All the right notes......but in the right order?: The brilliance of Bach & the complexities of counterpoint!

My love of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach dates back to my early teens and maybe even before that. I can certainly vividly remember as a ten or eleven year old sitting at the old piano that we had in our front room and playing Bach – well, maybe playing is a bit of an exaggeration, but I was trying to play his great work Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring. Rather like Eric Morecambe in the famous TV comedy sketch with Andre Previn, I was “playing all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order!” In those far off days of the mid 1950’s I had often heard on the radio, in programmes like Housewife's Choice and Two Way family Favourites, the famous wartime recording made by Dame Myra Hess of her playing the work and I had fallen in love with it. I had a weekly piano lesson  - which I hated - and was, to my shame, a reluctant practiser  but inside the piano stool that had come with our second hand piano there was a pile of old sheet music and amongst that pile was the music for Bach’s beautiful work. So, rather than work on the pieces supplied by my piano teacher, I was far more interested in perfecting my rendering of Jesu Joy. I rarely touch a piano these days but whenever I do it is always Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring  that trips off my fingers and on to the keys. The old sheet music of the work is long lost but this is unimportant. Deep in my brain the notes are etched from sixty years ago and to my amazement each time I play my fingers, without any thought from me, dance, of their own accord, to the correct places on the keyboard! How powerful is the brain......and, indeed, how powerful is music and how essential to the human condition?  Sadly,  however, and despite my dancing fingers, my  performance  is not the perfect rendering of Myra Hess or, indeed, the work that Bach wrote (I'm back to Eric Morecambe again - my fingers play all the right notes but, sadly, they are occasionally in the wrong order!). I’m sure that if either Hess or Bach is on high and listens to my stumbling efforts they must cover their ears and shake their heads in despair – but, I believe, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.........and, anyway, I enjoy it!

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!

Dame Myra Hess - one of the people who 

inspired my love of Bach

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 9^th) 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!”

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

On Saturday Dec 9^th at St Peter’s Church in Ruddington you can test Beecham’s wry comment for yourself and enjoy the glory of Bach’s music when The Ruddington & District Choral Society, together with the Ruddington Chamber Ensemble, see if all their hard work has paid off and they perform two of the greatest and best loved works by JS Bach: the cantata Sleepers, Wake (Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme: BWV 140) and secondly, his gloriously joyous and inspired Magnificat (BWV 243). These two famous works are just right for Advent and starting the Christmas season; and are amongst the greatest choral works ever written.

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.

The famous few words between Previn

and Morecambe as Morecambe 

"played" Grieg's Piano Concerto.

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.

The Thomaskirche in Leipzig where Bach's great choral works were

first heard 

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 9^th 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 9^th.

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.

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 9^th,  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.