musica Dei donum
Concert reviews
JS Bach & Schütz: Motets
Vocalconsort Berlin/Daniel Reuss; Richard Myron (violone), Tineke Steenbrink (organ)
concert: Jan 28, 2012, Utrecht, Cathedral (Dom)
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750):
Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf (BWV 226);
Jesu, meine Freude (BWV 227);
Komm, Jesu, komm (BWV 229);
Singet dem Herrn (SWV 225);
Heinrich SCHÜTZ (1585-1672):
Heu mihi, Domine (SWV 65);
Quid commisisti, o dulcissime puer (1.Pars) (SWV 56) - Ego sum tui plaga doloris (2.Pars) (SWV 57) - Ego enim iniqui egi (3. Pars) (SWV 58) - Quo, nate dei, quo tua descendit humilitas (4. Pars) (SWV 59) - Calicem salutaris accipiam (5. Pars) (SWV 60)
Some time ago the Organisation Early Music which is responsible for the Festival Early Music Utrecht, took the initiative to organize a Bach Day in January. Last year this event took place for the first time, and inevitably the doyen of Bach interpretation in the Netherlands, Gustav Leonhardt, was participating with a harpsichord recital. In the preface to this year's programme this event was brought to mind: nobody could imagine that the second Bach Day would take place less than two weeks after Leonhardt's decease.
The Bach Day included several events, including a 'scratch' under the direction of Erik Van Nevel, and a performance of the Musical Offering by the Kuijken Quartet. I only attended the main concert, with the Vocalconsort Berlin, directed by Daniel Reuss, in the Cathedral. Four of the six motets were sung, preceded by motets from the Cantiones Sacrae by Heinrich Schütz.
The combination Schütz - Bach makes much sense. Both were highly interested in the newest trends in Italy and aimed at mixing these with the tradition of counterpoint which was still much in vogue in Schütz' time and exerted an attraction on composers even in Bach's time. The Italian influence on Schütz is traceable in the large number of pieces he composed for solo voices and instruments, for instance in his collections of Symphoniae Sacrae. At the same time, he considered Giovanni Gabrieli - one of the latest representatives of the stile antico - as his main inspiration all his life. As late as 1648 he expressed the view - in the preface of his Geistliche Chormusik - that counterpoint was the very foundation of all music. Daniel Reuss apparently wanted to show that Bach's motets are part of a long tradition in which Schütz played an important role. He could have chosen motets from the Geistliche Chormusik but as these are fairly well-known it was a lucky shot that he had selected some motets from the Cantiones Sacrae instead. These motets are for four voices with basso continuo. Schütz added the latter only at the request of his publisher; only in some pieces this part is obligatory. These motets, printed in 1625 - before Schütz' second visit in Italy - are largely written in the stile antico. But, as so often with 17th century contrapuntal compositions, the influences of the new style are noticeable, in particular in the connection of text and music. Especially the five-part cycle Quid commisisti - Calicem salutaris accipiam (SWV 56-60) - contains several passages with daring harmonies which are inspired by the text. Unfortunately the audience will have noticed these harmonic particularities without being able to link them to the text. The programme sheet had only the first motet of this cycle printed; the other four were left out. This is something which happens from time to time, and it is time the organization does something about that. The Vocalconsort Berlin sang those motets beautifully, with great transparency and without baroque exaggerations, like strong dynamic accents.
In Bach's time the motet was a rather old-fashioned genre. Motets were still composed, not only by Bach, but also by Telemann, and after Bach's death it experienced a kind of revival in the oeuvre of some of his pupils, like Kirnberger and especially Homilius. None of Bach's motets are written for liturgical use, but rather for funerals. In contrast to Schütz Bach made use of hymns in his motets - in the former's oeuvre the Lutheran hymn hardly plays a role. In this concert all motets were performed with basso continuo alone. Recently the scoring of the motets has been an issue, just like that of the cantatas and oratorios. Daniel Reuss performed all motets with 18 voices. It was quite remarkable that he used the full ensemble in Jesu, meine Freude as well. Even those conductors who perform these motets with more than one voice per part, like Philippe Herreweghe, often opt for a scoring of solo voices in this 5-part motet. The fact that there are several verses for reduced voices is a strong indication that Bach had a performance with solo voices in mind. That doesn's mean a larger-scale performance is musically unsatisfying. The transparency of the Vocalconsort Berlin guarantees for a good realization of the passages for reduced forces. The connection between text and music came off pretty well.
The agility of the ensemble was instrumental for the convincing performance of some episodes in which Reuss opted for a high speed, like in Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf and the closing section of Singet dem Herrn. The first section of this motet was one of the highlights of the evening, with a particular nicely-realized dialogue between the two choirs. Another highlight was Komm, Jesu, komm, especially the second section. Its beautifully swaying rhythm works like a lullaby, and it was brilliantly realised by Reuss and his ensemble. It should be noted that the hymns were perfectly sung, which is to be expected from an ensemble of mostly German singers.
It was a most enjoyable concert, and - as Leonhardt didn't believe in one-voice-per-part performances - it can be considered a worthy tribute to the great master who certainly would have appreciated the performances of the Vocalconsort Berlin.
Johan van Veen (© 2012)