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Welcome to A Moment of Bach, where we take our favorite moments from J. S Bach's vast output—just a minute's worth or even a few seconds—and show you why we think they are remarkable. Join hosts Alex Guebert and Christian Guebert for weekly moments! Check wherever podcasts are available and subscribe for upcoming episodes. Our recording samples are provided by the Netherlands Bach Society. Their monumental All of Bach project (to perform and record all of the works of J. S. Bach) serves as source material for our episodes. https://www.bachvereniging.nl/en https://www.bachvereniging.nl/en/allofbach Artwork by Sydney LaCom
Episodes
Monday Mar 20, 2023
Monday Mar 20, 2023
A 45-second masterpiece: the ecstatic joy bursts forth from this hurried chorale, begging Jesus, the Crown of Joy, to return. Amen, amen!
The urgency becomes part of the musical structure; Bach doesn't even have time for the whole hymn stanza as he sets the mystical text from only the last bit of the last stanza of Philipp Nicolai's hymn Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright). A brilliant high note and descent of the last phrase reminds us of "Joy to the World." And yet, while the first Advent is shown in the descending notes, the violins don't tarry as they carry us up and up to an unusually high G.
"Amen, amen!" chorale in BWV 61, Netherlands Bach Society
Text translation and commentary used by the Netherlands Bach Society and referenced in this episode are by bachcantatatexts.org (BWV 61) by Daniel R. Melamed and Michael Marissen
Bachstiftung (J. S. Bach Foundation) video recording of a particularly fast performance
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