds so appropriate here and he sings beautifully, as do Esswood, the Oboes and the Continuo. There is nothing that could be improved here, but I know that I am going to hear other versions, which will also be valid on their own terms.

[2] Karl Richter (1973-1974; Opening Duet: 7:02)
This very sensitive and tender treatment is coming from a conductor, whose interpretations tend usually to be on the big scale and glorious side. I believe that this interpretation is dictated by the music. But you can still identify the Richter’s touch. He uses very bright oil colours and put them on the canvas with strong brush anointment.

[5] Helmuth Rilling (1977; Opening Duet: 6:38)
The strong part of this performance is of course the voices. Augér and Watts voices and interpretations are the most emotional and expressive among all the recordings of this cantata I heard. I wish they had better accompaniment. The conducting here is not clean enough, in comparison to the other interpretations. As though the painter knew exactly what he wanted to do in advance, but put the colours on the canvas very incautiously. But the figures he put on the canvas are very much alive. They almost jump out of the painting.

[6] Ton Koopman (1996; Opening Duet: 7:11)
This interpretation is very similar to that of Leonhardt, but sounds in a way more modern. As if the painter uses the same lines and frames to paint the same painting from scratch, using more modern tools and colours. I believe that it comes out of more contemporary means. The oboes are less wooden than those of Leonhardt are, the two voices are feminine and not masculine, the approach of the conductor is softer, etc.

[7] Masaaki Suzuki (1998; Opening Duet: 7:01)
This Japanese painting is so gentle, lyrical, clear and elaborate. You can hear clearly every detail as could have been expected from Suzuki and his forces. They have also kind of slight warmth, which I like very much, because it sounds so natural. The mark on this performance is Mera, whose voice I do not like. It is insensitive and unpleasant to my taste.

[8] Pieter Jan Leusink (1999; Opening Duet: 6:38)
This interpretation is painted with watercolours. This is very light performance. The voice of Buwalda is more delicate than that of Holton, but they match very well together.

Conclusion

To sum up, the music of BWV 23 is almost playing itself. None of the recordings of this cantata I have heard failed to do justice to the music and to please me. But each one of then gave a slightly different view of the music.

And as always, I would like to hear other opinions, regarding the above mentioned performances, or other recordings.

Marie Jensen wrote (March 6, 2000):
The Bible text for this Sunday is about the blind man who begs Jesus for healing his eyes, though Jesus is far away and he can't come to Him in the turmoil on the road. So BWV 23 is one long prayer. Cantata BWV 23 was together with BWV 22 the first performed in Leipzig February 1723 as Bach's "audition".

I have it in two versions, my new BCJ/Suzuki CD [7] and my old taped Rilling [5].

Instrumentally they are not the same. The cantata exists in more versions. In the wonderful opening Duet (Mvt. 1) the Rilling version has a bassoon. Suzuki has not. Midori Suzuki and Mera clear slim line style sounds great to me, but I have to admit that the Rilling singers (Augér, Watts) with their more voluminous expressivity make it sound more like a prayer. The bassoon also adds more depth to the music, which I like verymuch. As HIP and non-HIP versions they complement each other fine. I like both versions of the cantata.

Now we are in the biblical corner: The epistle of the day (1 Corinthians 13: 1-13) is Paulus famous letter to the Corinthians chapter 13 about eternal divine love Bach didn't make cantatas to the epistle but to the gospel (Luke 18: 31-43), but I'm sure he would have made a fantastic cantata to chapter 13, if he had had the chance. Perhaps music would do no good to a text, which already is so beautiful that it feels like music. But have anyone, no matter which composer ever put music to chapter 13, I would like to hear about it.

John Downes wrote (March 6, 2000):
I was at the Kings College Cambridge JEG performance last night and there was (as there has been on each of the 3 concerts I have so far attended) a recording van there. The program said that the deal with Archiv was that 12 CDs would be released to commemorate the series.

Johan van Veen wrote (March 7, 2000):
Some impressions regarding four of the six versions: Leonhardt [4], Koopman [6], Suzuki [7], & Leusink [8].

[4] This is the slowest performance of all four I have heard. I think this slow tempo is very appropriate here. The sighing motifs and chromaticism on 'mein Herzeleid' and 'Erbarme dich mein' come across very strongly: they get enough time to be heard. Another thing, which makes this performance impressive (apart from the treble and Alto, who blend very well) is the playing of the oboe d'amore, which produce a sombre sound, which corresponds to the key of b minor, according to Mattheson melancholic'.

[2] Richter & [5] Rilling snipped - I haven't heard them.

[6] I find this version not very appealing. The voices don't blend as well as in Leonhardt and Suzuki. Very strange is the small ornament Von Magnus sings on 'mein Herzeleid' which undermines the chromaticism. Very good is the organ Continuo.

[7] This performance is too fast, and too 'businesslike'. The voices blend well, but don't have much warmth. The sighing motifs I mentioned are almost gone before one notices them. Very disturbing - and unnecessary - is the harpsichord in the Continuo.

[8] IMO they don't match that well: Buwalda has a warmer, more expressive voice than Holton. My main problem is the tempo, which is too fast - the character of this Duet (Mvt. 1) isn't brought out so well. The playing of the oboes is a little pale.

Having heard this Duet (Mvt. 1) with oboes and with oboe d'amore, I prefer the latter version - the beautiful somewhat melancholic sound fit in perfectly with the content of this piece.

Ryan Michero wrote (March 10, 2000):
Hello, Cantata buddies! Sorry I'm a little behind in the discussion, but I did a little extra listening this week.

I decided that, since this week's cantata is BWV 23, "Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn", I would also listen to the other cantata with which it is historically linked, BWV 22, "Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe". These cantatas are very important markers in the development of Bach's style as they represent the transition between the secular cantatas composed at Köthen and the early Leipzig sacred cantatas. They are Bach's audition cantatas for the St. Thomas cantorate, BWV 23 written mostly in Köthen and BWV 22 written upon his arrival in Leipzig, and they show the composer attempting a wide variety of movements to illustrate the generally sombre moods of the day's gospel. They are certainly self-contained works, but they work equally well as a double-bill. I listened to both to get a feel for what that first performance might have been like. Most of the cantata sets I have pair them together anyway, so this was easy enough to do. All of the performers I listened to bring something unique and valuable to the works, but I tend to think that, as these cantatas are historically important pieces, the most best and most enlightening recordings take into account the unusual performance circumstances of these pieces.

An exhaustive account of the performance history of these cantatas (especially BWV 23) can be found in the essay "Bach's Audition for the St. Thomas Cantorate: The Cantata 'Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn'" in Christoph Wolff's BACH: ESSAYS ON HIS LIFE AND MUSIC. Wolff summarizes his findings in the notes to Koopman's Vol.3, and Suzuki seems to draw on the information for his own notes in his Vol.8. The research discussed in the article has important repercussions on instrumentation, pitch, and exactly which movements to perform (even this is not entirely clear as I have learned). I recommend it to anyone who is interested in the performance context and the HIP recreation of Bach's cantatas.

