Saturday, April 2, 2016 • 8:00 p.m.
Baroque Ensemble: Bach Aria Project Jason J. Moy, director & organ
DePaul Concert Hall 800 West Belden Avenue • Chicago Saturday, April 2, 2016 • 8:00 p.m. DePaul Concert Hall
Baroque Ensemble: Bach Aria Project Jason J. Moy, director & organ
Program Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Aria: “Lass mich kein Lust noch Furcht von dir”, from BWV 177 Jianghai Ho, tenor Irine Roesnes, violin concertino Michael Allard, bassoon obbligato
Aria: “Mein gläubiges Herze”, from BWV 68 Esther Rayo, soprano Morgan Little, cello obbligato
Aria: “Wenn kömmt der Tag, an dem wir ziehen”, from BWV 70 Daina Fischer, mezzo-soprano
***
Aria: “Der Zeiten Herr hat viel vergnügte Stunden”, from BWV 134a Mary Kate vom Lehn, mezzo-soprano
Chorale: “Herr Gott Vater, mein starker Held”, from BWV 37 Madeline Ehlinger, soprano Ashley Eason, mezzo-soprano
Terzetto: “Wenn meine Trübsal als mit Ketten”, from BWV 38 Laura Smalley, soprano Mary Kate vom Lehn, mezzo-soprano Ian Hosack, baritone intermission Baroque Ensemble: Bach Aria Project • April 2, 2016 program
Aria: “Höchster, mache deine Güte”, from BWV 51 Laura Smalley, soprano
Terzetto: “Ach, wir bekennen unsre Schuld”, from BWV 116 Esther Rayo, soprano Jianghai Ho, tenor Ian Hosack, baritone
Duetto: “Entziehe dich eilends, mein Herze, der Welt”, from BWV 124 Daina Fischer, mezzo-soprano Mary Kate vom Lehn, mezzo-soprano
***
Aria: “Ich bitt noch mehr, o Herre Gott”, from BWV 177 Ashley Eason, mezzo-soprano
Aria: “Öffne dich, mein ganzes Herze”, from BWV 61 Madeline Ehlinger, soprano
Duetto: “O Menschen Kind”, from BWV 20 Daina Fischer, mezzo-soprano Jianghai Ho, tenor
***
Aria: “Wer bist du? Frage dein Gewissen”, from BWV 132 Ian Hosack, baritone Morgan Little, cello obbligato
Duetto: “Er kennt die rechten Freudesstunden”, from BWV 93 Esther Rayo, soprano Ashley Eason, mezzo-soprano
Duetto: “Wir eilen mit schwachen”, from BWV 78 Laura Smalley, soprano Mary Kate vom Lehn, mezzo soprano Evan Hillis, double bass
Baroque Ensemble: Bach Aria Project • April 2, 2016
Program Notes During much of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the name ‘Bach’ was practically synonymous with ‘musician’ in the Thuringia region of central Germany. The most famous member of this illustrious family, Johann Sebastian Bach, was born on March 21, 1685, in the small town of Eisenach, where Martin Luther had taken refuge and translated the New Testament into German some 160 years earlier. In this birthplace of Lutheranism, generations of the sprawling Bach clan held positions as town pipers, church musicians, and composers, and young Johann Sebastian got his start the same way – working his way through a series of provincial posts in Weimar, Arnstadt, Muhlhausen, and Cöthen, biding his time and perfecting his craft.
In 1723, J.S. Bach finally got his big break when he was invited to Leipzig to assume the posts of cantor at the prestigious Thomasschule and music director for the Thomaskirche and three other major churches. Eager to make a big and bold impression on the musical life of this bustling, cosmopolitan university town, Bach undertook the monumental task of composing new cantatas for every Sunday and feast day of the liturgical year – a project that yielded over 500 works over a five year period – instead of simply recycling and reusing existing music, as his predecessors had done. With a wealth of musical talent at his disposable through his own students and those at the nearby university, Bach was able indulge his full compositional creativity by utilized highly unorthodox combinations of voices and instruments. This program highlights some of the most innovative arias taken from Bach’s sacred and secular cantatas.
A number of these arias feature groundbreaking and highly virtuosic contributions from the cello and bassoon - instruments not normally afforded such notable solo roles in this era. For example, the ebullient tenor aria from Cantata 177, “Lass mich kein Lust noch Furcht von dir”, is scored for a most unusual duo of violin and bassoon in dialogue with the solo singer. The aria’s fairly straightforward text belies no spiritual significance for the bassoon’s presence, which suggests that Bach may simply have had a particularly talented bassoonist at his disposal that particular Sunday morning. The soprano aria from Cantata 68, “Mein gläubiges Herze”, is noteworthy in that it features a substantial solo for the violoncello piccolo, an enigmatic instrument that appears only about a dozen times in Bach’s cantata output and nowhere else. Scholars have surmised that it had an additional top string (an ‘E’ string, like the violin) to extend its treble range, while others have even argued that it was small enough to be held across the Baroque Ensemble: Bach Aria Project • April 2, 2016 program notes chest and played like a viola or violin, but without any surviving examples, it is impossible to be sure. Either way, the cello solo, with its leaping intervals and bursts of effervescent activity, alludes to a joyful peasant dance that perfectly complements the soprano’s directive that her “faithful heart” should “delight, sing, and play” for “Jesus is here!”
