Articles by CollegiumVocaleWP

“Four Sacred Cantatas by J S Bach”
February 28, 2016, 3 pm
Village Lutheran Church, 9237 Clayton Rd, 63124
Pre-concert lecture by Music Director, Dr. Bruce Carvell – 2:30 pm
Free Admission
Ample parking on the adjacent church lot

Collegium Vocale of Saint Louis
1996 – 2016
Celebrating 20 Years!

A Baroque composer had several available paths to success: the opera house, the church, or the courts of the wealthy and powerful. Of these, perhaps the most certain path to success and fame, if it was to be attained, was the one that led to the courts of the mighty. Among the many ruling families of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperors in Vienna were second to none in creating this milieu characterized by wealth and power. Most important for our purposes is the fact that the Habsburgs were very important patrons of the arts, especially music. The Habsburg dynasty, one of the great European ruling families, ruled Austria from 1262 until 1918. In 1452, Frederick III (1415–1493) was named Holy Roman Emperor, beginning a succession of Habsburg Emperors that lasted until the death of Charles VI in 1740.

Writing in 1949, H. V. F. Somerset pointed out that there were three major impacts that the Habsburgs had in furthering the development of music in Vienna: their expansion of the imperial chapel (the corps of court musicians), their patronage of foreign musicians, especially Italians, and their own participation as practicing musicians and composers. Ferdinand III (reigned 1637–1658), his son, Leopold I (reigned 1658–1705), and his grandsons, Joseph I (reigned 1705–1711) and Charles VI (reigned 1711–1740) were particularly devoted musicians. Of these, Leopold, who was an accomplished performer on harpsichord and recorder, was the most prolific composer; his extant output totaling eight operas, 108 balletti, and numerous sacred pieces. Joseph I was also well regarded as an able singer, dancer, and performer on harpsichord, and recorder, among other instruments, and his compositions show a mastery of the contemporary style as exemplified by the works of Alessandro Scarlatti.

Today’s program features music composed by Italian composers associated with the Habsburg court in Vienna in the early 18th century who benefited directly from the support of the Imperial Court. Badia, Bononcini, Caldara, and Porsile each held the title of Court Composer at one time or another. These composers, along with other Italians such as Ariosti, played an important part in introducing the more progressive Italian styles to the more conservative Viennese musical establishment. As such, they created a large and significant body of work that is well deserving of being heard today.

Although fairly unknown today, Carlo Agostino Badia was the favorite composer of Leopold I and, as such, was the first to hold the title of Court Composer when he was appointed to that position by Leopold I in July of 1694. Likely a native of Verona, Badia, along with Bononcini and others, was among that group of Northern Italian composers who introduced the progressive Italian styles to the more conservative Viennese court. Badia composed 24 operas and 36 large-scale sacred works for the court. He also composed 53 cantatas, including “La Fenice,” a cantata on today’s program that played an important part in re-establishing the popularity of the cantata form at court. This cantata, composed in 1699 and comprised of several arias, separated by recitative sections, was first performed in court by members of the aristocracy; the vocal part was sung by a Madame Sousin, a lady of the court, while the first recorder part was most likely played by Joseph, heir to the throne. This charming work uses exalted poetic language to first establish the rare and marvelous qualities of the legendary phoenix, and then to express how much more wonderful than the phoenix was the Emperor Leopold. The general avian atmosphere of this piece is reinforced by the presence of the recorders in the ensemble. This cantata is one of several by Badia that were published during the period.

Giovanni Bononcini, one of the most popular and prolific composers in the 18th century, was born into a renowned family of composers and string players. He published three collections of instrumental works at the age of 15. In 1691, he established himself in Rome. While in Rome, Bononcini composed and performed several operas and sacred works that were very well received, which provided the foundation of his international reputation. In 1697, Bononcini moved to Vienna and soon became the favorite composer of Joseph. From 1720 to 1732, Bononcini was in London, where his fame as an opera composer rivaled that of Handel. A plagiarism scandal forced Bononcini to leave London and move to France. He eventually returned to Italy where he died in poverty.