I'll start my discussion on a light note by relaying to you a quote included in Wolff's article from a contemporary press report:

"On Sunday last in the morning the Hon. Kapellmeister of Köthen, Mr. Bach, gave here his test at the church of St. Thomas's for the hitherto vacant Cantorate, the music of the same having been amply praised on that occasion by all knowledgeable persons..."

Assuming that the scholars are right, I would like to amply praise the "knowledgeable persons" of Leipzig for their appreciation of such fine music!

On to the recordings:

[4] I have a special fondness for Leonhardt's version on Teldec, but I'm not sure I can call it my favourite. Leonhardt's usual strengths are here in abundance: interesting but natural phrasing, clearly delineated lines, reliable vocal soloists, and fine obbligato playing. Paul Esswood surpasses himself with outstanding performances in both cantatas, and Equiluz and van Egmond are predictably great in BWV 22. I especially like the reedy, plangent sound of the oboes in these recordings--period winds at their most delicious. The Tenor aria "Mein alles in allem" is a bit sluggish for my taste, but this is a small problem. The treasure of these cantata performances, as Johan and Aryeh have mentioned, is the ravishing performance of the opening Duet, "Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn" (Mvt. 1). The reedy oboes and the voices of Paul Esswood and boy Soprano Walter Gampert all blend wonderfully, creating a heartbreakingly lovely sound. The sounds are wonderfully unpolished and raw, beautifully portraying human weakness during the cries of "Erbarme dich mein!" I'm listening to it now and it really is breathtaking. I have a minor quibble with Leonhardt's version: Bach's autograph score for both works specifies between "concertists" and "ripienists", but Leonhardt does not follow his markings. Hence, for Leonhardt, the full choir begins the fugue in the first Chorus of BWV 22, which doesn't transition as well from the solo singing that begins the movement. Perhaps more damaging, Leonhardt has the Tenor and Bass sections of his choir instead of soloists sing the Duet sections of the third movement of BWV 23, a strange effect that undermines Bach's intended contrast. I'm being picky, though--Leonhardt's performances of these cantatas are great, and you all really must hear the opening Duet (Mvt. 1) of BWV 23.

[8] I just recently received Volumes 1 and 2 of the Kruidvat/Brilliant Classics Bach series under Pieter Jan Leusink, and this was my first chance to sample these recordings. My first impressions are overall favourable: the orchestra has a lovelysound, not too polished but rich and pleasantly "antique" (in the best sense of that word. The choir sounds a bit large and undisciplined compared to that on other series, but it is acceptable and I applaud the rare (outside of the Teldec series) use of boys on the Soprano line. I do like the soloists, especially Nico van der Meel and Ruth Holton. Bas Ramselaar is also fine, with his heavy, authoritative voice. Unfortunately, I'm not fond of the nasal, unsteady voice of Counter-tenor Sytse Buwalda, featured prominently in both of these cantatas. The highlight of these cantatas under Leusink is unquestionably "Mein Alles in Allem" sung by van der Meel. WOW! The strings sound great, not too polished and blended like Koopman's strings but pleasantly and sweet with a touch of astringency that is very nice. Leusink adopts a gentle, skipping tempo that sounds just right, and van der Meel is really wonderful. Overall, though, I can't recommend Leusink's recordings of BWV 22 and BWV 23. The soloists in the opening Duet (Mvt. 1) of BWV 23 don't blend well, and Leusink, like Leonhardt, doesn't observe Bach's distinction between "concertists" and "ripienists" in choral movements. Worst of all, Leusink omits entirely the last movement of BWV 23, even though the text of the movement is included in the liner notes! True, Bach originally planned a three-movement piece, writing "Il Fine" at the end of the third movement. Yet upon arrival in Leipzig he added the fourth part, and all known performances of the work included the fourth movement. So why does Leusink cut it? I understand there are probably extreme limitations of budget and time in this project, but this recording presents a distorted vision of this cantata and cannot be recommended.

[6] Koopman's versions (on his Vol.3) are altogether better and more accurately performed. I think all of the singers make a strong impression here, including Barbara Schlick and Elizabeth von Magnus (who don't always please me) as well as Paul Agnew and Klaus Mertens. The Chorus is fine as always, with Koopman observing Bach's "concertists"/"ripienists" distinctions to fine effect in "Aller Augen warten, Herr". The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra as always plays excellently, with Marcel Ponseele's oboe a constant delight. There is also some fine, crisp ensemble playing by the strings in "Mein alles in allem", where Koopman adopts a quicker tempo than Leusink for a bit more energy and a bit less radiance. Koopman takes the final chorale of BWV 22 at a very quick pace for no apparent reason, making it sound really rushed. The Duet (Mvt. 1) that opens BWV 23 comes off well though, with Schlick and von Magnus both in fine form, blending nicely with the warm, limpid oboes d'amore--very nice even if it doesn't reach the heights of Leonhardt's version. There is something curious about Koopman's version of "Christ, du Lamm Gottes", though. The liner notes go into great detail about how Bach added trombones and a cornett to the choral lines for the first performance, dropping the pitch of the piece a half tone (from C minor to B minor), using oboes d'amore to accommodate this shift in pitch, then at a later date removing the brass and shifting back up to the written pitch. Then it says, "The present recording prefers the B minor version of the work, but dispenses with the brass reinforcements in the final chorale." Fine, but cornett and trombones are listed in the scoring for the movement in the booklet, and, sure enough, close listening reveals the brass instruments in the background tooting along with the choir. Strange! But overall Koopman's versions are very good.

[7] To me, though, the most consistently satisfying versions of both cantatas come from Masaaki Suzuki and the Bach Collegium Japan. Not only does Suzuki respect all of Bach's performing indications and pay close attention to original pitch and scoring, but also he conducts surely and naturally, penetrating right to the heart of these works. These cantatas are just so much more vivid to me in Suzuki's recordings. The opening Arioso-Chorus of BWV 22 is wonderfully judged, with fine solo singing by "Evangelist" Gerd Türk and "Vox Christi" Peter Kooy (foreshadowing their roles in Suzuki's new St. Matthew Passion) and an exciting reading of the fugue, complete with "concertists" in the exposition. Yoshikazu Mera is one of my very favourite singers, and he gives a moving account of the aria "Mein Jesu, ziehe mich nach dir". As usual, he exhibits incredible vocal control, holding the frequent long notes starting with a clear, pure tone, adding a touch of vibrato at the end. He sounds great with Alfredo Bernardini's oboe playing, which, for my money, is even more persuasive than that of Marcel Ponseele in both cantatas. Kooy and Suzuki even elevate the following recitative to great heights, creating a moving miniature drama out of the simplest music. "Mein alles in allem" is also very well done here, with Gerd Türk just as fine in this lyrical music as in more declamatory passages, and with nicely articulated string playing and a quick tempo--delightful. The final chorale of BWV 22 is nicely judged, with the lyrical instrumental melody sounding lovely. The Duet (Mvt. 1) that opens BWV 23 is not as moving as in Leonhardt's version, but it is still great here, with Midori Suzuki, Mera, and the oboes d'amore sounding very beautiful together. Johan complained about the use of the Cembalo here, but this is historically justified: There is a surviving performance part for BWV 23 labelled "basson e Cembalo", causing Wolff to speculate that either a harpsichord was used in addition to organ at the first performance or that a harpsichord was added later because of an organ in need of repair. Suzuki's readings of the two closing Choruses of BWV 23 are also excellent. "Aller Augen warten, Herr" sounds great, with a quick tempo and sharp articulation in the choral lines and soloists Türk and Kooy singing the Tenor and Bass lines in between the choral ritornelli. Bach's original cornett and trombone parts add weight to the choral lines in "Christe, du Lamm Gottes", not buried in the mix but helping to create some rich, spine-tingling sonorities. The excellent notes set the seal on these lovely and enlightening performances. These cantatas are fine examples of Bach's art, and I couldn't ask for better performances than Suzuki gives us here.

