Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Motets
Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied BWV 225 [12:38]
Fürchte dich nicht, ich bin bei dir BWV 228 [7:52]
Jesu, meine Freude BWV 227 [20:12]
Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf BWV 226 [7:32]
Komm, Jesu, komm BWV 229 [8:09]
Ich lasse Dich nicht, du segnest mich denn BWV Anh. 159 [5:33]
Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden BWV 230 [6:20]
St Jacobs Kammarkör; REBaroque/Gary Graden
rec. October 2010 and February 2011, St Jacob’s Church, Stockholm, Sweden
PROPRIUS PRCD 2066 [76:35]
Before you even start listening to this recording, the presentation suggests
something rather opulent and special. Tucked into the kind of clamshell box
in which you expect to find at least two or possibly three CDs, this release
has just the usual single disc for J.S. Bach’s complete Motets
in its own card foldout holder. The box also includes a nice glossy booklet
with texts in German, Swedish and English, notes on each motet and plenty
of photos and background information on the musicians involved.
About as far removed from the a cappella Hilliard Ensemble recording
from the ECM label which I looked at a few years ago (see review),
these are full-fat performances of the Bach motets, with a choir big enough
to deliver spectacular antiphonal effects, and an instrumental accompaniment
with plenty of solidity to go along with a transparent period sound and limber
lightness of touch which prevents everything sliding into early/mid 20th
century heaviness.
Hunting for comparisons, the Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner recording on Soli Deo
Gloria (see review)
has a similarly lively vibe but is a drier recording and rather choir-heavy,
with enough sibilance to sail a small ship. The
fuller instrumental sound with this Proprius recording means you hear more
texture in the accompaniment, where with Gardiner you get the bass line but
not a huge amount of anything else. Masaaki Suzuki and his Bach Collegium
Japan on BIS (see review)
is always an enticing prospect, and in sonority comes closer than Gardiner
to the fullness of Gary Graden’s team, though on returning to this recording
you do wonder if the buzz-saw lead violin might perhaps have been a little
lower in the balance. My feeling with Suzuki is that the motets are treated
as jewels which are perhaps just a little too precious, and my liking
for the Graden recording comes in large part from the energy and spacious
generosity which leaps palpably from your speakers.
I’ll go for one more comparison, which is the Collegium Vocale Gent
led by Philippe Herreweghe (see review).
This is very much the tidied-up single voice to a part kind of interpretation
to which many will have become accustomed in recent years, a single organ
sometimes providing all of the harmonic support required, the contrast between
this and the motets which include winds and strings making for an attractive
sequence. There is much to be said for the clean sound of such versions, and
a little more variation in instrumental forces in the Proprius version might
not have come amiss, though the strings are silenced in Ich lasse Dich
nicht, du segnest mich den, pungent bassoons doing the honours amongst
some sublime choral polyphony.
All things considered this Swedish recording of Bach’s Motets
is a resounding success. Concertmaster Maria Lindal has her own little section
in the booklet, and it sounds as if she was given a microphone all to herself
for the recording. This adds upper register sheen and isn’t much of
a problem through speakers but can wear thin through headphones, which also
show up little blemishes such as what sounds like an extra little note at
7:02 into Jesu, meine Freude. The acoustic setting for the recording
is big and fully in scale for these powerful performances, though gentle subtlety
is also very much a part of the musicianship here. The magnificent divided
choirs of something like Komm, Jesu, komm are the clincher for me in
this recording, turning Bach’s motets into something more like a guilty
pleasure than a hair-shirt religious duty. If you give this box as a present
make sure you double wrap it with an inner lining of silver foil, such are
the deliciously rich and chocolaty rewards inside.
Dominy Clements
Like a box of naughty chocolates: yummm.
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