A Cantata-Text Cycle of 1728 from Nuremberg: a Preliminary Report on a Discovery Relating to J
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The Church Fathers' Spiritual Interpretation of the Psalms
4 The Church Fathers’ Spiritual Interpretation of the Psalms Hans Boersma he world of the church fathers may seem far removed from our Teveryday lives. In some respects, that is indeed the case. It would be foolish to try to appropriate their writings into our theological and cultural contexts without taking into account the many centuries that separate us from the Fathers. Despite the obvious developments and changes that have taken place since the patristic era, however, there is an underlying commonality that links faithful biblical interpretation today with the exegetical endeavors of the early church. Over the past number of years, there has been a growing recognition of the shortcomings of historical critical exegesis and, as a result, an increasing appreciation for the church fathers and their spiritual or theological interpretation of the Bible.1 In this essay, I will focus on three theological concerns that we, along with the Fathers, may continue to bring to bear on our reading of the book of Psalms. In particular, I am thinking of (1) the Psalms’ focus on the harmonious virtue of the person who sings them, (2) the Psalms’ christological focus, and (3) the need to appropriate the Psalms in a personal manner. I want to preface my analysis, however, by recognizing with grati- tude that, long before I started reading the church fathers, I encountered 1. For helpful introductions to theological or spiritual interpretation, see Billings, Word of God; O’Keefe and Reno, Sanctified Vision; and Treier, Introducing Theological Interpretation. 41 42 LIVING WATERS FROM ANCIENT SPRINGS each of these three elements in the teaching of Professor Cornelis Van Dam. -
Inquiry Into J.S. Bach's Method of Reworking in His Composition of the Concerto for Keyboard, Flute and Violin, Bwv 1044, and Its
INQUIRY INTO J.S. BACH'S METHOD OF REWORKING IN HIS COMPOSITION OF THE CONCERTO FOR KEYBOARD, FLUTE AND VIOLIN, BWV 1044, AND ITS CHRONOLOGY by DAVID JAMES DOUGLAS B.A., The University of British Columbia, 1994 A THESIS IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES School of Music We accept this thesis as conforming tjjfe required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA October 1997 © David James Douglas, 1997 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of ZH t/S fC The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada Date . DE-6 (2788) Abstract Bach's Concerto for Keyboard, Flute, and Violin with Orchestra in A minor, BWV 1044, is a very interesting and unprecedented case of Bach reworking pre-existing keyboard works into three concerto movements. There are several examples of Bach carrying out the reverse process with his keyboard arrangements of Vivaldi, and other composers' concertos, but the reworking of the Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 894, into the outer movements of BWV 1044, and the second movement of the Organ Sonata in F major, BWV 527, into the middle movement, appears to be unique among Bach's compositional activity. -
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557615bk Bach US 3/5/06 6:10 pm Page 5 Marianne Beate Kielland Cologne Chamber Orchestra Conductor: Helmut Müller-Brühl The Norwegian mezzo-soprano Marianne Beate Kielland studied at the Norwegian State Academy of Music in Oslo, graduating in the spring of 2000. She has quickly The Cologne Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1923 by Hermann Abendroth and gave established herself as one of Scandinavia’s foremost singers and regularly appears its first concerts in the Rhine Chamber Music Festival under the direction of Hermann with orchestras and in festivals throughout Europe, working with conductors of Abendroth and Otto Klemperer in the concert-hall of Brühl Castle. Three years later the international distinction. For the season 2001/02 she was a member of the ensemble ensemble was taken over by Erich Kraack, a pupil of Abendroth, and moved to at the Staatsoper in Hanover. Marianne Beate Kielland is especially sought after as a Leverkusen. In 1964 he handed over the direction of the Cologne Chamber Orchestra to J. S. BACH concert singer, with a wide repertoire ranging from the baroque to Berlioz, Bruckner, Helmut Müller-Brühl, who, through the study of philosophy and Catholic theology, as and Mahler. Her career has brought not only performances in Europe, but further well as art and musicology, had acquired a comprehensive theoretical foundation for the engagements as far afield as Japan. Her recordings include Bach’s St Mark and St interpretation of Baroque and Classical music, complemented through the early study of Matthew Passions, Mass in B minor, and the complete solo cantatas for alto, as well conducting and of the violin under his mentor Wolfgang Schneiderhahn. -
Generalbaßlehre of 1738” by Thomas Braatz © 2012
