A Moment of Bach

Mass in B minor: Et resurrexit

In celebration of Easter, we complete the pair of parts including last week's "Crucifixus." In one of the most stunning reversals in all of music, Christ is laid into the dark grave in the lowest of lows, when suddenly "And he rose again on the third day..." bursts forth with triumphant celebration. 

Bach was a master of text. Without rushing past the dramatic parts of the story told in the Nicene Creed, he separates movements like these two for maximum contrast at those iconic first few seconds of "Et resurrexit." His personality as a composer (or, really, lack thereof) is different and less flashy from the way we see modern musicians and their fame. It is almost as though he represents a collective soul of his culture; he so neatly synthesized all of the forms that came before him and used them in complete service of this religious text. Bach is a terminal point of music like none other. 

Performance of "Et resurrexit" as part of the performance of the Mass in B minor by the Netherlands Bach Society:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FLbiDrn8IE&t=4138s

Mass in B minor: Crucifixus

Some of the most evocative and emotional music ever written, the "Crucifixus" movement from the Mass in B minor depicts Christ's suffering and death -- you can hear the striking lashes, the plodding steps of His painful walk to Golgotha, the twisting of the crown of thorns, the nailing and the crying, the sighing and the dying.  Bach's use of the passacaglia form here leads to the possibility of extreme dissonances, all within the creative framework of a repeated bass line, which sounds as if it is endlessly marching down, down, down...  Full of remarkable moments, the "Crucifixus" movement -- this masterwork within a masterwork -- will never cease to amaze us.

Performance of "Crucifixus" by four soloists and orchestra, as part of the performance of the Mass in B minor by the Netherlands Bach Society:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FLbiDrn8IE&t=3952s

St. John Passion: ”Ich folge dir gleichfalls” aria

A dark and imposing masterwork like the St. John Passion needs a moment of joyful reprieve. That reprieve comes in the form of the soprano aria ”Ich folge dir gleichfalls mit freudigen Schritten" (I too, follow you with joyful steps), in which we hear light flutes bouncing their steps. But even this happy sound comes with a strange chromatic ascent as the soloist sings "do not cease to push me, to pull me...". The St. John Passion is partly an instructive drama about how to follow Jesus; Peter must do his best at this despite his faults and denials. With this moment in this aria, we are dramatically pulled by Christ back into his own passion story. 

 

St. John Passion: ”Ich folge dir gleichfalls” aria as performed by the Netherlands Bach Society: https://youtu.be/zMf9XDQBAaI?t=1315

St. John Passion: ”Herr, unser Herrscher” opening chorus

Today we take our first dive into the St. John Passion.  In the very first measure of music, the strikingly twisted sounds of the oboes in harsh dissonances calls to mind the pain and anguish of the Passion story.  The scene is set for Good Friday.

Bach's St. John Passion, performed by the Netherlands Bach Society, conducted by Jos van Veldhoven:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMf9XDQBAaI

Article on the St. John Passion by Alex Ross (quoted in this episode from 0:41 - 1:49):

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/01/02/bachs-holy-dread

IMSLP (International Music Score Library Project) page for Bach's St. John Passion free public domain scores, including scans of Bach's original manuscript:

https://imslp.org/wiki/Johannespassion,_BWV_245_(Bach,_Johann_Sebastian)

 

St. Matthew Passion: ”Barrabam!” and ”Wahrlich...” moments

The St. Matthew Passion is full of short bursts of dramatic expression. In this episode, we explore two moments of reaction by an onlooking crowd. 

One of Bach's shortest and most surprising moments happens when Pontius Pilate asks the crowd which prisoner should be released -- Jesus, or Barrabas? The crowd's reply is as disturbing as it is musically shocking. 

Another moment happens later, after the earthquake and chaos immediately after Christ's death. After the frantic narration, the guard and crowds speak. But this moment is not one of pure terror, but rather sublime realization: "Truly, this was the Son of God." Bach's transparently gentle setting of this sentence is unforgettable.

 

An "A Moment of Bach" listener suggested the two topics for this episode! Do you want to suggest your own? https://amomentofbach.com/ 

St. Matthew Passion: ”Aus Liebe” aria (mvt. 49)

Sometimes the simplest expression is the most powerful.  At a pivotal point in the intimidating and complex St. Matthew Passion, Bach places this strikingly stark, simple, yet devastating piece of music.  We discuss how the sparse instrumentation, with its lack of bass sounds, leaves the listener unmoored, feeling the vulnerability of the soloist's emotion.  And Alex talks about a "moment of West Wing", so to speak.