About Bach Cantatas on Brilliant Classics

Max Schmeder wrote (May 13, 2000):
[8] I've heard that the cantatas are not so good.

Galina Kolomietz wrote (May 14, 2000):
[8] For whatever it's worth, here's my opinion. The quality is uneven, so there are some good moments (and you can't beat the price), but in general these are hard to recommend. Of the soloists, tenor Nico van der Meel is the best; in fact, he is quite good by any standards. He reminds me a bit of Nigel Rogers - a very musical singer, even though the voice is not beautiful... Bass Bas Ramselaar is also reasonably good. But the other tenor, Knut Schoch, sounds grainy and often insecure. Ruth Holton strikes me as a very unconvincing Bach soprano. Her voice sounds colourless and disaffected. I like "white sopranos" but up to a point... When they start sounding "like a mouse in cheese" I draw the line. But the person who I find to be absolutely unacceptable is alto Sytse Buwalda. To my ears, his voice is rough and unpleasant, and there is nothing in his interpretation to offset that.

Ryan Michero wrote (May 14, 2000):
[8] Galina, gives a very good account of these recordings. I am glad to have them at the price because of the few great moments in them, but just about every other cantata series is preferable. I agree that Nico van der Meel fantastic, and that Sytse Buwalda is unacceptable. The one point with which I disagree is your dislike of Ruth Holton. After all, Bach wrote his soprano music for boys. Here is a voice with all the freshness and purity of a boy but with the technique and musicality of a mature woman--a perfect Bach soprano. A mouse in cheese? Not to my ears.

Lucas As wrote (May 16, 2000):
[8] I can't understand the criticism. It's really a great cycle. Leusink's unpolished and enthusiastic recordings gives the music the spirit and emotional tension which other recordings are missing.

Yes, there are moments that I really can't enjoy the recordings, but in fact all other Bach-cycles give me the same experience. There is -unfortunately- no such thing as a perfect Bach cantata project.

I also possess the complete Bach Cantatas performed by Harnoncourt and Leonhardt, which is the other cycle I wouldn't want to miss. I think the two cycles are complementary in many ways. It's quite interesting to hear the music performed by the great musicians of twenty years ago.

Some other cycles tend to be glamorous, but where has the music been? The criticism that there are many great moments but that the whole is disappointing is more appropriate for those recordings. By the way, Sytse Buwalda is a perfect choice.

Ryan Michero wrote (May 17, 2000):
[8] Oops. Forgive me for being unclear. I didn't mean every other cantata cycle was preferable but every other HIP cantata cycle. I do like Leusink's recordings, but I think the Harnoncourt/Leonhardt, Koopman, and Suzuki sets are all more consistently satisfying.

I was also thinking of the best cantata series to recommend to a beginner. While the Leusink is the least expensive, it is also the least satisfactory in giving you valuable information about the cantatas (i.e., translations of the texts, extensive notes on the works, alternate versions, etc.). In one cantata, BWV 23, Leusink omits a movement where all evidence says Bach performed one. Every other HIP series includes the movement as they are generally much more thorough in such editorial matters. And when blemishes in ensemble and singing (that could be corrected with another take or more rehearsal time) or lack of inspiration (no time for to find the heart of the music) ruins whole numbers, I feel sorry for the people who cannot listen to better versions of these marvellous works. I value Leusink's Cantata series, but it is not my desert island Bach Cantata project (that would be Suzuki's--, as most of the list members know).

(The complete Bach Cantatas performed by Harnoncourt and Leonhardt) I agree, but here again I think both Suzuki and Koopman are more consistent. Have you heard any of the Koopman or Suzuki cycles?

(Sytse Buwalda) Some people love him, some people hate him. I'm in the "hate him" camp. IMHO he sounds a bit like a better-trained version of me when I try to sing along with the cantatas--lots of trouble hitting the notes.

Lucas As wrote (May 19, 2000):
[8] The cantata BWV 23 has been performed for the first time in 1723 and then contained only the first three parts. Only in the 1740 performance Bach added the choral "Christe, du Lamm Gottes" Indeed it's a pity that Leusink didn't record this choral.

I agree with you that the hurry to record all the cantatas within one year asks its prize. Nevertheless, I love the enthusiasm on these records.

I don't know the Suzuki cycle, I really should (but you know: time, money...) I know some of the Koopman performances. I do have some problems with his interpretations and the choice of the soloists. Beautiful orchestra, though.

(Sytse Buwalda) What can I say…?

Discussions in the Week of June 26, 2005

Bradley Lehman wrote (June 23, 2005):
BWV 23, which key?

Forgive this for being a little ahead of next week's discussion, but BWV 22 and BWV 23 were designed to be together anyway....

Which of the recordings are really of performances in B minor, as opposed to C minor, and having the cornetto and trombones? (Compare against BWV 22 to be sure, as to what they're using as C and G; for example, Leonhardt's is in C minor even though by modern pitch it sounds sort of like B minor. Their diapason there is A=415.)

Bach got to Leipzig for his test Sunday, in February of 1723. He had both these cantatas along with him, almost ready. And at the last minute he transposed #23 from C minor to B minor and added the cornetto and trombone parts, creating this temporary version for the audition. At that time he also tacked on the fourth movement, the German equivalent of the "Agnus Dei". BWV 22 and BWV 23 were performed in the same service, before and after the sermon. (He did BWV 23 again the next year, still in B minor. Then when Bach did BWV 22 and BWV 23 as reruns, in later years, he put BWV 23 back to C minor.)

Some possible reasons for the temporary transposition to B minor:

- Easier for the cornetto/trombones, and oboi d'amore, also being added as an afterthought. Perhaps he had not been informed far enough ahead of time that these players would be available for that weekend? The earlier scoring of #23 simply has the more conservative and conventional requirement of strings, oboes, and continuo. So does BWV 22.

- More contrast against BWV 22, showing a broader range of expression as a composer: impressive for an audition. More tone colors are available, going to this different set of keys. B minor and C minor have different character from one another.

- The organ perhaps wasn't set up yet to handle the C minor of BWV 23, even though it could sort of "make do" in the C minor second movement of BWV 22 if played quietly enough. Since the organ was a whole step higher than the orchestra, C minor is read by the organist in B-flat minor, one of the poor keys for most temperaments. Bach's required tuning, sent ahead (or brought with him) on the title page of the WTC as demonstration of his teaching materials, simply wasn't ready there yet on the instrument by the time of this audition Sunday in February 1723. With BWV 23 transposed into B minor, the organ is playing in A minor: an unproblematic key for other temperaments.

