Fischer-Dieskau was Richter's bass soloist here (he's actually a lyric baritone) but doesn't appear in these excerpts. Even though no one thinks of him as a Bach specialist, to me he was the outstanding Bach bass of his time. In Richter's St. Matthew Passion from around 1961, the young F-D sings the greatest and most moving "Mache dich mein Herze rein" on record.
I got to see him once, in high school, at Lincoln Center. They brought us in by bus, to stand in the back. Unforgettable. They say that he used his bad reviews to wallpaper his downstairs bathroom.
The extra-musical content. Often sad, often bloody. Perhaps to listen to a Bach cantata, it would help to "walk in the footsteps" of a devout Christian, even while not following that faith. Certainly, it helps to be "Jewish" (thanks, Santos) to enjoy Fiddler on the Roof fully. Or any other religion or ethnicity. Not to be one but to be "as one" in experiencing the music.
Getting back to the cantatas, I have the Suzuki performances and they are astonishing.
I do have Lutheran heritage and am a church trumpet player.
While not a fan of vocal music per se I do love the instrumental challenges Bach presents.
Do I need to believe to "serve the music"? Probably not. But I still do my best to impart beauty for the congregants. And I am satisfied when I have helped lead worship in that performance.
Being a bit older I may understand Bach better now and you are adding to my knowledge.
Do you have any plans to analyze the Bach music that has been turned into 'blues" or jazzed up or even pop offerings? Generally non vocal so my cup of tea.
Regards and Thanks again for this work in progress.
Yeah I think you hit the heart of something about imparting beauty to the congregants. Bach (I think) didn't separate beauty from holiness. You're wading in the same river...
In general, I don't find.swing / blues on classical themes to be successful. Not sure where I'm going to take the blog after I've completed my roundup of the full Bach catalog, but I can see writing about Bach adaptations to other instruments (symphonic or string quartet orchestrations, etc.)
I missed your intro link somehow. Heading to it now.
Here is a famous quote by Martin Luther that 200 years later Bach took to heart. Admittedly it is part of my nature also.
"In summa, next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in this world. It controls our thoughts, minds, hearts, and spirits."
Which I believe has an interesting connection to how I got to your study of Bach. I am here via Ted Gioia quoting highlighting your work in his substack, especially his writing on the mystics and shamans and magical powers of music ( even pre-Bach!)
F-D had an odd ancestral connection to one of the cantatas. From www.whichbachcantata.be: Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet, BWV 212, is the last definitely dated Bach cantata, from 1742. It was written for the 36th birthday of Carl Heinrich von Dieskau (1706–1782), Kammerherr to the prince, and responsible for the tax collection in Leipzig. As such he was the boss of Christian Friedrich Henrici, known as Picander, a librettist with whom Bach worked intensively in Leipzig. It is believed that Picander himself asked Bach to put the poetry for his boss to music. I heard on the Flemish classical music radio Klara that when Albert Fisher, a school principal, found out that his wife descended from Carl Heinrich von Dieskau, he added that name to the family name, including that of his very talented son... Dietrich Fisher-Dieskau.
Good selections. You're right, Anna Reynolds has the right dark-hued voice for BWV 12. I'll go back and listen to more of her performances. I see that she also distinguished herself in other gloomy shows, like Pelleas and Melisande. And thanks Evan for giving us real female voices in these excerpts, rather than countertenors, as is the current fashion. This practice is justified on the grounds that--well, Bach couldn't use women singers in the church, so we shouldn't use them either. To which I would say, Bach never had enough rehearsal time, didn't have a solid professional choir, had to use under-trained boys for the often-taxing treble parts. So does that mean we should cut most of our rehearsal time, use only amateur boy singers, and eliminate the best instrumentalists from our Bach ensembles?
Ha! Yes on all of it. I will check out Reynolds' Pelleas, and thanks for the recommendation.
Confession: I don't like the sound of the countertenor instrument in general. That's probably both my cultural bias and some general internalized homophobia... Anyway, yes, I'll continue to feature these wonderful female alto singers.
Fischer-Dieskau was Richter's bass soloist here (he's actually a lyric baritone) but doesn't appear in these excerpts. Even though no one thinks of him as a Bach specialist, to me he was the outstanding Bach bass of his time. In Richter's St. Matthew Passion from around 1961, the young F-D sings the greatest and most moving "Mache dich mein Herze rein" on record.
