Johann Christoph BACH (1642-1703)
Welt, gute nacht!
Herr, wende dich und sei mir gnädig [13:03]
Mit Weinen hebt sich’s an [5:23]
Wie bist du denn, o Gott [12:18]
Der Gerechte, ob er gleich zu zeitlich stirbt [4:15]
Ach, dass ich Wassers g’nug hätte [7:12]
Fürchte dich nicht [4:53]
Es ist nun aus mit meinem Leben [6:52]
Meine Freundin, du bist schön [24:12]
Julia Doyle (soprano); Katharine Fuge (soprano); Clare Wilkinson (mezzo);
Nicholas Mulroy (alto/tenor); James Gilchrist (tenor); Jeremy Budd (tenor);
Matthew Brook (bass); Peter Harvey (bass); Maya Homburger (violin)
English Baroque Soloists/Sir John Eliot Gardiner
rec. live 16-17, 19 April 2009, Cadogan Hall, London
German texts and English & French translations included
SOLI DEO GLORIA SDG715 [78:11] 
Having issued many recordings of music by J.S. Bach, Sir John Eliot Gardiner
and his colleagues turn their attention to his first cousin once removed,
Johann Christoph Bach. Unusually for an SDG release, the notes are not by
Sir John. Instead the extensive and excellent essay is by the cellist and
viola da gamba player, Richard Campbell (1956-2011). He took part in these
performances but died prior to the release of the disc, which is dedicated
to his memory. Campbell uses a wonderful phrase, describing thus the influence
of Christoph Bach on his younger cousin: “one of the deepest tributary streams
to the great river of music that was to flow from the pen of Johann Sebastian
Bach.” It’s clear that Christoph’s music was highly esteemed within the Bach
clan. Campbell quotes the verdict of J.S. Bach in 1735 that he was ‘a profound
composer’. Christoph Wolff, in his biography, Johann Sebastian Bach. The
Learned Musician, also carries this quote and adds a further tribute
by C.P.E. Bach, who called Christoph ‘the great and expressive composer’.
J.S. Bach would have known his cousin well during his early years. Christoph
was organist in the town of Eisenach from 1665 until his death and simultaneously
served its Duke as his harpsichordist. In 1671 Johann Ambrosius Bach, father
of Sebastian, successfully applied for a post as a Town Piper in Eisenach
– the presence of Christoph in the town’s musical establishment surely helped
– and remained there until his death in 1695. Thus the first ten years of
Sebastian’s life were spent in close family proximity to Christoph Bach and
Christoph Wolff is surely right to suggest that the older man may have been
something of a role model for his young cousin.
This collection of performances gives us a good overview, I should think,
of Christoph Bach’s vocal music and let it be said straightaway that there’s
some good and interesting music here. The selection includes two pieces for
solo voice, both styled ‘Lamento’. One, Ach, dass ich Wassers g’nug hätte
(‘Oh that my head were waters’), is for alto and Richard Campbell says it
is one of the few pieces by Christoph Bach that has received “extensive” performances
in modern times; I believe Andreas Scholl has recorded it. Here the soloist
is Clare Wilkinson and I enjoyed her performance very much. Her voice is warm
but the tone is clean. She sings with poise and good expression and she makes
a lot of the text – at the very end of the piece her singing is appropriately
dramatic and forceful, as the words require.
Wie bist du denn, o Gott (‘Why are you then, O God’) is a more extensive
piece; it’s for bass, here the excellent Matthew Brook. I was reminded while
listening that a couple of years ago I heard Brook as a fine exponent of the
title role in Elijah (review).
To be honest, though Bach’s is much more modest in scale it requires a singer
of sufficient calibre and range to undertake Elijah – Bach’s vocal line extends
to over two octaves. In this performance, though the line goes very high at
times, Brook’s voice is cleanly produced throughout its compass – including
at the top – and he’s also equal to the challenges posed by some ornate passages.
This is a tremendous piece of singing. Brook exhibits mastery of some difficult
music and also projects the text with conviction.
The track list suggests that we hear Matthew Brook as soloist again in Meine
Freundin, du bist schön (‘Thou art fair, my love’) but this is
a misprint. The bass soloist is certainly not Brook; I’m sure it’s the equally
estimable Peter Harvey. This piece was probably written for a Bach family
wedding, possibly in 1679. Very briefly, the plot depicts a pair of young
lovers (soprano and bass) seeking a secluded spot for a tryst. The man goes
ahead and, after a while, his companion joins him, accompanied by a pair of
men: in this performance a female alto and a tenor. The couple invite the
men to join them for refreshments and all join in a concluding hymn of thanksgiving.
