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Cantata BWV 190
Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied
Cantata BWV 190a
Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied!
Discussions - Part 1 |
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BWV 190 |
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Arthur Jerijian wrote (January 8, 2000):
This Cantata has to be amongst my favorites, and this is what finally got me started listening to Bach full-time. Unfortunately, I only know of two recordings of BWV 190: one by Helmuth Rilling [3], which is "almost perfect" and well done, and another by Ton Koopman [4], which, mind if I say it, is truly awful. Koopman seems to have messed up badly on his instrumentation of the first movement. Do any of you know of any other recordings? Is Suzuki planning on recording this marvelous Cantata [8]? |
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Aryeh Oron wrote (January 9, 2000):
[To Arthur Jerijian] It is very strange to know that the Cantata, which initiated your listening in full time to Bach's music, is one of the least popular of all the Cantatas. On the other hand it can only encourage you, because a huge world of beauty is still ahead of you.
BWV 190 is one of the least recorded Cantatas. I believe that the reason for this is that the Cantata has not unfortunately survived complete. Only a few of the original parts for the first two movements have been handed down and the others have to be reconstructed.
BWV 190 should have been discussed in the sister group dedicated to Bach Cantatas. If you are not subscribed yet to that list, I warmly recommend you to do so. We are one week behind schedule, because this Cantata, which was Bach's first New Year Cantata for Leipzig, was written for January 1st, 1724.
I love Rilling's recording [3] and I agree with you that it is 'almost perfect'. Olivier Alain did the reconstruction of the first two movements for the Rilling's recording. I have only one more complete recording and one movement recording. The complete recording is on EMI LP and the conductor is Hans Thamm [1]. I do not know when it was recorded, but I believe that it was done in the 1960's or early 1970's. Walter Reinhart undertook the task of the reconstruction very skillfully and with the feeling to the original text. I do not understand why it is not recorded more often. The performance of Thamm is very glorious, as it should be. His soloists are - Ingeborg Russ (Alto), Peter Schreier (Tenor), and Franz Crass (Bass). They are doing very fine job, except perhaps Russ, who is less impressive than her competitors. Overall I prefer this recording to that of Rilling. It sounds more 'right' to my ears.
I have also recording of the Aria for Alt. Neville Marriner (also on EMI LP, from mid 1970's) [M-1] does it and his soloist is the wonderful Janet Baker. Baker is a born Bach singer. She recorded quite a few Bach's Cantatas and it is a pity she has not recorded much more Cantatas in the old days, when the contratenors have not yet dominated the field.
And now for other performers. I have not heard the Koopman's recording [4] yet. It should arrive to my doorstep every day by post. Harnoncourt/Leonhardt did not record it. I believe that they were in a hurry to complete their set and skipped this Cantata, using its incompleteness as an excuse. Suzuki has not reached yet this Cantata [8]. There is any reason to believe that he will record it, because he did some reconstruction with other Cantatas in his series. The Dutch guys on Brilliant Classics have also not covered this Cantata yet, and I do not know if they intend to do so. We shall have to wait and see. I do not know of any other single recording of BWV 190. |
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Masa-aki Muramatsu wrote (January 9, 2000):
[To Aryeh Oron] Does this Cantata have any relation with Motet BWV 225 "Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied"? This motet is one of my favorites together, with BWV 229 Komm, Jesu, Komm. Does other of the Motets have relation with other Cantata? |
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Wim Huisjes wrote (January 9, 2000):
[To Masa-aki Muramatsu] Apart from the first text-line there is no connection between BWV 190 and BWV 225. As far as I'm aware there is also no connection between any other motet and any Cantata. Chorale melodies, as in BWV 227: "Jesu, meine Freude" can be found in a lot of works. If I'm wrong, I gladly stand corrected. |
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John Downes wrote (January 9, 2000):
[To Aryeh Oron] I know nothing about the Cantatas group. Could you point me to it please? BTW, I agree with you about Janet Baker [M-1]. It's a shame that her career ended by the time the period instruments had taken over. I once saw her at Glyndebourne singing Penelope in Monteverdi's 'Il Ritorno', quite wonderful. |
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Wim Huisjes wrote (January 9, 2000):
[To John Downes] As Aryeh found, the only recordings I know of are: Rilling [3], Koopman [4] and Hans Thamm (on EMI) [1].
