Johann Philipp Förtsch is one of the most remarkable German composers
of the 17th century. About halfway through his life his career as a
professional musician came to an end and he started to devote his life
to the medical profession. Also notable is that his sacred compositions
are more dramatic in character than was common in his time.
Förtsch was born in Wertheim am Main where his father was mayor. He
studied medicine, law and philosophy in Jena and then in Erfurt. He did
not plan to become a professional musician but must have enjoyed a good
musical education. In his musical lexicon Johann Gottfried Walther
mentions Johann Philipp Krieger as his teacher, but there is no
documentary evidence for this. He started his career as a singer in
Hamburg in sacred music and in the Opera. In 1680 Duke Christian
Albrecht of Holstein-Gottorf appointed him
Kapellmeister
as successor to the highly reputed Johann Theile, another token of his
qualities. In 1683 the Duke, who was in permanent conflict with
Denmark, had to flee, and that brought Förtsch's activities as
Kapellmeister
to an end. At this moment Förtsch changed his profession: he settled in
Husum as a doctor. However, he remained active as a composer, writing
twelve operas for the Hamburg Oper am Gänsemarkt. When Christian
returned to Gottorf Förtsch was appointed as court physician. After the
Duke's death in 1694 Förtsch entered the service of the bishop of
Lübeck, August Friedrich, the Duke's brother. Here he not only acted as
the bishop's personal physician but was also entrusted with diplomatic
assignments. Until his death Förtsch was active as a doctor and as a
legal adviser.
Unfortunately Förtsch operas have all been lost but his dramatic skills
come to the fore in his sacred oeuvre. About 80 pieces in this genre
have been preserved and many are remarkably dramatic in nature. Since
the beginning of the 17th century, when the
seconda prattica
emerged, composers had explored the dramatic elements in biblical
texts, especially in the form of dialogues. Förtsch goes a step
further: he takes texts which have no elements of a dialogue but turns
them into little dramas by including new texts, either from elsewhere
in the Bible or free texts. The very first piece of this disc is a
telling example.
Nun ist des Satans Macht gefället is a cantata for Ascension
Day. The opening text has a dramatic character: "Now Satan's power has
fallen and is broken, and your Christian battalion can mock death and
hell". It comes as no surprise that the instrumental scoring includes
two trumpets. Förstsch inserts a part for bass solo who acts as the
vox Christi.
Jesus is quoted as saying that it was written that he had to die and to
rise from the dead, and later orders his disciples to preach the gospel
across the world. The same
vox Christi, again sung by the bass, appears in
Ach, ich elender Mensch
in which the tenor asks: "[Who] shall deliver me from this mortal
body?". Jesus replies: "Come here to me, come all who are weary amd
heavy laden".
Meine Augen rinnen mit Wasserbächen is a
cantata for the 10th Sunday after Trinity. At that Sunday the gospel
reading is from St Luke, chapter 19, where Jesus prophesies the
destruction of Jerusalem. The cantata opens with the bass, singing
words put into Jesus' mouth: "My eyes flow with watery streams at the
mysery of the daughter of my people". Later in the cantata he sings
literal quotations of Jesus' words from the Bible. In between come
emotional reactions sung by two sopranos and a tenor in short solo
episodes.
Förtsch is also historically important in regard to the development of
the church cantata. Some of the pieces recorded here have the form of a
sacred concerto, without any sections or extended solo episodes.
Examples are
Herr, wer wird wohnen in deiner Hütten and the closing piece,
Nun danket alle Gott, the latter again with two trumpets.
Der Herr hat seinen Engeln befohlen über dir has the form of a concerto-aria cantata, as we know it from the oeuvre of Buxtehude.
Weh denen, die auf Erden wohnen
is an early example of a cantata which closes with a chorale, sung by
the tutti. It has the form of a chorale arrangement, with the strings
weaving a web around the four-part chorale. This is reminiscent of the
cantatas by Johann Ludwig Bach (1677-1731).
Jesu, du hast weggenommen is entirely based on a chorale. Here the stanzas 6 to 12 from the chorale
Jesu, der du meine Seele are arranged for soprano and tenor, mostly singing in ensemble.
Considering the remarkable features of Förtsch's sacred music it is
rather odd that he was only 'discovered' about ten years ago. In 2008
and 2009 the first two discs were released which were entirely devoted
to his oeuvre (
review review).
Before that only one or two pieces were available on disc. With these
three discs that number of works has substantially increased to almost
twenty and allows a balanced picture of Förtsch's qualities. Having
heard all three discs I have to rate him highly. Every single piece I
have heard has something special, not only in regard to the use of
dramatic means but also in terms of text expression. The pieces on this
disc include plenty of passages where the text is eloquently depicted
in the music.
Weser-Renaissance delivers impressive and very compelling performances.
The singers have a full command of the style of German music of this
time. Good diction and delivery are indispensable elements in a
convincing interpretation this ensemble is unbeatable here. The singers
show sensitivity to the text, especially Harry van der Kamp, who
singles out key words in his account of the
vox Christi.
The instruments play a crucial role as well as Förtsch regularly uses
them to underline the dramatic nature of the text. The players of
Weser-Renaissance are well aware of that.
This is a highly important release and I very much hope that more from Förtsch's oeuvre will be recorded.
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
