I mention this by way of introduction because at the moment
our house is filled with the music of Bach. There isn’t anything particularly
unusual about that, I have by far more CDs of Bach’s music than any other
composer, but for the past few weeks and increasingly so in recent days Bach’s
glorious sound has drifted through our lounge, kitchen, dining room and office
at every opportunity. Indeed, each time I climb into the car and turn the ignition key the CD player automatically
leaps into life and there is Johann Sebastian yet again!
The reason for this
Bachfest is, for once, nothing to do with me – but rather with my wife,
Pat. The clock is ticking and the next concert for the Ruddington Choral
Society is looming; and for the past few months Pat and the choir have been
getting to grips with the works they are singing: Bach’s famous and much loved Sleepers, Wake and the glorious Magnificat
– two of the greatest works of Bach and of all choral music. Each time Pat goes
out for a walk her i-pod is on and her ear plugs in as she learns her second
soprano part; each time she goes out in the car the pieces accompany her as she drives; as she cooks
dinner or bakes a cake it’s the same story; and as I sit writing this in my
office I can hear her practising in the dining room as the great man’s music
comes from her lap top!
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Dame Myra Hess - one of the people who
inspired my love of Bach
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The major reason for this mighty endeavour is that, of
course, the choir want to perform well
but that hides the real thing. You see, Bach’s music is not easy to play
or sing; it is music to test any musician and because of that it is glorious to
perform and equally glorious to listen to – the sheer complexities and detail
in the work give so much to challenge and so much to enjoy. And as the concert
date (Saturday, December 9th) has crept closer so the need to achieve
perfection, to overcome the complexities and details inherent in these great
works has become increasingly fraught! Bach will challenge any choir –
especially an amateur choir with perhaps less time to practice – and it is not
unusual for choirs to prefer other, perhaps “easier” composers. So for the
Ruddington choir to elect to sing two of Bach’s choral works is both brave and
worthy of praise.
Johann
Sebastian Bach was not only a great composer but a master of particular musical
techniques and styles. Much of his music
– both instrumental and vocal – is composed using both counterpoint and fugue. Counterpoint is ubiquitous in
Bach, so much so that on the rare occasions when he isn't writing multiple
voices, he's implying them. It is at the heart of Bach's music, and his mastery of it is unparalleled.
Without
going into too much detail, what this means is that each instrument or each
voice can, at any one time, be playing or singing in a different note, tune or
rhythm but magically they all work
together so that the whole makes not a noisy discordant cacophony but a
gloriously rich and complex sound. These simultaneous melodies aren't just different in
character, but seem (though only seem) to go about their business without the
slightest regard for one another, so counterpoint is a sophisticated business; it is abstruse, complex, and mathematical. It has been said that Bach himself could
hold several melodies in his head at the same time and these melodies are not
just arrived at indiscriminately – they have strict “rules” or patterns –
indeed it is through Bach’s exploration of counterpoint that most of the
“rules” have come about. Because the melodies are not indiscriminate but follow
patterns and “rules” then listening to (or singing/playing) the music can be not only pleasurable but
an exercise in mathematics as well as an appreciation of an art form. There is
much research to strongly suggest that listening to Bach can significantly
improve the mathematical awareness – and hence ability – of the brain since our
brains all the time subconsciously and
continuously look for “patterns” in
order to make sense of the world that we inhabit. So, listening to or
performing a Bach work rich in counterpoint is an admirable training exercise
for our brain matter as it “soaks up”,
assimilates, interprets and processes all these patterns that Bach presents to us.
Counterpoint in the hands of JS Bach ensures a glorious
sound, some have called it the music of the spheres, the music of heaven and I
would not argue with that. The whole is very much greater than the sum of its
parts, but, as I say, it does present huge problems for singers and players. This fact caused the famous conductor Sir Thomas Beecham to once famously
confessthat he didn’t much care for Bach, and in his usual caustic manner,
dismissed the great composer as “too much counterpoint - and especially Protestant counterpoint at
that!”
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Eric Morecambe (centre) his partner Ernie Wise (left) and conductor
Andre Previn (right) in the classic comedy sketch. It still makes me
laugh after all these years and is perfectly applicable to my piano
rendering of the complexities of Bach
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When, in 1723 Bach took up the
position of Kantor (Musical Director) at the Thomaskirche, he became responsible for the provision
of music in the principal churches of Leipzig until his death twenty-seven
years later. A cantata was required for the church services on Sundays and on
additional church holidays during the year, and during his time in the town
Bach probably composed some 275 church cantatas and 30 secular ones, although a
number of these have not survived.
