Chill with Bach
Born in 1685, Johann Sebastian Bach belonged to a dynasty of
musicians. He spent his earlier career principally as an organist, latterly at
the court of one of the two ruling Grand Dukes of Weimar. In 1717 he moved to
Cöthen as Court Kapellmeister to the young Prince Leopold and in 1723 made his
final move to Leipzig, where he was employed as Cantor at the Choir School of
St. Thomas, with responsibility for music in the five principal city churches.
Despite widespread neglect for almost a century after his death in 1750, Bach
is now regarded as one of the greatest of all composers.
Choral & vocal music
Bach wrote a very large amount of choral music, particularly
in connection with his employment at Leipzig, where he prepared complete cycles
of cantatas for use throughout the church year. These works include the Mass in
B minor, BWV 232, the St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244, the St. John Passion, BWV
245, the Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248, and the Easter Oratorio, BWV 249, with
the revised setting of the Magnificat, BWV 243. Many of Bach's cantatas are
lost, but historians can estimate that he must have written over 500 such
pieces. Most were written for church services, for Bach was expected to perform
cantatas every Sunday at the church. He also wrote secular cantatas for special
court occasions.
Organ & other keyboard music
Much of Bach’s organ music was written during the earlier
part of his career, culminating in the period he spent as court organist at
Weimar. Important sets of pieces for keyboard are the six English Suites BWV
806-811; the six French Suites BWV 812-817, the Goldberg Variations BWV 988,
written to soothe an insomniac patron; the Italian Concerto BWV 971, the six
Partitas BWV 825-830 and the monumental two books of preludes and fugues in all
keys, The Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 846-893, the so-called “Forty-Eight”.
Chamber music
During the period Bach spent at Cöthen he was able to devote
his attention more particularly to instrumental composition for solo
instruments, smaller groups or for the small court orchestra. Particularly
important are the three Sonatas and three Partitas for unaccompanied violin,
BWV 1001-1006, works that make great technical demands on a player, and the six
Suites for unaccompanied cello, BWV 1007-1012.
Orchestral music
The six Brandenburg Concertos, BWV 1046-1051, dedicated to
the Margrave of Brandenburg in 1721, feature a variety of forms and groups of
instruments, while the four Orchestral Suites or Overtures, BWV 1066-1069,
include the famous Air on the G string, a late 19th century transcription of
the Air from the Suite in D major, BWV 1068. Three of Bach's violin concertos,
written at Cöthen between 1717 and 1723, survive in their original form, with
others existing now only in later harpsichord transcriptions. The works in
original form are the concertos in A minor and in E major, BWV 1041 and 1042,
and the Double Concerto in D minor, for two violins, BWV 1043.
Tracks 1 and 18
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria
The Goldberg Variations (published in 1741-42) offer a
conspectus of Bach’s wit and technical accomplishment, and herald a final
period in which he would continue to explore the use of a single theme, notably
in The Musical Offering and The Art of Fugue. Doubt has been cast on the story
associated with the Goldberg Variations, yet it is a touching anecdote. Bach’s
early biographer Forkel alleged that the insomniac Count Hermann Karl von
Keyserlingk, Russian ambassador to the court of Saxony in Dresden, had
commissioned the work for performance by his protégé, the young harpsichordist
Johann Gottlieb Goldberg to amuse him during the hours of sleeplessness. The
Variations begin and end with the main theme, giving them a cyclic form whose
soothing effect would be the ideal treatment for an insomniac.
To
hear the Goldberg Variations in full try:
8.550078 Goldberg
Variations
Chen
Pi-hsien (piano)
Track 2
Concerto for 2 violins in D minor, BWV 1043: Largo ma non
troppo
The famous Double Concerto in D minor, scored for strings
and continuo was written during Bach’s period of employment as Kapellmeister at
Cöthen, where the young prince Leopold, a keen amateur, showed a great interest
in music that was only curtailed by his marriage. It opens energetically in the
form of a fugal exposition, one solo violin following the other in emulation.
There is a dialogue of remarkable beauty in the slow movement and a final
movement in which the second violin follows the first in excitingly close
juxtaposition.
To
hear the Double Concerto in full try:
8.550194 Violin Concertos
in A minor, E major and E minor, Double Concerto in E minor
Takako
Nishizaki, Alexander Jablokov (violins), Capella Istropolitana,
Oliver
Dohnányi
Track 3
Harpsichord Concerto, BWV 974 (after the Oboe Concerto by
Alessandro Marcello):
Adagio (Guitar transcription)
Bach himself was a distinguished and frequent transcriber of
his own compositions and those of others. For the harpsichord he arranged
sixteen concertos drawn from various sources during his years at Weimar. One of
the best known of his transcriptions is this one, of an oboe concerto by the
Venetian composer Alessandro Marcello. Bach’s transcription for harpsichord is
heard here in a further arrangement for solo guitar. This shows Bach’s interest
in the Venetian solo concertos of the period, an interest later demonstrated in
the concertos he would write at Cöthen. The quicker outer movements of the
concerto frame a moving aria in the slow movement, precursors of the movements
Bach wrote for his own violin concertos.
