ticking along Bach-ward

*Note: This post is a little insight into some of the research that I do to get ready to sing a Bach cantata.  If you are interested in finding out why I find this music so satisfying to explore and to prepare, read on.  If you find music and research boring then skip this post, and I'll put less elevated news in a second post.  But for those who think that singing work consists primarily of the time you spend on stage performing the piece (in this case BWV 82 is about 20 minutes long) this might give you some insight into what's involved, for me at least.

It's been a fairly quiet week around here, which has been nice for me.  Duncan has been at school all week and I haven't heard much from Malcolm.  Maggie's work has been settling down, and she says that she's got a lot of really nice students this year.  That's a relief to hear, as over the years she's collected a lot of "personalities"...

I've managed to get in some Bach singing pretty much every day, which has been very nice.  My voice loves it and also needs it to get back in form after a long summer holiday.  I need to have BWV 82 Ich habe genug in tip-top shape for the memorial concert at the end of the month; conductor Jacques Vanherenthals has requested me by name, and I don't want to let him down.  He's probably the conductor whom I have sung the most Bach with during my time here in Brussels.

BWV 82 is a lot of singing, and as I may have mentioned, I realised upon opening the score during the summer that I have sung the second and third movements of the five-movement structure twice before, but never the others... The opening aria is not so tough, but the final aria is a little intimidating at first.  However on closer inspection, it's got lots of repeated figures so once you've learned them once, you do them again, with a few little variations that trap you on first reading but then are fun once you know they are coming.  Singing Bach on sight is a little like playing the ATARI game Pitfall; you're scrolling away and having a good time, and you will inevitably lose your focus and definitely crash and burn.  But after a few runs you start to remember where the traps are, and prepare for them.

Here's a little clip of one of my favourite baritones of all time, the tremendous Thomas Quasthoff, singing the final aria, "Ich freue mich auf meinen Tod", and the recitative that just preceeds it.

The text is as follows:

#4
Recitative [Bass]
Organo

Mein Gott! wann kömmt das schöne: Nun!My God! When will come that beautiful: Now!
Da ich im Friede fahren werdewhen I shall go in peace
Und in dem Sande kühler Erdeand in the sand of the cool earth
Und dort bei dir im Schoße ruhn?And there in your bosom rest?
Der Abschied ist gemacht,I have said my farewells,
Welt, gute Nacht!World, goodnight!

#5
Aria [Bass]
Oboe, Violino I/II, Viola, Continuo

Ich freue mich auf meinen Tod,I rejoice in my death,
Ach, hätt er sich schon eingefunden.Ah! how I wish it had taken place already.
Da entkomm ich aller Not,Then I shall escape from all the distress
Die mich noch auf der Welt gebunden.that still binds me in the world.

What is characteristic here in this text is the classic Lutheran contrast between the profane world of suffering and the sacred realm of peace, love, and joy.  In this philosophy the world is a place to be endured, and the only place of relief from pain will be found when the departed Christian finds his place in heaven.

If you explore the text meaning, then Bach becomes a lot easier to approach as a singer.  Here's an short example from the fourth movement to show you what I mean, sung by the bass-baritone Stephan MacLeod:

If you listen along and follow the score, you can see that the initial chord, and descending interval on "Mein Gott!" is a tritone, nice and crunchy, and would have be immediately recognised by the congregation at the time; the tritone is used throughout Bach's ouevre to represent suffering on the cross, or in extended meaning, our suffering in the world.

The next words are set very differently, in a more calm and questioning style.  The text speaks of longing for going peacefully into the cool earth; you can see that the melodic line descends, just like a person's body would at a burial.  When the text goes on to speak about resting with God, the melodic line ascends, both to symbolise the soul rising up to heaven, and as it is a question, that sentence ends on an upward, inquiring note.

Then the text says, "Der Abschied ist gemacht", or "my farewells have been made", and you will notice that the line is very square, even eighth-notes, and slower and more deliberate than the earlier music.  Finally, the 'cello joins in on the "world, good night", which is set with a little flourish of sixteenth and thirty-second notes.

