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Discussions - Part 20: Year 2019

Continue from Part 19: 2017

Introducing Myself

Mark Zimmer wrote (July 2, 2019):
I've been lurking as a member for a couple weeks, in order to get the lay of the land before posting. I'm Mark Zimmer, an attorney by profession and an amateur musicologist by obsession. For the last 20 years I've been Project Director of The Unheard Beethoven http://unheardbeethoven.org a nonprofit website that makes unrecorded and unpublished Beethoven works available to the public free in synthesized versions. Lately we've been very busy preparing scores of unpublished Beethoven materials for record companies in preparation for the big 250th birthday next year. These are exciting times! I also play piano for a group of singing lawyers, if you can imagine such a thing, but that's mostly show tunes and popular standards.

On to Bach. For many years, I was primarily devoted to Classical and Romantic music; Baroque was an afterthought and I'm very much a latecomer. Then about five years ago I had some health issues where I could no longer tolerate anything EXCEPT Baroque music, for whatever odd reason (perhaps my healing required the innate orderliness of Baroque music; there may be something to be researched by folks doing rehabilitation work). In any event, that has blossomed into an affection/obsession with Bach, primarily the vocal works. I've been catching up on a lot and acquiring and listening to Bach as fast as I can, armed with Dürr and Wolff and the bach-cantatas website at my side. Researching the performance practice arguments circling the Bach world `of the last fifty years has been fascinating and enlightening as well, and I'm developing a good sense of what I like (boy choirs in particular are a necessity in the cantatas to my mind; for the keyboard works I much prefer the clavichord over the harpsichord, where appropriate,). But because I am such a newbie to Bach, I'll probably mostly be taking it all in rather than commenting much, at least for now.

Fortunately there seems to be very little need for an Unheard Bach website, as his oeuvre seems to be pretty well covered by various recording and publishing endeavors. So I can just enjoy myself.

William Zeitler wrote (July 2, 2019):
Mark Zimmer wrote:
>Then about five years ago I had some health issues where I could no longer tolerate anything EXCEPT Baroque music ... that has blossomed into an affection/obsession with Bach... <
When I was 16 my youngest brother committed suicide. Right away they put my other brother on meds, and I took one look at his flat-line almost drooling affect and said, "I'm not doing that." I was a capable player -- I could play most of the first book of the Well Tempered Clavier from memory, for example. So instead of meds I turned to music. No composer dented the dark periods at all -- except Bach, who helped me regain my psychic equilibrium marvelously. I would play his music sometimes for hours if that's what it took, sometimes the same piece over and over, until the Darkness passed.

I owe Bach a personal debt that can never ever be repaid.

William L. Hoffman wrote (July 2, 2019):
Actually, there is much Unheard Bach. The BWV3 has accepted a number of lost Anh. and deest works into the canon, although only a few have recognized parodies (http://bach-cantatas.com/Topics/BWVSystem-4.htm). They are proto cantatas for the B-Minor Mass, town council cantatas, other works, using familiar music set to different texts -- sort of like old wine in new bottles. There also are conjectural worshippers like Lenten cantatas, "Bach Judica Cantata?" and "Epiphany 6 Cantata,"see http://bach-cantatas.com/Topics/Lent-Cantatas.htm. Someday, someone will construct the lost Weimar-Gotha Passion from John and Matthew Passion music, and Coethen works being realized Also, there are 19 wonderful cantatas of cousin Johann Ludwig that Sebastian performed in 1726, only a few have been recorded. Enjoy!

Paul Farseth wrote (July 3, 2019):
[To William Zeitler] The old Gould recordings of the six keyboard partitas and a bunch of two and three part inventions were always better than Prozac (or Zoloft/sertraline). Energy to start the day, order to unfrazzle the day's ending. Just the music to listen to during a commute.

Julian Mincham wrote (July 3, 2019):
[To William Zeitler] It's always interesting and heartening to hear of people who have found Bach's music so consoling in times of grief and bereavement. I am always uplifted when i read accounts such as the one below and moved by William's phrase of owing Bach a personal debt that cannot be repaid. I have been musing on the idea of writing an article on Bach and bereavement but it has not got much past the planning stages as yet.

