92. Johann Sebastian Bach - St. Matthew Passion (1727)

Recording

Title: Matthaus-Passion
Performers: Munich Bach Choir and Orchestra
Director: Karl Richter
Year: 1958
Length: 4 hours

Review

This is the longest of the two amazing Passions by Bach, and it is also the one I was most familiar with. It is a pretty long affair, but also a particularly enjoyable one, even the recitatives are somewhat more enjoyable than the ones in St. John's, as they are constantly interrupted by choruses.

And the choir work is one of the most amazing things here, Bach really exceeds himself here, but then the arias are equally perfect, and particularly in the second part of the Passion (in the third CD) there are a couple of truly spectacularly beautiful arias. Still, in every one of the three CDs there is something you kind of can't live without, from the opening of the Passion to the exquisite arias.

A truly spectacular piece of work which is made justice by the now quite old Karl Richter interpretation, all the epic power of the thing is preserved here, Matthew's Passion has all the power compared to the more transcendent St. John's. Great.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Two distinctive aspects of Bach's setting spring from his other church endeavors. One is the double-choir format, which stems from his own double-choir motets and the many such motets from other composers with which he routinely started Sunday services. The other is the extensive use of chorales, which appear in standard four-part settings, as interpolations in arias, and as a cantus firmus in large polyphonic movements, notably “O Mensch, bewein dein’ Sünde groß,” the conclusion of the first half—a movement this work has in common with his St John Passion—and the opening coro, Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir Klagen, in which the soprano in ripieno crowns a colossal buildup of polyphonic and harmonic tension, singing a verse of the chorale O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig.

The surviving manuscripts consist of eight concertato scores, used for eight soloists who also served in the two choirs, a few extra "bit parts", and a part for the soprano in ripieno. Unlike Bach's Johannespassion, where parts are extant for ripieno doubling on the choruses, there is little evidence that additional singers beyond the soloists were used in the "choirs".

The ending, in a Karl Richter Version:

91. Johann Sebastian Bach - Motets (1726-35)

Recording

Title: Motets BWV 225-231
Performers: Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists
Director: John Eliot Gardiner
Year: 1980
Length: 1 hour 40 minutes

Review

Ahh, this is more like it. Bach brings us yet again his prowess in composing for choirs. This is a collection of all the known Motets and motet like movements by Bach, and it is a really beautiful collection.

Bach manages to be alternatively sorrowful, bombastic, joyful and very touching. What I admire most about these pieces, however, is the sense of controlled chaos which seems to be almost always present in the music, as the voices interweave always leading to an harmonious result but many times sounding like it is all going to implode.

The recording is fantastic, with only very limited use of instrumentation, except where it is really called for, this makes for a perfect album if you are interested in the choral work more than the instrumental work, as they don't intrude on each other. This is a huge leap forward since the last album of Motets we have had on this list. Onwards to more Bach.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Johann Sebastian Bach also wrote seven surviving works he called motets; Bach's motets were relatively long pieces in German on sacred themes for choir and basso continuo. Bach's motets are:

* BWV 225 Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied (1726)
* BWV 226 Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf (1729)
* BWV 227 Jesu, meine Freude (?)
* BWV 228 Fürchte dich nicht (?)
* BWV 229 Komm, Jesu, komm! (1730 ?)
* BWV 230 Lobet den Herrn alle Heiden (?)
* BWV 231 Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren (?)

There is also a piece of a cantata that is classified as a motet.

* BWV 118 O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht (1736-1737?)


The beginning of Jesu, Meine Freude:

90. Johann Sebastian Bach - Keyboard Partitas (1726-31)

Recording

Title: Six Partitas
Performer: Gustav Leonhardt
Year: 1986
Length: 1 hour 39 minutes

Review

The harpsichord has always been a slightly boring instrument to me. Nothing like the organ, mind you, but still quite dull. The fact that these partitas did not bore me immensely is a good sign, but I am more than ready for the invention of the piano, thank you very much.

Although the partitas did not bore me, they were not particularly exciting as well. This is still not the Harpsichord album with a capacity to beat Rameau, I am terribly sorry.

I love Bach, I really do, but I like him best doing his orchestral and choral stuff, or even violin stuff, that is where he shines the most. This is not to say that his Harpsichord compositions are not of an extremely high calibre, they are. But if I had to put a Bach recording on, this would not be it.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The Partitas, BWV 825–830, are a set of six harpsichord suites written by Johann Sebastian Bach, published from 1726 to 1730 as Clavier-übung I, and the first of his works to be published. They were the last of his keyboard suites to be composed, the others being the 6 English Suites, BWV 806-811 and the 6 French Suites, BWV 812-817.

Allemande from the first partita on a vibraphone, fuck harpsichords:

89. Johann Sebastian Bach - Violin Sonatas (c.1725)

Recording

Title: Violin Sonatas
Performer: Andrew Manze, Richard Egarr, Jaap ter Linden
Year: 1999
Length: 2 hours 20 minutes

Review

These are some lovely pieces, but unfortunately not the most exciting music Bach ever composed. Well, they are quite exciting in terms of some of the innovations that are introduced here, but not as much as something to listen attentively to.

The interplay of the three instruments, Violin, Harpsichord, and Viola da Gamba are the most interesting and innovative thing about the pieces, but the whole thing is very subdued, very gentle, even in the more animated movement. I am not certain if this is the fault of the performers or the composition.