The Problematical Origins of the “Generalbaßlehre of 1738” by Thomas Braatz © 2012 Near the end of 2011 a new volume of the NBA was released by Bärenreiter. It is called a supplement and includes notes and studies on thorough-bass, composition and counterpoint along with a section of Bach’s sketches and drafts and finally in the appendix the more recently discovered aria, BWV 1127. In addition to the well- researched and documented rules on thorough-bass found in the Anna Magdalena Bach’s notebooks, there is a presentation and critical discussion of the recently discovered (1999) counterpoint studies in the form of an exchange between Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and his father, all in autograph documents from the period 1736 to1739 when W. F. Bach was an organist in Dresden. Of great interest is the analysis and discussion of the Precepts and Principles for Playing the Thorough-Bass along with the complete text and musical examples. Below I will present the original German (Appendix 1) along with my English translation (Appendix 2) of the pertinent sections from the NBA editor’s introduction and the critical report covering this document. From this the reader will be able ascertain the spurious1 nature of its origin and claims of authenticity. The Precepts and Principles for Playing Four-Part Thorough-Bass or Accompaniment, or more commonly referred to in its short form as the “Generalbaßlehre of 1738”, has attained a false aura of authenticity since the appearance of Philipp Spitta’s monumental Bach biography in which Spitta printed the entire text of this document that he also analyzed and discussed in greater detail in a music journal in 1882.2 Spitta was the first Bach scholar to recognize the connection between this document and certain paragraphs contained in a treatise by Friedrich Erhard Niedt. -
Rethinking J.S. Bach's Musical Offering
Rethinking J.S. Bach’s Musical Offering Rethinking J.S. Bach’s Musical Offering By Anatoly Milka Translated from Russian by Marina Ritzarev Rethinking J.S. Bach’s Musical Offering By Anatoly Milka Translated from Russian by Marina Ritzarev This book first published 2019 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2019 by Anatoly Milka All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-5275-3706-4 ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-3706-4 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures........................................................................................... vii List of Schemes ....................................................................................... viii List of Music Examples .............................................................................. x List of Tables ............................................................................................ xii List of Abbreviations ............................................................................... xiii Preface ...................................................................................................... xv Introduction ............................................................................................... -
“Erschallet, Ihr Lieder, Erklinget Ihr Saiten!”
“Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget ihr Saiten!” A study of Bach’s third Weimar cantata and the spirituality of his musical language Benjamin Gabbay Copyright © Benjamin Gabbay 2018 J.S. Bach’s third Weimar cantata is described by John Eliot Gardiner as being one that he “evidently … particularly valued.”1 Besides Bach’s repeated reworkings and reinstrumentations of the piece (for later performances in Leipzig) that would suggest this, the piece also clearly grew out of a fortuitous intersection in his liturgical career—working in Weimar, a hotbed for both secular and sacred composition with ample resources to realize his musical visions and the masterful librettist Salomo Franck at his disposal. From the ebullient occasion for which it was composed, to its rich instrumentation, to its relentless cascade of Bach-ian symbolism, “Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten!” (“Resound, you songs, ring out, you strings!”) represents a peak in the composer’s liturgical canon. Context and Instrumentation “Erschallet…” was written for the service of Whitsunday (“White Sunday”), a high- spirited celebration for the festival of Pentecost, which commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon early Christians in the time following Jesus’ resurrection. It is worth noting that, in the Lutheran tradition of Bach’s time, the festival would have carried the same celebratory circumstance as Christmas or Easter; Gardiner describes it as “the culmination of those ‘great fifty days’ which follow the resurrection, a watershed marking the completion of -
Bach Notes No. 24
