A Moment of Bach

Unabashed joy describes this short and sweet cantata, which Bach wrote at age 23 for a wedding. In its sparkling finale, some mysteries hide. A curiously unexpected tonality sets off the happy declamation of "ihr seid" (you are), with emphasis on "seid"; according to Bach we ARE blessed by God, rather than "us" being special. 

Then what do we make of the ending? Even in an early cantata which generally sounds like 1600s Lutheranism...

Today we talk "Men in Black", "Coco", "Futurama", and hear a slappin' bass line from an 80's funk song.  Oh, and some Bach.  Remember to stop and smell the forget-me-nots -- in other words, enjoy those moments.

In memoriam Fred Jacobs.

Charles Daniels (tenor), Meineke van der Velden (da gamba), and Fred Jacobs (theorbo) performing "Vergiss mein nicht" (BWV 505) for the Netherlands Bach Society

Video on the theorbo by Elizabeth Kenn...

Overtures belong at the beginning, introducing what is to come. So why is one found at Variation 16 of the giant Goldberg Aria and Variations? 

Well, it is the beginning, but of the second half of 30 variations. Variation 15 takes us into fear and anguish with a mirrored canon in the (unheard of) key of G minor. After 45 minutes of bright G major since the opening aria, this change into the parallel minor key is stark, but not as s...

To play baroque music properly -- especially a bouncing jig like this one in 12/8 time -- you must "unlearn what you have learned", and rethink how you articulate music.  Articulation is so important -- the music must feel and look light and airy.  This performance by the Netherlands Bach Society fits this feeling perfectly -- the musicians look casual yet classy, showing that Baroque music can indeed be lighthearted and fun.

See t...

The towering thirty Goldberg Variations combine into a masterwork of keyboard music. As all variation pieces, they were based on a relatively simple source material. But as is his way, Bach organized the variations with a complex and deliberate structure. But also unlike other composers of this form, he poured more into this source material itself. 

The famous Aria could stand alone as a sublimely decorated Baroque keyboard piece, ...

Listener HG drew our attention to a similarity between the Courante of this cello suite and the "Cum Sancto Spiritu" from the Mass in B minor.  We talk about these dance forms and how they affect the affect, so to speak.  Nowadays, it's easy to think of Bach as old-fashioned, and certainly some composers in the late 1700s thought the same; however he shows here that he was ahead of his time. 

The "shoulder cello" (violoncello da s...

"An understated overture" is the description Christian arrives at to describe the humility of the micro-regal sonata which opens the Weimar cantata "Himmelskönig, sei willkommen." Is this thing, marked "adagio, grave," actually a triumphant French Overture? The performance suggests so, in some ways, and not in others. Experienced musicians of baroque music will know the subtleties, which we discuss in this episode. Indeed, it is a ...

Bach used the materials for this sonata several times throughout his life. Each collection of parts is different, and there are three versions. This is version 1019c, as labeled by the BWV categorical system for Bach's works. There are five parts of this last of his six sonatas for violin and harpsichord. We discover the joys of rhythmic ambiguity, rhythmic complexity, and even a middle movement without the violin! (And yet sometim...

When assembling his Mass in B minor, Bach drew from many of his older works.  Here is one great example.  If you, like us, have always been mesmerized by the haunting sound of the "Qui tollis" movement from the Mass in B minor, you absolutely must hear the opening chorus to the cantata Schauet doch und sehet, which is the full version of the material, and which concludes in a twirling, twisting fugue. 

See the performance of Schaue...

We return to the Mighty Fortress cantata to do a deeper analysis on the theological counterpoint of this movement.  Bach combines two vocal parts -- one is Luther's hymn and the other is new poetry with Bach's own music -- and weaves both of those into a tapestry of staccato strings and marching bass.   Bach's theological profundity is what separates him from the other composers; when Bach weaves two separate texts together, he add...

What good is a centerpiece but to add to the pomp and pride and beauty of a ceremonial occasion? The Polonaise is historically such a centerpiece for such an elegant, lavish affair. Chopin is the natural figure for the Polonaise, a stately dance for pairs, but it was known much earlier to the Baroque composers. Bach was no stranger to Polish style, as shown in this centerpiece Polonaise to the Menuet of the Brandenburg Concerto No....

Oboe talk today! 

Mastering this instrument is almost unreasonably challenging, but the juice is worth the squeeze -- the baroque oboe, when played truly well, is one of the most rewardingly beautiful instruments.

Musical examples, as always, are courtesy of the Netherlands Bach Society.  Check out their "All of Bach" project.

Referenced in today's episode:

Brandenburg Concerto No. 1: Trio I (2 oboes and bassoon) - performance by N...

The three instrument families in this big baroque orchestra leads us to speculate that Bach represented three social classes: the royal elite (elegant strings, one leader), the aristocratic nobles (horns, for upper-class hunting expeditions), and the common people (reeds, as for outdoor bands or shepherding). Bach concludes the concerto with the elegant and grand menuet (note his spelling; not "minuet"). The French dance exudes cla...

"Horns, horns, horns, in dark Mindolluin's sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of the north wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last." (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King)

It's time for our yearly miniseries celebrating the famous Brandenburg Concertos!  This year: Brandenburg 1.

The horn call has an undeniable power.  Here, Bach uses it to great effect at the opening two measures of this rousing piece.  We explore the baroque h...

-The second part of our look into Cantata 78, where we look at the opening chorus. 

For an overview of this cantata and a deeper look at the wonderful duet and the rest of the parts, see the episode previous.

For this lamentation hymn about Christ's anguish used as ransom for our salvation, Bach chose to accompany the tune with a "lament bass." To start, he sets up this sad descending bass line as a repeated pattern under a varying...

In this year's Leaving Certificate for students in Ireland, the music exam consists of examples from Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet, Irish composer Gerald Berry's Piano Quartet, and Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. Also in the exam is this chorale cantata composed in 1724 in Leipzig for a church service in which the biblical story of Jesus healing the lepers was read. 

The hymn Bach based this work on was flexible enough for a dramatic s...