The playing is amazing throughout, however, even the little play of having the famous toccata and fugue in d minor attributed to Bach opening the second CD, transcribed for solo violin works quite well. Very gentle music, but a bit over-sentimental and not particularly exciting.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Johann Sebastian Bach's contributions to music, or, to borrow a term popularised by his student Lorenz Christoph Mizler, his "musical science", are frequently bracketed with those by William Shakespeare in English literature and Isaac Newton in physics. Scientist and author Lewis Thomas once suggested how the people of Earth should communicate with the universe: "I would vote for Bach, all of Bach, streamed out into space, over and over again. We would be bragging of course, but it is surely excusable to put the best possible face on at the beginning of such an acquaintance. We can tell the harder truths later."

BWV 1016, 3rd movement:

88. Antonio Vivaldi - Four Seasons (1725)

Recording

Title: Le Quattro Stagioni
Performer: Concerto Italiano
Director: Rinaldo Alessandrini
Year: 2002
Length: 44 minutes

Review

We all knew this day had to come sooner of later... one of the most popular and overused pieces of music ever, the Four Seasons by Vivaldi... and here they are. Thankfully you lose the most famous of them right after the first movement and you move on to the rest of the set.

This is an amazing piece of composing, it is actually Programme Music at its best, each of the concertos is accompanied by a sonnet, probably written by Vivaldi himself which describe the feelings evoked by each movement, and it does a pretty job at it.

The recording is amazing, trying to breathe fresh live into an overused piece of music, and manages that very successfully. It is a particularly aggressive recording, the storm in summer almost kills you with the violence of it, and the quiet movements are quiet to the point of hard to hear at times, demanding your constant attention, and this only creates a sharper and more interesting contrast, making you listen to this with fresh ears. If you have only one recording of the Four Seasons, get this one, you'll get plenty of the other ones on commercials and films.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The concertos were first published in 1725 as part of a set of twelve, Vivaldi's Op. 8, entitled Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione (The Contest of Harmony and Invention). The first four concertos were designated Le quattro stagioni, each being named after a season. Each one is in three movements, with a slow movement between two faster ones. At the time of writing the Four Seasons, the modern solo form of the concerto had not yet been defined (typically a solo instrument and accompanying orchestra). Vivaldi's original arrangement for solo violin with string quartet and basso continuo helped to define the form. In modern times, others have made transcriptions and arrangements to be performed on different instrumentation.

Summer movements 2 and 3 by Concerto Italiano:

87. Georg Friedric Handel - Rodelinda (1725)

Recording

Title: Rodelinda
Performers: Simone Kermes, Marijana Mijanovic, Il Complesso Barroco
Director: Alan Curtis
Year: 2005
Length: 3 hours 20 minutes

Review

After the truly great Handel Opera that was Giulio Cesare, Rodelinda pales in comparison. It is firstly a much slower paced opera, while Cesare alternated sad arias with vengeance or bright arias, this is mostly composed of mopy arias.

The music is still very good, but it leads to a certain amount of boredom, there is only about 1 minute of chorus at the very end, and the palatial conflict theme is at times too convoluted to keep your attention.

On the other hand Handel has shortened the arias here, while making a bigger number of them, and this is as it should be, avoiding some of the fatigue of the 10 minute long arias in Cesare. But in the whole the Opera is slightly boring.

The music remains at a very high standard and this recording is a great one, the embellishments by the singers are perfect, so if you get any version get this one. I watched it on DVD in the William Christie directed version, but the singing, even with Andreas Scholl as Bertarido was not as interesting as in this recording.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

It was first performed at the King’s Theatre in the Haymarket, London, on 13 February 1725. It was produced with the same singers as Tamerlano. There were 14 performances and it was repeated on 18 December 1725, and again on 4 May 1731. It was also performed in Hamburg. The first modern production was in Göttingen on 26 June 1920.

Dove Sei, Andreas Scholl in the Christie Production:

86. Johann Sebastian Bach - Six English Suites (c. 1725)

Recording

Title: Suites Anglaises
Performer: Christophe Rousset
Year: 2003
Length: 2 hours 6 minutes.

Review

This is out first of several solo harpsichord collections by JS Bach. They are, all of them very impressive technically and this is definitely no exception, but it also is not one of the best. These are of course the first set of Harpsichord suites composed by Bach.

The fact that they are not Bach's best harpsichord suites does not mean they are in any way bad, we are talking about a genius here, love him or hate him, this man was one of the greatest composers and innovators of all time. And it is in the lack of innovation, not the lack of quality, that he seems to lose points here.

Ok the Preludes are very interesting, being almost little concertos for the Harpsichord, but then the whole thing is mostly of French influence, and the ghost of Couperin flies all over it, particularly in the slower movements. So get it if you really love the harpsichord, if, like me, you think the harpsichord is a bit of an inferior version of a piano, you can leave them be... and cherish that Rameau.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The use of the term English to describe the Suites was a later addition. The name is thought to date back to a claim made by the nineteenth-century Bach biographer Johann Nikolaus Forkel that they were composed for an English nobleman, although no evidence has emerged to substantiate this claim. There are several striking characteristics about the English Suites. Bach includes a highly virtuosic prelude for each, in a departure from the prevailing tradition dictating a strict progression of the dance movements (Allemande, Courante, Sarabande and Gigue). By comparison, the later French Suites and Partitas are less strict in form. The Sarabande and Gigue movements in each of the English Suites is never separated by more than a single (twinned) Menuet or Menuet-like movement. Finally, the English Suites are predominantly in the minor key.

Some guy plays Bourre from suite number II... Rousset is slightly better: