On the program:
Partita in C minor, BWV 997 - Rolf Lislevand, lute
Cantata Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten, BWV 93 (translation) - Deborah York, soprano; Franziska Gottwald, alto; Paul Agnew, tenor; Klaus Mertens, bass; Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir, Ton Koopman, conductor
Chorale Prelude: Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten, BWV 647 (orch. Ton Koopman) - Yo-Yo Ma, cello; Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Ton Koopman, conductor
Concerto in A minor, BWV 593, after Vivaldi (arr. Samuil Feinberg) - Martin Roscoe, piano
TRANSCRIPT:
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Brian McCreath Church chorales are, at their core, a reflection of belief. Their artistic beauty is a result of simplicity. But that simplicity also holds within it the potential for almost limitless emotional expression. And no composer knew how to tap that potential more than Bach, which you can hear in the Cantata No. 93.
And that only scratches the surface of what Bach found in this single chorale.
One chorale is the foundation for an entire cantata and more, coming up on The Bach Hour.
Hello, I'm Brian McCreath; welcome to The Bach Hour from Classical Radio Boston WCRB, a part of WGBH. If you visit Halibut Point State Park in Rockport, Massachusetts, you’ll find an old quarry that’s now a very deep pond. And as you look at that pond, it’s worth considering that what was once part of the landscape there now forms everything from a fort on Castle Island in Boston Harbor to sidewalks in Philadelphia. It’s not unlike the way Bach carved and molded the musical granite of Lutheran chorales to build the parts of his Cantata No. 93, Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten, or “Who only lets dear God rule.” You’ll find a translation of that piece from Boston’s Emmanuel Music when you visit us online at Classical WCRB dot org, where you can hear this program again on demand. Again, that’s at Classical WCRB dot org.
Also on the program today is another refashioning by Bach, but rather than granite, let’s call it an Italian tapestry. Stick around for the details. First, though, here is Bach’s Partita in C minor for lute, performed by Rolf Lislevand, here on The Bach Hour.
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Brian McCreath That’s Norwegian lutenist Rolf Lislevand with Bach’s Partita in C minor.
In opera, there’s a term that’s used when a specific musical theme is attached to a specific character. It’s called a Leitmotif, and the way those themes interact helps drive the story forward. In a lot of Bach’s cantatas, there’s something like the opposite idea at work. Using just one musical theme - a church chorale - as a foundation, Bach spins out multiple interpretations that, by virtue of their common foundation stay unified.
The Cantata No. 93 is one of those pieces, built on the foundation of Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten, or “Who only lets dear God rule.”
It starts with a rich, deeply textured fantasy for the choir, expressing a steadfast belief in the divine, emphasizing the solidity of both that belief and the chorale itself with the words, “Whoever trusts in God … has not built upon sand.”
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Brian McCreath The second movement, an aria for the bass, is especially striking, as the chorale is used to pose questions that are answered by the soloist as a believer. The question, “What good are heavy worries?” is answered with “They only press upon our hearts with a hundred pains, with a thousand fears and sorrows.”
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Brian McCreath The tenor aria that follows depicts the text in another way: using the same chorale tune as its basis, a rhythmic twist momentarily stops at the end of every phrase, expressing the words, “Only hold oneself still a little … for the gracious will of our God.”
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Brian McCreath And that’s followed by a duet for the soprano and alto. The chorale tune is now only in the instrumental parts, as a subtle presence under the soloists, who express the essential theme of the cantata through the words, “He knows the right time of joy, He knows well when it is necessary … If He has found us faithful … He allows much good to befall us.”
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Brian McCreath The cantata continues with movements for the tenor and soprano soloists, continually stretching and weaving that chorale into the texture. By the time we arrive at the choir’s simple recitation of the basic chorale tune at the end, it’s packed with an unusual power. After all Bach has done with it, the tune isn’t just a bookend to a piece of music; it’s a transformed expression of fortitude, devotion and community.
Remember, you can find a translation of the text for this piece at our website, Classical WCRB dot org.
Here is Bach’s Cantata No. 93, in a performance featuring soprano Deborah York, alto Franziska Gottwald, tenor Paul Agnew, and bass Klaus Mertens. Ton Koopman directs the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir, here on The Bach Hour.
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Brian McCreath The Cantata No. 93 by Bach, in a performance by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir, directed by Ton Koopman. The soloists included soprano Deborah York, alto Franziska Gottwald, tenor Paul Agnew, and bass Klaus Mertens.
Bach gave the duet that’s at the heart of that cantata a second life as a chorale prelude for organ. Here is that piece, in an orchestrated version performed by the ensemble you just heard, Amsterdam Baroque, with cello soloist Yo-Yo Ma, here on The Bach Hour.
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Brian McCreath A chorale prelude on the chorale Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten, in an orchestration by Ton Koopman. Yo-Yo Ma was the soloist with Amsterdam Baroque.
Even though his own range of travel was astonishingly limited during his lifetime, Bach had a voracious appetite for music from across Europe. One of his favorite composers seems to have been Vivaldi. And it’s from that Italian master that Bach took a concerto for two violins and re-fashioned it in his own voice. Here is Samuel Feinberg’s piano transcription of the Concerto in A minor, performed by Martin Roscoe, here on The Bach Hour.
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Brian McCreath Bach’s Concerto in A minor, after Vivaldi, in a transcription by 20th Century Russian composer Samuel Feinberg. Martin Roscoe was the pianist.
Remember, if you’d like to hear this program on demand, just visit us online at Classical WCRB dot org.
Thank you for joining me today, and thanks also to audio engineer Antonio Oliart Ros. I’m Brian McCreath, and I’ll hope to have your company again next week here on The Bach Hour.