Something for a Friday: All of Bach

[hmvman]

Short but very sweet......bit like our mince pie pastry!

[Hitch]

Released today: Bach - In Dulci Jubilo BWV 608

Notes from the All of Bach website:

"Though extremely short, this chorale prelude is nevertheless fairly well-known. That’s not surprising, as the hymn on which Bach based the prelude has been popular for hundreds of years: the German Christmas carol ‘In dulci jubilo’ originated in the fourteenth century. Although you can’t hear it any more in today’s familiar arrangements, the melody was originally intended to be sung in canon. Bach immediately seizes this musical opportunity, although of course entirely in his own way. The melody is heard in the soprano part, and is then repeated in the bass part. But Bach also adds middle voices, which augment the lyrical melody with a complex harmony. Moreover, the dancy quavers in these middle voices are reminiscent of the hymn’s creation myth, which is as follows:

The German mystic Hendrik Seuse tells how an angel descended to him in a vision. This angel took Seuse’s hand and led him in a heavenly dance, amid a choir of angels. Seuse then spontaneously broke into a hymn of praise for the birth of Jesus; a hymn that would later be known all over Northern Europe as ‘In Dulci Jubilo’. The hymn is unusual in that the words are written in both Latin and German, with lines that flow from one language into the other. So the language of the church blends with the worldly, exactly as it does in Seuse’s vision. This is not heard in Bach’s prelude, however, as the words only appeared in the community singing for the congregation in Bach’s day.

The nice thing about this arrangement is the particularly high register, which suggests a delicate stop selection. The bass part is very high; in the tenor register rather than the bass. In order to let the organist play the part with the pedals anyway, he or she uses a four-foot stop, meaning that the part sounds an octave higher."

[hmvman]

A joyous performance of BWV 248/1. Lovely sound and pictures too!

[Hitch]

Tinsel-topped greetings to you, Padraig. I'm glad you enjoyed the latest offering from AoB. It strikes me that these snippets of joy would sit well in BBC1 or 2's schedule. A video of five to ten minutes' duration every evening might freshen the audience's palate and, one hopes, not stretch the Beeb's budget too far.

[Padraig]

Released today.

And a Happy Christmas to you, Hitch. It's a medal you deserve for reminding us to love Bach.

Today's offering was an extra special performance from our friends in the Netherlands. Full of the spirit of Christmas with all the joy and the tenderness in sincere expression. Lots of old faces to welcome back and new ones to meet. My new favourite!

[Hitch]

Bach - Jauchzet, frohlocket, auf, preiset die Tage, BWV 248/1. Recorded 14th December 2023. Released today.

Notes from the All of Bach website:

"The Christmas Oratorio is one of Bach’s most famous works. It consists of six cantatas, covering all the days from Christmas Day to the Feast of the Epiphany on 6 January. Bach had written Christmas cantatas before, but never on this scale. Here, he saw an opportunity to immortalise music he had composed for one-off secular occasions, thus creating a moving, warm and dramatic narration of the Christmas story. Nowadays, the work is usually performed in its entirety, for practical reasons.

A special feature of the first cantata is the balance Bach attains between the jubilant celebration of the birth of Jesus and the serious, sad undertone that points to his fate on the cross. The opening chorus is like an orchestral firework show. Drum rolls, woodwind chirrups and trumpet blasts follow one another at a dizzying tempo. So it comes as no surprise that the original words of this chorus – then still part of a birthday cantata for the Electress of Saxony – were, “Resound, ye drums! Ring out, ye trumpets!” The rhythmical beats of the drums and the many repeated motoric motifs in the string and wind parts make it impossible to sit still. The words invite you to celebrate: shout, exult, arise, praise the days! It is eminently suitable for one of the most important and cheerful feast days in the Christian calendar. And it is exceptional that Bach’s music also gets today’s listeners into the Christmas mood.

A musical contrast is immediately introduced in the next movement: a minimal setting of a biblical text, in a solemn, dramatic minor key, in which the narrator explains that Joseph and Mary, who is with child, are journeying to Bethlehem for a census ordered by the emperor.

