Soloists for Bach Missa Brevis & Cantata 21

Soprano Caroline Jou Armitage started singing in her crib before the age of one, according to her mother, but studied piano and violin from kindergarten through high school instead, as was customary for most children of Taiwanese immigrants. After graduating from U.C. Berkeley in economics, she began formal studies in voice and later performed the roles of Laetitia in Menotti’s Old Maid and the Thief and Lucy Lockit in Britten’s The Beggar’s Opera in the Bay Area, and in Paris, Papagena and the First Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. Most happy in the realm of early music, Caroline has participated as a vocal soloist in the Baroque Academy at the Amherst Early Music Festival and has sung as a soloist in Carissimi’s Jephthe. She has also sung as a chorister in several local groups since 2010—most notably, the California Bach Society. Caroline dedicates this solo performance with CBS to her musical instructors Karen Clark, Paul Flight, and Tamara Loring.

A renowned countertenor, Paul Flight has performed works by John Adams, Leonard Berstein, and Unsuk Chin with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony, the Berkeley Symphony, the Cincinnati May Festival, and the Norwegian State Opera. In 2003 he sang the title role in Philip Glass’s Akhnaten for Oakland Opera Theater. He made his debut at the Kennedy Center in 2008, singing the first countertenor role in Adams’s El Niño, and in August 2010, he made his debut at the Edinburgh International Festival singing the third countertenor role in that work. At California Bach Society’s award-winning performances of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in 2016, Dr. Flight sang the aria “Erbarme Dich.” He is a former member of such distinguished ensembles as the Waverly Consort, Theatre of Voices, Pomerium Musices, and the New York Collegium.

Tenor Jonathan Thomas, a native of Lawrence, Kansas, moved to San Francisco in 2014 and has since appeared as a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony in Carmina Burana, led by Ragnar Bohlin, Monteverdi’s Magnificat from the Vespers of 1610, and Pérotin’s Sederunt Principes, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. He has performed as a soloist in numerous concerts and recordings in the Bay Area, including Handel’s Messiah with Cantare Con Vivo, a French Baroque concert with Chora Nova, and Cappella SF’s album Facing West, among others. Before coming to San Francisco, Mr. Thomas completed opera apprenticeships at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and Des Moines Metro Opera. He has performed concert and opera repertoire throughout the Midwest, including Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Laertes in Hamlet, Don Curzio and Basilio in Le Nozze di Figaro, and the role of the Raven in the world premiere of Robert Kapilow’s Summer Sun, Winter Moon with the Kansas City Symphony. Jonathan received his bachelor of music in vocal performance from the University of Kansas. He currently sings with the chamber choir Cappella SF and as an AGMA member of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus.

Sepp Hammer’s voice has been described as showing “warm baritone gravity” (The Boston Globe). Recently with the California Bach Society, he sang the role of Christ in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and the bass solos in Charpentier’s Le reniement de Saint Pierre, Zelenka’s Missa Votiva, and Bach’s cantata Aus der Tiefe. Other concert engagements include Rutter’s Mass of the Children with the Solano Symphony, Zelenka’s Gloria with Chora Nova, Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs with the Contra Costa Chorale, and, with various ensembles, Charpentier’s Messe des Morts, Schütz’s Symphoniae Sacrae, Bach’s Magnificat and B Minor Mass, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Schubert’s Mass in G Major, and the Requiems of Brahms, Fauré, and Duruflé. Since 2016, Sepp has been a member of the Philharmonia Baroque Chorale. In recent seasons on the opera stage, he has appeared as Pistol in Verdi’s Falstaff with Cinnabar Theater, the Speaker in The Magic Flute with Pocket Opera, Malatesta in Donizetti's Don Pasquale with North Bay Opera, and in the role of Wagner in Gounod’s Faust with Opera San Jose. His opera roles also include Escamillo in Carmen, Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, the title role in Don Giovanni, John Proctor in The Crucible, and Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro.

Program Notes for J.S. Bach: Missa Brevis & Cantata 21

Johann Sebastian Bach would have been surprised by our performance today: his church music on a concert stage, and more than 250 years after his death. Apart from Luther’s chorales, he would never have performed music that old! We don’t know if Bach expected his works to be performed after his death. However, based on the fact that he himself studied music of older masters (such as the Kuhnau piece on this program), he probably did envision his compositions to be known for a generation or two, and might have planned for that.

After revising the St. Matthew Passion in 1736, he made a neat copy of the score in two colors of ink, obviously intending it for others to use and admire. Between 1725 and 1735 he painstakingly filled in the gaps in his chorale cantata cycle of 1724–1725. He creatively reworked some of his older music into the Mass in B Minor in 1733 and into the Christmas Oratorio in 1734–1735, which can be seen as giving new life to music that might otherwise be forgotten. After all, a royal birthday cantata could only be performed once, and a church cantata could only be performed on the particular Sunday for which it was initially written.

So it might have been out of a wish to preserve some his favorite Leipzig church cantatas that Bach “recycled” several of them into four short masses between 1736 and 1739. If this was indeed Bach’s intention, he was unsuccessful: the short masses were never as famous as the Mass in B Minor or any of his oratorios, and it wasn’t until 1990 that ensembles in Europe started recording them.

The Missa Brevis in G Major is based on movements from four different cantatas written between 1723 and 1726. For the “Kyrie” Bach selected the opening chorus of Cantata 179, Siehe zu, dass deine Gottesfurcht nicht Heuchelei sei, of August 1723. This was an inspired time for Bach; for three weeks in a row he wrote music which he would use in later works. He seemed to be especially fond of Cantata 179: he used it in this Mass for the “Kyrie” and the “Quoniam,” and also for the “Qui tollis” of his earlier Missa Brevis in A Major (BWV 234).

Apart from adding oboes to the orchestra, Bach made minimal changes to the original. He did, however, give a new meaning to the composition, especially through his use of the text “Christe eleison” (Christ, have mercy) for the third musical theme in the fugue. When that third theme comes back at the very end of the movement, Bach again put the “Christe eleison” text on it. This means that the last words of the movement are “Christe eleison” instead of the standard “Kyrie eleison.” It is almost as if Bach selected a three-themed fugue on purpose, to communicate that this is a Christ-centered Lutheran Mass, not a Roman Catholic one.

The lovely opening of the “Gloria,” sung by sopranos and altos only, was originally not sung at all, but played by two horns, in the opening chorus of Cantata 79, Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild, written for Reformation Day, October 31, in 1725.

The first nine bars of the manuscript of Cantata 79, with the horn parts at the top, and above that, in Bach's handwriting: Festo Reformationis / Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild

It has been suggested that the soprano and alto voices represent the angels in the Bible story of Jesus’ birth, from which the “Gloria” text of the Mass is derived.

The bass aria, “Gratias agimus tibi” is based on the aria “Auf Gott steht meine Zuversicht,” from Cantata 138, Warum betrübst du dich mein Herz, written in that productive period of late summer 1723, one month after Cantata 179. Because of this aria’s unusual A-B-A-C-A or rondo form, Bach uses the initial text “Gratias agimus tibi” (A) as a “refrain” after the “Domine Deus” text (B), as well as after the “Domine Fili” text (C), again breaking the rules for setting a Mass text.