Neil Halliday wrote (June 23, 2005):
Bradley Lehman wrote:
<"Which of the recordings are really of performances in B minor, as opposed to C minor, and having the cornetto and trombones?
Of the following modern instrument recordings, Richter [2] and Werner [3] have the trombones in the 4^th movement. Along with Rilling [5] (no trombones), they are all in G minor (modern pitch), with the first movement in C minor. The BGA score (G minor) simply has trombones playing col' parte with the voices in the 4th movement. Perhaps other members might have details for the period recordings.

BTW, does your statement about Bach transposing the 1^st movement from C minor to B minor imply that the last movement, originally in G minor, was likewise transposed down a semitone, to F sharp minor? Would this be simpler for the trombones?

Bradley Lehman wrote (June 23, 2005):
< BTW, does your statement about Bach transposing the 1^st movement from C minor to B minor imply that the last movement, originally in G minor, was likewise transposed down a semitone, to F sharp minor? Would this be simpler for the trombones? >
That 4^th mvt didn't exist in his C minor version at all. He had brought that along as part of a (now lost) Passion setting from Weimar, and recycled that mvt into here. I don't know if transposition was involved or not, on that one. The C minor score says "Il Fine" at the end of the third mvt, and has a fermata (meaning the same thing, "The End") there in some of the parts.

Anyway, we've got this divergent set of versions where he wrote the thing in C minor (but 3 mvts only) in Coethen, did a quick B minor version adding the 4th and performing it in 1723 and 1724, then putting it all back to C minor and doing it at least once in later years. So his "last thoughts" and "first thoughts" are the C minor version, but the "middle thoughts" at audition time are also interesting, and it's worth hearing both.

For the B minor version it's just the wind and continuo parts that are written out in the new key (with A minor for continuo); apparently the string players all tuned down half a step and played from the C minor set of parts. (Tuned down their strings for BWV 23 when, immediately after the sermon whereas they had played cantata BWV 22 before it, at their normal pitch?) Then in the recycled version sometime 1728 or later, Bach took a B minor bassoon/harpsichord part and converted it to B-flat minor for the organ, writing in a bunch of flats, and writing in naturals to cancel the sharps.

References: the 1998 BWV, the Wolff bio, Parrott on both BWV 22/BWV 23, Young's analytical guide to the cantatas, Leaver's articles about BWV 22/BWV 23 in the Oxford Composer Companion, and parts list for BWV 23 in Dreyfus's appendix. And especially: chapter 10 of Wolff's Essays (1991) dealing with the circumstances and performance materials for both BWV 23 and BWV 22, at this Leipzig audition by Bach. That includes a facsimile of that converted B-flat minor continuo part.

Wolff in his postscript to that article, on p410, asserted: "The transposition to B minor can hardly have been necessitated by any other reason than the Chorton brass participation." But I personally believe that another very good reason--and perhaps the strongest one--would have been to have the organ (and therefore also the whole ensemble) sound better, playing in its notated A minor vs B-flat minor. The circumstance was such an important audition in Bach's career, forced to use whatever organ temperament was dealt to him before he got that job. [And then during Bach's tenure there he had more leisure to get it reset to his exacting standards, and able to play in B-flat minor. B-flat minor, the same notorious key with which his cousin Nikolaus had won an organ-tuning contest against young Neidhardt!]

Tom Dent wrote (June 23, 2005):
[To Bradley Lehman] I find this all rather confusing, but perhaps it was also confusing for Bach and the audience on the day, to have to rewrite something at the last minute or transpose it with scarcely any preparation, possibly for the sake of wind instruments... and then have the string band retune by a semitone in the middle of a church service.

The existence of 'tief Cammerton' as in some earlier cantatas might conceivably be a factor here, since an instrumental C minor then becomes an organ Am which is failsafe. If that was JSB's expectation then the situation at Leipzig would be a jolt, since instead of subtracting three flats one would have to add two. However, the supposition of Chorton+tief Cammerton would be disproved if there was a Coethen-date continuo part in Bbm or Cm. The expectation of tief Cammerton would explain why the later Bbm continuo part had to have been adapted, since the earlier part would always have been in Am.

Of course one would also have to check the dates of those cantatas which were definitely written for Chorton+tief Cammerton, to see if it is plausible that Bach would have done so at Coethen.

If there were problems with organ tuning in Bb minor, we may suppose that Bach didn't have time to rewrite no. BWV 22, and decided to get the worst over with first. But that worst might have been pretty bad! The range of possible tonalities in Kuhnau's Thomaskirche would have to be determined by research of his church music, but I doubt it went as far as G flat major or E flat minor, which are reached very soon in the transposed alto aria of BWV 22.

In fact that alto aria 'Mein Jesu, ziehe mich ach dir' poses very considerable problems for any temperament which retains noticeable traces of meantone-ness, whether or not it is transposed, since its range of modulation on the flat side is really exceptional, and
essential to its musical effect.

Along with some internal cadences in E flat major (D flat transposed) the end of BWV 22 is in B flat major, which becomes A flat major on the organ. All in all, the transposed organ part for BWV 22 is really some sort of worst case scenario for many common organ tunings, although some Neidhardts might just about survive.

Bradley Lehman wrote (June 23, 2005):
BWV 23, which key? (& back to BWV 22)

< Along with some internal cadences in E flat major (D flat transposed) the end of BWV 22 is in B flat major, which becomes A flat major on the organ. All in all, the transposed organ part for no.22 is really some sort of worst case scenario for many common organ tunings, although some Neidhardts might just about survive. >
Indeed it's pretty lousy in anything ordinaire or stiffer, and hardly any better in Werckmeister III. In that "Mein Jesu" alto aria, movement 2, playing through it transposed to B-flat minor, it gets nasty as early as bars 4 and 8 especially. And then bars 26-30 are even worse, setting up the first long "Leiden". I played through it in the new Jobin ordinaire proposal: http://www.clavecin-en-france.org/BACH-et-le-Clavier-bien-Tempere
where these passages are hopeless.

Then taking the same score over to my main hpsi and playing it again, continuo in B-flat minor, bars 26-30ff are especially rich and sonorous. (As you can confirm also for yourself playing it there in my recommended temp.) Db, Gb, Ab, and back to Db majors; then suddenly the enharmonic A major sticking in there with its brightness; then cadencing back into Db again at the downbeat of 33. "Ich will von hier und nach Jerusalem, zu deinen Leiden geh'n." It makes Jerusalem seem like an exotic place full of surprises. Word-painting in tones, some of Bach's most colorful and impressive work...if the organ is tuned correctly. And dreadful if not.

