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"Bach's Roots - Early Influences on the Young Master"

Voces Suaves; Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin

rec: Oct 9 - 11, 2023, Basel, Martinskirche
Arcana - A566 (© 2024) (64'21")
Liner-notes: E/D/F; lyrics - translations: E/D/F
Cover, track-list & booklet
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Johann Georg AHLE (1651-1706): Wer gnädig wird beschützet; Johann Christoph BACH (1642-1703): Fürchte dich nicht; Johann Michael BACH (1648-1694): Sei, lieber Tag, willkommen; Adam DRESE (1620-1701) or Johann Samuel DRESE (1644-1716): Nun ist alles überwunden; Johann Samuel DRESE: Gott ist unser Zuversicht und Stärke; Johann PACHELBEL (1653-1706): Partie IV in e minor (PWV 373) [1]; Partie à 4 in G (PWV 450); Johann SCHELLE (1648-1701): Barmherzig und gnädig ist der Herr; Georg Christoph STRATTNER (c1644/45-1704): Die Welt, das ungestüme Meer

Sources: [1] Johann Pachelbel, Musikalische Ergötzung, 1691

[VS] Lia Andres, Christina Boner, Mirjam Wernli, soprano; Lisa Weiss, contralto; Tobias Knaus, Jan Thomer, alto; Dan Dunkelblum, Michael Feyfar, Nino Gmünder, tenor; Tobias Wicky, baritone; Joachim Höchbauer, Bart Vandewege, bass
[AAMB] Georg Kallweit, Yves Ytier, Kerstin Erben, Thomas Graewe, violin; Clemens-Maria Nuszbaumer, Monika Grimm, viola; Jan Freiheit, viola da gamba; Walter Rumer, violone in G; Christian Beuse, dulcian; Sam Chapman, theorbo; Flóra Fábri, harpsichord, organ

Geniuses don't fall from heaven. They have to learn and study, like anyone who wants to achieve something. In the 17th and 18th centuries the main way of learning of budding composers was studying the music by established masters of previous generations. That was also how Johann Sebastian Bach developed his skills. The influences from members of his family and - in the field of keyboard music - from masters of the north German organ school, such as Buxtehude and Böhm, and later from representatives of the Italian style, in particular Antonio Vivaldi, are well documented. The disc under review includes some pieces by members of the Bach dynasty, but extends the picture of Bach's roots by performing music written by other composers Bach is likely to have known or even specifically studied. Thuringia, where the Bachs were living and working, was a rich source of inspiration, as some of the best performers and composers of the time occupied the positions of organist and/or Kapellmeister.

Cosimo Stawiarski, in his liner-notes, does not make much attempt to discuss in what way the composers included here have influenced Bach. He largely confines himself to biographical information about the composers, which is certainly useful, as most of them are little-known. Three of the pieces in the programme are first recordings.

The liner-notes discuss the composers whose music Bach may have encountered in the course of his life (but not entirely chronologically, as Weimar precedes Mühlhausen). Among the first may well have been the members of his family. Bach has always been keen to keep their compositions for his and the next generations. It is thanks to his collecting them in what is now known as the Altbachisches Archiv that they have come down to us. The motet was one of the prefered genres in Thuringia, and probably the Bach family in particular. A number of recordings of music by the Bachs is available in which motets figure prominently. Fürchte dich nicht by Johann Christoph Bach is one of the best-known. It is a typical representative of the genre, as it is scored for five voices and basso continuo and consists of two sections. The first is a setting of verses from the prophet Isaiah; Johann Sebastian set them in his motet BWV 228. In the second section the ensemble is split into two: the four lower voices repeat the text of the first section, whereas the upper voice sings the last stanza of the hymn O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid - "O Jesu, du mein Hilf und Ruh" - in the way of a cantus firmus. This hymn was especially associated with Passiontide, and it is included in Johann Sebastian's lost St Mark Passion, but here it indicates that this motet - like many specimens of this genre - was written for a funeral. Johann Christoph's motet Sei lieber Tag willkommen is different in structure. It consists of four stanzas, and it was intended for performance at New Year's day, as especially the second stanza indicates: "For on this day it was, the Son of God did bring us all great joy from his heavenly throne: A fine new year, with gladness and blessings by highways and byways to all the Christian host!"