The soprano-alto duet, “Domine Deus,” is a more elegant piece of music than its original, a soprano-bass duet from Cantata 79 (see the “Gloria”). Bach makes significant changes in the violin part and the meter (alla breve instead of 4/4), and sets the “Qui tollis” text to completely new music.

The tenor aria, “Quoniam tu solus sanctus,” flowing beautifully thanks to some drastic changes to the original aria from Cantata 179 (see the “Kyrie”), has an intriguing feature at the end. Just where one would expect an instrumental ritornello, the music “stops” at a fermata, which does not exist in the original. It is a typical “pay attention!” message from Bach. What then follows is a repetition of the “tu solus altissimus Jesu Christe” text, which, you guessed it, is contrary to the Roman Catholic standard for this part of the mass.

For the closing chorus, “Cum Sancto Spiritu,” Bach again recycles an opening chorus, this time from Cantata 17, Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich, written in 1726. Bach replaces the twenty-seven bars of instrumental introduction with six bars of homophonic choral writing. The fugue that follows shares a feature with the “Cum Sancto Spiritu” from Bach’s Mass in B Minor: each voice entering the fugue is “announced” by rhythmic declamations of the text “in Gloria Dei Patris” in the other voices.

Bach knew Tristis est anima mea by Johann Kuhnau very well and reworked it into a short motet entitled Die Gerechte kömmt um. Kuhnau was Bach’s predecessor as Kantor in Leipzig and was a famous organist and harpsichordist. Motets such as this, written in the Renaissance style of Victoria and Palestrina, were a great inspiration to Bach. He wrote the opening of his Mass in B Minor as well as the opening of the Missa Brevis in G Major from today’s program in this same stile antico (old style). The text of this motet, Tristis est anima mea, is the second responsory of the Tenebrae for Maundy Thursday. It refers to Christ's Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and thus forms a good connection to the anguish expressed in Cantata 21, Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis.

To understand the “making of” Cantata 21, we have to move back in time to the summer of 1713 and go sixty miles southwest from Leipzig to Weimar to meet the twenty-eight-year-old Bach: a gifted and already rather famous organist, ambitious composer, violinist, and devout Lutheran, who probably loved company.

The "Red Palace" (so called for the red window frames) in Weimar, around the corner from Bach's apartment, where Bach likely played through Vivaldi concertos with Prince Johann Ernst of Saxony-Weimar between July 1713 and July 1714.

In July 1713, seventeen-year-old Prince Johann Ernst, the half-brother of one of Bach’s employers in Weimar (yes, he had two; read more in the previous post on this blog), returned from a study trip to the Netherlands, bringing printed music by Vivaldi, Corelli, and others to Weimar. One of the pieces was Vivaldi’s Concerto in D minor, Opus 3, no. 11, for two violins, from Book II of L’Estro armonico (RV 565), which had been published in Amsterdam in 1711. Johann Ernst was an amateur composer and, according to a contemporary testimony, “an incomparable violinist.” It is likely that he and Bach played through this music in the palace, which was right around the corner from Bach’s apartment. Bach transcribed this entire Vivaldi concerto into an organ concerto (BWV 596) and also used the theme in an organ prelude and fugue (BWV 544).

It was that same theme that Bach used for the opening chorus (now movement 2 of Cantata 21) of a funeral cantata he was asked to write for a prominent Weimar citizen in October 1713. That cantata, which only contained six movements (movements 2–6 and 9 of Cantata 21), and in which all arias were sung by a tenor, would form the basis of Cantata 21 as we know it today. We don’t know what Bach’s relationship was to the deceased, Aemilia Maria Harress, but it is clear that her death had deeply touched the community.

Eight months later, in June 1714, for the monthly cantata service in the Ducal chapel that Bach had been performing since March of that year, Bach added the opening sinfonia (in the same style as the one from Cantata 12, Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, written two months earlier), the soprano-bass duets (in the same style as the duet from Cantata 172, written one month earlier), the second tenor aria, and the closing chorus. He then probably performed that version again in July 1714, for the send-off events for his dear friend Prince Johann Ernst. (It turned out to be a final good-bye because the prince died a year later, away from the palace.)

Bach probably also selected this cantata when he went to audition for an organist/music director position in Hamburg in 1720. For this performance he used only soprano and bass soloists, with the soprano also singing the tenor arias. Three weeks into his new job in Leipzig, in June 1723, Bach performed Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis again, this time making a distinction between soli and tutti in some of the choral movements. It is from a reconstruction of this Leipzig score that we perform the cantata today.

We are indebted to Dutch Bach scholar Eduard van Hengel for so thoroughly documenting his research on both these pieces, but especially on the Missa Brevis. Eduard is one of the very few writers who did not assume that the music in Bach’s parody Masses is a mere assemblage of parts, but instead set out to research the differences between the original cantata movements and the music and text of the Mass in great detail.

© Wieneke Gorter 2017

Wieneke Gorter has been a singer in California Bach Society since 1999 and is the author of the Weekly Cantata blog. Find her weekly discussions of Bach cantatas with recommendations for recordings at weeklycantata.com.

Bach & friends, Weimar 1708-1717

From 1708 to 1717, Bach worked at the court of Saxony-Weimar. It was here that he wrote most of his organ works, and became rather famous as an organist. In 1714, he started a regular series of church cantatas, performing them once a month at the ducal chapel and sometimes at the Town Church.

Two dukes co-reigned the duchy, each from their own palace. They were in a constant feud with each other.

Wilhelm Ernst (1662-1728) was the dominant of the two. He was Bach’s official employer and a strong supporter of Bach’s organ compositions. The chapel with the famous organ (65 feet above the ground!) was in his palace (the Wilhelmsburg, pictured above) and it was with him that Bach negotiated the monthly cantata performances in the chapel starting in 1714. The Wilhelmsburg, including the chapel and the music library, was almost entirely destroyed in a fire in 1774. Only the tower and gate house are still standing today:

However, it is believed that Bach preferred to spend time with the other duke, Ernst August (1688-1748), in the Red Palace. Ernst August, only three years younger than Bach, was the nephew of Wilhelm Ernst, a great lover of chamber music, and a good musician himself. Part of the Red Palace (so called for the red window frames in the otherwise grey-colored castle) still exists today, and houses the Duchess Amalia Library:

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), who worked 50 miles away in Eisenach, was a frequent visitor of the Red Palace, and one of Bach’s many cousins, Johann Gottfried Walther (1684-1748), was the music teacher of Ernst August. Note how close in age these men were: Telemann born in 1681, Walther in 1684, Bach in 1685, and Ernst August in 1688.

Since Walther was also the organist of the Town Church, Bach might have had access to that organ in addition to the organ in the chapel in the Wilhelmsburg. It might also have been in this church that the 1713 version of Cantata 21 was performed, for the funeral of Aemilia Maria Harress. On feast days, Bach’s cantatas were most probably also performed in this Stadtkirche (Town Church), because larger instrumental ensembles would not have fitted on the small organ loft of the ducal chapel. The church, also known as Peter und Pauli Kirche (Peter and Paul Church) or Herderkirche still exists:

The Town Church in Weimar, also known as Peter and Paul Church, or Herderkirche.

