15-17 Jun Bach Weekend With Sir John Eliot Gardiner - Barbican

which musical (and therefore human) time unfoldsby suggesting ways in which it is subordinate to,and subsumed within, God’s eternal time.’ Thiscantata is an extraordinary example of musicaldrama, even by Bach’s standards; it is only tooeasy to imagine the fury it must have evoked fromthose who objected to operatic music in church!Cantata BWV61, Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland(‘Now come, Saviour of the gentiles’), was writtenfor Advent Sunday 1714. Bach chooses the Frenchoverture style of Lully – then the height of musicalfashion – as a grand, austere backdrop for thechorale melody. Thereafter, a tenor sings ofmankind’s need for Jesus’s redemption, imploringhim to enter the world anew. Jesus’s absenceis palpable; it is not until the fourth movementthat his voice is heard. At this point, the librettist(Erdmann Neumeister) uses the image of Jesusknocking on the door, inviting the believer tolet him enter their soul. Bach picks up on this,using gentle pizzicato strings to depict knocking;the unexpectedness of this gesture lends themovement a particular poignancy. It gives wayto a soprano aria depicting the joyful willingnessof the believer to receive Jesus. As Gardinernotes, the decreasing instrumentation acrossthe third, fourth and fifth movements creates asense of increasing intimacy with God. The brieffinal chorus quotes from the final verse of thechorale ‘Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern’(‘How brightly shines the morning star’). Theidentification of Christ with the morning star(taken from Revelation 22:16) is a potent image,and one brilliantly exploited here by Bach. Whilethe continuo and lower voices bustle excitedlyunderneath the sopranos, the violins shimmerabove it, finally coming to rest on a daringlyhigh G – the star imagery can hardly be missed.And so the cantata concludes with a sense ofbright, bold confidence in the Saviour’s imminentincarnation.that ‘[i]If asked what kind of opera composerBach would have been, I would point immediatelyto BWV81’. When Jesus finally enters, his tone isperhaps surprising: rather than offering comfort,he seems almost impatient ‘Ihr Kleingläubigen,warum seid ihr so furchtsam?’ (‘O ye of little faith,why are you so fearful?’). The storm returns forthe fifth movement, this time with Jesus continuallyintervening. Though the storm imagery is clear,the effect is far more ordered than before,even graceful in places, perhaps reflecting theeffortlessness of Jesus’s control over it. The cantataends with a short recitative and chorale, bothof which gratefully acknowledge the protectionoffered by Jesus.Tonight’s concert ends with a cantata forChristmas Day itself, BWV110, Unser Mund sei vollLachens (‘May our mouth be filled with laughter’),which received its premiere in 1725. Lovers ofBach’s instrumental music will recognise theopening chorus as the first movement of the FourthOrchestral Suite. This is an opulent, regal Frenchoverture on the grandest scale. Unexpectedly,but to superb effect, Bach audaciously adds thechoir to the movement’s ebullient middle allegrosection. The instrumentally conceived lines turnout to be perfect – if technically challenging! –vehicles for the depiction of laughter and joy.Following this monumental opening movement, atenor aria serves to bring a more personal qualityto the proceedings, which sets the tone for thesucceeding movements. One almost pities Bachfor having to set the following text for a ChristmasDay service: ‘Ach Herr, was ist ein Menschenkind,dass du sein Heil so schmerzlich suchest?’ (‘Ah,Lord, what is a child of man that you should seekhis salvation with so much pain?’). In this altoaria, his musical response is introspective, evenconvoluted, without being tragic. The theme ofjoy returns in the subsequent duet for sopranoand tenor, ‘Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe’ (‘Glorybe to God on high’). Here, though, the joy is ofa contented nature, felt particularly in the longmelismas on ‘Ehre’ (‘glory’) and ‘Friede’ (‘peace’).A more stirring affekt is felt in the bass aria ‘Wachtauf, ihr Adern und ihr Glieder’ (‘Awaken, you veinsand limbs’), which seems to anticipate ‘GrosserHerr’ from the Christmas Oratorio. In the middlesection, the bass sings of the ‘devoted strings’;accordingly, the oboes drop out for this passage.A brief chorale of praise concludes this wideranging, yet ultimately joyful cantata.6The first of Bach’s cantatas for the Christmasseason heard in tonight’s programme, BWV81Jesus schläft, was soll ich hoffen? (‘Jesus sleeps;for what can I hope?’) is far from joyful. It takes asits cue the gospel for the day (the fourth Sundayafter Epiphany): Jesus’s calming of the storm onLake Galilee (Matthew 8:23–27). The cantatauses this story as the basis for a metaphor: life asa sea voyage. Just as in BWV61, the voice of Jesusis withheld until the fourth movement; his absenceis felt particularly in the third, which depicts thestorm. The drama of this movement, which seemsProgramme note Tom Wilkinsonalmost Mozartian at times, leads Gardiner to write

