Professional Documents
Culture Documents
TELEMANN
SACRED CANTATAS
PHILIPPE JAROUSSKY
Freiburger Barockorchester
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH 1685-1750
Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust bwv 170
Ich habe genug bwv 82
6 Accompagnato Die stille Nacht umschloss den Kreis der Erden (2:58)
7 Arie Ich bin betrübt bis in den Tod (3:00)
8 Rezitativ Er rung die heil’gen Hände (0:37)
9 Arie Mein Vater! Wenn dir’s wohlgefällt (3:26)
10 Rezitativ Allein, die Angst nahm jeden Nu (0:33)
11 Arie Kommet her, ihr Menschenkinder (3:43)
3 tt 74:57
BACH . TELEMANN Cantatas and the first of three to experiment with the use of an
obbligato organ. For the text, Bach drew on a collection
of librettos published in 1711 by the Darmstadt court
The cantata was at the heart of Lutheran worship. By poet Georg Christian Lehms. Typically, Lehms alludes
the early eighteenth century it had grown into a multi- only tangentially to the Gospel reading for the day,
movement work performed at a crucial point in the an extract from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew
Sunday morning service immediately after the reading 5:20-26), using the hypocritical righteousness of the
of the Gospel, from which it generally took its theme. Pharisees and Jewish scribes as an excuse for a more
For many in the congregation it would have provided general rant against the sinfulness of the world. Despite
a welcome moment of repose in the middle of their its biblical looseness, Lehms’ poetic language is rich in
three-hour long devotions, but for the musicians the dramatic contrasts and graphic imagery ideally suited
workload must have been daunting. to musical setting.
Bach was required to produce cantatas on a regular In the opening aria Bach adopts a reflective pastoral
basis: monthly for the Weimar court between 1714 and style with gently-lilting 12/8 rhythms and a rustic oboe
1716, and weekly from 1723 during his first few years d’amore giving voice to the Christian soul’s quest for
as Kantor at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. Over his inner peace. But the evils of the world rudely intrude
career as a whole he must have written around three and the central aria is an unsettling lament for those
hundred works (of which only about two hundred ‘perverted hearts’ who take pleasure only in hate. Bach
survive), a figure which appears surprisingly modest matches the text with a twisting, chromatic theme
when compared with the relentless output of Telemann, played by the organ in its upper register and under-
who composed at least 1,700. Bach himself avoided the pinned, not by the usual continuo bass, but by the
production-line cantata by the systematic reuse and violins and viola in unison, perhaps an expression of a
revision of earlier works, devoting himself instead to ‘perverted’ life without proper spiritual foundation.
the exploration of a wider and more complex range Finally, a contradiction. While the text of the concluding
of styles, and to achieving greater emotional intensity aria claims ‘It sickens me to live longer’, the music itself
than most of his contemporaries had time for. is unexpectedly cheery, underscoring the soul’s gleeful
The majority of Bach’s cantatas call for several solo anticipation of the life eternal.
voices and a choir bookending the work with a chorus When Bach’s second wife, Anna Magdalena, was
and a chorale. But Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust assembling her music collection during the 1720s, of
and Ich habe genug both belong to a small group of all the works she selected for her own pleasure only
twelve cantatas requiring just a single singer – taking one came from her husband’s rich store of cantatas, the
advantage, perhaps, of an outstanding or visiting soloist, lullaby ‘Schlummert ein’ from Ich habe genug. Intended
or answering the practical need for reduced forces. for the Feast of the Purification (2 February) this cantata
Vergnügte Ruh, for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity, was clearly one Bach thought highly of too, and over a
4 was the first of these to be written in Leipzig (1726), period of twenty years he revisited the score, adapting
and revising the music to suit at least three different line with deep pathos and returning nostalgically to the
voice types. Bach began work early in 1727 with an alto haunting opening throughout the aria. The following
soloist in mind, but quickly abandoned this plan and recitative ends with a striking melodic passage in which
transposed the music down an octave for a bass (the the Christian soul takes leave of the world with a pro-
version – adjusted back up an octave – that is followed found ‘good night’ before the final aria launches into
here). Four years later he replaced the bass with a a joyful, dance-like anticipation of the spiritual life
soprano, exchanged the obbligato oboe for a flute and which awaits us after death.
transposed the work up from C to E minor. Further Georg Philipp Telemann began producing church
revisions followed during the 1730s when he briefly music at a very young age. He later recalled how, as
reverted to the alto register before finally settling again a schoolboy in Zellerfeld (1694-1697), he turned out
on a bass sometime during the mid-1740s. ‘a piece almost every Sunday’ and then in Hildesheim
Throughout all these restless changes of pitch the studied the music of Steffani, Rosenmüller, Corelli and
basic architecture of the work remained unchanged. Caldara so as to ‘base future sacred and instrumental
Ich habe genug is actually one of Bach’s most straight- music on those models’. By the time he arrived in
forward cantatas. The single soloist has just three Leipzig as a student in 1701, Telemann was the natural
modestly scored arias linked by simple recitatives. Like choice to aid the ailing Kantor of the Thomaskirche,
its structure and scoring, the emotional world of the Johann Kuhnau, by writing ‘a piece every fortnight’ for
cantata is intimate and personal, with a text cast entirely the services of the city’s two main churches – a contri-
in the first person and drawing on the Gospel reading bution not entirely welcomed by Kuhnau himself.