What I'm wondering is, pace the discussion in Wolff's chapter 10 in Essays, maybe they just left out the organ altogether in BWV 22 that audition weekend and did BWV 22 with harpsichord. Wolff makes a case here in BWV 22 and BWV 23 for dual accompaniment with both hpsi and organ anyway, on that Sunday. Why not just leave out the organ in this particular movement in BWV 22, and any other nasty spots including the last movement as you've mentioned, where the harmony would have been
bad? The parts for BWV 22 aren't extant today, and we don't know what they entailed. Great opportunity, possibly, for JSB to walk in and tune the harpsichord his way to make the most beautiful impression possible as his audition. As Wolff points out over in the bio, this Bach audition in Leipzig made it into the newspapers but none of the other candidates' auditions did; possibly indicative that it went especially well?

From the 1728+ version of the first movement of 23, facsimile on page 139 of Wolff Essays, play through that B-flat minor part.Some gorgeous harmonies in there, especially on the 7ths and 9ths and the spots where we work our way into A-flat major. Also notice that the first phrase cadences into a B-flat off the bottom of the organ keyboard, which Bach didn't bother to bring up an octave in reworking this bassoon part. Why tell the keyboardist something he already knows and doesn't need to have all spelled out?

This all makes me want to hear the two Graupner cantatas from his audition the previous month. He was the first choice ahead of Bach, and wohave landed the job if he could have got a release from his employer. So then they brought in this second guy who blew everybody away with BWV 22 and BWV 23, and whatever other music was also in his luggage.

=====

[Say...with those parts of BWV 22 all missing...how do we know that Bach didn't transpose all of cantata BWV 22 down a half step also for that audition? The historical record on BWV 22 does not prove that he did not do so; we have only the score in its G/C minor. Do the whole thing in F#/B minor. There goes the problem of retuning the string band during the service. And the oboist, who already has his d'amore along to play BWV 23, doesn't need to bring his regular oboe to play BWV 22 but just uses the d'amore for both. The only thing Bach would have needed to do, already having his portfolio of string parts in hand, would be to write out a new oboe (d'amore) part down a half step, and the organ part...either writing it out or just playing it himself at sight from the score. There aren't any documented reruns, either. How do we know that Bach ever performed cantata BWV 22 in G/C minor?]

Thomas Braatz wrote (June 25, 2005):
BWV 22 & BWV 23 Details

This is important detailed information about BWV 22 and BWV 23 which may be more than some readers will want to know. Nevertheless this can be viewed as a fascinating investigation which probes rather deeply into the complications surrounding the performances of these cantatas during Bach's lifetime. If at times, the discussions seem repetitious, it is because they are presented in this fashion as various aspects and perspectives are explored.

See: BWV 22 & BWV 23 Details

Peter Bright wrote (June 27, 2005):
Introduction: BWV 23

The cantata for discussion this week (27 June to 3 July-) is:

Cantata BWV 23
Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn
(“You true God and son of David”)

Along with BWV 22 (discussed last week), BWV 23 was performed on 7^th February 1723 as a test piece for Bach’s application to the post of Kantor at the Tomasschule. It was probably also performed in 1724, and again between 1728 and 1731

Link to texts, commentary, vocal score, music examples, and list of known recordings: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV23.htm

Link to previous discussions: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV23-D.htm

It is possible to hear two versions of the complete cantata on the internet (Leonhardt from 1973 [4], and Leusink, from 1999 [8]). See: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Mus/BWV23-Mus.htm

First of all, apologies for the lateness of this introduction – I have been unwell.

I find this cantata more interesting than its companion piece (BWV 22). It is a very solemn work – the first movement (Mvt. 1), in particular, conveys a great sadness in its description of the blind man of Jericho pleading for help and comfort. Following the recitatative (Mvt. 2), in which the melody from the concluding chorale weaves around the vocal part, there is a complex chorus (Mvt. 3) and a closing chorale (Mvt. 4). The latter is thought to have been taken from one of Bach’s own Passion settings. It comprises three verses, each with a very distinct harmonic structure – an Adagio in F sharp minor, an Andante where the chorale melody appears in canon, and a B minor conclusion.

This cantata has quite a complex story, and I leave it to Masaaki Suzuki to fill in some details (from the liner notes to his Bach cantata series, vol. 8) [7]. I hope that his comments may spark some further comments...

----
[...] the manuscripts for three movements all in C minor had already been prepared, and the concluding fourth movement was appended after Bach's arrival in Leipzig. At the same time, in order to have independent string and oboe obbligato in the chorale in Mvt. 4, he added cornet and trombone doubling to the chorus parts to strengthen the sound. Here, it is certain that questions of pitch presented themselves.

Because the cornet and trombone, like the organ play in Chorton, while the strings and oboe are pitched one tone lower, one expects to see the music for the former group of instruments written a tone lower. Since the final chorale (Mvt. 4) is in G minor, this means the comet and trombones must have played in F minor, but this is a truly disadvantageous key for these instruments.

The method used by Bach in this situation was first to set the strings down a semitone, making the opening of the chorale in B minor, so that the chorale sounds in F sharp minor. In this case, the comet and trombones could play in E minor, which is comparatively straightforward. But since the oboe, both in terms of pitch and of the key itself, cannot play in B minor (or F sharp minor), an oboe d'amore would have to be substituted. The oboe d'amore is pitched a minor third lower than a regular oboe. Thus B minor would become D minor, and the F sharp minor should appear as A minor; these keys too are comparatively straightforward. An organ part a tone low would also be necessary; in this way, the B minor manuscript for BWV 23 was performed on the occasion of the examination for the position of Kantor. This is proven by the above-mentioned cornet, trombone, and oboe d'amore parts, as well as the part for organ written in A minor by Johann Kuhnau [...].

Masaaki Suzuki (1998)

Chris Kern wrote (June 28, 2005):
The opening ritornello with the oboes is lovely; one of the best melodies I've heard from Bach. I agree with one commentator who said that Bach would have gotten the job just based on the opening duet (Mvt. 1). ;-) I only listened to Leonhardt's version [4] this week, but I'd like to hear one which used female voices just for contrast at some point.

The text seems typical of Bach -- it uses the concrete story of the blind beggar calling to Jesus for mercy as a symbol of the spiritual blindness of mankind.

The recitative text sounded somewhat familiar. Especially the line "Auch in der Blindheit an" reminded me of the line "Vermacht er mir in meine Hande" from movement 12 of the Matthew Passion (BWV 244) (the recitative after the last supper).

According to one of the English translations linked from the main page, the recitative is supposed to be accompanied by an "instrumental chorale" but the Leonhardt version does not contain this, I don't think.

Finally, I do wish that Leonhardt had not substituted the choir for soloists in parts of the 3rd movement. I've encountered this same thing before in Bach; in the Enoch von Guttenberg Matthew Passion (BWV 244) (on DVD), he uses the entire bass group from both choirs for the High Priests singing about how they can't use Judas' money because it's blood money. Somehow it just doesn't seem as effective.

David Glenn Lebut Jr. wrote (June 28, 2005):
[To Peter Bright] Yes, it is a solemn work, because the season of the Ecclesiastical year it was written in and for (Quinquagessimae oder Estomihi Sunday) was and is a solemn season. It is the first Sunday in Lent, ant the Gospel text for this day is the prediction of Christ's Passion and death. It, along with BWV 22 and BWV 159 deal with Christ's words in Matthew 20: 17-19, Mark 10: 32b-34, and Luke 18: 31-33, in which it is (using Matthew's Gospel) "And Jesus going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, Behold we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge,and to crucify Him: and the third day He shall rise again". In fact, the oddity of all the Estomihi Kantaten is BWV 127, which is completely a setting of "Herr Jesu Christ, wahr'r Mensch und Gott" and does not at all deal with the upcoming Passiontide.