[1] The latter is worthwhile having, but I don't know if it's still available. Try a 4-CD set at budget price (BWV 137, 190, 131, 140, 106, 78, 71, 56, 82, 158, 211, 212): EMI CZS 25 2278-2. Conductors: Hans Thamm, Wolfgang Gonnenwein, Kurt Thomas, Karl Forster (one CD per conductor); Soloists are all first rate: a.o. Zylis-Gara, Schreier, Crass, Ameling, Mathis, Altmeyer, Sotin, Giebel, Adam, Prey (outstanding in BWV 56, 82), Fischer-Dieskau in his younger years. Recordings were made 1958 -1960 (Thomas, Forster) & 1965 -1967 (Thamm, Gonnenwein). EMI still has a few recordings by Thamm and Gonnenwein in their archives. I sincerely hope they'll bring them out someday (soon?).
[4] It's not quite clear to me what Koopman is doing wrong though. Sounds excellent to me. The instrumentation isn't that different, though he could have quieted down his drum band just a little. |
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Aryeh Oron wrote (January 9, 2000):
[To Wim Huisjes] [1] Where can I buy this 4-CD Box? |
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Wim Huisjes wrote (January 9, 2000):
[To Aryeh Oron] [1] I don't know if the set is still available. I bought it at my local CD store quite a few years ago (on the back of the set it says: "This compilation P.1990"). So you may have a hard time finding it. Sorry, can't help you out with any source that may still have it.
Another EMI set worth looking for is a 2CD set, also at budget price: 7243 5 68544 (Compilation EMI France, P. 1995):
BWV 80: Gönnenwein/Ameling, Baker, Altmeyer, and Sotin (1967)
BWV 51: Marriner/Donath (1983)
BWV 140: Gönnenwein/Ameling, Altmeyer, and Sotin (1967)
BWV 106: Gönnenwein/Mathis, Michelow, Altmeyer, and Crass (1965)
BWV 82: Geraint Jones/Gerard Souzay (1958)
BWV 147: Geraint Jones/Sutherland, Watts, Brown, and Hemsley (1957)
The wonderful voice of Souzay in BWV 56, BWV 82 can also be heard in the 5-CD Philips box by Helmut Winschermann: PHILIPS 454 346-2. That box is definitely still available.
You could try www.kuijperklassiek.nl in Amsterdam. In my experience they're very good in finding the almost impossible. You can e-mail them at info@kuijperklassiek.nl |
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Arthur Jerijian wrote (January 9, 2000):
[1] The Hans Thamm recording, which I have only the first movement on an out-of-print collection CD, has got to be "THE" best BWV 190 recording there is!!! This is the very one that got me into Bach! |
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Aryeh Oron wrote (January 10, 2000):
[To Wim Huisjes] I have already the EMI CD, which is a mixed bag. Not everything included is on high level. The Gönnenwein performances are first rate and his approach is very well suited to the Cantatas he chose to perform. As much as I love Helen Donath, she has done much better things with Rilling. Jones approach to Bach is not to my taste, and I would not like to say what I think about his Soprano and her understanding of the Bach idiom.
I have already of course the Winschermann Box, which is a must to every Cantata lover. He is a very knowledgeable and sensitive Bach interpreter. Souzay has a wonderful voice, but there are others I prefer in BWV 82, which will be discussed in this group 3 weeks from now (according to Ehud Shiloni suggestion).