The cantata Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, or Sleepers, Wake! as it is better known in English was first
performed in the Nikolaikirche on the 27th Sunday after Trinity - the 25th
November 1731 and was based on the three stanzas of the Lutheran hymn Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme by the pastor, poet, and composer Philipp
Nicolai in 1599.The cantata reworked the parable of the ten virgins from St
Matthew’s Gospel which was one of the prescribed readings for the day. Records
suggest that Bach performed the cantata only once, since the 27th Sunday after
Trinity, for which it was written, occurs only in years when Easter falls very
early, between 22nd and 26th March, and that happened only twice between 1723
and Bach’s death in 1750.
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The famous few words between Previn
and Morecambe as Morecambe
"played" Grieg's Piano Concerto.
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The Parable of the ten virgins or
bridesmaids was told by Jesus and relates the story of the bridesmaids who were
chosen to participate, by being torch bearers, in a wedding. Each carries a
lamp and they await the coming of the bridegroom (who represents Christ) and
who they expect at some time during the night. Five of the virgins are wise and
have brought oil for their lamps. Five are foolish and have only brought their
lamps. At midnight, the bridesmaids hear the call to come out to greet the
bridegroom. Realising their lamps have gone out, the foolish bridesmaids ask
the wise ones for oil, but they refuse. While the foolish bridesmaids are away
trying to get more oil, the bridegroom arrives. The wise bridesmaids then
accompany him to the wedding celebration. The others arrive too late and are
excluded.
Since the date of the 27th Sunday
after Trinity falls close to the beginning of Advent both this and the
underlying message of the parable ensured that Sleepers, Wake became intertwined with both Advent and Christmas.
Advent is regarded as not only a time of waiting to celebrate the birth of
Jesus but as a time when Christians acknowledge and prepare for the second
coming. The parable was one of the most popular and powerful in the Middle
Ages, with enormous influence on art, sculpture and the architecture of
mediaeval cathedrals. Bach, and the congregations in Leipzig, would have known
the parable and understood its message well: be prepared to be judged at the
second coming, make sure that you have the oil of righteousness in your lamp to
light the way out of the darkness or you will be excluded from Heaven. It was a
reminder to the congregation in Leipzig – and all congregations – of the final
events of history, the ultimate destiny of humanity, the end of the world and
the last judgement – be like the wise virgins it reminds worshippers, be prepared, be penitent and
ensure that you have stored up enough righteousness to give you access to Heaven.
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The Thomaskirche in Leipzig where Bach's great choral works were
first heard
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Bach scored the work for soloists
(soprano, tenor, bass), a four-part choir and a Baroque ensemble including horn, oboes, taille, violino piccolo, strings and bassoon. The cantata represents counterpoint
at its best and highest form and is a stern test of musical ability for singers and
players. It remains one of the best known and most loved of Bach’s works and
musicologist William Whittaker said of it: "It’s a cantata without
weakness, without a dull bar, technically, emotionally and spiritually of the
highest order." It was published in English under the title Sleepers, Wake by Georgina Troutbeck in 1901. Georgina was
the daughter of John Troutbeck, a canon of Westminster Abbey and Chaplain to
Queen Victoria. He translated many sacred and secular works, including those by
Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart and Wagner. Georgina continued his work and
made a modest name for herself in London and dying there a wealthy spinster in
1947.
The other work that the choir will perform on December 9th is
the glorious Magnificat , a musical
setting of the biblical canticle Magnificat
and is scored for vocal parts (choir, two sopranos, alto, tenor and bass), and
a Baroque orchestra. It is the first major composition on a Latin text composed
by Bach and was written only months after he assumed his post as Kantor in
Leipzig. When Bach arrived in Leipzig with his five children and his second
wife Anna Magdalena, to take up his new post at the Thomaskirche he came to a
city in its prime as Germany’s intellectual capital. Its prosperity and
appreciation of art earned it the nickname “Little Paris.” The post of Kantor
there was undoubtedly one of the premier musical posts of Germany and Bach knew
that had been hired to make changes. He was determined to do this, to write
music that would not only assure his future in this much sought after position
but completely reshape Leipzig’s church music. The Magnificat to be sung on
Christmas Day 1723 gave him the perfect opportunity to show off his talents and
to set out his “musical stall” for the approval of all; this was his first
real opportunity to impress and he
wasn’t going to miss it!