The organ loft of the Town Church in Weimar

Bach and his wife Maria Barbara lived in an apartment on the town square, a short walk from the Wilhelmsburg, but directly around the corner from the Red Palace. The apartment building (now a parking lot) was owned by a fellow court musician, and many of Bach’s colleagues lived there. Bach’s first six children were born here, including Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel, the latter receiving that particular middle name because of his godfather, Georg Philipp Telemann.

In this satellite picture of modern-day Weimar the location of Bach's apartment is indicated as "house" and the Red Palace as "Rote Schloss."

For the monthly church cantatas, Wilhelm Ernst specifically indicated in the 1714 contract that Bach could use any musician from either palace. The two dukes employed two boy sopranos, one male alto, two tenors, and two basses. Bach could also use boy choristers from the local gymnasium, where his own former principal from Ohrdruf was the rector.

Only two days before the first cantata was to be performed in March 1714, Wilhelm Ernst wrote an addendum stating that all cantata rehearsals had to be in the chapel, and could not be at someone’s house or in other lodgings. Why did he write this? Were the musicians practicing in Bach’s apartment, or in the Red Palace? We will never know but we can only imagine ...

Wieneke Gorter

Charpentier with 5 gambas!

The program for A Charpentier Showcase includes works written for chorus and soloists with strings, typically violins and violas, and perhaps one viola da gamba.  But our ensemble is five gambas and two flutes.  We asked Paul Flight, why five gambas?  He writes: "Truth be told, I heard Jordi Savall's Le Concert des Nations performing the music with gambas, and I liked the delicate timbre of the viols.   I think the addition of two flutes gives a lovely smoothness as well."

Listen to this excerpt and see what you think:  Maestro Savall leading the soloists and players in the Missa "Assumpta est Maria"

Program Notes: A Charpentier Showcase

PROGRAM NOTES

Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704) was a French composer of the Baroque era.  Exceptionally prolific and versatile, Charpentier produced compositions of the highest quality in several genres. His mastery in writing sacred vocal music, above all, was recognized and hailed by his contemporaries.  And yet, his music was also controversial during his lifetime; he had as many vociferous detractors as supporters. What is most striking to modern listeners is probably the transparent emotion expressed in his music, giving it an extraordinarily modern sensibility. He is best known for his noble and often achingly poignant religious works, but his secular love songs dazzle with their simplicity and unmannered charm, and other works reveal a wicked wit.

Charpentier was born in or near Paris. He received a good education and entered law school in Paris when he was eighteen, but he withdrew after only one semester. He spent several years in Rome, probably between 1667 and 1669, and studied with Giacomo Carissimi. There he acquired a solid knowledge of contemporary Italian musical practice and brought it back to France.

Upon his return to France, Charpentier began working as house composer to Marie de Lorraine, Duchess of Guise, who was known familiarly as "Mlle de Guise." She gave him an apartment in the recently renovated Hôtel de Guise. For the next seventeen years, Charpentier composed a considerable quantity of vocal works for her, among them Psalm settings, hymns, motets, a Magnificat setting, a mass and a Dies Irae for the funeral of her nephew Louis Joseph, Duke of Guise, and a succession of Italianate oratorios set to non-liturgical Latin texts. Throughout the 1670s, the bulk of these works were for trios. Then, about 1680, Mlle de Guise increased the size of the ensemble until it included thirteen performers. In the pieces written from 1684 until late 1687, the names of the musicians appear in the margins of Charpentier's manuscripts—including "Charp" for himself beside the haute-contre (high tenor) line. 

During his years of service to Mlle de Guise, Charpentier also composed for "Mme de Guise," Louis XIV's first cousin. It was in large part owing to Mme de Guise's protection that the Guise musicians were permitted to perform Charpentier's chamber operas in defiance of the monopoly held by Jean Baptiste Lully.

In 1679, Charpentier was singled out to compose for Louis XIV's son, the Dauphin. Writing primarily for the prince's private chapel, he composed devotional pieces for a small ensemble composed of royal musicians, an ensemble that, with Mlle de Guise's permission, could perform works he had earlier composed for the Guises. By early 1683, when he was awarded a royal pension, Charpentier was being commissioned to write for court events such as the annual Corpus Christi procession.

By late 1687, Mlle de Guise was dying. Around that time, Charpentier entered the employ of the Jesuits.

Stained glass, Sainte-Chapelle, Paris

From late 1687 to early 1698, Charpentier served as maître de musique (music master) to the Jesuits, working first for their collège of Louis-le-Grand and then for the church of Saint-Louis. Once he moved to Saint-Louis, Charpentier virtually ceased writing oratorios and instead primarily wrote musical settings of Psalms and other liturgical texts.

Charpentier was appointed maître de musique for the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris in 1698, a royal post he held until his death in 1704.

Salve Regina, H. 24

Salve Regina (Welcome, Queen) utilizes triple choirs (two full choirs and a trio) and recalls the stylistic elements of the oratorio, as Charpentier skillfully manipulates the musical texture by combining and separating the three choirs, and using the small choir in the most dramatic gestures of the piece, especially in the astounding “Ad te clamamus section,” with its powerful dissonances that describe a painful descent into a “valley of tears.”

Nisi Dominus, H. 150

Psalm 127 (Unless the Lord built the house, those who built it labored in vain) has been set by many composers; its colorful imagery invites the composer’s imagination.  Written for four voices and light accompanying instruments, the work is introduced by a tenor solo.  The “Vanum est vobis” section is a treble duet that seems to pay tribute to Monteverdi with its lively rising lines on the word “surgite” (arise).  This is followed by a quiet four-part setting alluding to sleep, and then jumps vigorously into the words “Ecce heriditas Domini filii.” A bass solo then leads into the final triple meter “Beatus vir” and the rousing final doxology.

Litanies de la Vierge, H. 83

Litanies de la Vierge (Litanies of the Virgin) was composed under the auspices of Mlle de Guise. This work, also known as the Litany of Loreto, is represented in a volume of nine different settings, scored for a variety of vocal and instrumental forces, taking advantage of the personnel added by Mlle de Guise after 1680.  This particular setting requires six voices, two viols, and continuo.  The voice parts are notated with the names of the performers, including Charpentier’s name for the haute-contre (a very high tenor part, found in many French Baroque vocal works, sung in our performance by the altos).   With the exception of the opening and closing chorus, directed towards the Holy Trinity and towards Jesus (the Lamb of God), the remaining seven verses request the intercession of the Virgin Mary, and praise her mystical qualities and spiritual virtues.  The settings alternate between trios of the upper three voices, the lower three voices, and the full chorus, and also move between stately homophony and elegant counterpoint.