Many of Bach’s cantata movements incorporate chorale tunes, sometimes as the featured melody, and other times, as the bass line and harmonic underpinning, or buried within a thick choral texture. Hearing these recognizable tunes – many of them penned by Martin Luther himself – would have been particularly meaningful for the devout Lutheran churchgoers who knew all the chorales by heart and heard Bach’s works during the 4-hour long worship services each and every Sunday morning. The duet, “Herr Gott Vater, mein starker Held”, from Cantata 37, is a setting of one of the most popular Lutheran hymns, “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern” (How brightly shines the morning star); the chorale is simply intoned at the beginning and elaborately embellished and ornamented as the aria runs its course. In the soprano and alto duet, “Er kennt die rechten Freudesstunden”, from Cantata 93, it is the violin that intones the chorale melody, “Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten” (Who only lets dear God rule) over an almost completely independent piece for the vocal soloists and accompanying bass instruments. As a man who penned the words ‘Soli Deo Gloria’ (Glory to God Alone) at the end of every one of his compositions – vocal, instrumental, secular, sacred – the divine was ever-present for Bach and clearly inseparable from his life’s work.
Notes by Jason Moy.
Personnel DePaul Baroque Ensemble Jason J. Moy, organ, harpsichord & director Madeline Ehlinger, Esther Rayo, Laura Smalley, sopranos Ashley Eason, Daina Fischer, Mary Kate vom Lehn, mezzo-sopranos Jianghai Ho, tenor Ian Hosack, baritone Irine Roesnes, violin Morgan Little, cello Michael Allard, bassoon Evan Hillis, double bass Baroque Ensemble: Bach Aria Project • April 2, 2016
Biographies Jason J. Moy holds degrees in harpsichord and Early Music performance from McGill University in Montreal, where his primary teachers and mentors included Hank Knox, Luc Beauséjour, and the late Bruce Haynes. Jason is a native of Chicago, and currently serves on the faculty of the DePaul University School of Music, where he teaches harpsichord and directs the Baroque Ensemble. His concert activities have taken him throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, and include appearances at the 2013 Boston Early Music Festival, and the 2009 York Early Music Festival in the United Kingdom.
Jason has performed as harpsichordist and organist with some of the Chicago area’s most respected ensembles, including the Bach Week Festival Orchestra and Chorus, Music of the Baroque, Baroque Band, Chicago Chamber Musicians, Newberry Consort and the Illinois Symphony Orchestra. He has been featured in live performances on ABC7 and CBS2 television, and BBC Radio 3, and is frequently heard on Chicago’s classical radio station, WFMT98.7. For more information, visit www.jjmoy.com. Baroque Ensemble: Bach Aria Project • April 2, 2016
Upcoming Events
Sunday, April 3 • 12:00 p.m. Concert Hall Kleinman Vocal Competition
Monday, April 4 • 8:00 p.m. Concert Hall Clarinet Studio Recital
Thursday, April 7 • 7:00 p.m. Concert Hall Masterclass: Nicole Cabell, soprano
Friday, April 8 • 7:00 p.m. Recital Hall Janet Sung’s Violin Studio Recital
Saturday, April 9 • 8:00 p.m. Concert Hall McGuckin Harpsichord Recital featuring Alexander Weinmann
Sunday, April 10 • 1:00 p.m. School of Music, Room 103 Movement Workshop for Vocalists: Lin Batsheva Kahn, Theatre School professor
Sunday, April 10 • 3:00 p.m. Concert Hall Faculty Chamber Concert
Friday, April 15 • 8:00 p.m. Recital Hall Electric DePaul
Saturday, April 16 • 3:00 p.m. Concert Hall Hindustani Classical Music Recital: Nayan Ghosh, sitar Baroque Ensemble: Bach Aria Project • April 2, 2016 upcoming events
Saturday, April 16 • 8:00 p.m. Concert Hall DePaul Symphony Orchestra
Sunday, April 17 • 2:00 p.m. St. Vincent de Paul Parish • 1010 W Webster Ave DePaul Chamber Choir & Concert Choir
Thursday, April 21 • 6:00p.m . Recital Hall Music Career Workshop With Rich Daniels Open to all current and prospective students and alumni.
Saturday, April 23 • 8:00 p.m. Concert Hall DePaul Chamber Choir & Concert Choir
Sunday, April 24 • 8:00 p.m. Concert Hall Olga Kaler’s Violin Studio Recital
As a courtesy to those around you, please silence all cell phones and other electronic devices. Flash photography is not permitted. Thank you.
Sign up for Music @ DePaul E-Notes!
Receive bi-weekly updates on performances taking place at the School of Music, as well as special offers and discounts to ticketed events! You can choose to unsubscribe from the list at any time. We have a strict privacy policy and will never sell or trade your email address.
You can sign up for E-Notes by visiting music.depaul.edu and clicking on “Concerts and Events.”
DePaul University School of Music Concert Hall • 800 West Belden Avenue • Chicago Recital Hall • 804 West Belden Avenue • Chicago music.depaul.edu • 773.325.7260