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Bach and Stölzel |
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Ed Myskowski wrote (December 24, 2008):BWV 191 text Thoughts while listening to a friend lead her annual (26th) Xmas sing-along: The traditional carol, Gloria in Excelsis Deo, says nothing about peace on earth, nor goodwill. The country tune, Peace in the Valley, can bring a tear to an Old Dudes eye, when sung from the heart. Listening closely, I noticed: <Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer Yule go down in herstory.> Not exactly Bach concert performance, but in the spirit of the season (solstice plus), and current discussion. As I write, what should appear on the radio but three Xmas cantatas by Stoltzen. Baroque (but happy!), Ed Myskowski |
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Ed Myskowski wrote (December 24, 2008):Correction: I wrote Stoltzen in haste, by ear and recollection, both faulty. Tbe correct spelling is Stolzel (umlaut omitted), or Stölzel. The music is worth pursuing. Elaboration by Baroque enthusiasts invited. |
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Kim Patrick Clow wrote (December 24, 2008):Ed Myskowski wrote: < Correction: I wrote Stoltzen in haste, by ear and recollection, both faulty. Tbe correct spelling is Stolzel (umlaut omitted), or Stölzel. The music is worth pursuing. Elaboration by Baroque enthusiasts invited. > Stölzel's music is absolutely fantastic. Thanks to the efforts of CPO CDs, its finally having a new lease on life. We're lucky any of Stölzel's music survives: out of what must have been easily over 1000 compositions written during his 25 year career in Gotha, only 10 survive there today. What we do have are copies or commissioned pieces spread throught Germany. Sonderhausen houses about 200 cantatas written on commission for the Duke's chapel. Unfortunately there is still no complete edition planned. I honestly don't know what the current state of research is on his music, naturally a lot of it would be based in Germany I presume. |
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John Pike wrote (December 24, 2008):[To Kim Patrick Clow] I agreee. Stölzel is great. A most interesting composer. Great harmonies, interesting melodies, good attention to the libretto he is setting. Sorry to do the comparison thing again but he sets libretto so much better than Telemann (whose SMP I have just finished listening to). PS I also like Telemann a lot, but the SMP is not his best work, IMHO. |
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Kim Patrick Clow wrote (December 24, 2008):John Pike wrote: < I agreee. Stölzel is great. A most interesting composer. Great harmonies, interesting melodies, good attention to the libretto he is setting. Sorry to do the comparison thing again but he sets libretto so much better than Telemann (whose SMP I have just finished listening to). PS I also like Telemann a lot, but the SMP is not his best work, IMHO. > I won't deny that every piece by Telemann is less than stellar, but it's odd because the text was vitally important to him. Telemann worked very hard to commission or ask the participation of some of Germany's best poets to contribute to his cantata cycles, in fact he pretty much invented notion with Erdmann Neumeister in early 1700s. But I also believe that Telemann can suffer really horribly at the hands of musicians that don't know how to approach his music and there are some of the Passions on CDs that are just absolutely awful (just like Bach!) It was always my hope that Christopher Hogwood and The Academy of Ancient Music would have recorded one of Telemann's better pieces-- Peter Wadland, the producer for them at Decca, in fact sent me their perfomance of Der Messias. Fantastic stuff. Stölzel was a specialist with regard to recitatives and I think that can explain some of the reason why his setting of the lyric is so beautiful. |
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Douglas Cowling wrote (December 24, 2008):Bach and Stölzel -- Christmas Oratorios Kim Patrick Clow wrote: < There were many oratorios written for the feast day of Christmas: J.-F. Lochon's Oratorio de nativitate Christi, Paris 1701. Brossard's Oratorio sopra l'immaculata conceptione della B. Vergina > Valuable list. It would be interesting to know what oratorios were performed at Dresden and whether they influenced the Christmas Oratorio in the way that Italian models influenced the Easter Oratorio. To be precise, the Brossard was probably performed on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception which falls on December 8 and refers to Mary's conception not Christ's. |
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Kim Patrick Clow wrote (December 24, 2008):Douglas Cowling wrote: < Valuable list. It would be interesting to know what oratorios were performed at Dresden and whether they influenced the Christmas Oratorio in the way that Italian models influenced the Easter Oratorio. > Italian oratorios and German oratorios were different traditions. But German composers were great at mixing up nationalistic styles (in particular Telemann). William Hoffman's comments that he was disappointed that Stölzel's "Christmas oratorio" because it was essentially "just from his cantatas" puzzled me, because isn't that what Bach's Christmas Oratorio is-- several cantatas performed around 2 weeks. It was never meant to be performed as a single piece like the Passion oratorios. I'd bet my CD collection there are more than likely dozens of Christmas oratorios that survive in manuscript sources and are unpublished, particularly in the Czech Republic and Austria and northern Italy. One baroque composer who I've been told to listen to is J. T. Roemhildt. He more than likely wrote 100s of cantatas, they were widely disseminated through Germany, and I have to say the quality is pretty good. < To be precise, the Brossard was probably performed on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception which falls on December 8 and refers to Mary's conception not Christ's. > I'm not sure when it was performed, but since it dealt with birthing, the Blessed Virgin, and Holy family, yadda, yadda, yadda - I included it. |
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Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel : Short Biography | Recordings of Vocal Works | Bist du bei mir BWV 508 | Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel & Bach | Music Examples |
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Last update: ýDecember 25, 2008 ý22:37:59