We have all this detailed background because a copy survives on which Ambrosius
Bach wrote a detailed commentary. Very helpfully SDG include this commentary
along with the libretto; otherwise I suspect many listeners, like me, would
find it hard to follow the action.
The performance is a very fine one with especially noteworthy contributions
from soprano Julia Doyle and violinist Maya Homburger. Unfortunately, I find
that the piece seriously outstays its welcome. In particular, there is a lengthy
chaconne section, which occurs after the girl’s lover has departed and before
she encounters the two men – it’s at this juncture that the violin part is
particularly important. This section lasts some ten minutes (4:35 – 14:20)
and, despite the artistry of the performers eventually I found it wearisome.
A bit later, when the lovers and the two men settle down to enjoy their refreshments,
the music depicts their merrymaking in exuberant fashion. There’s quite a
rustic feel to this section and it seemed to me almost to be a precursor of
Haydn’s Die Jahreszeiten. Sadly, Bach’s music once again becomes garrulous
and repetitive in this section, I feel. Other listeners may disagree and there’s
much of interest in this piece, which is splendidly performed. If only it
had been ten minutes shorter!
This is one of two ‘Dialogus’ pieces in the programme. The other is the opening
item, Herr, wende dich und sei mir gnädig (‘Lord, turn unto me and have
mercy upon me’). Four singers are involved here. The three high voices, who
always sing as a trio, assume what Richard Campbell calls “the everyman role
of the penitent” while the bass is vox dei. Brook is the bass and sings
with fine authority while the writing for the trio is eloquent and very expressive.
Bach’s music is inventive, as for example in the quite sprightly dancing music
for the bass that begins with the words ‘Ich habe dich erhöret’.
Two pieces are styled ‘Aria’ but they are not, as one might suppose, solo
items. Both are for vocal consort and they are well worth hearing. Mit Weinen
hebt sich’s an (‘It begins with weeping’) is a death-aria and its three stanzas
refer to the three stages of a man’s life – childhood, mid-life and old age.
Richard Campbell says of this piece that it “could be said to deliver a masterclass
in metrical word-setting.” The words don’t make very cheerful reading but
the music is sung most expressively. The other aria, Es ist nun aus mit
meinem Leben (‘Now my life is ended’) is similarly a death-aria. Four
of its seven stanzas are given in this performance. In essence it’s a simple
strophic setting but it’s very beautiful, the more so since it’s sung here
with polish and gentle fervour. There is no word repetition until the last
line of each stanza is reached. These are the words, ‘Welt, gute Nacht!’ which
give the album its title. These words are sung four times after each verse
and the third time the sopranos have a lovely little upward run, which is
most affecting. This piece is touching in its simplicity and directness of
expression. Gardiner and his singers shape this consoling music exquisitely.
The programme is completed by two Motets. Der Gerechte, ob er gleich zu
zeitlich stirbt (‘But though the righteous be prevented with death’) is
an SATTB setting for a burial service and Bach’s music seems to be most effectively
moulded to the words, so as to emphasise the meaning. Fürchte dich nicht
(‘Fear not: for I have redeemed thee’) is another SATTB setting. However,
the soprano line is deliberately and masterfully held back (until 1:54 in
this performance). When the soprano line begins the entry of the voice is
ethereal and it’s a genuine coup on Bach’s part. I found that this
music – and the exemplary performance it receives here – put me in mind of
Joshua Rifkin’s one-voice-to-a-part recording of J.S. Bach’s cantata Gottes
Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106.
This disc just goes to show what an extraordinary amount of talent there was
in the extended Bach clan. There’s much excellent and fascinating music here,
which deserves to be better known. This disc should put that right and it
would be impossible to imagine Christoph Bach’s music receiving finer, more
committed advocacy both from the singers and from the small group of instrumentalists.
The performances were recorded live in concert though there’s no distracting
audience noise whatsoever. The recorded sound is ideal: there’s good bloom
on the voices and the balance is excellent. The booklet is handsomely produced,
as is usual with this label. This is a noteworthy release.
John Quinn
A noteworthy release of fascinating music, which deserves to be better known.