I have often wondered if it was the constant death in Bach's immediate family (parents, wife, children etc.) that led him to produce music that is so consoling for others at these times. Or, was it his religion or something relentlessly optimistic in his own character? Or a combination of these circumstances? A short, and possibly lesser known keyboard piece which i chose to play for my father's funeral is the second movement (adagio) from the G major keyboard toccata. It seems to me to have that perfect combination of sadness and reflectiveness, yet still optimistic (is his music never less than hopeful?) and the piece does not end strongly, implying a sense of on-goingness.

I wondered if there were other members of the group who had stories to share or particular pieces they felt particularly fulfilled this purpose?

And there is also the revealing and beautiful cantata BWV 8 to explore from the second Leipzig cycle-----'when, O Lord, shall I die?' the first movement of which also reminds us of the inevitable passing of time.

Luke Dahn wrote (July 3, 2019):
Julian Mincham wrote:
>>>I have often wondered if it was the constant death in Bach's immediate family (parents, wife, children etc.) that led him to produce music that is so consoling for others at these times. Or, was it his religion or something relentlessly optimistic in his own character? Or a combination of these circumstances? A short, and possibly lesser known keyboard piece which i chose to play for my father's funeral is the second movement (adagio) from the G major keyboard toccata. It seems to me to have that perfect combination of sadness and reflectiveness, yet still optimistic (is his music never less than hopeful?) and the piece does not end strongly, implying a sense of on-goingness.
I wondered if there were other members of the group who had stories to share or particular pieces they felt particularly fulfilled this purpose?<<<
I have always considered the opening Sonatina from the Actus Tragicus to be a masterpiece for precisely this reason, that it so perfectly blends the proper and seemingly-contrasting emotions experienced in a funeral. How does the music simultaneously express extreme sadness, reflectiveness and optimism? That Bach composed this in his early twenties is remarkable, though he had certainly already experienced tragic loss by this time.

I think Bach's instrumentation in the piece (two violas da gamba and two flutes) contributes significantly to this dual sadness-optimism quality of its character. Having said that, I also find Kurtag's two-piano arrangement to be stunning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wOlGJFkqic

Stephen Clarke wrote (July 3, 2019):
Julian Mincham wrote:
< It's always interesting and heartening to hear of people who have found Bach's music so consoling in times of grief and bereavement. >
Yes; The consolation embodied in so much of the music of JSB is a wonderful thing. The "Mozart Effect" has become a frequent theme is discussions about the value of music but I would put forward the "Bach Effect" as belonging to an even higher order of affect.

I, toowas stricken with a grievous malady at an early age and it was immersion in the deep sense of spiritual calm that pervades all of JSB's work that gave me a lifeline to sanity and a reference point for much else. I started with an introduction via the Swingle Singers, then right away to the 2- and 3-part Inventions (Glenn Gould!). 50+ years later I'm still working my way in to familiarizing myself with the cantatas. As a devout christian of a Rosicrucian bent, I share some cultural affinity with Bach's milieu but I have perceived that Bach's musical inspiration derives from the sources of religious revelation. Together with this is the wonderful paradox that he was able to reconcile this mighty intunement with his four-square Lutheran faith and to the enrichment of both inward and outward faith.

Of course he believed resolutely in God, a fact which seems to be a stumbling block for some. And his religious sensibility is of a different sort than can be found in almost any modern congregation. No matter. His conviction - musical, spiritual and religious - is part of a fully integrated psyche and craft, all reflected in the substance of his music. I think it is this sense of psychological and spiritual integration that is characteristic of a fully realized human being that people find in his music; a sense that they - and I - have been inspired by. "Go and do likewise" is his challenge.

This coming Sunday I will be giving a 30-min (!!) introduction on the music of JSB to an audience which has had little if any familiarity with it and I am absolutely baffled by trying to decide what five or six selection from his cantatas I will choose to present. I now have a short list of some 4 dozen.

I would be interested in hearing from others as to what their most favorite desert-island cantata movements might be. When I pull my final list together I'll post it here. #1: First movement, BWV 1:
Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, Gardiner. I love the high horns.

If I had to give top credit to anything which enabled me, also 50 years later, to become cured of that persistent malady (Lyme Disease) it would be the miracle of music. In which Bach is the master and exemplar of us all, much like the Buddha of the East is for the cultures there.