Bononcini’s Duetti da camera, Op. 8, first published in 1691 and dedicated to Leopold I were very popular throughout Europe and were reprinted in 1701. Charles Burney, the noted 18th century historian, stated that these were the first such works to be composed. These pieces consist of alternating arias and recitatives and show Bononcini’s impressive command of melodic invention and intricate counterpoint. The texts are typical of their time in that they present many common images of the uncertain nature of love and the dangers of a flirtatious glance. A cellist himself, Bononcini makes the instrumental bass an equal partner with the voices in many of these movements. These duets have been newly edited from a late 17th century manuscript for this concert by our artistic director.

Antonio Caldara, a Venetian singer and composer, was one of the most respected composers of the period. His association with the Habsburgs as a chamber composer to Charles VI began in 1705, while Charles was in Barcelona. After a spell in Rome writing operas, Caldara was named a Court Composer in Vienna in 1716 during the reign of Charles VI. Best known as a composer of chamber cantatas (around 300) and sacred music, Caldara is also among the last to compose madrigals. Probably as the result of a commission, Caldara composed a set of 13 madrigals to texts by Antonio Luccini, the Dresden Court librettist, in late 1731 and early 1732. We open today’s program with one of these madrigals and close with another. These pieces are noteworthy for their high quality of inventiveness, well-wrought counterpoint, and sophisticated harmonies. For our performance, we returned to Caldara’s original autograph manuscript as the basis of our edition. Both texts are of a moralizing nature with “Fugge di Lot la moglie,” drawing upon the story of Lot’s wife from the Bible and using it as a warning of the dangers of an unrepentant life, while “Fra pioggie, nevi e gelo” suggests that we should enjoy good things while we have them.

Another neglected musician we share with you today, Giuseppe Porsile was a Neapolitan composer and singing teacher. Trained in Naples, Porsile’s ability earned him a position in the Royal Court in Barcelona, serving Charles II and, later, Charles III, who became the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles IV in 1711. He was the singing teacher to Joseph’s wife, the dowager Empress Wilhelmina Amalia, and composed several birthday odes for her, which were performed by her daughters. Porsile’s music is typical of the Neapolitan style of the day, which was unusual in Vienna, where most of the Italians were from the North of Italy. The unique source for the cantata, “A piè d’ameno colle,” is found in a collection of cantatas by several composers, many of whom associated with the Imperial Court at Vienna, bound together in the State Library at Darmstadt. This collection is also one of the two known sources for the Ariosti cantata heard on today’s program. The existence of these manuscripts in Darmstadt is highly suggestive of the influence of these composers who were based in Vienna and of their works for their period. This cantata, set in the idyllic Arcadian past, tells of the unhappy young man, Eurillo, and his beloved Mitilde and their misunderstandings. It is not so much a narrative as it is a scenario within which typical emotions and poetic conceits are set to music. The image in the final aria of the soul compared to a small boat tossed on a stormy sea is one often encountered in the music of this period.

Attilio Ariosti was not an official member of the Viennese court establishment, although he often performed there and composed for court functions. A native of Bologna, Ariosti had a career as composer and organist that took him to many cities in Europe during the course of his lifetime, including Berlin and London. He is best remembered today as an early advocate for the viola d’amore, as well as the premier virtuoso on this instrument in the early 18th century. This remarkable instrument features 6 or 7 strings that are played upon directly, as well as a number of strings that would resonate sympathetically. The cantata we are performing, “Pur al fin, gentil Viola,” was most likely composed while Ariosti was in Berlin. This charming piece allows the viola d’amore full play to demonstrate its many virtues in concert with the lively vocal writing.