In the Thomaskirche – and throughout Germany - the Magnificat was traditionally sung at every Sunday Vespers service
as plainchant, but on major feast days such as Christmas or Easter it was sung
in Latin and took the polyphonic form. Since Bach’s Magnificat was to be sung on Christmas Day it used the Latin text,
was polyphonic and, for good measure, Bach inserted four Christmas anthems
which made a total of sixteen movements in the complete work. Later, for the
Feast of Visitation in 1733, Bach produced a new version but this time without
the Christmas anthems and he changed some of the instrumentation in the
movements as well as the key (from E flat to D Major). The D major version is
given the catalogue number BWV 243 and is the version that the choir will
perform on December 9th.
The Vespers service at the
Thomaskirche would have lasted several hours and whatever music was included
had to fit into an already full service so this major work had to be written
with that in mind. Apart from the Mass it was Vespers above all that allowed
baroque composers the opportunity to write large scale sacred works and it was
not unknown for entrance fees being charged to the congregation to enjoy these
musical “concerts”. Since his installation as Kantor, Bach had written one new
piece every week until the middle of November so he had only a few weeks to
write and bring to fruition this major work – Magnificat - in time for Christmas. Despite this constraint
the Magnificat, that he produced is
twice as long as most of his cantatas and he took every opportunity to write in the most inventive style, to use the largest orchestration that he
had so far used and to include far more elaborate choruses than his usual weekly
cantatas. The result, according to one musicologist is, “a work that is an
exhilarating and innovative ride through swift contrasts, alive with freshness
and vitality”.
The Magnificat , also known as the Song of Mary or the Canticle of
Mary, is one of the most ancient Christian hymns. The text is
taken directly from the Gospel of Luke where it is spoken by Mary upon the
occasion of her Visitation to her cousin Elizabeth. In the narrative, after
Mary greets Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist, the latter moves
within Elizabeth's womb. Elizabeth praises Mary for her faith (using words
partially reflected in the Hail Mary), and Mary responds with what is now known
as the Magnificat.
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The man himself - JS Bach, the "sublime genius" as he appears
in the picture that hangs above my desk as I write this blog |
Bach’s Magnificat is intimate, immediate, dense with musical
imagery, achingly tender, startlingly powerful - and unique among his many
works. He never wrote another work quite like it. Bach wanted to introduce
himself to the city with a work that showed off all his brilliant potential and
grab the attention of his audience and his employers with something that was
short, sharp and stunning. The result is a work not only displaying majestic, brilliant and complex counterpoint but one that is packed with intensity, in a way that his larger
choral works are not. Each part is short, each verse is set as a separate
musical movement, but there are no great da capo arias (where the singer demonstrates their virtuosity
by improvising and ornamenting their aria - the da capo aria fell out of
fashion at the end of the baroque era as the focus shifted from the virtuosity
of the performer to the beauty of the music), no recitatives, and no
"big" choruses of the sort that Bach would later use to open a cantata
or to include in his great Passions such as the St Matthew. Each of the twelve
short movements is a musical gem whose only purpose is to exhibit, with the
utmost conviction, clarity, and vividness, the text. Bach knew that he had to
pack a lot into the space available and he was desperate to impress his new
employers; the result was a dazzling work; a cheerful, bright, rich and
brilliant sound, reminding the Leipzig congregation on that far off Christmas
day of the Bible story that they knew so well and with every note designed to
embellish the words of that tale. It was a show-off piece in which all – the
players and singers - are challenged (and as the Ruddington Choir members know)
to dazzle the audience with their
technical mastery of Bach’s composing, and in particular his complex but brilliant use of counterpoint.
It has been famously
said that “[Bach’s] sublime genius . . .
dwarfs all others from the height of his superiority” – now if that isn’t a
good enough reason for a visit to St Peter’s in Ruddington at 7.30 pm on
December 9th, to begin the
Christmas season and to enjoy, celebrate and admire the music of this “sublime
genius” – I don’t know what is! And, one further thing, I know that by then all the right notes will, indeed, be in the right order, just as the sublime genius intended so if you come along you will enjoy a real feast of Christmas music and the glorious sound of Bach.