Thanks for the tip about the Dutch store. I will try to get the 4-CD set from them. |
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Ehud Shiloni wrote (January 11, 2000):
I want to highlight the other great Bass voice on the above CD set: Hans Sotin. From my searching around I gathered that he was an opera singer and did not do a lot of Bach recordings. What a pity. To my ears his voice quality is outstanding: A deep, dark Bass, with immense intensity. I'll be glad to hear other opinions about that singer. |
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Emile Swanepoel wrote (January 11, 2000):
[To Ehud Shiloni] Your reaction to his voice is exactly the same as mine when I first heard him. I have the recording of BWV 80 that you mention in your letter. Just listen to the Duet, "Mit unsrer macht"! I have the Leonard Bernstein recording of "Fidelio" and he also sings lovely on that one. I believe he also did some Wagner. |
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Aryeh Oron wrote (January 14, 2000):
I have Hans Sotin on 6 Cantatas and 3 LP's:
EMI 063-28490 BWV 126 + BWV 149
EMI 063-29017 BWV 79 + BWV 80
EMI 063-29012 BWV 140 + BWV 148
All of them are conducted by Gonnenwein, and were part of a small series of Cantatas, which were issued originally by EMI Germany in mid 1970's. The series included at least 7 LP's (5 of which I have), and maybe even more. The series is very high quality Bach from every aspect - Conductors, Vocal and Instrumental Soloists, Interpretation, Clarity, Recording. It must be reissued. I hope that EMI will give us a present for this Bach year in a form of Box Set.
I have re-listened to the some of the Cantatas with Hans Sotin. I agree with every word Ehud said about his 'Deep, dark Bass, with immense intensity'. And I would like to add somewhat surprising words: 'sensitivity and tenderness'. You very rarely hear such kind of voice in our age of lighter Bass voices or even Baritones, pleasant as they are. The voice of Sotin's kind sounds to my ears more appropriate to the Bach idiom. I found in my files a quote from old American magazine relating to Hans Sotin performance of BWV 79 and BWV 80: 'The soloists are excellent, and any Bass who can sing the fierce melismas of 'Alles, was von Gott Geboren’, deserves extra feathers in his cap'. |
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Philip Peters wrote (January 14, 2000):
[To Aryeh Oron] So do I. I have only BWV 140 & BWV 148 and would dearly like to acquire the others too.
I can only agree. Sotin can also be heard on Gönnenwein's excellent 1969 SMP (BWV 244).
(Apart from Bach he pops up in my collection in Haitink's first Mahler's No.8 and in a Meistersinger under Varviso (with the Bayreuth Orch.) and also in a Parsifal video). |
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Discussions in the Week of August 10, 2003 (1st round) |
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Aryeh Oron wrote (August 15, 2003):
BWV 190 - Introduction
The chosen work for this week’s discussion (August 10, 2003) is Cantata BWV 190 for New Year's Day [Feast of Circumcision] ‘Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied!’ (Sing to the Lord a new song!)
Background
Alfred Dürr (1966, liner notes to Thamm’s recording, English translation by John Wilde):
Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, Bach's first New Year cantata for Leipzig, written for January 1st, 1724, has unfortunately not survived complete. Only a few of the original parts for the first two movements have been handed down and the others have had to be reconstructed. This task was undertaken by Walther Reinhart with a maximum of skill and feeling for the original and the cantata is now accepted as complete for performance today.
The same cantata was used again by Bach in 1730 for the second centenary of the Augsburg Confession, but with a different text by Christian Friedrich Henrici, known as Picander. It remains questionable, however, whether Henrici wrote the text for the first version since it was not until later that his close collaboration with the composer began.
For the Christian world, the new year is the festival of the circumcision and naming of Christ, but it is only in the fifth and sixth movements that this cantata makes any reference to the specific readings for the day over and above the more general theme of a new beginning. The dominant movement is the opening chorus, in four sections and with a text based on verses from the psalms and the beginning of Luther's German version of the Te Deum. There are three main passages, with parts from the Te Deum, sung unisono by the choir, between each. First comes the concertante movement, Singet dem Herrn, followed by the Te Deum passage Herr Gott, dich loben wir. Then comes the choral fugue Alles, was Odem hat: Between this and the finale, Alleluja, a shorter version of the first movement, there is a further passage from the Te Deum, Herr Gott, wir danken dir.
