Friday, January 4, 2013

A New Year - A New Project

Several years ago during the musically dry months of the summer of 2009, I decided to inflict a challenge on myself to learn a new song (lied) every day for three months. The objective was not to have the piece performance ready, but to study enough about it to serve as a launching pad if I ever decided to seriously prepare it. It was a fascinating experience in discovering and understanding the learning process, and with the New Year upon us, it seemed like this might be the time for a comparable project.

There were lots of options, such as a variation on the "song-a-day" focusing on one composer (Schubert, Brahms, Wolf - all would be wonderful). But some of that is scheduled to be done anyhow - so I was looking for an even bigger task.

And then it came to me out of the blue - the Bach church cantatas. Learn them all. All two hundred of them.

Now, I am not a Bach expert or enthusiast. This is not my fach. Growing up as a clarinetist, the repertoire for that instrument starts with Mozart - either as soloist or chamber musician, you don't see much Bach unless it's in an arrangement. As a singer, my concentration has always been the German Romantics with some Verdi thrown in "because I could". I have sung "Et exultavit", "Ich will dir mein Herze schenken" and a few more of the well-known arias, but that's about it. And as a chorister I have been privileged to perform the Magnificat, St. Matthew Passion and several other works.

It's not an extensive Bach resume, and none of it remotely qualifies me to speak knowledgeably about such an incredibly complex body of work that is accompanied by reams of commentary and analysis; that is the subject of a vast and ever-growing discography of which a comparative study alone would take most of an academic career; and that has theoretical underpinnings far beyond my very limited background to elucidate.

But while I don't aspire to become an expert at this late stage in the game, I know I can benefit, musically and intellectually, through as much exposure to this repertoire as possible. The riches are truly untold, and thanks to the resources available online, they are accessible to anyone.

So here's the plan:

  1. Study one (1) cantata over the course of a week (give or take a few days, and with allowances for vacations and concert weeks, etc. - the project's not going to be a strait jacket).
  2. Find a good recording and download the piano-vocal score (there are several sources - IMSLP and perhaps the greatest concentration of information is located at http://www.bach-cantatas.com).
  3. Get some basic background and historical info, such as from Wikipedia. If there's time, check out some of the plenteous commentary (often linked through the Wiki page).
  4. Learn the solo(s), ensembles, and choral lines for my voice part (soprano and alto, since often the ranges overlap and I have sung both at various times). Same rules as "song of the day" - understand the text, learn the notes, find the problems, and leave it at the point where it can be picked up and improved. No "perfection" required.
  5. Step back at the end of the study period and form the "takeaway" impressions - what do I want to remember? Do I ever want to hear the cantata or any part of it again? Is there a solo or duetto worth taking to the next level? What will be permanently on my MP3 player (sorry, I've never entered the Apple universe)? 
  6. Take a day (or a couple days) off, clear the brain, cleanse the palate, and go back to step 1.
Just because it makes sense to a quantitative person like me, I'm starting right where the Bach-Gesellschaft did about (160) years ago - with BWV 1.  Even doing a "cantata a week" we are looking at 4+ years to work through them all. I can't guarantee I will make it; the odds are probably against it. But who cares about that? The point is to embark and see where the journey takes you.

Care to join me? Look in occasionally, or work along from time to time if the spirit takes you. It's the kind of project where you can jump in at any point - I'm the only one who's going for 100% completion. My comments will be recorded here as a collecting point and to minimize the accumulation of notebooks in my studio. No great profundity or erudition is promised - just the thoughts of a singer and student at work.

Happy New Year!


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