Missa “Assumpta est Maria” H. 11

Missa “Assumpta est Maria” (Mass “Mary is taken up into heaven,”) the last of Charpentier's many mass settings, is considered his greatest work in the genre. It was first performed at the Sainte Chapelle in Paris, probably during the Feast of the Assumption in 1699. Its grandeur suggests that it accompanied considerable ecclesiastical display. Charpentier's decision to place the climax at the Creed's affirmation of belief in "one holy, catholic, and apostolic church" would have had political resonances at a time when tensions between church and monarchy in France were high.

Throughout the seventeenth and much of the eighteenth century, the mass sung in France remained outside the stylistic currents affecting other forms of secular and sacred music. Most of the masses that could be heard in Paris and in the provinces during the reign of Louis XIV were either plain-chant or polyphonic, sometimes written decades previously and adapted to the taste of the day by instrumental accompaniments.  Consequently, the eleven vocal masses left by Charpentier assume an exceptional brilliance, written in a much different “concertante” style. The manuscript indicates that early performances separated its sections with motets, instrumental music, and organ improvisations.  The mass ends, as did all masses written for the French king, with a short “God Save the King.”

Motet pour les trépassés, H. 311

The text of Motet pour les trépassés (Motet for the Deceased) comes from the book of Job. This text was often used for funeral services. The writing is for double choir, interspersed with trios and soloists.  The middle section is quite dramatic; the translated text is “Oh my Lord, why have you made me a target?”  The setting is recitative-like, starting out with a solo voice and then joined with others. The cries of “Heu” sound like cries of pain.

Following the motet is the “Agnus Dei” from Messe Pour Les Trépassés (Mass for the Deceased). It is written for double chorus in concertante style. The writing is hushed and simple. The first and third “Agnus Dei” are sung by the full choir. A low trio is assigned to the middle verse, which is distinguished by longer vocal lines with elegant ornamentation.

– Patricia Jennerjohn

Program Notes: North German Masters

Franz Tunder (1614–1667) was a German composer and organist of the early to middle Baroque era. He was an important link between early German Baroque style, based on Venetian models, and the later Baroque style, which culminated in the music of J.S. Bach. Tunder’s surviving output suggests a marked preference for the chorale fantasia style.

In 1641 he was appointed as organist at Lübeck's main church, the Marienkirche. In 1647 he became administrator and treasurer there also. He remained there for the rest of his life.  Tunder began the tradition of “Abendmusiken,” free concerts in the Marienkirche, the most elaborate of which were during Advent. The earliest of these concerts occurred in 1646. The concerts seem to have originated as organ performances specifically for the businessmen who congregated at the weekly opening of the town's stock exchange. These concerts continued through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and were distinguished from other concerts by having free admission, being financed by the business community.

The motet Nisi Dominus was composed for the Abendmusik concerts. It is a complex, multi-section setting of Psalm 127 (“Unless the Lord built the house, those who built it labor in vain”), a text that seems to beg for word painting, with its vivid imagery. 

Although not set for multiple choirs, the composer uses dialogues between different sections of the choir and varies the density of the writing to create a call and response effect that is reminiscent of Venetian composers such as Gabrieli. The sections are separated by florid bass solos.

After the introductory movement and the first bass solo, we encounter a vigorous rising motif to illustrate the word “surgite” (rise up), which halts on the words “postquam sederitis” (after resting). A plaintive series of supensions describes how we work hard for our bread; then the music descends through the lower voices to describe how those beloved of God are granted peaceful sleep. In a subsequent section, also set off by a bass solo, florid melismas and trumpet-like outbursts describe contending with opponents in court. The Psalm is concluded with the traditional doxology, which reprises themes from the opening movement.

Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott is a setting of Martin Luther’s most famous and iconic chorale, “A mighty fortress is our God.” Four verses of this renowned hymn are set in this chorale motet. The style of the motet feels somewhat reminiscent of Schütz, especially in its dramatic treatment of the material.

Verse one is a relatively straightforward exposition of the chorale tune by the sopranos; it alternates between triple time and common time. Verse two, for all voices, is vigorous and declamatory, matching the words of courage — especially the setting of the words “es streitet für uns” (he struggles for us) — set in common time, with the final phrase in 6/4 to gracefully round off the end of the verse. Verse three opens with a florid bass passage, followed by a long and elaborate treatment with coloratura flourishes in all voice parts, alternating common time and 6/4. Verse four is flowing and imitative; the setting of the final words reverts back to common time to make the final declaration.

Dieterich Buxtehude (c. 1637–1707) was a Danish-German organist and composer of the Baroque period. He composed in a wide variety of vocal and instrumental idioms, and his style strongly influenced many composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach. Today, Buxtehude is considered one of the most important composers of the German mid-Baroque. His surviving church music is praised for its high musical qualities rather than its progressive elements. The librettos for his oratorios survive; but none of the scores do. This is particularly unfortunate because his German oratorios seem to be the model for later works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Philipp Telemann. 

Buxtehude's last post, from 1668, was at the Marienkirche in Lübeck. There he succeeded Franz Tunder. In 1673 he reorganized the musical performances, initiated by Tunder, known as Abendmusiken, which attracted musicians from diverse places and remained a feature of the church until 1810. He married Tunder's daughter Anna Margarethe in 1668. It was a not uncommon practice for a man to marry the daughter of his predecessor in his occupation. In 1703, Buxtehude offered his position in Lübeck to Handel and Johann Mattheson, but stipulated that the organist who ascended to it must marry his eldest daughter. Both Handel and Mattheson turned the offer down and left the day after their arrival. 

In 1705, J.S. Bach, then a young man of twenty, walked from Arnstadt to Lübeck, a distance of more than 400 kilometres (250 miles), and stayed nearly three months to hear the Abendmusiken. Legend has it that Buxtehude extended the same succession offer to Bach, who also declined.

Jesu, meines Lebens Leben opens with an instrumental sinfonia. The five verses of this hymn are presented in a series of variations. Buxtehude shows off his ability to work creatively by confining the bass line to two measures that repeat for the duration of the piece (a chaconne), and using the upper voices and accompanying instruments to play off this self-imposed limitation. Each variation/verse also alters the number of voice parts in a rather clever fashion.

Verse one has the sopranos singing alone. Verse two utilizes the lower three voices (alto, tenor, and bass), but omits the sopranos. Verse three is sung by the tenors, and then verse four is assigned to the sopranos, altos, and basses, leaving the tenors out this time. All four voices join in verse five, finishing off with an “Amen” in a more imitative style, but still built over the two-measure bass line.

Johann Schop (c. 1590–1667) was a German violinist and composer, much admired as a musician and a technician. He was a virtuoso whose compositions for the violin set impressive technical demands for that time. In 1756 Leopold Mozart commented on the difficulty of a trill in a work by Schop, probably composed before 1646. A melody of his was used by Johann Sebastian Bach for the chorale movements of his cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147. Under the English title of Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, Bach's chorale on the Schop melody has been arranged for different instruments and has gained wide popularity.

Christ lag in Todesbanden, another renowned Lutheran hymn, is set as a chorale fantasia for treble voices.  Consistent with his violin writing, this has some florid vocal moments, but is otherwise a very sweet and intimate setting. It is presented as a dialogue between the two voice parts—which intertwine and frequently cross—accompanied only by continuo instruments. The hymn tune is subtly present, but changing meters and ornamental lines soften the effect.  