The opening of the Te Deum is also featured in the second movement, arranged this time for a number of voices and designed to bind together recitative sections for fewer parts. The dance-like basis of the aria Lobe Zion, deinen Gott serves as a reminder that only a year previously, Bach had still been director of music for the court at Köthen. Although it is unlikely that it was actually composed during his period there, it demonstrates the extend to whim religion and the secular world were united in Bach's life. A recitative then leads into the duet Jesus Boll mein alles sein, in which the undefined obbligato part was probably intended for the oboe d'amore. This movement too, for all its depth of expression and artistic skill, shows an easy grace in the concertante oboe score. The prayers for the New Year are repeated in a recitative with string accompaniment and the cantata is brought to a close with a choral stanza from the New Year's song Jesu, nun sei gepreiset accompanied by an obbligato trumpet fanfare, which marks the close of each line.
Recordings
The details of the recordings of the cantata can be found at the following pages of the Bach Cantatas Website: Cantata BWV 190 - Recordings
This cantata has at least 5 complete recordings, each one of which uses a different reconstruction:
[1] Hans Thamm (1966): by Walther Reinhart
[3] Helmuth Rilling (1978): by Olivier Alain
[4] Ton Koopman (1997): by Ton Koopman
[6] Anders Öhrwall (1998): ? (I do not have this recording)
[8] Masaaki Suzuki (2002): by Masato & Masaaki Suzuki
It is worth observing that Harnoncout/Leonhardt did not included this work in their joint cantata cycle on Teldec. Leusink (as usual) followed their footsteps. Teldec completed the missing item by including Koopman’s recording [4] in Volume 5 of Bach-2000 Edition.
Due to the (temporary) unavailability) of David Zale’s Website, there are not any Music Examples at the moment. I shall try to add Music Examples of the reconstructed movements at a later date.
Additional I
In the page of recordings mentioned above you can also find links to useful complementary information:
The original German text and various translations, three of which were contributed by members of the BCML: English (Francis Browne), French (Jean-Pierre Grivois), and Hebrew (Aryeh Oron). Francis added also translation of Johannes Herman’s Chorale used in this cantata.
Links to the Score in Vocal & Piano version and BGA Edition.
Links to commentaries: in English by Simon Crouch (Listener’s Guide), in Japanese by Nagamiya Tutomu, and in Spanish by Julio Sánchez Reyes (CantatasDeBach).
There was already a short discussion of Cantata BWV 190 in January 2000, out of the regular order of discussion: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV190-D.htm
Now, at last, after almost 4 years, its turn comes. It could be a nice topic discussing the various reconstructions, and which of them is more ‘Bachian’. I hope to see many of you participating in the discussion. Only 18 cantatas (7 of which are sacred), including this one, remained to be discussed in the BCML! |
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Aryeh Oron wrote (August 21, 2003):
BWV 190 - Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied!