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)Sat 16 JunSaturday 16 June 11amSonata No 3 for violin and harpsichordin E major, BWV1016Partita No 2 for solo violin in D minor,BWV1004Sonata No 1 for violin and harpsichordin B minor, BWV1014Toccata for harpsichord in D minor, BWV913Sonata No 6 for violin and harpsichord inG major BWV1019Isabelle Faust violinKristian Bezuidenhout harpsichordhis death’) is probably to be interpreted asmeaning that Bach was still busying himself withthe sonatas in the last years of his life. We mayassume from this evidence that he played theworks regularly in his domestic environment,with the violin parts executed by experiencedviolinists from his circle of family and friends.What fascinated the composer in these sonatasover the course of a lifetime is explained by aglance at the contemporary musical literature.In both the theory and practice of instrumentalchamber music during the first half of the 18thcentury, the trio texture was elevated to the status7The Six Sonatas for violin and obbligatoharpsichord, BWV1014–19 are among the worksof Johann Sebastian Bach to which he returnedagain and again. Even the earliest survivingsource, a harpsichord part in the hand of Bach’snephew Johann Heinrich Bach dated to 1725,already shows signs of further developmentand polishing on the composer’s part. A newrevision is documented in a copy by JohannFriedrich Agricola, written out around 1741, anda third source is a copy by Johann ChristophAltnickol dating from the period around 1750.A note by Bach’s second-youngest son JohannChristoph Friedrich (‘He wrote these trios before

of a compositional ideal, since it appeared toachieve a perfect synthesis of linear counterpoint,full-sounding harmony and cantabile melody.Music theorists such as Johann Mattheson, JohannJoachim Quantz and Johann Adolph Scheibeflatly declared trio writing to be a touchstonefor every composer of rank. Mattheson, forexample, described the special requirementsof the genre as follows: ‘here each of the threevoices must unfold a fine melody of its own;and yet, as far as possible, they must affirm thethree-part harmony as if it came about only bychance’. No composer of his time realised thisideal as perfectly as Johann Sebastian Bach,whose son Carl Philipp Emanuel enthusiasticallydeclared of his violin sonatas, as late as 1774,that they ‘still sound very good now eventhough they are over 50 years old’, and that theycontained ‘a few adagios that one could notcompose in a more melodious fashion today’. Theundiminished admiration for this group of workslong after Bach’s death may also be explainedby the fact that the trio principle, as realisedin the violin sonatas, not only correspondedto his own ideas of perfect harmony (which, inhis view, could only be attained if all the voices‘work wonderfully in and about each other’), butalso satisfied the primacy of an individually andsensitively shaped melody, such as was favouredby the generation of his sons and pupils.The fact that Bach’s trio compositions still occupya prominent position in the tradition of the genremakes it easy to forget that he created onlyrelatively few works of this kind. In addition to afew pieces that have come down to us in isolation,they comprise the Violin Sonatas, BWV1014–19,the Flute Sonatas, BWV1030–32, the threeSonatas for viola da gamba, BWV1027–9 and theOrgan Trios, BWV525–30. As can be seen fromthe different combinations of instruments, Bach’strio writing is not tied to a particular scoring, butfunctions as what might be called an abstractcompositional principle, whose tonal realisationwas often determined by external conditions.8The six Sonatas for violin and obbligatoharpischord form a unified collection. In spiteof their consistent formal scaffolding, however,each of the sonatas has its own profile. SonataNo 1 launches the opus with a remarkableexperiment – in the expressive lament of the firstmovement, the number of obbligato voices issometimes extended to five by means of doublestopping in the violin and a three-part texture inthe harpsichord part. The two fast movementsrealise the trio principle completely, since here allthree voices participate equally in the workingout of the thematic material, whereas in thethird movement the broad cantilenas of thetwo upper voices (violin and harpischord righthand) unfold over the even pulse of the bass.In all four of its movments, Sonata No 3 inE major combines superior technical masterywith the highest demands on the performers.The virtuoso element is shown in the firstmovement, with its extended demisemiquavergarlands on the violin and its dense harpsichordtextures; in the second movement, the fast allabreve time signature allows the entries of thesonglike fugue theme to do no more than scurrypast. The Adagio in C sharp minor resemblesthe central movement (in the same key) of theE major Violin Concerto in tone and atmosphere,while the finale, with its jaunty passagework,almost reaches the limits of what is playable.The last work in the set, Sonata No 6 in G major,passed through several clearly differentiatedversions. This composition breaks free of thenarrow boundaries of the genre, not onlyin its five-movement structure, but also in itsidiosyncratic integration of concertante elements.A graceful Largo follows an extensive Allegroin large-scale da capo form. In the latestversion, Bach placed at the centre of the work abinary movement of ample dimensions for soloharpsichord, which leads us musically into theworld of the Partitas that constitute Part 1 of theClavier-Übung. The Adagio, whose rhythmicallyintricate chromaticism and strict triple counterpointalready point forwards to the canons of The Artof Fugue, is a moment of filigree abstraction.The cheerful mood of the opening movementis taken up again in the brilliant concludingfugue. Here compositional skill is combinedwith exuberant delight in performance.Bach’s cycle of three sonatas and three partitasfor solo violin undoubtedly marks a high pointin Western violin music. These works set new