Matthias Weckmann (c. 1620–1674) was a German musician and composer of the Baroque period. His musical training took place in Dresden (as a chorister at the Saxon Court, under the direction of Heinrich Schütz), then in Hamburg, where he worked with the famous organist Jacob Praetorius at the Saint Peter's church. Weckmann was introduced to the Italian concertato, polychoral and monodic styles (Schütz had journeyed in Italy when a young man and had met Giovanni Gabrieli and Monteverdi). Weckmann travelled to Denmark in 1637 with Schütz, became organist in Dresden at the Electoral Court of Saxony from 1638 to 1642, and returned to Denmark until 1647 (during the Thirty Years' War).  Stylistically, he mostly followed the progressive tendencies of Schütz.  Weckmann is a good example of a composer whose works would have been completely lost to history had it not been for the nineteenth century interest in researching the predecessors of J.S. Bach.

Weckmann set Wenn der Herr die Gefangenen, Psalm 126, in a multi-sectional motet style with some truly exquisite word painting, which follows the text very closely. The opening section is wonderstruck and dreamy, and it is followed by a bright and lively description of joyful laughter and singing.  A sturdy and declamatory section gives thanks for the great deeds of the Lord, and then breaks into a lively fugue on the words “then we were glad.”

A plaintive dropping line starts the next section, and is underpinned by an undulating line describing the flowing streams in the text.

The final section sets the last words of the Psalm, beloved by many North German composers: “Die mit tränen säen” (Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy).  Musically it is divided into two parts; the first part starts off in a quiet and flowing manner, and concludes with a set of vocal flourishes and strong stop at the end of the words “shall reap in joy.”  The second part starts out very much like the first, quietly, but the tempo picks up quickly for the joyful words that follow.  Another set of vocal flourishes wraps up and leads into a finale that celebrates the bringing in of the harvest.

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767) was a German Baroque composer and instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. Telemann was and still is one of the most prolific composers in history (at least in terms of surviving works), and was considered by his contemporaries to be one of the leading German composers of the time—he was compared favorably both to his friend Johann Sebastian Bach, who made Telemann the godfather and namesake of his son Carl Philipp Emanuel, and to George Frideric Handel, whom Telemann also knew personally. Telemann's music incorporates several national styles (French, Italian) and is even at times influenced by Polish popular music. He remained at the forefront of all new musical tendencies and his music is an important link between the late Baroque and early Classical styles.

The music of Telemann’s youth is quite different from his mature works.  Schaffe in mir, Gott, ein reines Herz (Psalm 51, v 10-12) was written when Telemann was only seventeen years old. It hearkens back to Schütz and other earlier North German masters. The setting is simple, elegant, and very confident. The youthful composer skillfully changes the musical mood as the words seem to dictate.

Telemann shows off his technical expertise by setting the first section as a chaconne. The vocal writing is constructed above a ground bass that is a constantly repeating descending scale. The instrumental accompaniment plays an additional independent line that weaves through the texture.

The second section is for tenor voices only and is very lightly scored. The full chorus comes back in the next part, a cheerful and vigorous alternation between homophonic and imitative writing. A simple and sweet soprano and alto duet follows. The finale is a treatment of a verse from the Lutheran hymn “Komm Heiliger Geist.” The vocal parts are set in a relatively standard chorale harmonization. What makes this movement unique is the lively instrumental accompaniment under the chorale.

Program notes by Patricia Jennerjohn.

Purchase your tickets now to get advance pricing for this grand winter concert.

Program Notes: Jul, Jul—A Scandinavian Christmas

Jul, the Scandinavian Christmas holiday, is celebrated throughout December and traditionally until St. Knut’s Day on January 13. The main celebration and the exchange of gifts takes place on Christmas Eve, December 24. St. Lucia’s Day is celebrated during Advent, on December 13. It is a charming holiday that celebrates a Roman saint who wore candles on her head to light her way as she carried food to persecuted Christians in hiding. A wish for light and warmth is understandable at this time of year in the dark and cold of Scandinavia.

The Christian Christmas celebration was incorporated into the old Norse tradition of a mid-winter festival that celebrated the recent harvest and looked forward to spring.  The Norse festival was well known as far back as the fourth century; the merging of that festival with Christian traditions occurred in the eleventh century.

A central aspect of the pagan Germanic celebration of midwinter was to eat and drink well, and in modern times is represented by the Julbord—a buffet, eaten at lunchtime. This may include herring, gravlax (salmon which has been cured in sugar, salt, and dill), smoked salmon, and other cold meats, cheeses, salads, pickles, and different types of bread. There will also be warm, savory foods such as meatballs, sausages, meat-stuffed cabbage rolls, jellied pigs’ feet, lutefisk, and oven-roasted pork ribs. Vegetables such as potatoes and red cabbage will also be served. The dessert of the Julbord might be a selection of sweet pastries, cookies, and other home-made sweets. To wash all that food down you can have some glogg, which is sweet mulled wine, and coffee to finish off the meal. Another holiday dessert is a rice pudding with raspberry jam or cinnamon, usually eaten during the evening after people have exchanged their presents.

Scandinavia has contributed many traditions that we see celebrated in the United States, such as Advent wreaths, candles, and calendars. Christmas seals were first seen in Denmark.  And the Scandinavian culture in turn adopted other European Christmas traditions, such as the German Christmas tree and the Dutch Santa Claus.

The musical traditions are equally charming. Scandinavian national music, often based on folk songs, blends cheer and melancholy into a unique sound. Perhaps this reflects the extremes of their climate—midnight sun at midsummer and darkness at midwinter. We present a broad range of music from this culture, from simple folksong arrangements to sophisticated Classical, Romantic, and modern settings of traditional and modern texts.

Bereden väg för Herran (Make way for the Lord) is a hymn with lyrics written in 1812 by Frans Michael Franzén,. Describing Jesus coming into Jerusalem, it is a popular Swedish Advent song.

Himmelriket liknas vid tio jungfrur (The kingdom of heaven is like unto ten virgins) is a traditional Advent song from Värmland, an area of western Sweden that borders on Norway. It uses the tale of the wise and foolish virgins to urge us to prepare properly for the coming of Christ.

Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)   A Danish composer, Nielsen’s interest and background in folk music had special resonance for Danes, and this was intensified during the nationalistic movements of the 1930s and during World War II, when singing was an important basis for the Danes to distinguish themselves from their German enemies. Thus, while outside Denmark Nielsen is largely thought of as a composer of orchestral music, in his own country he is more of a national symbol. These two sides were officially brought together in Denmark in 2006 when the Ministry of Culture issued a list of the twelve greatest Danish musical works, which included three by Nielsen.

Towards the end of 1923, Nielsen composed three Christmas carols, all of which were published just before Christmas of that year. They were originally for solo voice and orchestra, and were later set as SATB arrangements. The settings are fresh and uncomplicated, and preserve the folk nature of the songs.  We present two of them here.

