To play baroque music properly -- especially a bouncing jig like this one in 12/8 time -- you must "unlearn what you have learned", and rethink how you articulate music. Articulation is so important -- the music must feel and look light and airy. This performance by the Netherlands Bach Society fits this feeling perfectly -- the musicians look casual yet classy, showing that Baroque music can indeed be lighthearted and fun.
See this performance by the Netherlands Bach Society, directed by Shunske Sato
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LISTENERS! See a FREE performance of this cantata at Alex's church, by Cathedral Singers and orchestra, Sunday, November 2, at 4pm; details here.
--------
23:45
--------
23:45
Goldberg Variations: Aria
The towering thirty Goldberg Variations combine into a masterwork of keyboard music. As all variation pieces, they were based on a relatively simple source material. But as is his way, Bach organized the variations with a complex and deliberate structure. But also unlike other composers of this form, he poured more into this source material itself.
The famous Aria could stand alone as a sublimely decorated Baroque keyboard piece, but it doesn't stand alone; its bass line and harmonic progression (not its gorgeous melody!) are the actual foundations of all thirty variations. Bach simply could not resist pouring this beauty into even this, the harmonic "template" for the next 90 minutes of music! And this foundation does hold up, all the way until the end, where we are told to play the Aria again, now as our ending.
Baroque ornamentation and performance practice takes this piece past its simple structure. We discuss this ornamentation and one particularly strange and almost inscrutable moment in the middle.
Aria mit 30 Veränderungen ("Goldberg Variations") BWV 988, as performed by Jean Rondeau for the Netherlands Bach Society
--------
14:04
--------
14:04
Cello Suite no. 6: Courante
Listener HG drew our attention to a similarity between the Courante of this cello suite and the "Cum Sancto Spiritu" from the Mass in B minor. We talk about these dance forms and how they affect the affect, so to speak. Nowadays, it's easy to think of Bach as old-fashioned, and certainly some composers in the late 1700s thought the same; however he shows here that he was ahead of his time.
The "shoulder cello" (violoncello da spalla) makes another appearance here, smaller than the typical cello. The instrument sacrifices the deep warmth of the cello for nimbleness and an extra string which allows for higher notes.
Performance of Cello Suite no. 6 (BWV 1012) by Sergey Malov for the Netherlands Bach Society
--------
25:01
--------
25:01
Himmelskönig, sei willkommen: Sonata
"An understated overture" is the description Christian arrives at to describe the humility of the micro-regal sonata which opens the Weimar cantata "Himmelskönig, sei willkommen." Is this thing, marked "adagio, grave," actually a triumphant French Overture? The performance suggests so, in some ways, and not in others. Experienced musicians of baroque music will know the subtleties, which we discuss in this episode. Indeed, it is a march of kingly victory, but not in pomp and circumstance; it is the small and gentle arrival of a humble king of Heaven and Earth, arriving to the world as a helpless baby, and arriving to Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday.
Also, featuring Rage Against the Machine and a very unsettling "Shepard Tone"!
BWV 182 cantata "Himmelskönig, sei willkommen" as performed by the Netherlands Bach Society, directed by Johanna Soller
--------
28:51
--------
28:51
Himmelskönig, sei willkommen: tenor aria
This cantata has an unusual run of three arias in a row -- and the last one of the three is the most remarkable. In deleting a note, creating a rest where there should be music, Bach breaks all the rules -- and creates a stunning effect.
See the performance of BWV 182 by the Netherlands Bach Society, Johanna Soller, artistic director
Welcome to A Moment of Bach, where we take our favorite moments from J. S Bach's vast output—just a minute's worth or even a few seconds—and show you why we think they are remarkable. Join hosts Alex Guebert and Christian Guebert for weekly moments!
Check wherever podcasts are available and subscribe for upcoming episodes.
Our recording samples are provided by the Netherlands Bach Society. Their monumental All of Bach project (to perform and record all of the works of J. S. Bach) serves as source material for our episodes.
https://www.bachvereniging.nl/en
https://www.bachvereniging.nl/en/allofbach
Artwork by Sydney LaCom
Italia