© Dr. Bruce Carvell, April 2014

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is universally regarded as one of the supreme masters of Western music history. His compositions are well known for their technical mastery and emotional complexity. Bach composed in nearly all of the available musical styles and genres of his day except for opera, and that was due only to a lack of opportunity. As one of the defining composers of the Baroque Period, his large-scale vocal works, such as the B Minor Mass, the Passions of St. Matthew and St. John, and the Christmas Oratorio are well known. Less familiar are the delights of most of his church cantatas. It is the aim of today’s program to provide you with the opportunity to experience a few of these splendid, but less familiar cantatas.

Born into a musical family at Eisenach, Germany, Bach received a thorough training that included exposure to music of the most important German, French, and Italian composers of his day. He exhibited exceptional skill as an organist and his first professional position was as the organist at St. Boniface’s in Arnstadt beginning in 1703. It was during this period that Bach made the 250 mile trip to Lübeck, where he spent three months visiting the great organist and composer, Dietrich Buxtehude.

Dissatisfied with the conditions at Arnstadt, Bach accepted a position in 1706 at St. Blasius’ church in Mühlhausen, where he met and married his first wife, Maria Barbara. Two years later, in 1708, Bach had the opportunity to accept a position as organist and concertmaster at the ducal court in Weimar. He spent the next nine years playing and composing chiefly keyboard and instrumental music, but also composed a few sacred cantatas. Most of his other 200 surviving cantatas were composed while Bach was at Leipzig (1723-1750) where his duties required that he produce a cantata a week.

The title of this concert, “Faith in the Time of Tribulation,” represents the struggle of the soul to maintain its faith in God and in Jesus in spite of life’s trials and the fear of suffering and death. This theme runs through many of Bach’s sacred works, but seemed to be particularly characteristic of this selection of cantatas. In all his sacred works, Bach’s personal faith allows him to express, with great immediacy, a persistent longing for God’s presence and an abiding trust in God’s protection through life’s trials and a fierce determination to abide with Jesus throughout his life. It is this undercurrent of Bach’s own faith that allows this music to speak so clearly to listeners of every age and faith.

We know from written records that Bach composed five cycles of cantatas for the liturgical year, but, sadly, most of these are lost. Of the ones that remain, perhaps the most significant ones are those composed for the years 1724-1725. Here Bach refined the previously existing ‘chorale cantata,’ that is, a cantata in which the first and last movements are based on the first and last stanzas of the hymn text and the inner movements are based on paraphrases of the inner stanzas, providing the necessary freedom for expansion on the themes and emotions inherent in the chosen text.

Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit, BWV 115, a chorale cantata, is written for four voices, flute, oboe d’amore, two violins, viola, bassoon, cello, and organ. It was first performed on the 22nd Sunday after Trinity on November 5, 1724. It sets forth the theme of the Soul’s duty to be watchful and to resist the world’s temptations. The opening movement is a chorale prelude, which features a statement of the chorale, the anonymous 1681 folk dance melody, “Straf mich nicht in deinem Zorn” (Do not punish me in your anger) within the context of an elaborate instrumental texture. The alto aria that follows is set as a gentle lullaby depicting the sleeping soul that is suddenly awakened by a punishing Angel of Death. The aria closes with a return to its gentler opening mood and a suggestion of the Eternal Sleep of the Soul. The bass recitative assures us that God watches over us, but expects us to be equally watchful and to resist the world’s temptations. The soprano aria, featuring the flute and violincello piccolo, underlines this sense of the Soul’s prayerful watchfulness.

Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange?, BWV 155 was composed for the Second Sunday of Epiphany and was originally performed in Weimar on January 19, 1716. Bach also performed it again in Leipzig on January 16, 1724. It is written for four voices, strings, bassoon, and organ. This intimate cantata encourages us to understand the joy one experiences when holding fast to Jesus and not fearing death. The opening accompanied recitative sets forth the anxiety and despair of the Soul, thinking that God has abandoned it. The following duet for alto and tenor, which emphasizes that the Soul must continue to hope and maintain faith despite whatever trials befall it, seems meant to quell any anxiety and despair. This duet is accompanied by a remarkable virtuoso bassoon obbligato, a feature rarely heard in Bach’s works. As in Cantata 115, the bass voice offers assurance and consolation in his recitative. The Soul’s response to this is expressed in the next enthusiastic soprano aria with strings. The cantata concludes with a confident chorale.

Wachet, betet, seid bereit allezeit, BWV 70, focuses on the determination to hold fast to Jesus, who will support the believer through all of life’s trials. It was composed for the 26th Sunday after Trinity and was first performed in Leipzig on November 21, 1723. Based on an earlier cantata from Bach’s Weimar period, it is written for trumpet, oboe, bassoon, strings, and organ. The opening movement exhorts the Soul to be watchful and ready for the Final Judgment, a sense that is evoked by the presence of the “Last Trumpet.” Throughout the remainder of the cantata, in a series of recitatives and arias, a mood of dreadful expectancy alternates with the assurance of faith in Jesus and the goodness of God. This appears in a particularly dramatic manner in the bass recitative and aria near the end of the cantata, where the bass asks if the end of the world should not awaken fear and trembling in all who contemplate it. As this text unfolds, amid the fury of the strings depicting the wrath and destruction of the world, the trumpet sounds forth the chorale tune, “Es ist gewisslich an der Zeit,” which would have been familiar to Bach’s congregation and would have brought to mind its text: “Indeed the time is here when God’s Son will come; then laughter will be rare, when everything goes up in flames.” This is truly a hair-raising moment in the piece, however the following bass aria assures us that Jesus will lead the faithful into a life of eternal peace. The cantata concludes with a verse of the hymn set in pure chorale style.

Thirty years ago, Joshua Rifkin jolted the musicological world with a thesis that Bach’s cantatas, passions, and oratorios were performed under his direction by a single singer on each part, instead of three or four, as many believed. This stirred a furious debate at the time and these discussions continue to this day. However, the evidence for this practice is quite convincing and the practice is becoming more widely accepted. While there is no question that performances of Bach’s cantatas and passions with choirs of 12, 24, or 100 or more singers are tremendously moving and inspirational, we believe that there is much to be gained from the more intimate approach that is the result of performing these pieces with only one singer or player to a part. Not only does this practice reflect the experience of Bach’s original audience, but the resulting musical texture offers greater clarity in the interplay of the voices and instruments and enlivens the music-making among the participants by bringing the music to a more personal and individual level.

It was the practice in Bach’s day to perform a cantata both before and after the sermon, a practice clearly seen in Cantata 70, which is composed in two parts. We will present one of the readings prescribed for the 26th Sunday after Trinity between Parts One and Two in place of a sermon.

Several of the instruments heard on today’s program may be unfamiliar to you. The oboe d’amore, featured in Cantata 115, was a uniquely German instrument, despite the fact that in Bach’s day it was most often called hautbois d’amour. It is not known how this instrument came to be called “d’amore.” It was developed sometime around 1710, most likely in Leipzig, by local players and instrument makers. The oboe d’amore had a relatively short life in the eighteenth century. Bruce Haynes states that two-thirds of the repertory of the oboe d’amore was composed between 1717-1730, most of the remaining third between 1730 and 1760, and less than two percent after 1760. The instrument was revived in a modern form later in the 19th century, appearing in Verdi’s Aida and works of Richard Strauss, Ravel, and others. The oboe d’amore is pitched a minor third lower than the regular oboe, which allows it to play more easily in keys that would otherwise be highly problematic. Its distinctive sound, darker and richer than the higher oboe, makes it a wonderful solo instrument.