Hjemlige Jul (Secret Christmas)

Himlen mørkner stor og stum (Heaven’s gloom a world apart) 

Ludvig Norman (1831–1885) was a Swedish composer, conductor, pianist, and music teacher. Together with Franz Berwald and Adolf Fredrik Lindblad, he ranks among the most important Swedish symphonists of the 19th century.

Jordens oro viker (Earth’s concerns give way to peace)   Although not explicitly presenting a Christmas theme, this motet does create an atmosphere of peace and serenity, much needed during this dark time of the year. Set for double chorus, it is sturdily homophonic, building to resonant climaxes, and resolving peacefully on the words “The heavens will explain all.”

Staffan var en stalledräng (Stefan was a stableboy) is a traditional song with many verses, from Mockfjärd, a tiny town in the center of Sweden. It is the tale of a stableboy who rides off in pursuit of the Christmas star, making sure that he is well fed and supplied with brandy for his year-long journey.    

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)

Hvad est du dog skjøn (How fair is thy face)   Grieg’s Fire Salmer (Four Hymns), Opus 74, for baritone soloist and mixed choir, was his final composition, composed in the second half of 1906. He adapted melodies from L.M. Lindemann’s collection Older and More Recent Norwegian Folk Tunes, an anthology upon which he drew heavily throughout his career. These motets are particularly notable for their harmonic inventiveness: Grieg is very adept at adapting the modes of his source material—neither major nor minor—and at harmonizing it in a manner which sounds and feels authentic. The language of the texts is an interesting puzzle in itself.  Called “Bokmål” or “Riksmål,” it is actually more Danish than it is Norwegian, and reflects the centuries during which Norway was, effectively, a colony of Denmark. It seems that the musical aspect, the tunes themselves rather than the words, is what interested Grieg: “These melodies are so lovely that they deserve to be preserved in an artistic costume,” he wrote in his diary on September 15, 1906.

Ave maris stella (Hail, star of the sea)   Norway has a long relationship with the sea and sailing, so this text has great meaning for this country. This beautiful and serene setting of the Marian hymn is well known and beloved. Originally set for voice and piano in 1893, Grieg later made this arrangement for SSAATTBB chorus in 1898.

Henrik Rung (1807-1871) was a Danish composer, singing teacher and conductor. Rung was born in Copenhagen. In 1851 he founded the Cæciliaforeningen, serving as its chairman from 1851 to 1871.

Kimer, I klokker (Ring out, ye bells)   Nikolaj Grundtvig wrote this hymn text in 1856. The following year, in 1857, Rung composed the melody (and later published a version for four voices). He wrote melodies for many of Grundtvig’s hymns, despite the fact that he was not a church musician. 

Ivar Widéen (1871-1951) was a Swedish organist and composer. Widéen was greatly inspired by the music of Richard Wagner, Edvard Grieg, and August Söderman. He had a prominent role in Swedish choral music. He was principal conductor of the Småland Sångarförbund (choral society) and led that choir at annual national choir festivals. 

Gläns över sjö och strand (English title: Star of Bethlehem)   These words are the opening lines of a poem written by Viktor Rydberg, appearing in his novel Vapensmeden. 

Trond Kverno (b. 1945) is a contemporary Norwegian composer. He received degrees in church music, music theory, and choir direction from the Oslo Conservatory of Music, now the Norwegian Academy of Music, and was a professor of music there. He is known for his liturgical compositions. Church music has spearheaded major new developments in music in Norway throughout the post-war period, in terms of both musical innovation and institutional renewal. 

Ave maris stella, another setting of this hymn by a Norwegian composer, notable for its complexity and dynamic range. Quiet lyrical passages alternate with vigorous sections in irregular rhythms.

Corpus Christi Carol is a Middle English hymn (or carol), first found in a manuscript written around 1504. The original writer of the carol remains anonymous. The earliest surviving record of the piece preserves only the lyrics and is untitled. It has survived in altered form in the folk tradition as the Christmas carol “Down In Yon Forest.” The text is not specifically on a Christmas theme, yet a number of composers (including Benjamin Britten) have associated this work with Christmas. Kverno’s melancholy setting translates the Middle English into Norwegian.

Hugo Alfvén (1872–1960) became known as one of Sweden’s principal composers of his time. Alfvén’s music is in a late-Romantic idiom. His orchestration is skillful and colorful, reminiscent of that of Richard Strauss. Like Strauss, Alfvén wrote a considerable amount of program music. Some of Alfvén’s music evokes the landscape of Sweden.

Julsång (Christmas carol) was written in 1934 for the Siljan District Choir. The setting is simple, yet subtle and unusual harmonic shifts give it a unique color.

Ivar Widéen

På krubbans strå (In the manger straw) is a sweet and understated setting of a hymn from the Swedish Psalm Book, addressing Jesus in the manger.

Gustaf Nordqvist (1886-1949) was a Swedish composer, church musician, and professor. He served as organist at the Church of Adolf Fredrik in Stockholm 1914–1949 and as a teacher of harmony at the Stockholm Conservatory 1925–1949. 

Jul, jul, strålande jul (Christmas, Christmas, glorious Christmas) is Nordqvist’s most famous and beloved work. It has been subject to many interpretations in Sweden, other Scandinavian countries, and internationally by singers, choirs and orchestras. The song was one of the most popular Christmas carols in Sweden during the 20th century. The lyrics describe Christmas as white and snow-filled, depicting all the Christmas blessings, with a wish that Christmas bring light and peace to the world

Fredrik Sixten (b. 1962) is a Swedish composer, cathedral organist, and conductor. He was the conductor of Gothenburg’s boys choir between 1997 and 2001. Today he is the cathedral organist of the Härnösand Cathedral. His music has been extensively recorded and performed.

There is no rose of such vertu  This piece was written for and dedicated to the Sofia Vokalensemble of Stockholm. This hymn to the Virgin praises her as singularly worthy of the miraculous conception and birth of the Christ Child. The setting is a mysterious and sonorous joining of graceful melodic lines and veils of complex chords.

Otto Olsson (1879-1964) was a Swedish composer and one of the greatest organ virtuosos of his time. He used his strong background in counterpoint, combined with an affinity for French organ music, to create his late Romantic style of composition. He explored polytonality in his work, an advancement not found in other Swedish works of the time. 

Guds Son är född (God’s Son is born) is part of a set of Advent and Christmas songs Olsson wrote in the first part of the 20th century. The melodic line is passed to various voices, while the rest of the choir provides wordless harmonic support, until the final two verses when all the voices unite in four-part harmony for a joyful finish.

Program notes by Patricia Jennerjohn.

Purchase your tickets now to get advance pricing for this lovely holiday concert.

Our program for the holiday concert Jul, Jul

We're excited to announce the program for our holiday concert, Jul, Jul—A Scandinavian Christmas, on December 2-4.  This concert is rich with breathtakingly beautiful Yule-tide songs and carols.  We'll be singing in Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, English, and Latin, in a program ranging from traditional folk carols to works by Gustaf Nordkvist, Carl Nielsen, Edvard Grieg, and Fredrik Sixten. Join our celebration of the light shining through the darkest time of the year!