Recordings & Timings
Last week I have been listening to 4 (out of 6) complete recordings of Cantata BWV 190 (listed below, except [2 & 5]), each one of them uses different reconstruction of the first two movements. |
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No |
Conductor |
Year |
Mvt.1 |
Mvt. 2 |
Mvt. 3 |
Mvt. 4 |
Mvt. 5 |
Mvt. 6 |
Mvt. 7 |
TT |
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[1] |
Thamm |
1966 |
5:30 |
2:11 |
3:22 |
1:37 |
3:03 |
1:37 |
1:49 |
19:28 |
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[2] |
Schmidt-Gaden |
1970’s? |
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[3] |
Rilling |
1978 |
5:20 |
1:46 |
3:11 |
1:27 |
2:57 |
1:22 |
2:00 |
17:57 |
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[4] |
Koopman |
1997 |
4:24 |
1:42 |
2:32 |
1:23 |
3:06 |
1:40 |
1:31 |
16:18 |
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[6] |
Öhrwall |
1998 |
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12:26 |
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[8] |
Suzuki |
2002 |
4:40 |
1:29 |
2:50 |
1:21 |
3:34 |
1:40 |
1:47 |
17:34 |
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The first two Movements - Background
In the BGA score the first two movements of Cantata BWV 190 present a strange appearance. The voice parts are there, and the parts for 1st and 2nd violins, but the staves ruled for other parts are blank. The reason for this is, of course, that Bach left the autograph score incomplete, but the performance of the cantata was made possible by the reconstruction of the missing parts by W. Reinhardt in 1948. The actual scoring for Mvt. 1 is not merely conjecture but based on Bach’s constant practice of using the same instruments for concluding chorale as for opening chorus. Since that time, other experts tried their hands in the challenging mission of reconstructing this work. Suzuki, who made with his son the reconstruction for his recording, wrote a fascinating short article about it. His commentary illuminates the work from a perspective of the reconstructor. Here is what Suzuki wrote:
First movement
Cantata BWV 190 has a special significance for all specialists in the music of Bach. Although it should be one of the most joyous of the New Year cantatas, it has been handed down in a severely damaged form, with most of the introductory chorus in the first movement and most of the instrumental parts of the second movement missing. If nothing had survived in any form, we would no doubt be prepared to resign ourselves to its loss. But, as things stand, we have some extremely full vocal parts but, for the orchestra, just two violin parts Thus one finds oneself constantly in doubt as to whether or not it is possible to perform the work at all. It is worth observing in this connection that neither Gustav Leonhardt nor Nikolaus Harnoncourt include this work in their recorded editions of the complete cantatas.
As far as the Bach Collegium Japan's series is concerned, our approach has been that, in the case of works that have been handed down in incomplete form, it is likely to be closer to Bach's intentions to attempt a recreation of a work than to perform it in its incomplete form. On the basis of this approach, what we have done is, for example, to reconstruct from obbligato parts as they might have sounded in the arias from the cantatas BWV 37, BWV 162, BWV 166 and BWV 181. But in the case of BWV 190, any attempt to perform the work would require a large-scale restoration process incomparably more extensive in scale than that involved in reconstruction of the obbligato instrumental parts in these arias. Nevertheless, as I gazed upon the wonderful extant vocal parts and the various figures scattered through the violin parts, I increasingly began to feel that it would indeed be possible to restore the work using the surviving elements, and I made up my mind to give it a go. As Klaus Hofmann states in his commentary to the work, many people have attempted to restore the work since the early 20th century, and Ton Koopman in particular has recently recorded his own attempt at restoration [4]. But for the present restoration I determined to produce a version unique to the Bach Collegium Japan without reference to any edition apart from that of Diethard Hellmann. I entrusted the task of restoring the first movement to my son, Masato Suzuki, and I restored the second movement myself.
Any attempt to restore the work must begin with a clear grasp of how BWV 190 has been transmitted The principal surviving materials are the following:
(I) The complete full score in the composer's own hand, although comprising only the third to the seventh movements (Mus ms Bach P 127)
(2) Imperfect original parts for soprano, alto, tenor, bass and first and second violins. (Mus. ms. Bach St 88. The violin parts are not those that would have been used by the principal' players but 'Dublette' parts, i.e. copies of the principal parts used by the rank-and-file players.)
Creation of the work and history of transmission of related materials
On the basis of the watermarks visible in the extant materials, it is clear that the work was first performed in the New Year of 1724.
The aria sections and the recitatives of the cantata were revised on the occasion of the service held on 25th June 1730 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Augsburg Confessional, and the chorus section was performed unchanged (BWV 190a). Part of the original score of BWV 190 and the instrumental parts were used as they were on that occasion, but for some reason they appear to have been lost immediately after the performance.
