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Dietrich BUXTEHUDE (1637–1707) Das jüngste Gericht - oratorio in three acts (excerpts)
Ulrike
Hofbauer, Monika Mauch, Margret Hunter (soprano), Henning
Voss (alto), Hans Jörg Mammel (tenor), Jörg Jacobi,
Harry van der Kamp, Olaf Tetampel (bass)
Weser-Renaissance Bremen/Manfred Cordes
rec. November 2005, the Stiftskirche of Bassum, Germany.
DDD CPO 777
197-2 [78:09]
When Buxtehude took over the post of organist at the Marienkirche
in Lübeck he inherited the practice of performing public
concerts in the weeks before Christmas. These were the so-called Abendmusiken,
which had been started by his predecessor, Franz Tunder.
During these concerts a large variety of vocal and instrumental
music was performed, including large-scale vocal works which
Buxtehude specifically composed for these occasions. On the
title page of one of his oratorios, Himmlische Seelenlust (now
lost), Buxtehude described it as "in the opera style
with many arias and ritornelli". How close these oratorios
were to the style of the contemporary opera also becomes
clear from a remark by the Hamburg clergyman Hinrich Elmerhorst,
who defended his writing of libretti for the opera house
in that city by referring to Buxtehude: "I can't fail
to mention here how the world-famous Lübeck musician and
organist, Diedericus Buxtehude, has performed more than one
such opera for the customary Abendmusik, which take place
at a certain time of the year in public churches there".
Just one of Buxtehude's oratorios has been preserved: Wacht! Euch zum
Streit gefasset macht, which is part of the so-called Düben-Sammlung,
a large collection of German music, put together by Gustav Düben, and now
in the library of Uppsala University. Gustav Düben was Kapellmeister in
Stockholm and a friend and admirer of Buxtehude, which makes it understandable
that this collection contains a large number of his compositions. The manuscript
of this oratorio is anonymous, and for a long time Buxtehude's authorship
has been under debate. There is now almost unanimous agreement that it is
indeed a composition by Buxtehude. "Its length and subject ... relate
it closely to the evening concerts, while stylistic traits point to Buxtehude's
authorship", Manfred Cordes writes in the booklet.
The oratorio consists of three acts. In Act 1 three allegorical characters
appear: 'Geitz' (avarice), 'Leichtfertigkeit' (levity) and 'Hoffarth' (pride).
The Voice of God ('Die Stimm Gottes') tries to warn the vices and get them
on the straight and narrow. In Act 2 the characters have become nameless,
but there is still a clear difference between the godless and the pious:
the former lead a carefree life, whereas the latter try to be devout. Act
3 shows the people who are awaiting the Last Judgement. The pious are eagerly
looking forward to eternal life, the godless are in great despair. Buxtehude
has put together this oratorio with texts from the Bible, chorales and free
poetry.
The oratorio is generally known under the title Das jüngste Gericht.
This was an invention of its first editor, Willi Maxton, who severely cut
and re-ordered the oratorio, which resulted in destroying its architecture.
Instead of encouraging performances it made them rather less attractive since
as a result of the editing the variety of this oratorio was largely wiped
away. The scoring is in ten parts: two sopranos, alto, tenor, bass, two violins,
two violettas and bc. But the score itself requires additional singers and
players. There are three soprano roles, and the third act contains a short
piece for three basses. The sources also indicate trombones ad libitum.
The evidence base is too thin to provide evidence as to how Buxtehude would
have performed his oratorio. It is an established fact, though, that he sometimes
used a large number of singers and players in his Abendmusiken. On
ccasions new wind instruments were bought for the performances. Buxtehude's
colleague, the Kantor Pagendarm, considered it necessary to use them
for performances in large spaces like the Marienkirche: "Well-made music
cannot be presented in large churches without wind instruments any more than
on an organ without any strong stops". But Manfred Cordes only uses
strings, with an additional bassoon in the basso continuo.