Neil Halliday wrote (June 28, 2005):
This cantata is unusual in that it consists of only four movements, each one of which makes a strong impression. (The BCW's reviews contain much information). The following are some further observations.

In the first movement, Bach brings beautiful two-part vocal writing to the words "at a distance", with the soprano's long note (on 'Entfernung') soon being joined by that of the alto at a different pitch; this is reversed in the 'da capo'. [This idea of God observing the strife of the world 'from a distance' was nicely developed in Bette Midler's popular song].

The second movement is one of Bach's finest accompanied recitatives. The unique timbre of unison oboes and violins 1, low in the treble clef, colours the movement with a subdued solemnity. These unison instruments (separate from the rest of the orchestra) play the chorale tune which is heard in the soprano part of the final chorus (designated 'chorale' but it is far too splendid a movement for that name). (Chris, you can listen to the chorale tune you mentioned in movement 2, in the upper unison instruments). According to Robertson, this tune is 'a phrase of the plain-song 'Agnus dei' as it appears in the Litany of Loretto"(?).

The last two movements have the stature of major choruses in a passion setting.

The third movement displays the 'flowing quaver' motion of the SJP's (BWV 245) closing chorus as we now hear it. Unique is the fact that the choir repeatedly sings only two lines of the text, namely, psalm 145.15: "All eyes are on thee, Lord", while the bass and tenor, in the the manner of a duet, interpolate with the remaining sections of the text.

The fourth movement in fact actually ended the SJP (BWV 245) at one time; and this is indeed music that impresses with its solemn splendour; one can certainly surmise that Bach was out to impress his audience.

It's in two sections:'Adagio' and 'Andante', with the same text (Agnus dei) in both sections, repeated twice in the 'andante', with a final 'Amen'.

Considering this movement, Richter [2], in the 'Adagio', gives us some veritable 'day of judgement' music, with his spine-tingling trombones sounding a dire warning of the consequences of human folly. The sighing strings are heart-rending. Richter's conducting is probably a little inflexible in the second part, but for me this is the most impressive recording of this powerful movement.

Werner ignores the 'Adagio' designation, and plays the whole movement at the same "Andante' tempo, thus missing out on some of the the 'sombre majesty' of the first section. Suzuki [7] sounds good (you can listen to a sample of this and all the other movements on the CD, by going to Amazon and typing in 'Suzuki Bach Cantatas 8'). Rilling [5] is excellent but omits the trombones. Leonhardt [4] is elegant and impressive. As has been noted, Leusink [8] omits this movement entirely.

Working backwards, in movement 3, Rilling and Suzuki alone allot the bass and tenor lines to the soloists, which makes for the most contrast between the choir and B,T duet. Rilling is excellent; I find Suzuki to be rushed, with the live acoustic causing some 'fogginess' at the fast tempo. Werner gives a 'large choir in a cavernous cathedral' effect, satisfactory if one already knows the music well. The others are mostly excellent.

Without being fussy, I enjoyed all of the recordings of the first two movements.

Peter Smaill wrote (June 30, 2005):
BWV 23 reveals Bach's musical response to a theological idea, namely, the dual nature of Christ as God and man (David's Son is the expression used; the same dual nature is addressed by the incipit of BWV 127 of 1725, "Herr Jesu Christ, wah'r Mensch und Gott".

For this reason, the work abounds with displays of canonic writing of the highest order, from the echoing Alto response to the Soprano's plea to Jesus, via the imitative passages of "Aller augen warten," and to the final rendering of the Agnus Dei, "Christe, du Lamm Gottes." Despite its late addition to the piece, the thread of the chorale and the peremptory end to BWV 23/3 make it disturbing that Leusink [8] omits the last movement.

The import of the threefold Agnus Dei is not I think minatory to sinners, no matter how much growl is put into the passacaglia-like bass line, but a progression from a funeral march to peace and salvation. Most important, it is the fragment of a lost Weimar Passion and poses one of the most difficult questions in Bach: how to end the St John Passion (BWV 245)? The original "Christe, du Lamm Gottes?" from BWV 23/Weimar Passion; or the exquisite later adopted chorale, "Ach Herr, lass dein leib' Engelein?, a stanza of "Herzlich lieb, hab Ich, O Herr."

Here is the matter according to Paul Steinitz:

"Christe, du Lamm Gottes is a rare and sublime masterpiece, with its opening Adagio funeral march for section 1 of the three-section text, and its lilting Andante, becoming increasingly hopeful and finally triumphant in mood over the last two sections. Certainly the closing Chorale (Mvt. 4) in the original version contrasts the body lying dead in the grave with its final resurrection in a telling and greatly comforting manner. But one could say that it is unliturgical to contemplate thoughts relating to Easter on Good Friday. Apart from following the long No.67 ("Rueht Wohl..."), perhaps this Agnus Dei setting is therefore the ideal ending, with its wonderful change to majpr tonality nine bars from the end on "peace" and "Grant us thy Peace", and the strong Tierce de Picardy in the final bar".

Bach's replacement of the "Lamm Gottes" with "Ach Herr, lass dein leib Engelein" is a radical change to the musical language, from elaborated plainsong, with canonic imitations, syncopation, augmentation, imitation abounding; to a superb but essentially simple Chorale (Mvt. 4). it is also a major change in theological emphasis.

Out went the conclusion linking the Passion to the text of the Mass, a Christ-centred adoration, thanksgiving for salvation from sin and collective prayer for peace; in comes the personal prayer of the sinner. "Ich" replaces "uns" - from "grant us peace" to "hear my Prayer".

Why did Bach make the change in 1730? An interesting coincidence is noted by Christoph Wolff. Bach remained on very friendly terms with Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen, remaining as courtly Capellmeister (non-resident) until the Prince's death in March 1729. One of the hymns set for the funeral was "Herzlich hab Ich, o Herr".

Could Bach have first used his beautiful chorale setting in his now-lost funeral music for the Prince ? And did he then decide to end the St John with the personal prayer of a Christian rather than the theological statement of the Church?

Thomas Braatz wrote (June 25, 2005):
BWV 23/4 (Mvt. 4)

This is an attempt to investigate both BWV 23/4 (Mvt. 4) and BWV 245/40ii = "Christe, du Lamm Gottes" or "Agnus Dei". Both aressentially the same music with minor changes, but significant enough so that some of the existing instrumental parts of one could not be performed together with vocal parts of the other.

Robin A. Leaver, in his article on BWV 23 in OCC:Bach volume [Ed. Boyd, 1999] explains how this 4^th mvt. Of BWV 23, added to Bach's original conception of the cantata, ties in well with the former mvts. although it was missing from the original score and original parts (there are 'Fine' [not 'Il Fine' as Leaver has it] markings in the score and in some of the parts after Mvt. 3. Bach's autograph parts show his own additional directions at the end of Mvt. 3 as "Chorale sequitur sub signo #" or "Volti segue il Corale"

The question still remains as to Bach's reason for making this 'last-minute' change to the 2^nd cantata performed at his Leipzig church audition.

