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Johann Daniel PUCKLITZ (1705 - 1774): Oratorio Secondo
Ina Siedlaczek, soprano;
David Erler, alto;
Georg Poplutz, tenor;
Thilo Dahlmann, bass
Goldberg Vocal Ensemble; Goldberg Baroque Ensemble
Dir: Andrzej Szadejko
rec: June 9 - 12, 2021, Gdansk, Trinity Church
MDG - 902 2241-6 (2 CDs) (© 2021) (128'23")
Liner-notes: E/D/F; lyrics - translations: E/F/PL
Cover & track-list
Ewa Dubiella, Maria Krueger, Maja Zalesinska, Magdalena Zieba Lewandowska, soprano;
Karolina Borowczyk, Pamela Chlodna-Chylinska, Marta Jundzill, Aleksandra Zawada, contralto;
Piotr Burzdziak, Milosz Janiak, Adam Kupper, tenor;
Szymon Chylinski, Damian Giczewski, Bartlomiej Dratkowski, bass
Pawel Hulisz, Filip Pysz, trumpet;
Dominika Stencel, Mateusz Cendlak, horn;
Katarzyna Czubek, Patrycja Lesnik-Hutek, recorder, oboe, oboe d'amore;
Maja Miro-Wisniewska, transverse flute;
Anna & Arkadiusz Szafraniec, glas harp;
Adam Pastuszka, Violetta Szopa-Tomczyk, Bernardeta Braun, Joanna Crosseto, Angelika Lesniak, Gabriela Zmigrodzka, violin;
Dymitr Olszewski, Dominika Malecka, viola;
Bartosz Kokosza, Anna Jankowska, cello;
Michal Bak, violone;
Leszek Wachnik, Maciej Witkowski, bassoon;
Carlos Montoya, David's harp;
Klaudyna Zolnierektheorbo;
Agnieszka Wesolowska, harpsichord, organ;
Pawel Szewczyk, timpani
In recent years I have reviewed several recordings of music by composers who worked in Danzig (today Gdansk, Poland). They are released by the German label MDG in a series under the title of Musica Baltica. The recording that is to be reviewed here is the ninth volume in this series, and is devoted to an oratorio by Johann Daniel Pucklitz, one of the lesser-known composers from Danzig. It is telling that he has no entry in New Grove.
Pucklitz was born in Danzig and died there. He may have received his first music lessons from his father, who was a member of the musicians' guild. Johann Balthasar Christian Freislich, who was Kapellmeister at St Mary's Church, may also has been his teacher. Pucklitz was a member of the church's chapel from 1731 onwards, first under the direction of Freislich, and then under Friedrich Christian Mohrheim, a pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach. At the age of 35 he entered the Ratsmusik, which played at public ceremonies. He was also active as a concert organizer. In addition he wrote music for the church, such as cantatas and masses. He also composed three oratorios which were intended for public performance. One of them is the oratorio which is presented here under the title of Oratorio secondo; it dates from 1747.
The first performance of this work was announced for December: from the 11th onwards it was to be performed during two weeks in the house of Pucklitz's colleague in the Ratsmusik, Johann Carl Braunitz, for a paying audience. The libretto could also be obtained. The announcement in the newspaper called this work a cantata, but the title-page of the libretto has oratorio. The title of the oratorio is Der sehr unterschiedliche Wandel und Tod der Gottlosen und Gottsfürchtigen - "The very different Conduct and Death of the Godless and God-fearing". The oratorio consists of two parts, each of which is about one of the categories of people mentioned in the title. The first part is about the Godless: it begins with reminding the audience of the fall of "the first pair that God's hand created", Adam and Eve. They "chose death for themselves and us. (...) We, children, must inherit and all die". The oratorio then describes how different the attitude towards death is. The Godless are seized by fear and anguish, and in order to drive away their fear, they lead a life that they find pleasant: "[They] do what their heart desires, and yield to the world's hateful vanity". The key in the first part is the aria 'Ihr Sterblichen, räumt eure Sinnen': "Ye mortals, open not your senses all too much to joy. You go, you fly, you haste from here; the world need not be your dwelling place". Next follows a description of the horror of the end of the world, when the Godless say: "Fall upon us, ye mountains, fall down, cover us, quench the spirit!" This is a reference to what is written in Revelation, the last book of the Bible.
The second part describes the life of the God-fearing. "He is calm and content and sees [death] as that which can bring him more happiness than this world". The "power of faith (...) gives us peace of mind, when we take our leave of this world". The God-fearing are looking forward to eternal life, to heaven and the New Jerusalem. In the aria 'Weg kurze Freude dieser Welt' the protagonist displays his aversion to the vanities of this world: "Begone, brief joy of this world! You can arouse me, I confess, but never truly satisfy me. I choose that which is pleasing to God." Another aria expresses the longing for death: "[Make] haste, lead me to the land where my Love is enthroned". The work ends with a song of praise and the third stanza of the hymn Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme - Glory to thee be sung - closes the oratorio.