Purchase your tickets in advance to get discount pricing.

Jul, Jul—A Scandinavian Christmas

Friday, Dec. 2 in San Francisco; Saturday, Dec. 3 in Palo Alto; Sunday, Dec. 4 in Berkeley

Bereden väg för Herran

Himmelriket liknas vid tio jungfrur

Hjemlige jul

Himlen mørkner stor og stum

Jordens oro viker

Staffan stalledräng

Ave maris stella

Hvad est du dog skjøn

arr. Anders Bond (1888–1980)

Swedish folk melody

Carl Nielsen (1865–1931)

Ludwig Norman (1831–1885)

arr. Anders Öhrwall (1932–2012)

Edvard Grieg (1843–1907)

Intermission

Kimer I klokker

Glänz över sjö och strand

Ave maris stella

Corpus Christi Carol

Julsång

På krubbans strå

Jul, jul, strålande jul

There is No Rose of Such Virtu

Guds son är född

arr. Ole Faurschou

Ivar Wideen (1871–1951)

Trond Kverno (b. 1945) 

Hugo Alfven (1872–1960)

Ivar Wideen

Gustaf Nordkvist (1886–1949)

Fredrik Sixten (b. 1962)

arr. Otto Ohlsonn (1879–1964)

Buy tickets now for advance pricing!

Program Notes: J.S. Bach St. Matthew Passion

Sometime in the Middle Ages, Christian churches began observing Holy Week by retelling the story of Christ's crucifixion in music. Those beginnings were simple—Bible verses set to chant melodies—but eventually they would culminate in one of the most ambitious musical compositions of all time.

When J. S. Bach came to write his St. Matthew Passion in the 1720s, the Passion, as a musical form, had grown to allow orchestra, choirs, and non-scriptural choruses and arias. But even by the standard of the Baroque Passion, the Passion According to St. Matthew is exceptional for its musical richness and its grand scope.

Dramatically, the point of view shifts continuously, from the narrative of the Evangelist, to the actual words of Jesus and his disciples, to reflections that speak for the individual believer. In Bach's hands, the effect that the Passion gives is a single, sustained, somber meditation—appropriate for a work that was first performed as part of a church service.

In contrast to his earlier St. John Passion, this work was influenced by the Pietism movement in the Lutheran Church.  Pietism emphasized personal faith, versus the Lutheran Church's perceived traditional stress on doctrine and theology.  As a result, the St. Matthew Passion is passionate and heartfelt; the solo arias are especially personal in their reflections on the events that are portrayed.

The St. Matthew Passion was probably first performed on 11 April 1727 in the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, and again in 1729, 1736, and 1742. The 1736 revision (with some possible later adjustments) is what is generally known as the St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244. Felix Mendelssohn was famously responsible for a revival of this work; he edited a manuscript that he had received as a gift from his grandmother and conducted a performance in Berlin in 1829, perhaps the first performance outside of Leipzig.  However, he made significant cuts, of ten arias, seven choruses, and some chorales. 

Excerpts of the work were performed on the American television program Omnibus in 1957 in the episode "The Music of J.S. Bach." The presenter and explicator was Leonard Bernstein, who introduced the St. Matthew Passion as "that glorious work that started me off on my own private passion for Bach." The St. Matthew Passion has been presented in staged performances. Typically, these are done with all performers in street clothes or neutral costumes, the orchestras on stage, the soloists singing without scores, and the words acted out in a solemn fashion, with only a minimal stage set.

In consideration of the story to be told, the words are treated with great importance; one can see an operatic influence in the way the music works in collaboration with the libretto.  Picander, pen name of the poet who wrote libretti for Bach, wrote text for recitatives and arias, and for the large-scale choral movements that open and close the Passion. Other libretto sections came from publications by Salomo Franck and Barthold Heinrich Brockes.  The Biblical texts are from Matthew 26–27 (Luther’s translation) and also from the Song of Songs. Finally, eleven chorales (Lutheran hymn tunes) are used.

The words of the Evangelist and the named characters (Jesus, Peter, Judas, Pilate, the High Priest) are taken directly from Scripture, using recitatives, vocal passages that imitate spoken language, usually in free tempo. 

The words of Jesus usually receive special treatment. In this work, they are accompanied not by continuo alone, but also by the entire string section, using long, sustained notes and "highlighting" certain words, thus creating an effect often referred to as Jesus's "halo." Only his final words, in Aramaic, Eli, Eli lama asabthani? (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?), portraying his physical death, are sung without this "halo.”

The chorus has a dual role: portraying group roles (disciples, the crowd), the words directly from Matthew’s Gospel; and acting as a commentator, in chorale tunes with verses that reflect back upon the action. The chorales are distinguished by varied harmonizations, which effectively color the emotional content of the words.

Additionally, choruses with a mixture of chorale tunes and poetry—chorale fantasias—are used to “bookend” the major sections of this work. In the St. Matthew Passion there are three such extended choral movements: the opening chorus ,"Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen" (Come, you daughters, help me lament); the conclusion of Part One, "O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß" (O man, lament your great sin ); and the final chorus ,"Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder" (We sit down in tears).   

The arias meditate on and react to the events of the Passion, interpret the Gospel texts, and represent the responses and thoughts of the soul.  The arias are interspersed between sections of the Gospel text. They are sung by soloists with a variety of instrumental accompaniments, typical of the oratorio style. Obbligato instruments are equal partners with the voices, as was customary in late Baroque arias. In the arias Bach often uses word painting, as in "Buß und Reu," where the flutes start playing a raindrop-like staccato as the alto sings of drops of tears falling and in "Blute nur," where the line about the serpent is set with a twisting melody.

Overview and Highlights

Part One

The first scenes are in Jerusalem.  The opening chorus sets the tone, establishing Jesus as both the bridegroom and the sacrificial lamb:  "Suddenly the chorus breaks into two antiphonal choruses. 'See him!' cries the first one. 'Whom?' asks the second. And the first answers: 'The Bridegroom, see. See Him!' 'How?' 'So like a Lamb.' And then over and against all this questioning and answering and throbbing, the voices of [the treble] choir sing out the chorale tune, 'O Lamb of God Most Holy,' piercing through the worldly pain with the icy-clear truth of redemption. The contrapuntal combination of the three different choruses is thrilling. There is nothing like it in all music." – Leonard Bernstein

Jesus announces his death. Next, the intention to get rid of him is expressed. A scene in Bethany shows a woman anointing his head with valuable oils. In the next scene, Judas Iscariot is negotiating the price for handing Jesus over.  With a great contrast of mood, the preparation for the "Easter meal" (Osterlamm) is described, and the Passover meal itself, the Last Supper, foreshadowed by the announcement of betrayal. The disciples ask Jesus over and over again, “Herr, bin ichs?” (Lord, is it me?); this phrase is repeated eleven times; each disciple, except for Judas, the actual betrayer, questions anxiously.

