Bach and his Successors Session Thee: Music for Hire A LIFE Institute Course 2014.10.21 Cello Suite 1 Request for a modern version of a Bach Cello Suite YouTube is somewhat limited Yo-Yo Ma & Rostropovich versions not good video Mischa Miasky version of Suite 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgqlxrtl3z0
Plan for Today Bach on Silbermann organ The Organ High Tech for 18th century Central role in Lutheran service Buxtehude example Bach as performer, assessor, composer Magnificat as vocal example Bach's Leipzig's calling card Sample Kuhnau's Magnificat Organ & Lutheran Worship The fine arts, particularly music, blossom forth as the church, living in the light of God's love, expresses itself. Already during the sixteenth century Lutheran music thrived and later reached unprecedented heights in the work of Johann Sebastian Bach. The organ has gained and held, as no other musical instrument has, a place within Lutheran worship traditions. The Organ in Lutheran Worship, E. H. Meyer
Prelude and Fugue in G Major David Goode plays the Prelude from JS Bach's G major Prelude and Fugue, BWV 541 at the Gottfried Silbermann organ of Freiberg Cathedral, Germany. Recorded July 2010 A rousing example gets the blood flowing! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qekbocrcp30 Silbermann Organs "These instruments are magnificent beyond measure" W.A.Mozart
The Organ Sensitive, complex instrument Thousands of pipes Thousands of mechanical connections Thousands of air channels Depends on church acoustics Depends on pipe placement Depends on atmospheric conditions Central role in Lutheran service The 18th century high tech marvel Bach began by singing & then playing the organ The organ was central fixture of Bach's life Cornell Baroque Organ Recent effort to recreate an example of a great 18th century German organ Video illustrates the complexity of building, voicing and playing such an organ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kswbhgdne6w
The Organ in Bach's Time The instrument was, and was intended to be, awe inspiring Every respectable church needed an organ, and an organist Volume almost at rock concert levels Important source of employment for musicians The organ introduced, punctuated and concluded the hours long Lutheran service Dieterich Buxtehude Born 1637/39, Died 9 May 1707 Danish-German organist and composer Bach at age 20 traveled, on foot, 250 miles to listen to and study with Buxtehude One month leave, but stayed four months Didn't apprentice, didn't marry daughter D. Buxtehude - Toccata in D minor, BuxWV 155 - B. Foccroulle at Schnitger organ, St. Ludgeri, Norden https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjhkzqsoxnw
J S Bach & The Organ Recognized as a great performer Improvisation was the norm Composition for teaching Maintenance was part of the job Improvisation was expected Organs could be temperamental Recognized as organ assessor Was source of first organist position Documented Organ Assessments The Organs of J S Bach, Wolff & Zepf
The Music We're limited in not knowing the words The music often mirrors the text We can appreciate the architecture And it can be awe inspiring Even in a classroom Hans-André Stamm, Greatest Bach https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agdmxs4ahzu Employed Musician Bach earned his living by providing the music requested by his employers (mostly) Bach made music for He also had teaching duties many compositions had a strong pedagogical role The church organ & vocal The court concertos & keyboard Teaching much non-sacred music Special events weddings, funerals, etc Only in his last decade of life did he have the luxury to compose music for himself
Bach's Sacred Vocal Works 300 sacred cantatas; 200 survived One performed every Sunday and on special occasions 6 sacred motets 5 (?) sacred passions; 2 survived Christmas, Easter & Ascension Oratorios Mass in B Minor Magnificat (in E-flat major & in D major) His calling card for Leipzig (subsequently revised) Focus on Magnificat I find it easy to approach It's a celebration (of the miracle of Mary) It's relatively short (about 30 minutes) Many versions of the Magnificat From Bach's predecessors From Bach's sons & successors
Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for: [My soul] magnifies) also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary is a canticle frequently sung liturgically in Christian church services. It is one of the most ancient Christian hymns. Its name comes from the first word of the Latin version of the canticle's text. The text of the canticle is taken directly from the Gospel of Luke (Luke 1:46-55) where it is spoken by the Virgin Mary upon the occasion of her Visitation to her cousin Elizabeth. When Elizabeth praises Mary for her faith, Mary sings what is now known as the Magnificat in response. Wikipedia 2014.10.16 Magnificat Examples Buxtehude (revered teacher) Kuhnau (Leipzig predecessor) Simple celebration JS Bach A beautiful moment Rich, complex celebration CPE & WF Bach To be continued in week five
D. Buxtehude: Magnificat Szabóki Tünde - szoprán / soprano Heim Mercedes - alt Keresztessy Péter - tenor Cser Péter - basszus / bass Budapesti Victoria Kamarakórus vezényel / Conducted by Farkas Mária https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oesgj6d8k-c Johann Kuhnau Born: 6 April 1660; died 5 June 1722 Kuhnau was multi-talented Attained rank of (legal) advocate Studied French and Italian Translated from Hebrew, Greek & Latin Author of poetry and non-fiction Cantor of Thomaskirche Learned in theology, the law, rhetoric, poetry, mathematics, foreign tongues & Music Jakob Adlung, 1758
Hard Act to Follow Position first offered to: Bach offer the position after all three turned it down Bach took three months to decide George Phillipp Telemann Johann Friedrich Fasch Christoph Graupner And stayed there for the rest of his life Was it the church, school for his children,? Kuhnau: Magnificat scored for 3 tromba, timpani, 2 oboi, 2 violini, 2 viole, Continuo Soprano: Miah Persson Alto: Akira Tachikawa Tenor: Gerd Türk Bass: Chiyuki Urano Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxustqkioes
But Wait! There is a version (only on DVD) recorded in Bach's church Ton Koopman and forces also perform Bach's Magnificat (which is available on YouTube) Allows a more direct comparison Notice the simple, approachable style of the Kuhnau Magnificat Some called it old-fashioned Bach Magnificat Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir Ton Koopman conducting Performed in Bach's church in 2003 This music also celebrates Mary, but the supporting fabric is richer and more complex Available on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4zvjv4_say
Very Limited Sample Bach's complete organ music runs to some 20+ hours; we sampled much less than 1 hour Bach's sacred music takes more than 100 hours to perform; we sampled less than 1 hour You might examine Easter Oratorio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twcpb15ta2w Coffee Cantata https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5ocydot-va Text: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/schweigt_stille,_plaudert_nicht,_bwv_211 (Helps to read the translation) Next Week How important is it to be authentic? Does music have a universal essence? Does Bach's music have such an essence? What might authentic mean for Bach? Compare and contrast Strong Historically Informed Performance (HIP) Strong, but non-authentic, performance Strong, very non-authentic sample Red Bull Flying Bach https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgcnkd1p5ou