Now I just finished saying a couple of paragraphs back that if you explore the text meaning, then Bach becomes easier to approach.  But then once you get closer new questions start to appear... For example, I am a little conflicted about how to sing these three words; I think that the "Welt, gute Nacht" does have to be sung gently, like Stephan Macleod does in this recording, but I am considering the option of interpreting this line with an implied lightness because the soul is imagining leaving the world and rising into heavenly joy.  Should I therefore ignore the most probably editorial marking of adagio in the score favour of going with my instinct to lighten up on that line?  Or has Bach already done the work for me by writing that flourish on those words, so I don't need to change anything?

This recit leads directly into the virtuosic last movement which says that the soul "rejoices in ...death", because it will release it/her/him from all suffering.  This last movement is light and fast and excited, to symbolise that anticipated joy.  So from a purely musical point of view, I should avoid the "lightening" that my instinct wants on "Welt, gute Nacht" to point up the contrast with the aria that follows...

Another wrinkle is the accompaniment: the 'cello comes in on "Welt, gute Nacht" to metaphorically pull on our heart-strings.  I have to consider what the 'cellist thinks as well because we are in a duet, and I don't want to steal focus from that beautiful cello line with "acting".  So as you can see there is definitely more than one way to skin a cat.

But back to suffering: of course it's a problem that every philosopher - and every human being - has to struggle with.  Buddha talks in a similar way about the world as a place of suffering, and this Protestant Christian concept has to have informed Nietzsche's philosophy as well.  So it's interesting to see what Bach has to say about it through his text setting.  I don't know if Bach read Buddha, but it's a pretty sure bet that Nietzsche listened to Bach.

Another point of inquiry is the original purpose for this cantata: it was written for performance in Leipzig in 1727, for the celebration of the Purification of the Virgin Mary.  That's February 2nd, which happens to also be Groundhog Day in Canada, and my late Grandmother Rita's birthday.  I've written about her in connection with this event in the church year before, most recently this past spring, and it's great to keep my Grandmother in mind as I prepare this piece.  I don't know the person who I will sing this in memory of, but I'm sure I can just think of Grandma and that will put me in the right frame of mind.

Another cool thing about the Celebration of the Purification of the Virgin Mary is the old testament reading for that day in the Lutheran tradition: Malachi 3: 1-4:

1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.

2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:  

3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.

4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.

Sound familiar?  Of course verse 1 is the text that the bass soloist sings in Messiah, in "Thus saith the Lord", the fifth movement.  This is followed by "But who may abide the day of his coming?" which modern conductors usually give to the contralto, but which I love to sing.  Handel has variously set it for bass, soprano, or contralto, but I personally agree with Mozart (who rather bizarrely reorchestrated Messiah in 1789) who gave it to the bass.  Out of the fifteen performances I have given of Messiah, I've only been able to convince a conductor to let me do it once or maybe twice.

So anyway, this leads me back to explore Bach's text selections for his Cantata BWV 82, to see if I can find something that leads back to Malachi and Handel.  Upon close inspection I can't really find anything that links up, which is disappointing.  But then I looked at the other reading from that church day, which is Luke 2:22-32.

Here I find something:

22 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;

23 (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)

24 And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.

25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.

26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,

28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,

29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:

30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;

32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

So there you find the connection, in the person of Simeon.  He's mentioned in the second movement of my cantata.

#2 Recitative [Bass]
Continuo

Ich habe genung.I have enough.
Mein Trost ist nur allein,This alone is my consolation,
Dass Jesus mein und ich sein eigen möchte sein.that Jesus might be mine and I his own.
Im Glauben halt ich ihn,In faith I hold him
Da seh ich auch mit Simeonas I see also with Simeon
Die Freude jenes Lebens schon.the joy of the life to come already.
Laßt uns mit diesem Manne ziehn!Let us go along with this man!
Ach! möchte mich von meines Leibes KettenAh! how I wish that I might from the chains of the body
Der Herr erretten;be delivered by the Lord;
Ach! wäre doch mein Abschied hier,Ah! how I wish my departure were here,
Mit Freuden sagt ich, Welt, zu dir:joyfully I would say to you, World:
Ich habe genug.I have enough.

So I would expect that the congregation had already heard the gospel reading earlier, and knew who Simeon was.  When Bach writes says "in faith I hold him" he's actually making a sort of pun: as Simeon literally held the infant Jesus, the soul in this cantata is metaphorically holding Jesus as  saviour.  And the soul wants to receive the same reward that Simeon was given, upon "seeing" the saviour: to be released from this world...

Ok, that's more than enough erudition for one day.  I have to go warm up and sing.  Have a good weekend!