After the meal they go together to the Mount of Olives, where Jesus predicts that Peter will deny him three times before the cock crows. At the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asks his followers several times to support him, but they fall asleep while he is praying in agony. It is there that he is betrayed by Judas's kiss and arrested. While soprano and alto mourn Jesus's arrest, the chorus makes angry interjections (“Laßt ihn, haltet, bindet nicht!” Release him, stop, do not bind him!).  In a dramatic highpoint the chorus furiously demands against those who arrested Jesus "Zertrümmre, verderbe, verschlinge, zerschelle/ Mit plötzlicher Wut/Den falschen Verräter, das mördrische Blut!" (Smash, ruin, devour, shatter with sudden fury the false betrayer, the murderous blood!).  

Part I closes with a stately and expansive four-part fantasia on the chorale “O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß” (O mankind, mourn your great sins), reminding us that Jesus was born of the Virgin to become the intercessor and acknowledging mankind’s great sins and the sacrifice Jesus is making to secure redemption. The sopranos sing the cantus firmus, the other voices embellish aspects of the chorale words.

Part Two

In the opening movement, the alto soloist sings of looking anxiously for Jesus, who is missing, and for whom she fears the worst.  The chorus sings words from the Song of Songs, offering to help her in her search.  

The first scene of Part Two is an interrogation at the High Priest Caiaphas, where two witnesses report Jesus having spoken about destroying the temple and building it again in three days. Jesus is silent to this, but his answer to the question if he is the Son of God is considered a sacrilege calling for his death. Outside in the courtyard Peter is told three times that he belongs to Jesus and denies it three times; then the cock crows.  Peter remembers this, and flees, “weeping bitterly.” This is followed by the heart- wrenching aria “Erbarme dich” (Have mercy), in which the soloist asks that these tears bring forgiveness for this faithlessness, the violin obbligato weeping along with the soloist.

In the morning Jesus is sent to Pontius Pilate. Judas, overcome by remorse, kills himself. Pilate interrogates Jesus, is impressed, and is inclined to release him. (It was customary to release one prisoner for the holiday.) Pilate is supported in this by his wife. But the crowd, given the choice to have Jesus released or Barabbas—a thief, insurrectionist, and murderer—declares with one voice "Barrabam!".  Then the crowd calls for Jesus to be crucified. Bach uses the musical device known as the sign of the cross to set these harsh words.  The chorale that follows immediately changes the mood: remarking on how strange and wonderful it is that the “good King pays his subject’s obligation,” using an anxious and restless harmonization of the chorale tune “Herzliebster Jesu.” The exquisite recitative “Erhat uns allen wohl getan” (He has done good to all of us) and aria “Aus Liebe/Will mein Heiland sterben” (Out of love/My Savior wants to die) follows.  Then an additional outburst of”Let him be crucified” shatters the mood andintensifies the effect of the aria’s poignancy.

Pilate gives in to the crowd, washes his hands claiming his innocence, and delivers Jesus to torture and crucifixion. At Golgotha Jesus and two others are crucified and mocked by the crowd. Even Jesus’s last words are misunderstood. Where he cites Psalm 22, "Eli, Eli" (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?), he is thought to have called Elijah. He dies. 

St. Matthew describes the tearing of the temple curtain and an earthquake—depicted graphically by the orchestra. In the evening Joseph of Arimathea asks Pilate for the corpse for burial. The bass recitative and aria,“Mache dich, mein Herze”), comforting in its gentle rocking movement, asks for a pure heart, so that he can make a precious grave there for Jesus. The following day officials remind Pilate of the talk of resurrection and ask for guards and a seal for the grave to prevent fraud.  

In a dialogue with the chorus, each soloist (starting with the bass and rising through tenor, alto, and soprano), says farewell and expresses gratitude to Jesus, while the choir echoes “Mein Jesu, gute Nacht!” (My Jesus, good night!). The work closes with a grand-scale chorus in da capo form. Choir I and II are mostly in unison for the first part, “Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder“ (We sit down in tears), but are in dialogue in the middle section—choir II repeating "Ruhe sanfte, sanfte ruh!" (Rest gently, gently rest!), and choir I reflecting "Your grave and headstone shall be for the anxious conscience a comfortable pillow and a resting place for the soul. In the highest bliss the eyes fall asleep." These are the last words, marked by Bach himself p pp ppp (soft, very soft, extremely soft), before the first section repeats.  The very last chord is marked with a poignant leading tone in the oboe, like a final sob of grief.

Patricia Jennerjohn

Purchase your tickets soon to get discounted advance pricing for our monumental opening concert of this 2016-2017 season.

Kairos Youth Choir in the Opening Chorus

Berkeley’s premier youth choir, Kairos has offered comprehensive vocal music education to children ages 6 to 15 for over twenty five years.

The youth choir is featured in the opening chorus of our St. Matthew Passion performances. John Eliot Gardiner compares that movement to the immense altar paintings from the 16th century, where an entire story is told, with different scenes playing out at the same time. Following that idea, we can imagine a procession of mourners in the streets, with death bells sounding in the bass part in the orchestra. Witnesses of what has been happening in Jerusalem (Choir I) invite onlookers (the believers, or Daughters of Zion, Choir II) to join them, and speak of Jesus’ suffering, including him carrying the wood for his own cross.

Gardiner says: “The music seems entirely complete … and we marvel at how smoothly [Bach] makes room for a series of antiphonal exchanges between his two choirs and orchestras. But there is still more to come: at the moment when the first choir refers to Jesus as a bridegroom, and then as a lamb, Bach brings in a third choir with the chorale “O Lamb of God, unspotted,” in an abrupt expansion of the sound spectrum: a G Major chorale within the E minor context of the main piece. Sung in unison by a group of trebles, the effect must have been stunning.”

The congregations in Leipzig, where the St. Matthew Passion was first performed on the afternoon of Good Friday in 1727, would have heard this chorale, also known as the German Agnus Dei, earlier that day at the conclusion of the morning service.

Our St. Matthew Passion concerts feature members of Kairos' Aphaia and Agape choruses. In addition to performing at the all-Kairos winter concert each December, Aphaia and Agape choristers sing at the Junior Bach Festival and other events throughout the year, and are regular guests at KPFA radio. Kairos presents a fully staged musical play every spring, showcasing educationally rich stories such as A Midsummer Night's Dream and Fiddler on the Roof. In recent years, Kairos has toured Norway, Denmark, Italy, Greece, and Austria.

Kairos founder and conductor Laura Kakis Serper received her degrees in music education and voice performance from University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music as well as Westminster Choir College and Aspen Music Institute. Her Greek heritage inspired the name of Kairos Youth Choir and its choruses. Kairos [Kah-ee-ros] means time measured by quality, the moment when all things work together in harmony. Aphaia is the Goddess of Light; Agape means Love.

Ms. Kakis Serper is also the director of choral music at The Crowden School, and is a former artistic director of San Francisco Boys Chorus. She was recognized at the California State Senate for her excellent musical service to the community through Kairos Youth Choir programs.

View fullsize

Kairos, with director Laura Kakis Serper and pianist and composer Arkadi Serper in front, after a successful concert at the Votivkirche in Vienna, Austria • Photo by Geoffrey Biddle