Did Bach want to demonstrate additional aspects of his skill as a composer?

Having possibly taken with him the score for the 'Weimar Passion,' and having failed in his request to perform this music a few weeks later on Good Friday, did he nevertheless want to provide an example of the type of Passion music which he was capable of composing?

Did Bach determine only after arriving in Leipzig for rehearsals that the 3-mvt. cantata BWV 23 would be too short in duration for presentation during communion in a very large church (he had only been familiar with smaller churches before this.)

Or did Bach, once in Leipzig, find out that he had more time available to him for the 'communion cantata' and decided very quickly to copy out a mvt. from the 'Weimar Passion' which he had just happened to have brought along with him for other reasons?

Now the attention is directed toward this original mvt. possibly from an earlier Passion which is later fully documented as the concluding chorale in the 2^nd version of the SJP (now specifically referred to as BWV 245/40ii.)

Why did Bach decide to include it as a replacement for the original final chorale BWV 245/40 = "Ach Herr, laß dein lieb Engelein?"

According to the NBA II/4 KB:

The original composing score for the "Passio secundum Johannem" ["Passion according to St. John"] is missing (no longer extant).

In the existing, partially autograph score, at the end of BWV 245 (SJP) mvt. 39 [Chorus: "Ruht wohl"] after the instructions to repeat from the beginning mvt. 39 "Da Capo.ad Signum {fermate}," the text reads "Tandem Choral. | Ach Herr laß dein lieben Engelein."

The chorale appears on the next page without a title and text with the exception of the following under the alto staff: "Ach H. laß dein lieben {the latter word was abbreviated} Engelein etc."

The phrase 'Tandem Choral", if not in Bach's handwriting, was either dictated to the copyist by him or allowed to stand without his correction.

What does this "Tandem Choral" signify?

The original Latin meaning of 'tandem' is "after some time, at length, at last, (nevertheless, all the same.) In English, the OED informs us that this Latin word is 'used punningly' in English meaning 'one before/behind the other' or 'together, in partnership.'

Personally, I rather doubt that the English meaning of 'tandem' would make much sense in Bach's late score since only one final chorale is presented there. This brings up the question as to how the SJP ended under Bach's direction in performance, based upon the 4 separate versions that we are aware of. In order to answer this question it is necessary to categorize the original parts according to their probable performance dates:

Original parts (various copyists involved, with many revisions, corrections and additional markings by Bach) indicate rather reliably when certain performances, including the first one, did take place under Bach's direction:

Set I = 1724
Set II = 1725
Set III = 1728-1731
Set IV = after 1742 (Dürr), circa 1748-1749 (Dadelsen)

The autograph score, pp. (more correctly folios) 1-10 = 1735-1742 and the remaining sections (pp. or folios 11-46) by Copyist H with corrections and revisions by Bach = same as Set IV above. Some references state that Bach copied 20 pages, but it would be clearer to state that he stopped abruptly in the middle of mvt. 10 in the middle of measure/bar 42 with still 30 mvts. to finish, in other words, Bach completed only 1/4 of the entire Passion, when he suddenly stopped being actively involved in this project.

After presenting many pages of detailed research and with pp. 112 to 116 of the NBA KB II/4 devoted solely to deciding when BWV 245/40ii was performed and when not, the editor, Arthur Mendel, gives the results on p. 116 as follows:

Version I ends with BWV 245/40 (Choral "Ach Herr, laß dein lieb Engelein")

Version II ends with BWV 245/40ii (or BWV 23/4) (Choral "Christe, du Lamm Gottes")

Version III ends with BWV 245/39 (Chorus "Ruht wohl.") [No chorale at the very end just as in the SMP (BWV 244)]

Version IV ends with BWV 245/40 (Choral "Ach Herr, laß dein lieb Engelein")

Based on the versions that are extant, we have come full circle from the earliest which ended with "Ach Herr, laß dein lieb Engelein." Perhaps this offers a clue to Bach's phrase, 'Tandem Choral." Is Bach implying "nevertheless" after all had been tried, this is the best version, or 'at last,' after all has been considered, this is the true ending? [Compare this with the history of versions of BWV 23! It is quite similar in that Bach returns eventually to his initial conception.] Is there a hint of exasperation behind this word 'tandem' or is Bach glad that he has determined that the first version was the best?

Why, after all, did Bach even consider making these changes in the first place? For this we can turn to the Bach experts who have offered speculations worth considering.

One question which bothered the experts is "Why did Bach begin his clean copy of the SJP score and then abruptly turn it over to a copyist to finish copying out the score?"

Mendel, in the NBA KB II/4 p. 75, attempts to solve the riddle as follows:

Sometime, between the preparation of parts for versions III and IV, Bach decided upon creating a new, clean copy of the score for the SJP. Perhaps the old one, a composing score, had become rather difficult to decipher in spots as he contemplated yet another performance of this work. However, after only 10 pages, for some unexplained reason, he lost interest in this project and left it uncompleted. The reason for this might be found in a fairly well-known incident from the year 1739 when a messenger sent from the Leipzig City Council reported on March 17^th that he had approached Bach on the matter concerning the impending Good-Friday music performance for which the permission to perform it (it appears that Bach had to ask about when and where the performance of a Passion would take place) had not yet been sought by Bach. To this Bach answered: "It was always done this way and
it really didn't matter to him (he really couldn't care less about this) and he really got nothing out of this because it only meant more work for him..if objections/reservations about the text are involved then this really makes no sense since, in its present format, it had already been performed this way a few times before." Mendel then points out that in 1739 the rotation of performances between the main churches meant that a Passion should be performed at St. Nicholas Church where the performance area was too limited in space for presenting the SMP (BWV 244) and hence, in all probability, a performance of the SJP was being referred to here.

Thus it appears that Bac's disenchantment with the formal procedures to be followed (Bach having to request permission for performing a Passion in one of the churches under his jurisdiction) - there seems to be the possibility of a power-play behind all of this with Bach's power of determining which music he would present being called into question - may have led to Bach's brusque retort. It also appears that some members of the Leipzig City Council may have objected to the text of the Passion, this after it had already been presented a number of times with exactly the same text without any clear objections having been expressed to Bach about this matter. Bach may have perceived this entire matter as harassment on the part of the Leipzig City Council.

In the 1730s, the version of the SJP which Bach presented during the Good Friday services was the one which omitted either one of the two final chorales so that no chorale was heard at the very end of the SJP and the final mvt. was "Ruht wohl."

It is regarding this latter choice by Bach that Eric Chafe has formulated a theory that Bach was trying to make the SJP become more like the more successful SMP (BWV 244). Eric Chafe "Tonal Allegory in the Vocal Music of J. S. Bach" [University of California Press, 1991] pp. 304, however, does not compare the final "Ruht wohl" chorus of the SJP with the final chorus "Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder" of the SMP (BWV 244), but rather indicates that in the 1725 (Version II) of the SJP, Bach replaces the final chorale, "Ach, Herr, laß dein lieb Engelein," with the German Agnus Dei ("Christe, du Lamm Gottes"), "another enormously significant change that allied the work more closely to the elegiac character of the SMP (BWV 244)."