Another matter of note is the number of singers involved. This oratorio seems
to require more singers than the scoring suggests. Either some participants
were singing more than one role or playing more than one instrument or more
than one voice per part was used. The practice of doubling roles was quite
common in the circles of the Stadtpfeifer, which played an important
role in music life in Northern Germany in the 17th century. The large space
of the Marienkirche, where the Abendmusiken took place, makes it unlikely
that the oratorio was performed with soloists alone. Even so that is how
the oratorio is performed here.
The present recording is the result of a project with teachers,
examinees and students of the Hochschule für Künste Bremen. The
result is impressive
from a strictly musical point of view. The singers and players
all give fine performances, and the sound of the ensemble
is well-balanced. But there are several aspects of this recording
which give me pause.
On the occasion of the commemoration of Buxtehude's death
in 1707 no less than three complete recordings of this oratorio
were
released, directed by Ton Koopman, Roland Wilson and Klaus
Eichhorn respectively. As much as these three differ, it
could be argued that this range makes this recording of excerpts
superfluous. What I find annoying is the stated reasoning
for making cuts. In the booklet Cordes writes: "The
condensation of the work to concert length or CD playing
time undertaken here aims at preserving the essential message
of the libretto while eliminating some texts written in a
language of pietistic ornateness that would be difficult
for us to appreciate today". I thought the days had
gone that conductors took such an arrogant stance towards
both the music and today's audiences. Music history is full
of compositions with texts not fundamentally different from
those Buxtehude uses, and they are performed regardless.
And how does Manfred Cordes know what kind of texts today's
audiences find difficult to swallow? How does he know what
I can appreciate? If he can't appreciate some of the texts
in this oratorio, he should perhaps stay away from the music
altogether. It is the task of the interpreter to present
compositions as the composer has written them, without interfering
on behalf of a 'virtual audience', so to speak. It can be
left to the audience to decide whether they can appreciate
those texts, which should in any event always be understood
in their historical context.
Cordes continues: "The elimination of these texts means that
their dramatic elements are brought more strongly into the
foreground." Again I beg to differ. What makes him believe
that his version surpasses Buxtehude's in dramatic power?
Actually, in comparison the complete recording by Roland
Wilson is the more theatrical and dramatic of the two; there
Wilson allows the story time to unfold. In addition the women
in Wilson's recording are more successful in portraying the
different characters they impersonate. In this recording
Harry van der Kamp is by far the most dramatic as he sings
the part of the Voice of God with great power and authority.
There are other strange things here. The characters have
become nameless in Acts 2 and 3, but even so in the booklet
their names are
still used. Twice texts from the Bible are given to the tenor
role, who is referred to as 'Christ' in the booklet. But
Buxtehude's scoring nowhere mentions Christ, so I assume
this is an invention by the conductor. The first time the
tenor quotes Proverbs 8, vv 17-21, which begins with the
words: "I love those who love me, and those who search
for me in time, shall find me." These are the words
of Wisdom, who is presented as a person in this chapter of
Proverbs. One could argue that Wisdom is in fact none other
than Christ himself, but specifically referring to him undermines
the logic of the second act, which concentrates on the opposition
of the pious who look for wisdom and the godless who long
for wealth. Early in this act the Voice of God quotes another
part of Proverbs (3, vv 13-18): "Happy is the man who
finds wisdom and he who acquires understanding. For they
are better to handle than silver, and their revenues are
better than gold." The reference to Christ makes more
sense at the end of the third act, where John 14, v 13 is
quoted: "I will come to you and take you with me, so
that you are where I am." But the fact remains that
Buxtehude doesn't refer to Christ here either.
"Buxtehude died in 1707. It is in token of its special musical
attachment to the repertoire of this Northern German master
and as an expression of its obligation to perform and promote
his works that the Early Music Department of the Bremen College
of the Arts has undertaken the present production of his
music on the occasion of the three hundredth anniversary
of his death." So writes Manfred Cordes. I have to say
that Ton Koopman, Klaus Eichhorn and in particular Roland
Wilson have all done a better job in paying tribute to Buxtehude
by obeying the master's wishes.
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