20 From the opening choral fugue of the battle between St Michael and Satan, heaven and hell, to the heartbreaking cry of human frailty in the tenor aria, the
cantata demonstrates Bach’s extraordinary ability to illustrate a text and deepen our understanding of its meaning.
JS Bach Concerto for violin and oboe in C minor BWV 1060 Leo Duarte BAROQUE OBOE, Elizabeth Wallfisch BAROQUE VIOLIN and DIRECTOR, The Wallfisch Band
Allegro – Adagio – Allegro What we hear tonight is a reconstruction from the surviving version of the work for two harpsichords back into what is believed to be the original concerto composed for violin and oboe, most likely while Bach was in Cöthen or during his early years in Leipzig. The original violin and oboe lines have been traced from the right hand of the harpsichord parts and transformed into a full concerto. The work ranks with Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos in complexity and musical refinement. The use of solo violin and oboe, a popular Baroque combination, offers not only a
contrast in tone but also a true cantabile in the slow movement. The opening movement is an energetic allegro, beginning with a motif in the first bar that provides the entire movement with a core for its development into intertwined solo and ensemble passages. The Adagio slow movement is a sublime duet, a dialogue of unfolding melody between the solo instruments, with a gentle rocking metre in the relative minor key. Finally, the Allegro with its virtuosic solos and contrasting ensemble passages that come together in the final passages.
JS Bach Magnificat Song Company with guests Sonya Holowell and Susannah Bishop SOPRANOS, Tobias Cole COUNTER-TENOR, Richard Butler TENOR, The Wallfisch Band LED BY Elizabeth Wallfisch BAROQUE VIOLIN, with Leo Duarte BAROQUE OBOE; Roland Peelman CONDUCTOR
The people of Leipzig were given a splendid taste of things to come when the Magnificat was first performed at the first Christmas Vespers service in Leipzig in 1723, beginning the revitalisation of sacred music that Bach brought through his role as the Kantor of St Thomas. For this first performance, it was performed with Cantata BWV 63, a large-scale Christmas cantata, so it is not surprising that Bach felt the accompanying Magnificat needed to be short. In all, it lasts only 24 minutes, remarkably brief for a work of 12 movements. The text Bach sets is the Canticle (or Song) of the Virgin Mary (Luke 1: 46-55), which had been part of the old Roman Catholic service of Vespers. The words of the Magnificat are those uttered by Mary when she visits her cousin Elizabeth who is also pregnant. After hearing from Elizabeth that “the babe leapt in my womb for joy” Mary responds with the lines of the Magnificat. Each of the twelve movements takes a sentence of “Mary’s song” and expresses its essence or Affekt.
Bach, so masterful at getting to the core meaning of a text, does this perfectly in the Magnificat. It is a hymn of praise and gratitude, with contrasting moods created through a huge variety of vocal and instrumental composition. The swift-moving orchestral introduction ending with a rushing chorus is followed by two arias of the young Mary: Et exsultavit, full of excitement and joy, and the following Quia respexit, plaintive with the poignant sound of the oboe d’amore, which is interrupted by the spirited chorus Omnes generationes. The very difficult and energetic chorus Fecit potentiam and the fiery tenor aria Deposuit are followed by the tender Esuriente simplevit. (Note how in this movement Bach omits the flutes just at the moment when “the rich are sent empty away”, the emptiness of sound illustrating the text.) Suscepit Israel is an ethereally beautiful women’s chorus, with the trumpet quietly weaving in the Magnificat chorale tune. The work ends with the return of music from the opening for the words “As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. Amen”. Alison Lockhart
ALL PERFORMANCES ON PERIOD INSTRUMENTS