No. 24 Spring 2016 BACH NOTES NEWSLETTER OF THE AMERICAN BACH SOCIETY THE MAKING OF EXPLORING THE WORLD OF J. S. BACH: A TRAVELER’S GUIDE In spring of 2013, the American Bach Society com- are few images of pipe organs. missioned Robert and Traute Marshall to produce Our research entailed personally visit- a book that traced the various journeys of Johann ing all the sites, incorporating the pertinent Sebastian Bach. The happy result is Exploring findings within scholarly literature, and the World of J. S. Bach: A Traveler’s Guide, interviewing local historians and other which will be offered as the ABS membership gift well-informed experts. After completing later this year. As an appetizer in the meanwhile, the the research and field trips we addressed Marshalls have generously contributed this “behind the issue of how to organize and present the scenes” report on the book’s compilation. the material. Bachstätten adopted a straight- forward alphabetical order, ranging from Altenburg to Zschortau. The relevant sec- I tions of the organ handbook are similarly organized alphabetically. rom the outset our plan (indeed, our We quickly found a strictly alphabetical Fcharge, as communicated to us by George ordering of all fifty-one towns unsatisfactory, Stauffer on behalf of the editorial board however, since it failed to acknowledge the of the ABS) was to produce a survey of all cardinal importance of the eight places where the towns where J. S. Bach lived or visited. Bach actually resided, which no doubt would Our objective was to relate, in brief, their be of particular interest to many readers. -
J.E. Gardiner (SDG
Cantatas for Quinquagesima King’s College Chapel, Cambridge This concert was significant in several ways. Firstly, it contained Bach’s two ‘test’ pieces for the cantorship at St Thomas’s in Leipzig, BWV 22 and BWV 23, designed to be performed within a single service either side of the sermon on 7 February 1723. Then Quinquagesima being the last Sunday before Lent, it was accordingly the final opportunity Leipzigers had of hearing music in church before the statutory tempus clausum that lasted until Vespers on Good Friday, and Bach seemed determined to leave them with music – four cantatas – that they wouldn’t easily forget. Thirdly, by coincidence, in 2000 Quinquagesima fell on 5 March, thirty-six years to the day since I first conducted Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 in King’s College Chapel as an undergraduate. The Monteverdi Choir was born that night. I was pleased to be returning to King’s for this anniversary, and to invite the four collegiate choirs from which I had recruited the original Monteverdians to join with us in the singing of the chorales at the start of the concert. Of these, the choirs of Clare and Trinity Colleges responded positively. King’s Chapel seemed to work its unique Gothic alchemy on the music, though, as ever, one needed to be on one’s guard against the insidious ‘tail’ of its long acoustic which can turn even the most robust music-making into mush. St Luke’s Gospel for Quinquagesima recounts two distinct episodes, of Jesus telling the disciples of his coming Passion and of sight restored to a blind man begging near Jericho. -
T. Koopman & Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir
_crar ~cr- :xxh :2- -5: =-:.-:: 7' .ocr _o(ob -e __- ::Si2"a::-:cc--~ ,,::" JC' fC :::e;:: .--,: 2 Johann Sebastian BACH(1685-1750) COMPLETE CANTATAS/L'INTEGRALE DES CANTATES DAS KANTATENWERK . VOLUME 3 BARBARASCHLICK,CAROLINESTAM,RUTHHOLTON,ELSBONGERS,soprano ELISABETHYON MAGNUS, soprano If, alto ANDREASSCHOU,alto(BWV 54) PAULAGNEW,lenor KLAUSMERTENS,boss THE AMSTERDAM BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHOIR TON KOOPMAN 3 2 JohannSebastianBACH(1685-1750) COMPLETECANTATAS/L'INTEGRALEDESCANTATES DASKANTATENWERK VOLUME3 BARBARASCHLICK,CAROLINESTAM,RUTHHOLTON,ELSBONGERS,soprano ELISABETHVON MAGNUS,sopranoII, alto ANDREASSCHOU,alto (BWV 54) PAULAGNEW,lenor KLAUSMERTENS,boss THEAMSTERDAMBAROQUEORCHESTRA& CHOIR TON KOOPMAN 3 COMPACTDISC1 70'13 P~/ 5eite "Christen, iitzet diesen Tag" BWV 63 28'20 Feria 1 Nativitatis Christi For the 1st day. of Christmas/Pour Ie I~ jour de Noel/Erster Weihnachtstag Text: Anon., Johann Michael Heineccios (?). 171.8 Ruth Holton, soprano [I] Chorale (Chorus): "Christen, otzel diesen Ta~" £148 [43] Violins, Violas, Cel/o, Double bass, Oboes, Trumpets, Timpani, Bassoon, Organ W Recitative(Altol:"a seiger Tag! 0 ungemeines Heute" -< " [43J Violins, Violas, Cel/o, Double -bass, Organ OJ Duel (Soprano, Bassi: "Gott. du hast es wohl gefuget" v [45] Oboe, Cel/o, Organ ""':::,' m Recitative (Tenor): "So kehret sich nun heut das bange leid" [45] Cel/a, Organ []] Duet (Alto, Tenorl: "Run und flehl den Himmel an" [45] Violins, Violas, Cel/i, Double bass, Organ W Recitative(Bass): "Verdoppelt euch demnach" [45] Violins, Violas, Cel/i, Double bass, Oboes, Bassoon, Organ [[] Chorale (Chorus): "HOchsler,schau in Gnaden an" [47] Violins, Violas, Cel/i, Double bass, Oboes, Trumpets,Timpani Bossoor C>-F "Ach, ich sehe, ilzt, do ich zur Hachzeit gehe" BWV 162 16"22 Dominica 20 post Trinitatis For the 20th Sunday aner Trinity/Pour Ie 20' Dimanche ap<es Ie ~""" e. -
Bach and the Rationalist Philosophy of Wolff, Leibniz and Spinoza,” 60-71