In his works for unaccompanied soloinstrument Bach was venturing into a fieldthat had been explored by few composersbefore him, and whose potential wasvery far from being exhausted.From the set for solo violin, Isabelle Faustperforms the Second Partita in D minor,which presents a modified version of the fourmovement suite form. The four core movements(Allemanda, Corrente, Sarabanda, Giga), hereretained without change, are followed by amonumental Ciaccona which may be rankedwith Bach’s most impressive creations. The first,second and fourth movements are dominatedby a monophonic style characterised by motorrhythms, with the wide-ranging harmonicexcursions indicated by broken triads andemphatic top notes. In the third-movementSarabanda the double-stopping and the rhythmHere Bach ventured into a type of movementhe rarely tackled, which set him an additionalchallenge because of its unchanging basicfour-bar pattern (the harmonisation of adescending tetrachord). In the course ofhis sytematic exploration and expansion ofthis exceedingly plain raw material throughcontinuous variation, the composer demandsof the performer an incomparable wealth ofvirtuoso passages, combinations of chords andarpeggios which had never before been thoughtof in this form. Bach here opened up entirelynew dimensions in the technique of the violin,but at the same time, and to an even greaterdegree, in compositional technique itself.Sat 16 Junalready point forwards to the final Ciaccona,so expansive at 257 bars that it is longer thanthe four preceding movements combined.Programme note by Peter Wollny Harmonia Mundi‘Toccare’ simply means ‘to touch’, yet the word‘toccata’ has become inextricably associatedwith keyboard music that is brilliant, dazzlingand improvisatory-sounding. It’s a genre that hasattracted composers as diverse as Schumannand Prokofiev – and, above all, Bach, whetherat the organ console or the harpsichord.The D minor Toccata, BWV913, was oneof a group most likely composed in thewake of the epic journey Bach undertookin 1705, travelling from Arnstadt to Lübeckon foot in order to hear Buxtehude play.Common to all seven of the Toccatas, BWV910–16,is an improvisatory-sounding opening in whichunlike is juxtaposed with unlike in true Baroquefashion, rhythmically free writing jostling withpassages of driving rhythm to exhilarating effect.In the D minor Toccata this gives way to twofugues, the first of which, moderately paced,is built on a musing subject, and opens sottovoce. After a linking passage which graduallyincreases the tempo, a second, jauntier fuguearrives, D minor again but ending in D majorthanks to the final tierce de Picardie, withBach conjuring richly sonorous textures.9standards in both playing and compositionaltechnique, and have lost none of their relevanceover the centuries. Their exceptional nature wasalready recognised in the 18th century, althoughtheir artistic significance was variously interpreted.For Bach’s second son, Carl Philipp Emanuel,these compositions represented first and foremosta document of his father’s profound knowledgeof the idiomatic handling of string instruments,which made them valuable as unique materialfor study: ‘J S Bach understood to perfection thepossibilities of all stringed instruments. This isevidenced by his solos for the violin and for thecello without bass. One of the greatest violiniststold me once that he had seen nothing moreperfect for becoming a good violinist, and couldsuggest nothing better for anyone eager to learn,than the said violin solos without bass.’ Bach’spupil Johann Philipp Kirnberger, on the otherhand, emphasised the works’ achievement interms of compositional technique: ‘It is even moredifficult, without the slightest accompaniment,to write a simple melody so harmonicallydetermined that it is impossible to add a voiceto it without making mistakes; not to mentionthe fact that the added voice would be quiteunsingable and clumsy. In this style we possesssix sonatas for the violin and six for the cello,entirely without accompaniment, by J S Bach.’

