Bach Cantatas: in Print and Recordings

Abstract

Bach Cantatas:in Print and Recordings Robin A. Leaver (bio) In February 2013 the Bach Collegium Japan, under the direction of Masaaki Suzuki, came to the end of their project of performing and recording all the sacred cantatas of Bach with concerts in Kobe and Tokyo of three cantatas: Freue dich, erloste Schar (BWV 30), Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele (BWV 69), and Gloria in excelsis Deo (BWV 191).1 This was a significant milestone and I was invited to give pre-concert lectures before the two performances. Since a video disk charting the progress of the whole series, focusing on these final concerts, has recently been issued, it seems like the right time to make these lectures accessible.2 The first pre-concert lecture was given in Kobe Shoin Women's University Chapel on 23 February, and the second at Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall on the following day. They are given here in lightly edited versions. The Cantatas Become Known, Mostly in Print It has taken a very long time for the cantatas of Bach to become widely known. Of course, they have been known about for a considerable amount of time. In the past we used to think that Bach's own performances of these cantatas were only heard by the regular congregations of the churches in Leipzig, the St. Thomas and the St. Nicholas churches. But we tended to forget that, three times a year, the city was inundated with many visitors who came for the Leipzig fairs, the Leipziger Messe. In his autobiography Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) writes about Leipzig in the generation after Bach.3 He speaks of the many foreigners who came to Leipzig [End Page 93] from all over Europe. They included Polish Jews, Russians, Greeks in their unusual dress, together with English and Dutch merchants, among other nationalities, as well as people from all over Germany. There could be as many as seven thousand visitors to the city during the time of the fair. These visitors in no small measure contributed to the city's wealth, status, and reputation. These trade fairs began on the ecclesiastical celebrations of the New Year (January 1), the Third Sunday after Easter, and the Sunday after St. Michael's Day (September 29). These are the times when Bach would have been directing performances of celebratory cantatas in the two principal churches. The fairs lasted for a week to ten days and some of the visitors came early and others stayed late. So it was possible for at least some of the visitors to crowd into the aisles and other places in the churches, or to gather outside to listen to the music coming from within. And there was the possibility of doing so two or three times while they were in Leipzig for the fair. So over the years, Bach's cantatas performed during the Leipzig fairs may well have received a hearing beyond the regular church-goers of the two principal churches. There is also recent evidence that, during Bach's lifetime, some cantatas were performed in city churches other than those in Leipzig. The information has been discovered by Michael Maul of the Bach-Archiv, Leipzig,4 who has been conducting research into the archives of churches, town-halls, ducal palaces, and other such places. What he has found is that, in a radius of about 50 miles around Leipzig, many of the important musical positions in churches, courts, towns, and cities were held by Bach's former pupils. Further, he has found receipts from church musicians that state to the effect: "Paid Herr Bach in Leipzig so many thaler for the use of one, two or three cantatas." Unfortunately, the receipts do not say which cantatas were performed. Nevertheless, here is the evidence that Bach's cantatas were performed during his lifetime in churches where his former pupils were directing the music. Hence, in his lifetime, Bach's cantatas were heard by a wider audience than used to be thought. [End Page 94] Bach's music was not always appreciated, especially in his later years when it was criticized as being too complex and overly contrapuntal. His music was thought...