of the pious Simeon receiving the Christ child in the Many years later, in his first autobiography, Telemann
temple. It was probably written by Bach’s regular col- wrote with feeling that ‘This at least I know, that I have
laborator Christian Friedrich Henrici (‘Picander’), and valued church music above all else, that I have spent
it takes us on a typically Lutheran journey from world- more time learning from the sacred than from the
weariness to the celebration of death’s happy release. secular works of other composers, and that I have also
The three arias are vividly contrasted and are all of composed more of it than anything else.’
exceptional quality. The first is filled with sadness and Unlike Bach, Telemann cultivated the solo cantata
has often been compared with the moving ‘Erbarme assiduously, publishing several collections aimed at
dich’ from the St Matthew Passion. Bach sustains the smaller churches with limited resources. Die stille
emotional temperature with his plaintive, searching Nacht and Jesus liegt in letzten Zügen are amongst his
writing for solo oboe and judicious repetitions of the more ambitious works, with full accompaniments and
affecting first phrase ‘Ich habe genug’ (‘It is enough’), beautifully written solo parts for bass, quite possibly
which also link the aria to the following recitative. In intended for Telemann himself. For this recording,
the second aria ‘Schlummert ein’ the poet compares and following the pragmatic performing principles of
death with sleep and Bach elevates the Baroque lullaby the period, the vocal parts have been transposed up an
5 tradition to its highest point, infusing the gentle melodic octave, where the alto register serves the expressive
Passiontide sentiments particularly well.
Die stille Nacht was composed for Hamburg in 1741
and recounts Jesus’ Agony on the Mount of Olives.
The opening accompagnato, halfway between aria and
recitative, contrasts the ‘silence of night’ which is ‘wont
to refresh the weary’ with the ‘terrifying night’ full of
‘fear and uncertainty’ which Jesus spent in the Garden
of Gethsemane on the eve of his crucifixion. The
relentlessly pulsing strings illustrate both the rocking
of the sleeper’s lullaby and later the anxious heartbeats
which accompany Jesus’s trembling – worries which
are given full expression in the tense aria which follows.
Cast in a more optimistic major key, the second aria
appeals for hope in the familiar words of Matthew
26:39, ‘My father, if it so please you, let the cup now
pass from me.’ But ultimately, it is the sinner who is
offered the comforting hope of redemption, in a final
aria which reassuringly alludes to the steady tread of
the chaconne.
The narrative continues in Jesus liegt in letzten Zügen
(possibly a companion cantata) which begins as Jesus
‘breathes his last’ – audible as the upper instruments
suddenly fall silent at the final cadence. In the powerful
key of F sharp minor, and with its sighing oboes and
poignant lyricism, this intensely beautiful opening aria
has an air of almost Bachian pathos. The mood relaxes
somewhat in the second aria, where the soul offers to
share the Saviour’s death-like pallor and ‘lay myself
down’ beside him, a duality Telemann reflects in the
exquisitely interlocking phrases of the two accompany-
ing instruments. The cantata ends with a positively
operatic celebration of the soul’s anticipation of a joyful
reunion in heaven.
15
7 2. Arie 2. Aria 2. Air
Ich bin betrübt bis in den Tod. I am saddened unto death. Je suis affligé à en mourir.
Meine Seele will verzagen, My soul would despair, Mon âme est sur le point de renoncer,
die Gebeine sind zerschlagen, my bones are crushed, mes membres sont brisés,
mich umringet Höllennot. I suffer terrible agony. je suis entouré d’une infernale détresse.
16
BACH Ich habe genug
18
20 4. Rezitativ 4. Recitative 4. Récitatif
Jedoch, da dir’s gefällt, But as it pleases thee Cependant, puisqu’il te plaît
dass ich noch auf der Welt that I still here on earth qu’encore dans le monde
den Kreuzkelch trinken muss, must drink the bitter chalice, le calice de la croix je doive boire,
so sei dein Wollen auch mein Schluss. let thy will be my end. que ta volonté soit aussi ma fin.
Indessen glaub ich, dass dein Tod Meanwhile, I believe that thy death Toutefois je crois que ta mort
dereinst in meiner Sterbensnot shall one day, when I am faced ainsi dans mon désir de mourir
mir wird zum Trost erscheinen, with fearful death, come to comfort me, telle une consolation m’apparaîtra,
da du, mein Lebensfürst, as you, Prince of life, dès lors que toi, prince de ma vie,
mich zu den Deinen will lead me to your people parmi les tiens,
ins ew’ge Leben führen wirst. into eternal life. dans la vie éternelle tu me conduiras.