If
you would to hear the Harpsichord Concertos in their original form try:
8.554604 Harpsichord
Concertos I
8.554605 Harpsichord
Concertos II
8.554606
Harpsichord
Concertos III
Michael
Behringer, Gerald Hambitzer, Robert Hill, Christoph Anselm Noll & Roderick Shaw
(harpsichords)
Track 4
Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major BWV 564: Adagio
The Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major for organ is
striking in its form. It has three distinctive sections, and is the counterpart
of the three movement Italian concerto of the period. The work opens with a
brilliant improvisatory prelude display on the manuals followed by a passage
for pedal solo before more elaborate counterpoint involving manuals and pedals.
There follows an Adagio aria before a capricious fugue subject
re-enters.
If
you would like to hear more of Bach’s organ works try:
8.505024 Organ Works
Vol. 1
8.505034 Organ Works
Vol. 2
8.553859 The Great
Organ Works
Wolfgang
Rübsam (organ)
Track 5 and Track 13
Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068: Air
Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067: Sarabande
The Suite in D major, BWV 1068 has been preserved in a set
of parts dating from around 1731. It is one of Bach’s most impressive and
magnificent orchestral works. The character of the work is determined to a
great extent by the sweeping first movement with its wealth of harmonic
nuances; between the dotted rhythms of the grave sections which frame it a very
fast fugato Allegro section unfolds. The famous Air follows – above the
constant pendulum movement of the bass the first violins soar up in one of the
most mysterious and tender melodies Bach ever wrote. After this point of rest,
the Suite finds its way back to its basic festive mood in three lively dance
movements.
The Suite in B minor, BWV 1067 is one of the works dating
from Bach’s Leipzig period. It is probably Bach’s last orchestral work. The
Suite integrates the principles of the concerto form into nearly all the movements,
by contrasting a flute treated as a solo instrument with an accompanying string
group. It is a work of austere beauty, in which contrapuntal ingenuity and
melancholy expression join together with precisely defined dance rhythms in an
extremely individual combination.
If
you would like to hear more of Bach’s orchestral suites try:
8.554609 Overtures
(Suites) Nos. 1-4
Karl
Kaiser (flute), Cologne Chamber Orchestra, Helmut Müller-Brühl
Track 6
St. Matthew Passion BWV 244: Erbarme dich’ mein Gott
Bach composed five Passion settings, but only those based on
the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John survive. The St. Matthew Passion in its
full surviving version was first performed according to current Lutheran
custom, on Good Friday. It is scored for two choirs and two orchestras, a
division physically possible in the Church of St. Thomas, Leipzig where
performances were first given. The text of the St. Matthew Passion is taken in
the first place from Martin Luther’s translation of the Gospel. The narrative
is sung by the evangelist (a tenor) with the words of Christ, Peter, Judas and
others allocated to different singers. The beautiful soprano aria Erbarme dich’
mein Gott (Have mercy, Lord) is one of the most famous selections from the
work.
If
you would like to hear the whole St. Matthew Passion try:
8.550832-34 St Matthew Passion
Hungarian
Festival Choir, Children’s Choir of the Hungarian Radio,
Hungarian
State Symphony Orchestra, Géza Oberfrank
Tracks 7 and 12
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, BWV 147
Sheep May Safely Graze
The delightful piano arrangement of Jesu, Joy of Man's
Desiring (by Dame Myra Hess) is from one of Bach’s most popular religious
cantatas, Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147. Sheep May Safely Graze is
taken from Cantata No. 208. It was most likely written as an occasion piece to
mark the birthday of Duke Christian of
Saxe-Weissenfels in about 1713. Both works are heard here in
their arrangements for organ.
Track 8
Magnificat in D, BWV 243: Et exultavit
Bach’s Magnificat received its first performance in Leipzig
in 1723. It was originally heard in a version in E flat major at Christmas
Vespers when movements with seasonal texts were inserted. Bach’s approach to
the Magnificat is characteristically large scale. There is no use of
recitative, owing perhaps to the poetic nature of the text. The scoring is
unusually rich and includes three trumpets, two flutes, two oboes, strings,
continuo and timpani.