Razvan Georgescu wrote (July 3, 2019):
[To , Stephen Clarke] What can I say? I use to be an opera singer with a very nice start, back in my student days! I was a Romanian student in San Francisco and I got all the auditions I have been to. I start learning all the bass-baritone roles (basso buffo and some helden baritone as well).

I have been Rigoletto, Germont, Dulcamara, Sharpless, Figaro (Mozart), Leporello, Don Giovanni and so on. But neither of these great roles would make me feel complete. At my 33rd birthday, I received a double CD gift (that was in 2000) with a compilation of arias sung by Hermann Prey. The first CD begun with cantata 82 - Ich habe genug! After a short while, I learned that cantata and then 56 - Ich will den Kreuzstabe, and then 32 - Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen, and some other more. I was confiscated. I realize that JS Bach is not only a genius composer. He is the only musician who can satisfy both hemisphere of the brain, the affect and the intellect. I give up opera and focused in JS Bach repertoire. Now, I have a PhD in Bach cantatas as a interpret, I try very hard to create a Bach orchestra here in Romania and to give people from my country this heavenly music. After all these years, Bach became my friend, my mentor, my hideaway and my confesor. Death is no longer a cruel enemy and all my problems are less consuming. I guess you all know why.

Stephen Clarke wrote (July 4, 2019):
[To Razvan Georgescu] Lovely words, Razvan! Especially your use of the word "confiscated", which would not ordinarilly be common English-language usage and strikes my ear a little humorously - perhaps that was your intention. But I looked up synonyms for it and included in them were 'commandeered' and 'repossessed': both of them quite appropriate! so true.

William L. Hoffman wrote (July 4, 2019):
After studying Bach, especially the Passions, since 1980, I had a cardiovascular condition in 2003 and had stents, separately, put in my heart, both kidneys, and abdominal aorta. In early June a month ago I had a heart attack and underwent angioplasty again in Montreal at McGill University Hospital. At 76, I am thankful for good health and my experiences with Bach. Most important are his closing "rest-in-the-grave" choruses: the Matthew Passion sarabande (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSQOclZiErM, the John Passion minuet (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIJiAg2Uzvk, and the Mark Passion gigue (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7lPulvQDw0&vl=en ) -- dances with lyrics of mourning and consolation, embodying the non-dualistic concept in Ecclesiastes 3:4b. "a time to mourn and a time to dance" -- Bach having both simultaneously.

intro

Zachary Uram wrote (December 5, 2019):
Hi everyone! I started out on the Bach USENET group in 1990.

Nice to be with other Bach lovers!

Jesu Juva!

Bach and Italy

Chiara Bertoglio wrote (December 21, 2019):
I would like to introduce our work about Bach and Italy. A small team of young Italian scholars and artists, whose PhD dissertations focused on Bach and Italy, started a multifaceted project for the study of “Bach and Italy” (both ways, i.e. Bach inspired by Italian music and Italian musicians inspired by Bach).

Our work has resulted in a series of musicological articles, but also in other projects which you might be interested in knowing:

• the launch of a web portal (www.jsbach.it) including bibliography, discography and web resources about Bach and Italy, as well as information about the most important Bach events in Italy in the current season;
• Some events for the popularization of Bach in Italy, such as seminars, talks, lecture-recitals etc. (https://www.jsbach.it/news?lang=en)
• A major international conference, for which the CFP is now open (www.jsbach.it/bach2020)
• A newly-started series of published scores, both historical and contemporary (Italian composers transcribing Bach and/or writing original works about him or to honor him: https://www.jsbach.it/pubblicazioni?lang=en )
• We also cooperate with the major international Bach festival in Italy, www.backtobach.it

Moreover, personally I am also recording and publishing a series of CDs dedicated to Bach and Italy; two of them are already published and can be listened to (e.g. on Spotify ), while two more will be recorded this year. Nearly all of them include first recordings of works which had not previously been performed or recorded.

Hoping that this will excite your interest and possibly encourage you to participate in our upcoming Conference in November in Turin,

Zachary Uram wrote (December 21, 2019):
[To Chiara Bertoglio] Ciao Chiara! Much thanks for your Bach-Italy news! Buon Natale!

Continue from Part 21: 2020

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