An expectant, melodious recitative for the alto leads to the first aria, which is undoubtedly one of the best-known in the Christmas Oratorio. In sensual words, the alto urges the believers in Jesus’s time to prepare for his birth. In doing so, Bach’s unknown librettist uses a metaphor that often appears in the Bible: the Messiah as bridegroom, with the believer as his bride. “Thy cheeks' beauty must today shine much more brightly” she sings in the middle part of the aria, “Hasten, the bridegroom to love with deep passion.”

This seductive text turns into a spiritual, melancholy chorale, accompanied by high flutes, to the melody of the well-known ‘O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden‘ from Bach’s St Matthew Passion. The words are milder, but the final chords sound just as ceremonial and stately. And then it happens: Mary gives birth in the stable to Jesus, her first-born son, who she swaddles and lays in a manger, as there is no room at the crowded inn. The next movement seems like an intimate, one-part chorale, until the bass enters with his own text, in which he emphasises the theological significance of Jesus’s birth.

The festive mood returns in the next movement; an aria for the bass. Bach’s original audience associated trumpets with monarchs and kings, as they were often heralded by a fanfare of trumpets. So Bach’s use of a solo trumpet in this part fits the text well. Once again, Bach’s text includes a nice contrast: the king of the world spends the night in a hard manger.

Then the work is closed by a simple chorale, once again with high flutes. The believers pray to take Jesus into their hearts and never forget him. In the pauses between the lines, the timpani and trumpets enter, lending a royal sound once more to the innocent, simple prayer."

[silvestrione]

Thanks for the replies about Hume. Not sure how I ever missed the Jordi Savall disc, as he is one of my most established favourite musicians...probably because they are solo pieces, and I prefer a viol consort...anyway, sorry to be off thread.

[Hitch]

Released on 7th December.

[Mandryka]

I love English viol music, Byrd, Ferrabosco, Ward, Gibbons, Lawes, Jenkins, Simpson, Purcell, Locke....but I don't think I've yet heard of Hume?

Tobias Hume. Here are a couple of ideas to start exploring his music. He was indeed Scottish, as Padraig said -- I had forgotten.

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7983602--tobias-hume-passion-division

His songs are also not at all bad -- maybe here

https://www.highresaudio.com/en/album/view/64k4vn/kaori-ishikawa-humorous-toby

[Padraig]

I love English viol music, Byrd, Ferrabosco, Ward, Gibbons, Lawes, Jenkins, Simpson, Purcell, Locke....but I don't think I've yet heard of Hume?

silvestrione, Tobias Hume was a soldier with a daring talent for music, and Scottish.

Tobias Hume: gallus viol player, Scottish soldier | Kate Molleson

[silvestrione]

Thanks for mentioning Luciana Elizondo, a new name for me, and I think she is very good -- she has some interesting recordings on Spotify including some Hume (my favourite English viol composer.)

I love English viol music, Byrd, Ferrabosco, Ward, Gibbons, Lawes, Jenkins, Simpson, Purcell, Locke....but I don't think I've yet heard of Hume?

[Padraig]

As a vocal quartet with theorbo the performance of this Chorale ranks very high in my estimation. I loved the sound of the SATB harmony with theorbo.
I am at a loss however when trying to place it in the context of church music of my limited experience. Would it be the choir and orchestra in the performance of a Bach cantata? Or is it a stand-alone short piece for a sermon,say?

Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern – Bach

[smittims]

You're right, of course, Padraig, but I prefer living in the past . One of my favourite 'Four Seasons' is the 1939 Decca recording by Alfredo Campoli and Boyd Neel.

I do like some recent Brandenburgs, such as the Swiss Baroque Soloists on Naxos and Orchestra Mozart on DG Archiv, ad our old friends Il Giardino Aemonico, not so naughty in Bach as they were in Handel..

[Padraig]

Thanks for mentioning Luciana Elizondo, a new name for me, and I think she is very good -- she has some interesting recordings on Spotify including some Hume (my favourite English viol composer.)

Pleased to be of service, Mandryka. I owe my love of this piece, Love's Farewell, to our esteemed departed member who went by the name of Gamba.

Smittems, you have a bit of catching up to do

[Sir Velo]

Each Friday, the Netherlands Bach Society releases a new recording/film of a J.S. Bach piece. This schedule will continue until Bach's entire oeuvre is online. How wonderfully ambitious. How many of us will be extant to hear the final upload, I wonder?

All of Bach

For those who may not be able to access the opening post on the thread, hopefully this gives context.