If
you would like to hear the rest of the Magnificat try:
8.554046 Magnificat
in D, BWV 243
Schola
Cantorum of Oxford, Northern Chamber Orchestra, Jeremy Summerly,
Nicholas
Ward
Tracks 9 and 10
The Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1: Prelude No. 1 in C major,
BWV 846
Ave Maria (Bach/Gounod)
The two collections of Preludes and Fugues in all keys,
major and minor, known as The Well-Tempered Clavier or, from their number, as
“The Forty-Eight”, explore the possibilities inherent in every possible key.
Experiments in keyboard tuning in the later seventeenth century resulted in
differing systems that, nevertheless, made use of remoter keys feasible. While
the precise nature of the tuning system used by Bach may not be clear, his
well-tempered tuning at least made all keys possible. The
opening Prelude in C major is among the best known of all the preludes, chiefly
because of later arrangements, notably that by Charles Gounod (1818-1893), who
added a melody, calling the work in this new form Méditation, to which another
added the words of the Ave Maria.
To
hear more from of the Forty Eight Preludes and Fugues try:
8.553796-97 The Well-Tempered Clavier Book I
8.550970-71 The Well-Tempered Clavier Book II
Jenö
Jandó (piano)
Track 11
Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047: Andante
On 20th April 1849, Siegfried Wilhelm Dehn, custodian of the
music collection in the royal library in Berlin, reported a remarkable
discovery: “While compiling my catalogue of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach
existing in Berlin I have come across many works of the greatest significance
which up till now have remained unknown, among them 6 concerti grossi dedicated
to the Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg.” Under the name Brandenburg
Concertos, these works are today among the most well-known works of the
composer. The Concerto in F major BWV 1047 presents an intricate solo quartet
consisting of trumpet, recorder, oboe and violin, to which tutti strings take
second place as far as independence of texture and thematic significance are
concerned. The particular feature of this concerto lies in the way the four
instruments, which are so different in sound quality, are given exactly the
same melodic treatment.
To
hear the complete Brandenburg Concertos try
8.554607 Brandenburg
Concertos Nos. 1-3 & 6
8.554608 Brandenburg
Concertos Nos. 4 & 5
Cologne
Chamber Orchestra, Helmut Müller-Brühl
Track 14
Piano Concerto in E major, BWV 1053: Siciliano
This concerto is generally supposed to be derived from an
earlier concerto for oboe. A brief introduction with the whole orchestra is
followed by the first of a number of solo passages for the keyboard. The slow
movement is a Siciliano, in origin a gentle pastoral dance, here embellished by
the soloist, who provides a busy initial accompaniment, leading to the opening
cross-rhythms of the rapid last movement, with its recurrent refrain based on
the rising notes of the major triad.
If
you would like to hear more of Bach’s Piano Concertos try:
8.550422 Piano
Concertos BWV 1052-1054
8.550423 Piano
Concertos BWV 1055-1058
Hae-won
Chang, Camerata Cassovia, Robert Stankovsky
Track 15
Sonata No. 3 in E major, BWV 1016: Adagio ma non tanto
The six Sonatas for violin and harpsichord, BWV 1014-1019
were written during Bach’s years at Cöthen. Bach’s second son, Carl Philipp
Emanuel, harpsichordist to Frederick the Great at Potsdam, and then Cantor at
the Hamburg Johanneum, described them in 1774 as ‘among the best compositions
of my dear departed father’ and went on to say how well they sounded and what
pleasure they still gave him, although written some fifty years before. In
particular he praised the fine slow movements, of which the beautiful Adagio ma
non tanto from the
E major sonata is featured here.
If
you would like to hear more Sonatas for violin and harpsichord try:
8.554614 Sonatas for
Violin and Harpsichord, Vol. 1
8.554783 Sonatas for
Violin and Harpsichord Vol. 2
Lucy
van Dael (violin), Bob van Asperen (harpsichord)
Track 16
Cello Suite No. 1 in G major BWV 1007
Prelude
Bach wrote his six Suites for unaccompanied cello at Cöthen
about the year 1720. It is thought that the first four, at least, were written
for Christian Ferdinand Abel, bass viol player at Cöthen, or for Christian
Bernhard Linigke. Both musicians were friends or colleagues of Bach. The
original autograph of the suites is lost and the earliest copy is that made by
the Gräfenroda organist and composer Johann Peter Kellner in about 1726. Each
of the six cello suites opens with a Prelude. Suite No. 1 in G major has an
introductory movement in which the changing harmonies are made clear in
arpeggiated form.
If
you would like to hear the complete Cello Suites try:
8.555992-93 Cello Suites (Complete)
Alexander
Rudin (cello)