Saturday 16 June 3pmJohann Christoph Bach (1642–1703)‘Fürchte dich nicht’Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)‘Fürchte dich nicht’, BWV228‘Komm, Jesu, komm’, BWV229Johann Christoph Bach‘Lieber Herr Gott, wecke uns auf’Johann Sebastian Bach‘Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden’, BWV230Johann Christoph Bach‘Herr, nun lässest du deinen Diener’Johann Sebastian Bach‘Jesu, meine Freude’, BWV227Johann Christoph Bach‘Der Gerechte, ob er gleich zu zeitlich stirbt’Johann Sebastian Bach‘Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied’, BWV22510Solomon’s Knot . Jonathan Sells director

Johann Christoph Bach’s motets epitomise thecentral German tradition inherited by his youngercousin. He included both Spruch passages (in thiscontext, using Biblical poetry) and chorales, aswell as lyrical melodies and animated alternationsof solo and tutti. A lack of reliable sources makesit difficult to establish an exact chronology ofJohann Christoph’s works, but his motets seemto evolve from the use of clear distinctionsbetween different choral textures, to a morefluid style with complex, lively melodic writing.J C Bach studied with one of Heinrich Schütz’sstudents, Jonas de Fletin, and so his musicrepresents a bridge between the pivotal stylesIt had been a requirement since the 17th centuryof Schütz and J S Bach. His five-part motetthat motets performed in Leipzig, includingFürchte dich nicht is a supreme example of this.those from the Florilegium Portense, shouldThe work’s authorship has been questioned,include a continuo part. This usually consisted ofbut it bears many of the hallmarks of Johannorgan, harpsichord or lute, with cello, bassoonChristoph’s style. It combines texts from Isaiahor violone (an early type of bass viol) – or43:1 – ‘Do not be afraid, for I have redeemedcombinations of these instruments, depending on you, I have called you by your name; you arethe circumstances. For truly illustrious occasionsmine’ – with Luke 23:43: ‘Truly I tell you, todaymore instruments may have been added,you will be with me in paradise’. The motetsometimes doubling the voices, and in Leipzig the begins with the lower four voices, the sopranosdesignation ‘motet-harpsichord’ implied that theeventually entering with an additional text, fromkeyboardist was also expected to act as conductor. Johann Rist’s hymn O Traurigkeit, O Herzeleid(‘O Sorrow, O Heartache’): ‘O Jesu, du meinJ S Bach inherited the central German traditionHilf und Ruh’ (‘O Jesus, you are my help andof motet writing, especially the use of doublemy peace.’). The use of the intimate ‘du’ (whichchoruses. His family was steeped in this tradition,is repeated for emphasis) from this pointand motets are particularly well represented inonwards represents a significant and movingthe Bach musical archive. Six surviving motets byshift to a more personal, vulnerable relationshipJ S Bach have been catalogued as BWV225–230. between God the Father, Jesus, and believer.A seventh, Ich lasse dich nicht, BWV Anh159,now considered to be Bach’s earliest motet, wasJ S Bach’s eight-part setting of Fürchte dich nicht,for a long time attributed to his father’s cousin,BWV228, is very different, showing the influenceJohann Christoph Bach of Eisenach,

J S Bach 'Komm, Jesu, komm' J C Bach 'Lieber Herr Gott, wecke uns auf' J S Bach 'Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden' interval 20 minutes J C Bach 'Herr, nun lässest du deinen Diener' J S Bach 'Jesu, meine Freude' J C Bach 'Der Gerechte, ob er gleich zu zeitlich stirbt' J S Bach 'Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied' Solomon .