Possibilities and method, for the restoration of the first movement
Any attempt to reconstruct a performance of the first movement has initially to overcome the problem of instrumentation The instrumentation appears following the title on the cover of the extant violin part and is indicated as follows:
In Fest Circumcis: Domin, / Jes: Christi / Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied etc, / â / 4 Voc.: / 3 Clarini / é Tamburi / 3 Hautbois / Baßouno / 2 Violini / Viola / con / Continuo / di Sign. / JS Bach
It is thus clear that, in addition to the standard four-part choir, three-part strings and continuo, we have three trumpets and timpani, three oboes, and bassoon, each with their own individual parts. There are only a few cantatas in which three oboes are required. But the second and third oboe parts contain passages that go below middle C, the lowest note on oboes in Bach's day, and it seems possible therefore that these parts were actually intended to be played by oboe d'amore or oboe da caccia. In this performance, however, we have taken Bach's instrumentation as indicated in the violin part at face value and, have employed three oboes.
Careful analysis conducted during the restoration process of the extant musical elements indicates that the following motifs can be used effectively:
a) A four-bar theme at the beginning of the vocal part: this can be used similarly in each of the instrumental sections. Moreover, it corresponds to the fugal theme that appears in bar 87. The rhythmic pattern in the thbar can be freely repeated.
b) The repeated notes that appear in the third bar of the violin part which constitute an element connected with the fugal theme.
c) The figure appearing in bars 7 and 8 of the violin part which can similarly be combined with the third bar of the theme. This figure is repeated sequentially from the ninth bar.
d) The figure appearing in bars 18 and 19 of the violin part which can be used from the beginning of the theme as a countermelody.
The overall harmonic structure can be fairly clearly surmised, but, after the appearance of the Te Deum melody in bar .79, the music in bars 82 and 83 is difficult to fathom. But, on the basis of the surviving violin part, one can only conclude that bar 82 is in B minor while bar 83 is in B major, the dominant of E minor. This means that the fugue beginning at the start of bar 87 must inevitably appear in B minor.
As regards the structure of the fugue section, Masato Suzuki, who was responsible fur the restoration, took it upon himself to introduce the theme in several places apart from those where the theme appears in the vocal parts. The theme thus also appears in the trumpets from bar 99 and in the continuo from bar 120, and from bar 123 the fugal theme is introduced in A major together with the choral unison in the second half of the Te Deum melody. Bach would surely have found it quite natural to combine these two elements.
It is impossible to say, of course, whether this restoration is in line with Bach's own intentions. Moreover, whether or not it is effective in terms of performance of the cantata as a whole must be left up to listeners to decide. But I should add that almost all the individual parts that appear in this restoration are based on figures created by Bach himself that are present in the extant vocal parts and two violin parts.
Second movement
The second piece incorporates a recitative section within a simple four-part Te Deum chorale. It seems likely therefore that instruments were combined with the choir in the choral sections. We omitted the three oboes and trumpets because of their unsuitability for combination with the choral parts in terms of pitch range and melodic figuration. The recitative is supplemented by continuo alone (this style is known as secco recitativo).
Short Review of the Recordings
Suzuki wrote: “Whether or not it is effective in terms of performance of the cantata as a whole must be left up to listeners to decide”. So, the final judgement which reconstruction of the four is closer to Bach, say more Bachian, is left to the ears of the listener.
My initial conclusion after listening couple of times to the recordings above, is that this work deserves reconstruction. Such a joyous and bubbling music should reach the ears of many listeners. If the only way making it possible is reconstruction, so be it. In some way every performance of a musical work is a kind of reconstruction through two filters at least, the performer(s) and the listener. In a recorded work, the recording and editing process could be considered as another filter, because the recording engineer takes decisions which reflect the way we here the recorded work. In the case of a work like Cantata BWV 190, we have additional filter, embodied by the reconstruction. The real test is whether the music and its message are getting to our heart and mind from the recorded performance, through all the filters, or not.
My two first-choices of the recorded renditions of this work are: Hans Thamm (reconstruction by Walther Reinhart) and Masaaki Suzuki (reconstruction by Masato & Masaaki Suzuki).