Chapter 1 On the Musically Theological in Bach’s Cantatas From informal Internet discussion groups to specialized aca demic conferences and publications, an ongoing debate has raged on whether J. S. Bach ought to be considered a purely artistic or also a religious figure.^ A recently formed but now disbanded group of scholars, the Internationale Arbeitsgemeinschaft fiir theologische Bachforschung, made up mostly of German theologians, has made significant contributions toward understanding the religious con texts of Bach’s liturgical music.^ These writers have not entirely captured the attention or respect of the wider world of Bach 1. For the academic side, the most influential has been Friedrich Blume, “Umrisse eines neuen Bach-Bildes,” Musica 16 (1962): 169-176, translated as “Outlines of a New Picture of Bach,” Music and Letters 44 (1963): 214-227. The most impor tant responses include Alfred Durr, “Zum Wandel des Bach-Bildes: Zu Friedrich Blumes Mainzer Vortrag,” Musik und Kirche 32 (1962): 145-152; see also Friedrich Blume, “Antwort von Friedrich Blume,” Musik und Kirche 32 (1962): 153-156; Friedrich Smend, “Was bleibt? Zu Friedrich Blumes Bach-Bild,” DerKirchenmusiker 13 (1962): 178-188; and Gerhard Herz, “Toward a New Image of Bach,” Bach 1, no. 4 (1970): 9-27, and Bach 2, no. 1 (1971): 7-28 (reprinted in Essays on J. S. Bach [Ann Arbor: UMI Reseach Press, 1985], 149-184). 2. For a convenient list of the group’s main publications, see Daniel R. Melamed and Michael Marissen, An Introduction to Bach Studies (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 15. For a full bibliography to 1996, see Renate Steiger, ed., Theologische Bachforschung heute: Dokumentation und Bibliographie der Intemationalen Arbeitsgemeinschaft fiir theologische Bachforschung 1976-1996 (Glienicke and Berlin: Galda and Walch, 1998), 353-445. -
Introduction
INTRODUCTION “Works for special occasions” is a broad category that anniversaries in office of Dr. Heinrich Hoeck and Syndi- we have defined for Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach rather cus Johann Klefeker, H 824c and 824d, respectively, were narrowly as a repertoire of specially commissioned, large- intended for public performances, but these lost works are scale works for voices and orchestra. The extant works discussed with the Einführungsmusiken in CPEB:CW, include a birthday cantata, Dank-Hymne der Freundschaft, V/3. The funeral music which Bach provided on occasion H 824e (published in CPEB:CW, V/5.1); a chorus, Spiega, (for example, “Gott, dem ich lebe, des ich bin,” Wq 225) is Ammonia fortunata, Wq 216 (H 829), written for the visit treated in CPEB:CW, V/6, since none of the works sur- of the Swedish Crown Prince in 1770; and a cantata, Musik vive with complete music, rather only single choruses. am Dankfeste wegen des fertigen Michaelisturms, H 823, cel- ebrating the completion of the St. Michaelis tower in 1786. , Wq/H To this could be added the various cantatas that C. P. E. Ich bin vergnügt mit meinem Stande deest Bach wrote while attending the university at Frankfurt an It is regrettable that nearly all of Bach’s early vocal music der Oder: several printed librettos survive, but the music is now lost. There was no trace whatsoever for any vocal for these works is lost (see discussion below). Although we works from the Leipzig years until the fortunate discovery have no record for any choral music before the Magnificat, by Peter Wollny in the fall of 2009 of the autograph com- Wq 215 (first completed in 1749, according to NV 1790), it posing score of an unknown church cantata by the young is our good fortune that a solo cantata written in Leipzig C. -
Christmas Oratorio
Reflections on Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio” by John Harbison Composer John Harbison, whose ties to Boston’s cultural and educational communities are longstanding, celebrates his 80th birthday on December 20, 2018. To mark this birthday, the BSO will perform his Symphony No. 2 on January 10, 11, and 12 at Symphony Hall, and the Boston Symphony Chamber Players perform music of Harbison and J.S. Bach on Sunday afternoon, January 13, at Jordan Hall. The author of a new book entitled “What Do We Make of Bach?–Portraits, Essays, Notes,” Mr. Harbison here offers thoughts on Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio.” Andris Nelsons’ 2018 performances of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio are the Boston Symphony’s first since 1950, when Charles Munch was the orchestra’s music director. Munch may have been the last BSO conductor for whom Bach’s music remained a natural and substantial part of any season. In the 1950s the influence of Historically Informed Practice (HIP) was beginning to be felt. Large orchestras and their conductors began to draw away from 18th-century repertoire, feeling themselves too large, too unschooled in stylistic issues. For Charles Munch, Bach was life-blood. I remember hearing his generous, spacious performance of Cantata 4, his monumental reading of the double-chorus, single-movement Cantata 50. Arriving at Tanglewood as a Fellow in 1958, opening night in the Theatre-Concert Hall, there was Munch’s own transcription for string orchestra of Bach’s complete Art of Fugue! This was a weird and glorious experience, a two-hour journey through Bach’s fugue cycle that seemed a stream of sublime, often very unusual harmony, seldom articulated as to line or sectional contrast.