Another early acquaintance of Johann Sebastian Bach was Johann Pachelbel, who from 1677 to 1690 worked as organist in Thuringia, first in Eisenach and then in Erfurt. He was the teacher of Bach's older brother Johann Christoph, who took him under his wings after the death of their parents in 1695. Here we get two works for strings. It is questionable whether pieces in this genre had any influence on the young Bach. It seems more likely that it is in the department of keyboard music that Bach owed a thing or two to him.

In 1706, the organist and Kantor at Mühlhausen, Johann Georg Ahle, died and Bach applied for his position. He was appointed and stayed there until 1708. Very little of Ahle's output has been preserved. Wer gnädig wird beschützet is scored for four voices, two violins, two violas, bassoon and basso continuo - a common scoring in Germany at the time. It consists of nine stanzas with different music and for different scorings. Some stanzas are for solo voice(s), others for the tutti. In the latter case the voices sing in homophony, whereas the instruments provide the counterpoint. This is comparable with, for instance, the chorales that close the cantatas of Johann Ludwig Bach.

During his time in Weimar (1708-1717) Johann Sebastian may have heard or seen music by Georg Christoph Strattner, who acted as vice-Kapellmeister from 1695 to 1704. Die Welt, das ungestüme Meer, is scored for four voices, two violins, two violas, bassoon and basso continuo. The text consists of eight stanzas to different music. The opening stanza is a model of text expression, in which the strings and at the start also the bassoon play an important role. "The world, that raging sea that tosses me hither and thither on its wild waves, blasting me forth and frightening me, so near am I to hell."

Adam and Johann Samuel Drese were both from Thuringia; the latter was born in Weimar. It is notable that Nun ist alles überwunden, has once been attributed to Heinrich Bach, but was later thought to be from the pen of Adam Drese. Stawiarski states that in fact Johann Samuel is the composer. It is a bit odd that the track-list still mentions Adam as the composer, not even with a question mark. It is another funeral piece, whose text is put into the mouth of the deceased: "Goodnight, the smoke of ages that I did so revile. For now I shall join the lamb amid the purest host of angels. (...) Now, my dear ones, be content, temper yet your grief! Not forever shall we be parted, and think of the bliss to come! Fight as I have fought and follow me in your hearts! Farewell, it is finished! World, adieu, goodnight!" This was a tradition in Germany: the deceased addresses the bereaved and consoles them by referring to the heavenly bliss which he or she enjoys and which should encourage those who are still alive.

Gott ist unser Zuversicht und Stärke by Johann Samuel Drese is a very different piece. It is a setting of verses from Psalm 46 - the same Psalm that Martin Luther used for his hymn Ein feste Burg. Heinrich Schütz was hailed as a master of text expression, and he also introduced elements of the Italian style in Germany. His influence cannot be overlooked in the way composers of later generations treated the texts they set to music. That is also very evident here. Particular words are illustrated with musical figures, and Drese also makes use of the stile concitato. From 1683 until his death Drese was Kapellmeister in Weimar, which means that he was Bach's superior.

In 1723 Bach became Thomaskantor in Leipzig. He succeeded Johann Kuhnau, who had died the previous year. Before him Johann Schelle occupied this post, and he has left a large oeuvre, much of which is extant. It includes many piece in large scorings, but Barmherzig und gnädig ist der Herr is for five voices, two violins, two violas, bassoon and basso continuo. It is a setting of verses from Psalm 103, in which he does not miss any opportunity to illustrate the text with musical means.

The reader will understand that this is a very interesting recording, not only because the quality of the music, but also because of the fact that the pieces included here are put into their historical context. Cosimo Stawiarski, the author of the liner-notes, is a specialist in German 17th-century sacred music. He edits unknown repertoire and publishes it at Edition Musica Poetica, such as the three first recordings on this disc. With Voces Suaves and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin we have two specialized ensembles which guarantee entirely idiomatic performances. The ensemble is immaculate, and the individual singers are excellent in their solo contributions. Each passage of text expression is perfectly conveyed. The playing of the instrumenntal parts is speech-like and dynamically differentiated.

This is a disc to treasure, and I hope that more of this kind of repertoire is going to be recorded. German music of the 17th century is such a rich source that many recordings of top-class pieces could be produced.

Johan van Veen (© 2025)

Relevant links:

Voces Suaves
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin


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