Bach used the ‘violoncello piccolo‘ in nine cantatas, always as a solo instrument. There is some discussion in musicological circles about what exactly this instrument was. One of the possibilities is the viola da spalla, the ‘shoulder viola’ heard on today’s program. Halfway in size between a regular cello and a viola, it was played while holding it on the shoulder, often with a ribbon or strap to help hold it in place. Developed in Italy, it may have been used by violinists to play bass lines when other instruments were not available. In recent years, Sigiswald Kuijken, one of today’s pre-eminent Baroque violinists has become the modern champion of the violincello da spalla, a similar instrument, and has recorded Bach’s Suites for Solo Cello on it.

One of our principal goals in presenting our concerts is to bring to our listeners an enhanced musical experience, through our programming of little-heard music in as an historically informed manner as possible, and through the use of appropriate instruments. It is our heartfelt hope that our performances will open an exciting new world of sonorities and sensibilities to you, our listeners and supporters.

© Dr. Bruce Carvell, February 2014

From biblical times, music has played a significant role in Jewish worship services. However, there are very few descriptions of the music for these services. The Mishnah, the first major work of rabbinic literature, compiled between 200 and 220 CE, reports on historic musical practices at the Temple in Jerusalem, which was the most important center of Jewish worship at that time. It describes music being performed at the Temple by a choir of 12 men and 12 instruments. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE by the Romans, worship services were held in the synagogues and music was chiefly performed in the recitation of prayers and the cantillation of psalms by a single cantor with no instrumental participation allowed. This practice continued unchanged for centuries. During the Italian Renaissance, some Jewish scholars began to contemplate what the music of the Temple might have been and whether contemporary musical styles might be able to restore what they perceived to be the glories of historic times.

In 1622, Salamone Rossi (1570-1630) published the earliest polyphonic settings of Jewish liturgical texts. This collection of Hebrew sacred compositions, Ha-shirim asher l’Shlomo (The Songs of Solomon), was produced in Venice by a prominent Jewish scholar and publisher, Leon da Modena. Leon da Modena was also the author of a book on Jewish customs and rituals, seemingly the first Jewish book meant to be read by non-Jewish readers since the first century CE, suggesting that he wanted people of other faiths to become familiar with Jewish practices, including music.

Rossi was a celebrated violinist who was associated with the court of Mantua and who is thought to have played at the premiere of Claudio Monteverdi’s Orfeo in 1609. He was also a notable composer of instrumental music and madrigals. Musically, his settings show that he was greatly influenced by Giovanni Palestrina and had mastered the style of the leading composers of his day, Claudio Monteverdi and Giovanni Gabrieli. However, Rossi’s music and influence seemed to have little impact on music in worship in Jewish services until much later. It was only with the discovery of Rossi’s Hebrew works in Paris by Samuel Naumbourg (1817-1880) in the mid- nineteenth century, some two hundred years after Rossi’s death, that his compositions began to have an influence on other composers of Jewish liturgical music. Naumbourg, a Bavarian cantor and musician living in Paris, was so moved by his discovery that it led him to publish his own edition of Rossi’s Hebrew works and to increase his own efforts to reform the music of the Jewish liturgy. At the same time, two composers, Samuel Sulzer (1804-1891) in Vienna and Louis Lewandowski (1821-1894) in Berlin, were working on similar efforts.

The music you will be hearing today is only rarely performed in worship or in concerts. One of the challenges musicians encounter is the matter of text underlay; music is usually read from left to right, while Hebrew is read from right to left. The solution in Rossi’s original publication was to print the music normally, while printing the Hebrew from right to left with each word beginning underneath the last note of the related musical phrase. While not ideal, this solution served to underlay the text, more successfully in his syllabic sections than in his florid ones

Rossi’s Hebrew settings are composed for combinations of voices ranging from three to eight singers. His three-part setting of the Barechu heard on today’s program shows two significant elements of Rossi’s approach to text setting: the use of a florid style to heighten the musical impact of the particular words or phrases and a simpler style in which all the voices sing the same text simultaneously, which increases the clarity of the text. The opening section in this piece is in the florid style, while the second section is composed in the simpler, more homophonic style. The florid style is also employed to great effect in the opening and closing sections of Rossi’s setting of Keter yitenu lakh, also on today’s program, a version of the Great Kedusha used in the Italiani liturgy that was customarily used in Jewish worship in Italy. In this piece, Rossi sets only the odd-numbered verses, an indication that these pieces were meant for use in services, where the even-numbered verses would be recited by the congregation and the odd-numbered sung by the singers.

