A Moment of Bach

Ich elender Mensch (BWV 48)

Sometimes things are hidden in plain sight. In today's cantata, if you look past the "main" music happening in the voices and string instruments, a hidden gem can be found in the form of a simple melody played on the trumpets and oboes.  This tune, though unassuming, actually answers the central question that is at the heart of the cantata text. 

 

Bach wrote over 200 cantatas; each one contains hidden treasures like this one. We explore how Bach uses his modern harmony as a tool to express divine beauty, and Alex shares a “wow” moment from a chorale movement within the cantata — one that stretches the limits of dissonance in order to express the text, which speaks of the sadness and pain of a life without Christ's love.

 

Netherlands Bach Society performance of BWV 48 "Ich elender Mensch", directed by Shunske Sato

 

Or, go straight to the chorale moment, here.

 

Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (BWV 61) chorale: ”Amen, amen!”

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

The Art of Fugue (BWV 1080): Final (unfinished) fugue

The Requiem by Mozart, Schubert's unfinished symphony, the incomplete Beach Boys album Smile... ever since the biblical story of the Tower of Babel we humans have been fascinated by the idea of an unfinished work of art.  The reconstruction by Netherlands Bach Society of the ending of Bach's Art of Fugue gets us very close to what the master himself might have done, had his pen not stopped on the page.  Perhaps the idea of incompleteness itself is a comforting thought -- even Bach, who left us so much high-quality art, never completed this culminating masterwork... is anyone's life's work every truly complete?  Certainly Bach's legacy lives on despite this omission.  Even so, we can't help but wonder what his ending to this piece would have sounded like.

Netherlands Bach Society: The Art of Fugue (final movement; reconstruction of the ending by Kees van Houten and Leo van Doeselaar)

 

The Art of Fugue (BWV 1080): Contrapunctus I

After writing the Goldberg Variations, what was left to write? 

Welcome back to A Moment of Bach! We embark on our third season by celebrating the recent release of the Netherlands Bach Society's "Die Kunst der Fuge" -- a brilliant new arrangement of the towering masterwork. The expressive and unusual instrumentation makes this recording unlike any other.

 

Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 by the Netherlands Bach Society, arr. Shunske Sato

PATREON -- a new opportunity to donate to A Moment of Bach -- always optional, always appreciated! 

Stefano Greco lecture including a new theory on the order of the parts of the Art of Fugue

BONUS: Jim Meredith, Sonos Handbell Ensemble director (BACHTOBERFEST bonus 2 of 2)

One more BACHTOBERFEST festivity: a conversation with a wonderful guest.

Does Bach's music work on modern instruments which were designed after his time? Our guest, conductor and composer James Meredith is the long-time Artistic Director of the top-tier Sonos Handbell Ensemble. Jim talks about his love of Bach, his avenue toward handbells as an instrument of high-level performance, and his own Bach transcriptions for the instrument. Before the interview, we answer a question about the “Little Fugue” in G major.

Sonos Handbell Ensemble

“Now Hear This” by Scott Yoo on PBS

Christian’s upcoming BWV 61 Cantata performance: Sunday, Dec. 11 at 3:00 here (free)

BONUS: Blooper reel Season 2 (BACHTOBERFEST bonus 1 of 2)

As promised, here are the silly bloopers that we both collected throughout this year! Stay tuned for one more bonus episode: the interview about Bach and the handbell ensemble with James Meredith, artistic director of Sonos. 

BACHTOBERFEST season closer and Quodlibet BWV 524

Thanks so much to our listeners for being a part of our second season!

On this second BACHTOBERFEST, we answer questions and read some great stories from listeners.  We also listen to the hilarious "Quodlibet", a piece that seems too silly for Bach, but it is indeed by the master himself, and gives us a glimpse of his sense of humor.  We also try a couple of beers, including a German Hefeweizen shandy.

Listeners -- you've helped spread the word -- last year we were at 10,000 episode downloads; now we are over 55,000.  Thank you!!

We'll drop a blooper reel for Season 2 soon, as well as a bonus interview with composer and conductor Jim Meredith.

PATREON -- a new opportunity to donate to A Moment of Bach -- always optional, always appreciated! 

Artwork by Syndey LaCom

Musical examples provided by the Netherlands Bach Society

Quodlibet -- Netherlands Bach Society (the humorous operetta / joke piece by Bach we listen to in this episode)

Concerto in A minor for four harpsichords (BWV 1065)

A Moment of Vivaldi! This week, we look at Bach's transcription of Vivaldi's concerto for 4 violins. The crisp and elegant style of Vivaldi gets magnified by Bach here.  4 violins become 4 harpsichords, and the snapping and clicking of the harpsichord strings become a delightful metaphor for the clockwork precision of the composition and the structure of the music.  We quote a character from a Douglas Adams novel, who, along with us, sits down to listen to a piece by Vivaldi and marvels that something could be so sublime and yet so mechanical at the same time.  Also, listener Will gives us a great moment of violin shredding, and Alex chooses his favorite moment of dissonance from the end of the second movement, where a multiple trill on a diminished chord gives us one of the crunchiest sounds in all of baroque music.

Listeners!  Do you have a question you'd like us to answer "on-air" next week on our BACHTOBERFEST season closer episode?  Let us know -- ask it directly on our website page.

Performance of BWV 1065 by Netherlands Bach Society

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams (book quoted in this episode)

Invention in A major (BWV 783)

Beloved by pianists, piano teachers, composers, and theory instructors, the Bach Inventions hold a special place in many of our hearts. Why are they called "Inventions" when nothing else is? Why did he include an ornamentation performance guide for them in the "Klavierbüchlein" where he wrote them, when he never did this for anything else in his life? 

We take a look at one inventive and energetic moment from Invention no. 12 in A major from the Netherlands Bach Society's series of Inventions performed and recorded by young musicians. 

Invention in A Major performed by harpsichordist Peiting Xue

All 15 inventions BWV 772-786: Netherlands Bach Society young performers

Companion video: Siebe Henstra on Bach 15 inventions

Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan (BWV 99)

Is this a cantata? Is this a chorale fantasia movement of a cantata?  Is this a concerto?  What is this thing?

The answer is: all of the above!  By now, it shouldn't surprise us that Bach was not satisfied with simplicity. Here, he combined the chorale fantasia and concerto forms together into this unique first movement of a cantata, achieving some delightful contrasts of orchestral color.

Netherlands Bach Society performs BWV 99: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwmQo97zb6I

Netherlands Bach Society performs BWV 100 (mentioned in this episode): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oS4clt71dU

Come see a (free!) performance of BWV 99 conducted by Alex at his home church of St. John's Lutheran Church, Orange, CA on September 18, 2022: https://www.stjohnsorange.org/event/1222155-2022-09-18-bach-cantata-vespers-concert/