Week 41
(8 July – 13 July 2014)
Recording:
Helmuth Rilling, Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart/Bach-Collegium Stuttgart; Helen
Donath, soprano; Marga Höffgen, alto; Adalbert Kraus, tenor; Siegmund Nimsgern, bass
The
vagaries of the BWV cataloging system resulted in a New Year’s cantata following
BWV 40, a work intended for Christmastide – although BWV 41 was composed for 1
January 1725, two New Years after the Christmas in which BWV 40 premiered. New
Year’s Day seems to have inspired the master to compose music of exuberant
optimism, and it’s nice to think that perhaps Bach shared with many of us the
not entirely rational belief that with a new year we get to make a fresh start:
if we keep our resolutions everything will have to get better.
As a chorale
cantata, the coro beginning the piece
requires one voice on the cantus firmus
and here the sopranos draw the short straw, but the rest of us get to have a
fun time. Beginning with a cheerful trumpet motif set against thrumming strings
– balancing jubilation with inner joy – instrumental passages alternate with
(per Sir Hubert Parry) “brilliantly congenial” contrapuntal and fugal choral settings
for each of the first four stanzas from Johannes Herman’s well-known hymn. The
first section of this chorus is a set piece in its own right – many composers
would be happy to end at M. 102. But at the text Dass wir in guter Stille, Bach inserts a 16-measure adagio in ¾ time (the tempo marking inserted
into the Breitkopf & Härtel vocal score does not appear in the manuscript
but the shift to a simpler homophonic structure, together with the text, suggests
some relaxation). The winds are now prominent, and a brief turn into the minor
key indicates that not all of the previous twelve months has been perfect. Perhaps
not all his listeners felt the guter
Stille, but Bach’s soothing music, especially the bass’ sustained D3 on Stille, provided a brief respite from
their troubles.
Changing the mood abruptly at M. 119, Bach initiates a presto fugue (again, I don’t see this marking
in the manuscript sources, and an appropriate tempo is not what we would call a
modern presto), contrasting the
highly melismatic A section with
emphatic quarter notes that give the impression of homophony, consistent with
the text pledging renewed dedication to God. This imposing section in some ways
echoes the Dona nobis pacem in the B minor Mass. The final two lines of the
hymn revert to the joyous music of the A
section, closing the coro as it
began, with talismans of resounding brass.
The Rilling recording provided the
opportunity to become reacquainted with Helen Donath’s bright, clear soprano.
The American singer had a long and brilliant career here and in Europe, and she
does so much so well in this deceptively simple da capo aria. First and most importantly, she maintains the tempo
and the evenness of the triplet figures, which can have a tendency to slow down,
especially when there are technical challenges in the mix. In this aria, the
tempo needs to be set by the singer, as what you have to do vocally is much more
difficult than the instrumental parts. Donath meets the challenge of the
difficult fifths (for example, the D5 to A6 in M. 17) which – either in notated
pitch or Baroque pitch – cross breaks in the adult voice, and can make keeping
the vocal line problematic. For English speakers, pay attention also to the
handling of the repetitions of sei,
where the diphthong must vanish gently after sustaining the pitch on [ɑ]. This
aria is a nice selection for those “low” services after Christmas, and while the
A section can stand on its own, if
time is not a consideration, the B
section, with melismas on Hallelujah that
are both excellent technical exercises as well as lovely word painting, should
be included.
The unknown poet provided a wonderful text acknowledging the divine
blessings bestowed upon the faithful, which Bach set as a secco recitative for alto. He usually gave this type of
authoritative declaration to the bass, so be worthy of that das A und O!
As seen in BWV 16, the
master didn’t cut the tenor any slack on New Year’s Day – but while difficult,
the dal segno solo in BWV 41 is not
as unremitting in its demands. Accompanied by the violoncello piccolo, a 5-string variant that as its name implies
exists somewhere between a “real” cello and an overgrown viola (no jokes,
please). Bach’s Cello Suite No. 6 in D
major (BWV 1012) was written for this instrument’s unique timbre, and it is
very well-suited to blending with a solid tenor voice. Adalbert Kraus, in
addition to singing with taste and discipline, also provides an excellent
German diction lesson. The generic text allows this solo to be sung at any time
of year, but it should not be performed without the cello: the character of the
aria is an instrumental duet where the voice takes one separate but equal part.
The
secco bass recitative is notable for
the interpolation of a brief 3-part choral commentary, which uses a line of
Martin Luther’s Deutsches Litanei.
The bass holds an Ab4 which sounds somewhat discordant against the F major
chord in the S/A/T. But all voices resolve as the snake is trampled underfoot.
A
familiar melody of Melchior Vulpius becomes in the master’s hands a majestic
conclusion to the cantata. If I had lived in Sir Hubert’s time, I probably
would have said, as he did, that “a fine unity of sentiment” is established
through the integration of the first movement trumpet motif with the chorale
tune. The movement is long by Bach chorale standards, and includes another
16-bar ¾ section, which can perhaps swing a bit.
One experience denied by even
the best recordings is the physical and aural sensation of brass flourishes
resounding through the arches of a great kirche.
As he composed, that is the sound Bach would have had in his mind – a sound
both festive and awe-inspiring, and definitely intended to sober up the New
Year’s Day listeners at the cantata’s premiere. Whatever may have occurred in
1724, or whatever was to come in 1725 – in those moments, as Bach’s trumpets climbed
ever higher on their first journey through BWV 41 in the Thomaskirche, the Lutheran faithful of Leipzig had to feel certain that the coming year would indeed be blessed
and happy.
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