Bach: Cantatas Vol 24 / Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists

$28.99
Label
SDG
Release Date
March 5, 2005
Format
Added to Cart! View cart or continue shopping.


    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      BACH, J.S.
    • ORCHESTRA / ENSEMBLE
      Monteverdi Choir
    • PERFORMER
      English Baroque Soloists, Gardiner
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      March 05, 2005
    • UPC
      843183010721
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      SDG 107
    • LABEL
      SDG
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      2
    • GENRE
      Choral - Sacred
    Works ⌄

    1. Sinfonia

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    2. Weinen, Klagen (Chorus)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    3. Recitative: Wir mussen durch viel Trubsal (Alto)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: William Towers

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    4. Aria: Kreuz und Krone sigs verbunden (Alto)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: William Towers

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    5. Aria: Ich folge Christo nach (Bass)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: Julian Clarkson

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    6. Aria and Chorale: Sei getreu, alle Pein (Tenor)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: Mark Padmore

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    7. Chorale: Was Gott tut

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    8. Chorale and Aria; Ihr werdet weinen und heulen (Bass)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: Julian Clarkson

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    9. Recitative: Wer sollte nicht in Klagen untergehn (Tenor)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: Mark Padmore

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    10. Aria: Kein Arzt ist ausser dir zu finden (Alto)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: William Towers

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    11. Recitative: Du wirst mich nach der Angst (Alto)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: William Towers

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    12. Aria: Erholet euch, betrubte Sinnen (Tenor)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: Mark Padmore

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    13. Chorale: Ich hab dich einen Augenblick

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    14. Sinfonia

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    15. Chorale: Wir mussen durch viel Trubsal

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    16. Aria: Ich will nach dem Himmel zu (Alto)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: William Towers

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    17. Recitative: Ach! wer doch schon im Himmel war! (Soprano)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: Brigitte Geller

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    18. Aria: Ich sae meine Zahren (Soprano)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: Brigitte Geller

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    19. Recitative: Ich bin bereit (Tenor)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: Mark Padmore

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    20. Aria Duet: Wie will ich mich freuen (Tenor, Bass)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: Mark Padmore, Julian Clarkson

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    21. Chorale: Denn wer selig dahin fahret

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    22. Aria: Wo gehest du hin? (Bass)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: Stephen Varcoe

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    23. Aria: Ich will an den Himmel denken (Tenor)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: James Gilchrist

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    24. Chorale: Ich bitte dich, Herr Jesu Christ (Soprano)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    25. Recitative: Gleichwie die Regenwasser bald verfliessen (Bass)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: Stephen Varcoe

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    26. Aria: Man nehme sich in Acht (Alto)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: Robin Tyson

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    27. ChoraleL Wer weiss, wie nahe mir mein Ende!

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    28. Aria: Es ist euch gut, dass ich hingehe (Bass)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: Stephen Varcoe

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    29. Aria: Mich kann kein Zweifel storen (Tenor)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: James Gilchrist

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    30. Recitative: Dein Gesit wird mich also regieren (Tenor)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: James Gilchrist

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    31. Chorale: Wenn aber jener, der Geist der Wahrheit

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    32. Aira: Was mein Herz von dir begehrt (Alto)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: Robin Tyson

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    33. Chorale: Dein Geist, den Gott vom Himmel gibt

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    34. Chorale: Sei Lob und Ehr dem hochsten Gut

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    35. Recitative: Es danken dir die Himmelsheer (Bass)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: Stephen Varcoe

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    36. Aria: Was unser Gott geschaffen hat (Tenor)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: James Gilchrist

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    37. Chorale: Ich rief dem Herrn in meiner Not

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    38. Recitative: Der Herr ist noch und nimmer nicht (Alto)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: Robin Tyson

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    39. Aria: Wenn Trost und Hulf ermangeln muss (Bass)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: Stephen Varcoe

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    40. Aria: Ich will dich all mein Leben lang

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: Robin Tyson

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    41. Recitative: Ihr, die ihr CHristi Namen nennt (Tenor)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists

      Performer: James Gilchrist

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    42. Chorale: So kommet vor sein Angesicht

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists

      Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner


Listeners whose knowledge of German, like mine, encompasses the titles of Wagner’s operas but little more are prone to identify Bach’s cantatas by their BWV designations (as above), even though the numbers are essentially meaningless––remnants of a time when musicology was a hobby, not a discipline. One can only hope that Gardiner (and Koopman and Suzuki as well) will provide an index upon completion of the cycle. Gardiner organized his Cantata Pilgrimage by function, not by number, and the recorded edition is supposed to suit. But the random order of its first three releases suggests that you may have to acquire the complete set in order to achieve the intended sequence.

Volume 24 (following Volumes 1 and 8) is devoted to cantatas for the third Sunday after Easter––BWV 12 (composed in Weimar, 1714), BWV 103 (1725), and BWV 146 (1726 or 1728) and the fourth Sunday after Easter––BWV 116 (1724) and BWV 108 (1725). The original purpose of Cantata 117, composed between 1728 and 1731, is not known. Undoubtedly the best known of the six cantatas is No. 12, owing to its exquisite opening sinfonia for oboe and strings and the extraordinary following chorus––later adapted transformed into the Crucifixus of the B-Minor Mass––that has few rivals in all of music. Cantata 146 features another adaptation, this time in reverse; its opening sinfonia and first chorus are taken from the first two movements of the D-Minor Harpsichord Concerto (itself derived from a lost violin concerto), with the solo part, undoubtedly played by Bach himself, assigned to the organ. The transcription of the first movement is straightforward enough, but the integration of the chorus into the second movement is yet another example of Bach’s remarkable ingenuity. Cantata 103 was composed during Bach’s second annual cycle at Leipzig, but it came after he had abandoned the chorale cantata format. Like BWV 12 and 146, it traces a progression from grief to triumph. The duality is expressed in the opening chorus: sorrowful melismas sung against the joyful figurations of a solo violin and soprano recorder lead to an exultant conclusion.

The cantatas for Easter, composed for the first two Leipzig cycles, seem to be more modestly conceived. Both open with a bass solo rather than the expected choral fantasia, and in each the argument is carried by its arias. The choir’s soprano section makes an appearance in BWV 166, intoning a chorale; in BWV 108 a brief but energetic (and surprisingly complex) triple fugue lends emphasis to the day’s message. Both cantatas end with the usual four-part chorale. Cantata 117 is exceptional for two reasons. Individual programs for the Cantata Pilgrimage had to be adjusted when the catalog of extant cantatas contained either too many or too few cantatas, and to accommodate cantatas that have no known function. No. 117 is such a cantata and a masterpiece to boot. It is one the few cantatas in which the texts for all verses are taken directly from the original chorale. Each verse ends with the words “Gebt unserm Gott die Ehre!” (“Give honor to our God!”), but each instance is set to different music, except for the first and the last verses, which were unusually set to the same music. Gardiner’s notes mention some numerological speculation that has to be considered fantastic, whether it’s true or imagined. Read it and scratch your head.
With six discs down and 45 to go, only one musician, violist Colin Kitching, still has perfect attendance.
Performances, recording, and presentation are superb. It’s getting harder to choose just one cantata series. Get them all!

George Chien, FANFARE