Pucklitz's Oratorio secondo is a remarkable work for various reasons. Its structure has several notable elements. The first part opens with a sinfonia in three movements, which could well be performed as a separate orchestral work, as in this performance it takes more than 13 minutes. Then follows a chorale, which is in fact a large-scale chorale arrangement of the first stanza of Ich bin ja Herr in deiner Macht (I am indeed, Lord, in thy power) (melody: Heinrich Albert, 1648). Each line is treated separately: first we get an instrumental introduction, then a choral episode which treats the chorale melody with considerable freedom and has often the form of a fugue, and then the respective line of the hymn is sung in homophony. The first recitative is for tenor, and the conclusion - We, children, must inherit and all die - is for the four voices. In the first part the No. 9 is a recitative for alto and bass, singing alternatively, and is concluded by a tutti arioso. The oratorio has several tutti episodes, which are called aria. The chorale 'Herr, lehre mich stets mein End' bedenken' is first sung by the alto, but the last lines are scored for the tutti. In the second part the recitative 'Wie billig is die Sterbenslust' is scored for alto, tenor and bass, and here the fourth stanza of the hymn Alle Menschen müssen sterben is included. The last aria is again scored for bass, which is replaced halfway by the tutti.
The orchestra comprises strings, winds and basso continuo. A number of arias include obbligato parts for instruments, often violin(s) and/or viola. However, there are also obbligato parts for oboes and recorders. In the above-mentioned chorale 'Herr, lehre mich stets mein End bedenken', the cello, which otherwise participates in the basso continuo, has an obbligato part. In the aria 'Gebet meinen Leib der Gruft' (II,6), the bass is partnered by an obbligato bassoon. And the aria 'Weg kurze Freude dieser Welt!' (II,13) has two obbligato parts for transverse flute and harpsichord respectively. The most remarkable scoring is that of the aria 'Erwünschte Todesstunden' (II,16), which has an obbligato part for glass harp, "which was first displayed to the public in 1743 by the Irishman Richard Pockrich. This instrument [named the 'armonica' by Benjamin Franklin, who improved it (...)] consists of a series of wineglasses tuned to different pitches, which are tapped or rubbed along their edge with a moist finger to produce a sound" (booklet). A real harp is used in the closing chorale. "The end of the work (...) has another sonic surprise in store, as the music of the angels begins very delicately with "harps and cymbals" as instrumentation cues. The harp of David [its identity is not defined in the booklet] corresponds excellently with the cymbelstern, which is contributed by the great organ, to finally lead into a jubilant and monumental tutti".
There is more. Overall, Pucklitz's harmonic language is rather unusual. There are various moments where I looked to the text to see if there was any particular reason for his harmonic experiments, but did not find them. However, there are quite a number of episodes, where he makes use of dissonances and chromaticism for expressive reasons, to illustrate (elements in) the text. That goes in particular for the first part, for instance to describe the fear of death of the Godless in some of the recitatives.
And this leads us to the general subject of text expression. This oratorio is full of it. Pucklitz does not miss any opportunity to illustrate the text. The fear of death of the Godless in the aria 'Viele sterben nicht mit Lust' (I,10) is depicted by fast repeated notes, imitating a tremolo, which in the baroque era was used to express fear or great sadness. Comparable devices are used in the last aria of the first part, 'Fallt ein, ihr Berge', whose first section refers to earthquakes. A fast tempo and a scoring for trumpets and drums are used to depict the pleasures of the world (I,12). The comfort of faith in the face of death is effectively illustrated by a siciliano rhythm (II,3). The instrumental scoring also has an illustrative function. That is the case, for instance, in the chorale 'Ach Jerusalem, du schöne': "Ah! Jerusalem, thou fair city, ah! how brightly thou shinest". Here Pucklitz requires muted trumpet, horns, oboes and bassoons. The glass harp is employed in the tenor aria 'Erwünschte Todesstunden' (II,16), alongside strings playing pizzicato, which is an eloquent depiction of a clock, referring to the "hours of death", to which the text refers. Interesting is the use of the polonaise in the song of praise at the end of the work. This "may be understood as an allusion to Danzig (now Gdansk) as belonging to the Polish lands of the Kingdom of Prussia".
There can be no doubt that this oratorio is very interesting for several reasons, which I have tried to summarize above. However, the main thing is that it is a very good piece of music. Because of these two factors, this release is of great importance. I hope that more of Pucklitz's oeuvre may be recorded in the near future. The performance by soloists, choir and orchestra is pretty much ideal. All four soloists are excellent; they are seasoned interpreters of German baroque repertoire, and that shows. All elements of text expression are explored to the full. The choir is a very fine ensemble, and the orchestra delivers colourful performances. The obbligato parts are excellently executed.
Johan van Veen (© 2023)
Relevant links:
Thilo Dahlmann
David Erler
Georg Poplutz
Ina Siedlaczek
Goldberg Baroque Ensemble