&dA SELECTIONS FROM BACH CANTATAS &dAÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ&d@ The following musical selections are from the first ten Bach Cantatas, those comprising the first volume of Cantatas in the original &dBBach Gesellschaft Edition&d@, undertaken by Maurice Hauptmann and others in Leipzig in 1850. The selections were made both for their musical interest and for their "performability" by electronic means. Great strides have been made in the last 10 years in quality of musical sounds generated by electronics; nevertheless, there are still serious shortcomings in this emerging technology. The most glaring deficiency is inability to produce anything that resembles the sound of the human singing voice. In our selections, we have had to assign instrumental sounds to the various vocal parts. Most often, these were assigned as follows: Soprano --> French Horn; Alto --> Piccolo (in low register); Tenor --> Soprano Saxophone; and Bass --> (1) Piccolo or (2) Synthetic Brass. A second problem with sound synthesis concerns the mixing or combining of the various individual instrumental sounds into a composite whole. Simple addition of sound amplitudes does not produce a "lifelike" result. This is because in a real performance, the sound waves produced by the individual instruments combine in complex ways &dBbefore&d@ they are picked up by recording microphones (or our ears). The result is a unified whole with (I suspect) a reinforcement of mid-range frequencies at the expense of the higher frequencies. By comparison then, our simulated performances tend to sound more "reedy" or "pinched," as the higher frequencies are not suppressed and the middle ones not reinforced. Our performances do have one advantage in this respect, however. Because the individual sounds of the instruments are not altered in our simulation, it is much easier to hear them: i.e., select them out with the human ear. This makes for a very interesting kind of listening. In particular, it is possible to hear distinctly several instruments at one time and thus to experience in a new way the richness of Bach's counter- point. I have included here translations of the German texts for the various movements. Since most of us are not fluent in the German language, we tend to overlook the inspiration that the text must have given to Bach as he went about composing these pieces. In making these translations, I am struck, first of all, by the religious intensity of the text--by its powerful and unambiguous message. These were "heavy" thoughts that Bach had to deal with; not the sort of thing we tend to dwell on in today's world. Yet Bach obviously regarded these texts with great feeling and strove to set them musically as best he knew how. It is this intensity of feeling that shines through, even to those of us who haven't become familiar with the message. &dAPage 2&d@ With the texts in front of us, it is fascinating to see how Bach has fashioned the music to reflect the ideas or themes in the text. Whether it be the treatment of individual words such as Tot (death), or Kreuz (cross), or the overall scheme of the notes such as running scales that go nowhere ("Where shall I flee?"), Bach was truly ingenious in ways that he chose to give each of his movements their individual character. This subject is too broad to follow any further here, but I would like to call attention to one of my favorite examples. The Duet "Herr, du siehst statt guter Werke" (Movement 5 from Cantata No. 9) is one of the most beautiful and ingenious double canons in all of Bach's music. He must have lavished a great deal of attention on this movement to have concealed the canon so artfully. And what is the text that accompanies this music? "Lord, thou see'st not our good deeds but the heart's believing power, Only Faith do you accept. Only Faith shall justify us. All other efforts seem so feeble as to hardly be able to help us." If we are saved only by faith, then why did Bach lavish such attention on this music (and, by the way, on almost all of his music)? The answer I believe lies in one of the paradoxes of the Protestant faith at that time: namely, it was by faith alone that you were saved, but it was by good works that you showed your faith. Bach's "good works" were properly done in that they were concealed from ordinary