I got to see him once, in high school, at Lincoln Center. They brought us in by bus, to stand in the back. Unforgettable. They say that he used his bad reviews to wallpaper his downstairs bathroom.
Wow!
Yes -- he was featured on the disc but I didn't pull any excerpts of his. (There's too much music!) I also love his lieder and his Bach.
I have a few D F-D clips in this post from April: https://yearofbach.substack.com/p/april-2-cantatas-bwv-26-60-70-80
The extra-musical content. Often sad, often bloody. Perhaps to listen to a Bach cantata, it would help to "walk in the footsteps" of a devout Christian, even while not following that faith. Certainly, it helps to be "Jewish" (thanks, Santos) to enjoy Fiddler on the Roof fully. Or any other religion or ethnicity. Not to be one but to be "as one" in experiencing the music.
Getting back to the cantatas, I have the Suzuki performances and they are astonishing.
I enjoyed your honest assessment introduction.
I do have Lutheran heritage and am a church trumpet player.
While not a fan of vocal music per se I do love the instrumental challenges Bach presents.
Do I need to believe to "serve the music"? Probably not. But I still do my best to impart beauty for the congregants. And I am satisfied when I have helped lead worship in that performance.
Being a bit older I may understand Bach better now and you are adding to my knowledge.
Do you have any plans to analyze the Bach music that has been turned into 'blues" or jazzed up or even pop offerings? Generally non vocal so my cup of tea.
Regards and Thanks again for this work in progress.
Dave
Thanks for reading and writing, David.
Yeah I think you hit the heart of something about imparting beauty to the congregants. Bach (I think) didn't separate beauty from holiness. You're wading in the same river...
I touched on some of the Bach 'covers' in this post: https://yearofbach.substack.com/p/an-interlude-where-to-start-with
In general, I don't find.swing / blues on classical themes to be successful. Not sure where I'm going to take the blog after I've completed my roundup of the full Bach catalog, but I can see writing about Bach adaptations to other instruments (symphonic or string quartet orchestrations, etc.)
Here's a great one for you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhejDugHzHc
Hadn't heard this from Leo . Thanks.
I missed your intro link somehow. Heading to it now.
Here is a famous quote by Martin Luther that 200 years later Bach took to heart. Admittedly it is part of my nature also.
"In summa, next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in this world. It controls our thoughts, minds, hearts, and spirits."
Which I believe has an interesting connection to how I got to your study of Bach. I am here via Ted Gioia quoting highlighting your work in his substack, especially his writing on the mystics and shamans and magical powers of music ( even pre-Bach!)
Thanks David. I'm glad you got here through Ted. I'm a paid subscriber there if only for his annual year end music recommendations.
I like that Luther quote a lot. Most of my friends are musicians for the same reason... they get it.
F-D had an odd ancestral connection to one of the cantatas. From www.whichbachcantata.be: Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet, BWV 212, is the last definitely dated Bach cantata, from 1742. It was written for the 36th birthday of Carl Heinrich von Dieskau (1706–1782), Kammerherr to the prince, and responsible for the tax collection in Leipzig. As such he was the boss of Christian Friedrich Henrici, known as Picander, a librettist with whom Bach worked intensively in Leipzig. It is believed that Picander himself asked Bach to put the poetry for his boss to music. I heard on the Flemish classical music radio Klara that when Albert Fisher, a school principal, found out that his wife descended from Carl Heinrich von Dieskau, he added that name to the family name, including that of his very talented son... Dietrich Fisher-Dieskau.
Good selections. You're right, Anna Reynolds has the right dark-hued voice for BWV 12. I'll go back and listen to more of her performances. I see that she also distinguished herself in other gloomy shows, like Pelleas and Melisande. And thanks Evan for giving us real female voices in these excerpts, rather than countertenors, as is the current fashion. This practice is justified on the grounds that--well, Bach couldn't use women singers in the church, so we shouldn't use them either. To which I would say, Bach never had enough rehearsal time, didn't have a solid professional choir, had to use under-trained boys for the often-taxing treble parts. So does that mean we should cut most of our rehearsal time, use only amateur boy singers, and eliminate the best instrumentalists from our Bach ensembles?
Ha! Yes on all of it. I will check out Reynolds' Pelleas, and thanks for the recommendation.
Confession: I don't like the sound of the countertenor instrument in general. That's probably both my cultural bias and some general internalized homophobia... Anyway, yes, I'll continue to feature these wonderful female alto singers.