Much earlier, Alfred Dürr, in his article in the Bach-Jahrbuch 37 (1949-1950), p. 89, "Zu den verschollenen Passionen Bachs" ["In regard to the lost Passions by Bach"] had pointed out that there was a chorale symmetry in having "O Mensch, bewein" as the opening mvt. and "Christe, du Lamm Gottes" as the final mvt. in at least one of the versions of the SJP. Was achieving such symmetry a goal that Bach had in mind? Why did he abandon it? Chafe sees this particular version as best representing his theory that the SJP is divided into two sections representing the sharp and flat key areas. [More precisely, on p. 327, Chafe points to "the fact that the large-scale motion from flats to sharps that takes place three times within the 'Passion.'] Chafe agrees with Christoph Wolff who first pointed out that it may be more than sheer coincidence for Bach to have a version so strongly emphasizing chorales in the prominent positions at the beginning and end of a Passion, such a version documented as having been performed at the conclusion of the cantata cycle known as the 'Chorale Cantata Cycle.' [See p. 137 of "Bach: Essays on his Life and Music" Harvard University Press, 1993.] Dürr, however, sees nothing significant in this theory, since the chorale cantata's function, at least in Leipzig during Sunday services, was "als Ergänzung der Liedpredigt" ["as a continuation and completion of the chorale sermon"] p. 19 of Alfred Dürr's "Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Johannes-Passion" [Bärenreiter, Kassel, 1988.] The situation in the Good-Friday Vespers was quite different according to Dürr. John Butt's theory about this, as quoted from his article in the OCC on p. 427, is: "The Passion, like the cantata which would normally come before the sermon, was clearly closely associated with the sermon, both as an elaborated reading of the Gospel and also as a poetic and theological interpretation of the story."

Dürr believes that Bach simply undertook all these changes because he did not want to perform the same work the same way one year right after another: "Aber auch ohne sie bildet der Wunsch, eine Passionsmusik, wenn schon zwei Jahre nacheinander, dann nicht völlig unverändert wiederaufzuführen, einen einleuchtenden Grund für Bachs Maßnahmen."

On p. 52, Dürr points out the symmetry in having both the 1^st and last mvts. using the vocative "Herr" in mvt. 1: "Herr, unser Herrscher" and as the conclusion to the Passion, mvt. 40,: "Ach Herr, laß dein lieb Engelein."

To conclude this little investigation, here is a quotation from pp. 304-305 of Chafe's book:

>>Moreover, the modifications of the year 1725, while they were partly motivated by the desire to accommodate the "St. John Passion" to the chorale "Jahrgang," nevertheless brought out-above all in the substitution of "O Mensch, bewein" for "Herr, unser Herrscher"-the emphasis on acknowledgment of sin that would later dominate the "St. Matthew Passion" (BWV 244). Replacing the final chorale, "Ach, Herr, laß dein lieb Engelein," with its solid major key and associations of triumph, by the chromatic, modal, and minor-key setting of the German Agnus Dei ("Christe, du Lamm Gottes") was another enormously significant change that allied the work more closely to the elegiac character of the "St. Matthew Passion." (BWV 244) And, of course, in 1725 "Betrachte, meine Seel'" and "Erwäge" were taken out in favor of the aria "Ach, windet euch nicht so, geplagte Seelen," which, as we might expect, brings out the question of man's guilt: "So zählet auch die Menge eurer Sünden." In this case the original, 1724, version of the work is so much preferable that we must assume that Bach decided to revise the texts rather than keep the musical substitution. The dialogue with chorale, "Himmel reisse"/"Jesu deine Passion," was added in Part One, making an internal symmetry of sharp-key settings of verses of this chorale; it is grotesquely out of place, since it meditates largely on Golgotha. But here again, the motive was probably theological; "Himmel, reisse," is the only place in the "Passion" where the first stage of the dynamic of faith in Luther's Passion Sermon-becoming "comformable to Christ in His suffering" through acknowledgment of sin-is truly emphasized: "Sehet meine Qual und Angst, was ich, Jesu, mit dir leide! . . . weil ich in Zufriedenheit mich in deine Wunden senke." Both "Ach, mein Sinn" and its substitute for 1725, "Zerschmettert mich," urge penitence; but "Zerschmettert mich" does so in a more explicit, less poetic manner, and its musical representation of tears is connected to the foregoing recitative (whose text is not from John but was borrowed from Matthew). Bach's ultimate restoration of the original version of the "St. John Passion" may testify to his awareness of the intensity of the original vision that produced the work; his handing the score over to a copyist for completion after ten folios, attests, perhaps, to the impossibility of continued involvement in a project in which the artistic and functional aspects could not be reconciled.

As examination of the theological features of the "St. John Passion" indicates, the work does not have to take a back seat because of the intensity of its musicotheological character. Bach, in the "St. John Passion," shows uncanny penetration of the structure of John's Passion account and, even more important, of its highly symbolic presentation of the crux of faith in the recognition of the identity of the man Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah and the crucifixion as the primary means by which this identity is proclaimed to the world. In its own very different way from that of the "St. Matthew Passion," Bach's first Leipzig "Passion" is a virtuoso piece in the musical allegorizing of theological themes. That it could have been perceived as such at the time is more than doubtful. Nonetheless, the "St. John Passion" projects a theological intent that is surpassed by no other work, and on that account it makes an impressive claim to be considered theology as well as music. The primary basis of Bach's achievement in thiwork, more than in its successor, is the composer's direct interaction-unmediated so far as we know by extensive theological material-with the Gospel itself.<<

[Alfred Dürr, in a footnote to p. 118 of the text referred to above, states regarding Chafe's book and style of writing: "Man wird die kluge Studie auch dann mit Gewinn lesen, wenn man Chafes Ausführungen nicht in jedem Punkte zu folgen bereit ist." ["It will be rewarding nevertheless to read this clever study even if one is not prepared to follow Chafe's exposition/comments on each point."]

This mvt. is one of my all-time favorites among Bach's sacred vocal compositions. While there are certainly others, choral mvts. or arias, which rank high on my list, I find that there is a very special, indescribable moving quality, particularly in the first two repetitions. I find there a musical expression of utter beauty coupled with sadness, pain and anguish which eventually finds a release at the end. One way to describe my personal reaction to this music is: "es fesselt mich" which means more than simply captivating me or holding my attention. It would be closer to the German to indicate 'being enthralled' and so bound by listening to this music that it becomes difficult to break the bonds of deep, profound feeling that continue unabated from one measure to the next. This is a truly remarkable mvt. which I consider the strongest and most profound expression of Bach's genius in this cantata.

John Pike wrote (July 25, 2005):
[To Bradley Lehman] What fascinating stuff!

Cantata BWV 23: Recordings | Discussions

Back to the Top

Last update: ýFebruary 28, 2008 ý13:42:35