Johann Sebastian BACH (1685 - 1750)
Cantatas
Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal (BWV 146) [35:54]
Ihr werdet weinen und heulen (BWV 103) [14:33]
Allein zu dur, Herr Jesu Christ (BWV 33) [20:32]
Soloists: Caroline Weynants (soprano), Damien Guillon (alto), Margot Oitzinger (contralto), Marcus Ullmann, Reinoud Van Mechelen (tenor), Lieven Termont (baritone)
Ripienists: Annelies Brants (soprano), Cécile Pilorger (contralto), Kevin Skelton, Paolo Borgonovo (tenor), Bart Vandewege, Marco Radaelli (bass)
Il Gardellino/Marcel Ponseele
rec. 2013, AMUZ, Antwerp, Belgium; Santuario del Divin Prigioniero, Valle di Colorina, Italy. DDD
PASSACAILLE 987 [70:59]
Contrast is a significant feature of the baroque era: for instance
the contrast between dark and shadow in paintings dating from that era. The
contrast between sin and forgiveness and between the misery of life on earth
and the joy of life in heaven are recurrent elements in sacred music. That
is certainly the case in Bach's cantatas. The present disc includes
three cantatas which attest to that.
The first two were written for the same Sunday of the ecclesiastical year:
Sunday Jubilate, shortly after Easter. Bach composed three cantatas for this
Sunday which belong to his better-known works: apart from the two performed
here there’s also Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (BWV 12) which
inspired Franz Liszt to an arrangement of the first chorus. The first recitative
from this cantata has the same text as the first chorus of Cantata 146:
"We must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God".
Thematically the cantatas for Sunday Jubilate refer to the gospel reading
which are the verses 16 to 23 from the 16th chapter of the Gospel of John.
The key is verse 20 which is also the text of the opening chorus of Cantata
103: "You shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice. Now
you shall be sorrowful, yet your sorrow shall be turned into joy". This
is reflected in the texture of the two cantatas: they begin with a desciption
of the sorrow of the faithful, but halfway they turn into an expression of
the joy which awaits them.
Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal opens with a sinfonia with a part for
obbligato organ which is the opening of a lost violin concerto only known
in a later arrangement for harpsichord (BWV 1052). The second part of this
concerto is used in the chorus; again the organ has an obbligato part. This
chorus includes strong dissonants, expressing the meaning of the text. Next
follows a long aria for alto, and once again the organ plays an obbligato
part. In one manuscript this part is given to the violin - that is also indicated
in the lyrics in the booklet, although here the part is played by the organ
- but that indication seems not to be in Bach's hand. In baroque music
strong emotions are often expressed in an accompanied recitative as the strings
allow the possibility of creating harmonies which depict the sorrowful state
of the protagonist. That is also the case here as the tenor dwells on the
"wicked world" and longs for a life with Jesus in heaven. The turning
point is in the next aria for soprano: "I sow my tears with an anxious
heart. Yet my heart's suffering shall reap glory for me on the day
of the blessed harvest". After a secco recitative for tenor he is joined
by the bass for a duet in triple time which expresses the joy of the "heavenly,
blessed delight". The chorale has no text in the extant manuscript. Several
suggestions have been made. The tracklist says: 'Denn wer selig dahin
fähret' or 'Ach, ich habe schon erblicket'. That in itself
is quite odd: apparently the tracklist has been copied from some book. One
would expect it to indicate what is actually sung. Here a more recent suggestion
has been followed: the first stanza from the hymn 'Freu dich sehr,
o meine Seele'.
This cantata is the third for Sunday Jubilate and must have been written between
1726 and 1728. Ihr werdet weinen und heulen was written for 22 April
1725, and was the first in which Bach used texts by Marianne von Ziegler.
However, he did alter them: the second recitative is abridged. The opening
chorus attests to the preference for contrast in the baroque era: the elements
of sorrow and joy are strongly juxtaposed through the use of contrasting musical
material and opposing textures: for instance the sudden turn from a choral
fugue to a recitative for bass. As one would expect Bach makes use of chromaticism
to expose the sorrow to which the text refers. Bach requires a flauto
piccolo, a soprano recorder in d''. It returns in the alto
aria 'Kein Arzt ist außer dir zu finden'. Bach later rewrote
this part for transverse flute or violin. It is quite odd that here a recorder
is used in the opening chorus, but a transverse flute in the aria. That seems
untenable from a historical angle. This cantata also begins with an exposition
of the sorrow of the believer. In the alto aria the protagonist asks: "Who
will heal the wounds of my sins?" The turning point is the following
recitative, again for alto: "I trust your promised word that my sorrow
shall be turned into joy". "Recover, distressed minds" is the
opening of the tenor aria; the orchestra includes a part for trumpet which
also participates in the closing chorale.
Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ was first performed on 3 September
1724, the 13th Sunday after Trinity. It is a chorale cantata; the opening
chorus and the closing chorale are the first and fourth stanza respectively
from the hymn by Konrad Hubert (1540). The two recitative and aria pairs in
between are paraphrases of the second and third stanzas. There is hardly any
connection between the text of the cantata and the readings of the day. In
his book The Cantatas of J.S. Bach the German scholar Alfred Dürr
suggests a connection in the reference to neighbourly love in the duet: "Grant
that out of pure impulse I love my neighbour as myself". This is also
the subject of the gospel reading of this Sunday: the parable of the Good
Samaritan (Luke 10). In this cantata the contrast is between sin and forgiveness.
In the first recitative the bass sings that "my sin is heavy and very
great". It is followed by an aria in which the alto and the obbligato
violin - playing with mute - eloquently express "how fearfully my steps
wavered". The steps are depicted by the pizzicato of the second violin,
viola and basso continuo. The figures in the violin are connected to the text
and that explains why they are omitted in the B part: "Yet Jesus'
word of comfort reassures me that he has done enough for me". The duet
is in a lively tempo, and the two voices largely move in parallel thirds and
sixths. There is a strong similarity with the duet in Cantata 146,
although here it is more polyphonic in texture than the other duet which is
largely homophonic.
The tutti are performed by the soloists with additional ripienists.
According to Joshua Rifkin and Andrew Parrott Bach performed most of his sacred
works with one voice per part which means that the soloists also sang the
tutti. In some cases there is evidence of the use of ripienists.
I don't know whether that also goes for the cantatas performed here.
The liner-notes ignore the issue. The tutti parts are very well performed,
and that includes the chorales, which are often a weak spot in recordings
of Bach's sacred music. The soloists are excellent, without exception.
Only in some cases did I feel that there was a lack of depth, for instance
in the tenor aria 'Erholet euch, betrübte Sinnen' (BWV 103),
sung by Reinoud Van Mechelen, whose voice I like very much. I find Marcus
Ullmann's voice less attractive, but he gives a good account of himself.
Lieven Termont has no arias, but participates in the two duets and sings his
recitatives in an expressive manner. Margot Oitzinger sings the long aria
from BWV 146 beautifully, but the lowest notes are rather weak, especially
considering the presence of the organ. This is an Italian instrument and produces
a sound which is a bit too penetrating. A mellower sound would have been preferable.
Damien Guillon is one of the best Bach interpreters of our time, who works
regularly with Philippe Herreweghe. 'Wie furchtsam wankten meine Schritte'
(BWV 33) is one of the highlights of this disc.
Despite the odd decision in regard to the scoring in Cantata 103 this is a
very fine disc with generally outstanding performances of three of Bach's
most expressive cantatas. It is the shame that the booklet is not up to the
same standard: apart from the issues I mentioned it includes several printing
errors. It is a shame that such a fine disc is accompanied by such a booklet.
Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen
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