The familiar words of Psalm 137 – “By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept” – are set by Rossi for four voices, in the syllabic style. The most striking feature of his setting being performed today is the remarkable harmonic shifts between major and minor, which he uses to underscore the strong emotional impact of this lament.

Rossi sets the three verses of Psalm 80 that comprise the Elohim Hashivenu in a three-part structure: the first verse opens with a florid invocation of the name of God for two lower voices, which are then joined by the upper voices for the remainder of the verse; the setting of the second verse reverses this pattern, with the two upper voices singing the opening word and the lower voices joining in with a more elaborate response than in the first verse; the third and final verse, begins with all four voices in a chordal statement that expands into a florid, ecstatic conclusion of this prayer.

As in Keter yitenu lakh, Rossi sets only the odd-numbered verses of the Kaddish, one of the most important prayers in the Jewish liturgy, with the expectation that the congregation would recite the even-numbered ones during a service. In our performance, only Rossi’s settings will be performed.

In order to provide some additional context for listening to Rossi’s sacred works, we are including examples of two important and influential contemporaries: Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) and Giovanni Gabrieli (c. 1554-1612). Gabrieli was one of the foremost Venetian composers, a master of the polychoral style cultivated at the Basilica of San Marco in Venice. His setting of Psalm 96, Cantata Domino, is written for eight voices used as two four-part choirs. Monteverdi’s setting of Psalm 113, Laudate, pueri, Dominum, for five voices illustrates his mastery of the contrapuntal style and provides a contrast to both of Rossi’s styles: the florid and syllabic.

The influence of Gabrieli is most easily seen in Rossi’s setting of Adon Olam for eight voices that concludes the first half of today’s program. These eight voices are treated as two choirs, in alternation and together, creating a lively setting of this ancient text.

The remainder of today’s program presents rarely heard music composed for the dedication of the Synagogue in Siena in 1786. While this music is modest in its aims and achievements, it nevertheless represents a sincere attempt to adapt a contemporary musical style to music intended to enhance and elevate an important moment in the lives of the Jews in Siena at that time.

The history of Jews in Siena began in 1229, when a community was established around the banking industry. In 1555, laws were enacted requiring the establishment of a ghetto. All Jewish citizens were to wear an identifying yellow cap or scarf, although Jewish banks prospered and Jewish students were allowed to attend the university. These restrictions were eased in the eighteenth century and the new Synagogue in Siena was designed and built in 1786. Its dedication was held on May 27, 28, and 29, 1786. The music for the dedication of the Synagogue in Siena was composed by Volunio Gallichi and Francesco Drei, two otherwise unknown musicians. The manuscript identifies Volunio Gallichi as one of the tenors who sang at the dedication and his son, Elia, who sang several of the soprano solos. The music is composed in the Rococo style, emphasizing a graceful simplicity that is evocative of the music of the young Wolfgang Mozart. This charming music is typical of the type of occasional music that was heard in the Siennese ghetto in the late eighteenth century.

Sadly, in 1799, rioters burned the ghetto and killed 19 Jews. From that time forward, the Jewish community in Siena grew smaller as many left the city. While the synagogue, for which this dedication music was composed, remains to this day, there are few other outward signs left of this once thriving community. We can, however, enjoy the charming musical compositions of Gallichi and Drei and recall better times.

© Dr. Bruce Carvell, Oct 2013