St. Matthew Passion, performed by the Netherlands Bach Society (this link takes you directly to the "Aus Liebe" aria, with soprano Griet de Geyter):

https://youtu.be/ZwVW1ttVhuQ?t=6362

Scene from "The West Wing" that features Josh's favorite "Ave Maria" moment:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sQsVBolPNs

Mass in B minor: Qui sedes

Do you suffer from "sound fatigue?" Do you worry that after just a few seconds of starting to listen to a piece of music that the rest of it will just... sound the same? Good news! We have something just for that. Bach's B minor mass boasts a wide variety of sound color for your listening pleasure. 

As long and towering as it is, it never gets old; each part has something new to offer. The structure of the parts and their church themes are just as important and effective as the sound variety in this gigantic masterwork. In the "Qui sedes" alto aria, the Netherlands Bach Society uses a male alto soloist to balance the oboe d'amore. The combination is "otherworldly" -- we don't hear anything like it in the average classical symphony. Countless metaphors are there not just in the sounds, but the way Bach sets the two parts against each other -- sometimes almost together, sometimes diverging.

 

"Qui sedes" aria as performed by the Netherlands Bach Society: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FLbiDrn8IE&t=2499s

Ich steh mit einem Fuß im Grabe (BWV 156): soprano/tenor duet

"All's well that ends well." It's an old adage, perhaps best known as the title of a Shakespeare comedy... but for Bach, and in the context of his church life, "all's well that ends well" took on a much more serious meaning.  In this cantata, his librettist, Picander, used the phrase to mean that a life well-lived in the service of the Lord will find its end in the peace of earthly death.

The title of the cantata means, literally, "I stand with one foot in the grave." But there is no winking irony nor intentional macabre-ness to the presentation of this work; instead, it's an expression of faith and preparedness -- the sentiment that "I have put my house in order; only let my end be a blissful one!"

Cantata "Ich steh mit einem Fuß im Grabe" (BWV 156) performed by the Netherlands Bach Society, conducted by Lars Ulrik Mortensen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drFcH_WwK7Y

The Netherlands Bach Society's "All of Bach" project:

http://allofbach.com/en/

Fugue in D major (Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1)

"Bach's music is for many people, as it is for me, daunting. I must be wrong there, because he must have wanted his music to be played...without all this awe and respect. Bach has proven that in the time between him and us, there is little or nothing better than his work." The paraphrased words of the harpsichordist for this recording show us how Bach doesn't need to be overly serious and pompous.

 

In this delightful fugue, the theme evokes the overly prim and proper gestures of aristocrats meeting one another, and perhaps pokes fun at it. Uncomplicated beauty shines through, and this recording shows that just because it's a perfect composition does not mean we should take it too seriously. We talk through what it means to preserve the "Bach-ness" of the fugue -- letting Bach be Bach. 

 

Fugue in D major played by Guillermo Brachetta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZpop0EPey0

Toccata and Fugue in D minor (BWV 565)

Possibly the most famous organ work ever written, the Toccata and Fugue in D minor is instantly recognizable by its first few notes.  But... are those the notes that Bach wrote?  The answer might surprise you... 

In fact, this cornerstone of the organ repertoire has flummoxed so many musicians and music scholars through the generations, it's no wonder that it gets so much attention -- and that's not including the notoriety it began to develop as a piece of stock music for horror films in the silent film era.  It found a wide audience in 1940 when it was featured in Walt Disney's Fantasia, in an orchestral transcription by Leopold Stokowski, and since then, it has enjoyed more mainstream success than most classical pieces ever see. 

We dive into the mysteries at the heart of the piece, as we move from thrilling cadence to thrilling cadence, toward the very end of the work, where Alex's favorite moment hits: a surprise ending that would have given the audiences of the 1700's just as much of a delighted shock as it gives us today. 

Toccata and Fugue in D minor, performed by Leo van Doeselaar for the Netherlands Bach Society:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi0IuyTS_ic

Orchestral version by Leopold Stokowski featured in Disney's Fantasia (1940):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4MQ7GzE6HY

Article which theorizes that this work (BWV 565) and the Chaconne from Violin Partita no. 2 (BWV 1004) are arrangements of lute pieces: 

https://www.jstor.org/stable/30044126

Violin piece featured in this episode as an example of bariolage technique: "Partita no. 3" by J. S. Bach (BWV 1006), performed by Shunske Sato for the Netherlands Bach Society:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYT1JUq0k04

An informative (if a little snarky) video essay, aimed at non-musicians: "Why Pipe Organs Sound Scary":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT934eTbmuY