[1] In the review of Cantata BWV 137, coupled on the same LP as BWV 190, I wrote (September 2001) about Thamm’s rendition: “There are cases when you hear a rendition of a cantata and you say to yourself, ‘this is the right thing; there is nothing I want to improve.’ This is the recording by which the others should be judged. It was done probably in the late sixties, by a German conductor who recorded too few cantatas. But he had authority, he had taste, and he had sense of balance, which gave his renditions a feeling that they are the real thing. This sense of rightness was achieved in almost all the cantata recordings which where done by a small groups of post-war German conductors, such as Wolfgang Gönnenwein, Helmuth Kahlhöfer and Wilhelm Ehmann.” I feel the same about Thamm’s rendition of Cantata BWV 190. The reconstruction he uses is exemplary. To my ears it sounds the most Bachian, the closest to the original: serious, full, rich, multi-layered.
[8] Suzuki’s reconstruction is certainly different, with more transparent texture and more colours, very clean and polished, yet with a certain amount of surprises. Very original and still Bachian in nature. His interpretation also leaves nothing to be desired: vivid, joyous, clear, even sweeping. With Suzuki’s latest albums in his Cantata series, I have the feeling the he has become freer in his interpretation. The certain amount of freedom, he allows himself and his singers, add an extra value to his renditions, which makes them hard to resist. If his earlier recordings gave the impression of super-perfection, which in some sense made them not so perfect (after all, one of the main assets of Bach’s music is its humanity), the change in Suzuki’s approach helps to improve his series.
[3] Then comes Rilling (reconstruction by Olivier Alain): less clear than the two first-rate recordings, too rounded and lacking in vigour and intensity. I believe that the problem here is the interpretation and not the reconstruction, which sounds well-tailored and multi-layered as it should. It could be interesting to hear Suzuki, for example, performing this reconstruction and not his.
[4] The least satisfying of them all is Koopman. As too many of his renditions, this one is also too rushed, up to losing most of the potential expressiveness that this chorus offers, in whatever reconstruction you choose. I do not hear the joy, the enthusiasm, the sincerity of expression. I would even dare saying that this rendition is not well-rehearsed, not well-balanced, and lightweight up to superficiality, as if they said: ‘We do not have enough recording time left. Let us finish with it, as soon as we can, and go home’. This reconstruction might have some potential. I cannot say for sure, because the reconstructor and the performer are identical. I doubt if Bach would have liked it.
Conclusion
This cantata deserves listening and the best of the available recordings are Thamm [1] (earlier this year it was re-issued in CD form by Rondeau Production) and Suzuki [8].
I would like to hear other opinions, regarding the above mentioned performances, or other recordings.
And now, when I really love Cantata BWV 190, I have to move forward to BWV 192. |
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Hans-Joachim Reh wrote (August 24, 2003):
All these discussions on traditions, organs etc. are very interesting. But there is no direct connection to the subject this forum is to be all about.
So I´ll go back to the cantatas - cause there is a lot to discover.
BWV 190 - just a thought:
Did anyone find a good answer to the fact that Bach - in the opening chorus ‘Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied’ "Sing to the Lord a new song" – combines these words (Ps 149) with one of the oldest tunes there are (the Te Deum Laudamus). And then adds "Alles was Odem hat...", the last verse of the psalms. Unusual, if not to say strange, isn´t it. Why did he do that. What is it, he wanted to say? |
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Arjen van Gijssell wrote (August 24, 2003):
[To Hans-Joachim Reh] Although you're referring to last's week cantata, you're right in pointing to the need to contribute to our weekly subject. Interesting subject. Am I just scratching the surface, when I give as explanation that Jesu nun sei gepreiset (first line choral), and Te deum laudamus close to one another. I can imagine that the occasion (New Year's Day), is right for praising God; this is also what encyclopedia Brittannica says ("traditionally sung on occasions of public rejoicing"). |
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Continue on Part 2 |
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