mortals but plainly visible to God. &dACONTENTS OF THE TAPE (with Text)&d@ &dAÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ&d@ &dA SIDE ONE &dAÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ&d@ 1. Cantata No. 9; (&dBEs ist das Heil uns kommen her&d@) Movement 1: Chorus (5:05) Salvation comes to us By grace and sheer goodness. Our deeds are no longer of use to us, They cannot offer us protection. Faith is what Jesus Christ looks at, He has done enough for all of us. He is our intercessor. &dA Page 3 &dACONTENTS: SIDE ONE (Continued)&d@ 2. Cantata No. 9; (&dBEs ist das Heil uns kommen her&d@) Movement 5: Duet (6:48) Lord, thou see'st not our good deeds but the heart's believing power, Only Faith do you accept. Only Faith shall justify us. All other efforts seem so feeble as to hardly be able to help us. 3. Cantata No. 10; (&dBMeine Seel' erhebt den Herren&d@) Movement 5: Duet (2:07) He remembers his compassion, And comes to the aid of His servant, Israel. 4. Movement 7: Choral (:43) Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, And to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, Is now, and ever shall be, From eternity to eternity, Amen. 5. Cantata No. 8: (&dBLiebster Gott, wann werd' ich sterben?&d@) Movement 1: Chorus (6:05) Dear God, when will I die? My days run ever on, And the descendants of ancient Adam, Of whom I am one, Have this, as their legacy, That they for a little while, Poor and sorry, this earth inhabit and then become part of the earth. 6. Movement 6: Choral (1:18) Ruler over life and death, Make my end good in the end, Teach me to yield my spirit In a calm and composed state of mind. Help me to earn an honest grave next to godly Christian men, And when finally in the Earth Let me not fade away to nothing! &dA Page 4 &dACONTENTS: SIDE ONE (Continued)&d@ 7. Cantata No. 7: (&dBChrist unser Herr zum Jordan kam&d@) Movement 6: Aria (2:45) Mankind, believe this act of grace! You shall not die in sin, Nor decay in the pits of Hell. The works of man and his piety amount to nothing before God. We are born with sin, We are by our own nature lost, Faith and baptism will make sin clean, So that it will not condemn us. 8. Cantata No. 5: (&dBWo soll ich fliehen hin&d@) Movement 1: Chorus (4:04) Where shall I flee? For I am burdened by sins both great and numerous. Where shall I find salvation? Even if the entire world were gathered here, This would not take away my fear. &dA SIDE TWO &dAÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ&d@ 1. Cantata No. 4: (&dBChrist lag in Todesbanden&d@) Movement 1: Sinfonia (no text) (1;00) 2. Movement 2: Chorus (5:01) Christ lay in the bonds of death, Given up for our sins, He has risen again And has brought to us redemption (true life); For this we should be joyful, Give praise and thanks to God, And sing halleluja, Halleluja! 3. Movement 3: Duet (3:42) That agent, death, which could not be overcome By any of mankind's children, Was instigated by our sins, No lack of guilt could anywhere be found. So death came and took power over us, and held us captive in his realm, Halleluja! &dA Page 5 &dACONTENTS: SIDE TWO (Continued)&d@ 4. Cantata No. 4: (&dBChrist lag in Todesbanden&d@) Movement 4: Aria (1:58) Jesus Christ, God's own son, Is come to take our place And hath done away with our sins, Thereby taking from death all of his power and force; Now remains only death's mere form, His sting is gone, Halleluja! 5. Movement 8: Choral (:52) We eat now and experience the true bread of Easter; Through the grace of the Word, The ancient leaven shall no longer abide; Christ would be our sustenance And He alone nourish our soul, Because faith will live on nothing else. 6. Cantata No. 3: (&dBAch Gott, wie manches Herzeleid&d@) Movement 5: Duet (7:33) Whenever sorrow presses upon me, I sing unto my Jesus with joyfulness. Jesus helps to carry my cross, About this I can devoutly say: It works for the best every time. 7. Cantata No. 1: (&dBWie Sch”n Leuchtet der Morgenstern&d@) Movement 1: Chorus (8:51) How brightly shines the morning star With grace and truth from the Lord, The sweet root of Jesse! Thou son of David from Jakob's stem, My king and my bridegroom, you have taken possession of my heart, Lovely, kindly, Beautiful and splendid, Great and righteous, rich in blessings, High and most richly exalted.