A Listener's Guide to the Sacred Cantatas
BY MARK RINGER
A useful guide to a vast musical treasure - Bach’s cantatas
4 stars out of 5 stars
According to the author, there are many music lovers who are familiar and adore Bach’s large sacred/choral works, namely St. Mathew’s and St. John’s Passions, but who, except for a handful of pieces, are not aware of the vast body of Bach’s sacred cantatas, which exhibited the same musical dramatic genius of Bach’s Passions. This book is intended as a guide to these readers who want to familiarize themselves with this wide array of Bach’s masterpieces.
Instead of Bach’s large sacred work, such as the Passions and Masses, my exposure to Bach’s music was through his shorter masterpieces such as the Christmas Oratorios, Easter Oratorio, Ascension Oratorio, The Magnificat, The Brandenburg Concertos, Air in G String, and his Violin Concertos. I had also listened to about 24 of his cantatas. Recently, it occurred to me that it would be interesting to read a book about his cantatas and I came across Mark Ringer’s book.
The author introduces the reader to some 200 cantatas, which he put into six categories, ranging from Anticipation and Celebration (Chapter 1) to Endings and Renewal through Love (Chapter 6). In between, there are Resignation and Resurrection (Chapter 3), Transcendence and Unity: Ascension to Trinity (Chapter 4).
A short description is given on each Cantata, beginning with when in the Church year it was sung, whether it was before or after the sermon, and the scripture that was read with the cantata. Brief analyses of the musical content follow. There is a linked to an online audio site with the mp3 recordings of 17 selected arias, chorus, and recitative from the cantatas. When played on my desktop computer, the sound is very good. This is a nice feature accompanying the book, especially useful for those who just began to explore Bach’s cantatas.
Before I read the book, I had listened to 24 of Bach's cantatas. Fifteen of these are covered in the book. It was somewhat disappointing that 9 are not. Those covered include my favorites bwv 66, 90, 130, and 172. The author’s descriptions and analyses do help me gain a deeper appreciation of these works.
For example, in one of my favorites, bwv 130, I was always amazed at the emotional power it invoked, from the opening of the chorus in the form of the familiar hymn, “Lord God we all praise you”, to the bass aria with the powerful triple trumpet accompaniment. Then in the middle of the cantata, the listener is treated to an exquisite tenor aria accompanied by flue. Now I understand that this cantata praises God and thanks him for the creation of guardian angels. The bass aria celebrates the triumph of Angels over Satan, and the tenor aria is a prayer that the heroic angels will assure believers of their journey to heaven.
One of the YouTube sites I listened is the J. S. Bach Society in Switzerland, conducted by Rudolf Lutz. The other is the Netherlands Bach Society, which advertised itself as “All of Bach”. I am glad that in the book, it affirms that all of Bach’s cantatas are on the Netherland site. Of the two Bach Societies, I have watched the one in Switzerland longer, since about 2014. The musicians are almost like friends. It was uplifting to see how well they played. They obviously enjoyed making music, although one cannot help noticing the passage of time when comparing how they looked in 2014 and now.
Recently, I listened to an interview of Rudolf Lutz. He mentioned that one of the goals of the J. S. Bach Society was to introduce all of Bach’s cantatas, one per month, to the public. He said it would probably take 25 years to finish the project, by which time he would be in the eighties. This inspired me to set a goal of exploring all of Bach’s cantatas in Ringer’s book, as well as those I noted down in my list. I will also do a cantata per month so that I have more than a casual acquaintance with each of them. There are a total of 213. By the time the project is done, I will be somewhat over 100 years old. When I mentioned this to my wife and my children, they all said that it is a worth-while project.
In conclusion, “Bach’s Operas of the Soul” will help anyone interested in music to explore the vast treasure contained in Bach’s cantatas. The music therein covers all ranges of human emotions. Recently, I played the opening chorus in bwv 172 to my adult son and my 9 -year-old granddaughter. Neither has any knowledge of Bach’s cantatas, but they both thought the chorus was good, demonstrating the universal appeal of Bach’s music.
Link to Amazon Review:
Weimar, a town of 5000 inhabitants, was where 23-year-old Bach took up his first major post as Curt Organist and member of the Chamber Orchestra with the Ducal Court. Bach’s early cantatas would have been performed in the Castle Chapel (right).
Bach moved to Leipzig on May 22, 1723, where for the remaining 27 years of his life he was to live and work as Cantor, or Director of Choir and Music. Here he composed the majority of his cantatas as well as major choral works, the Masses, Passions and the Magnificat.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Bach died on the 28th of July, 1750, in the sixty-fifth year of his life.
The J S Bach Foundation
Comments