Program Notes

Samuel Suggs

Although scholars disagree as to the chronology of the orchestral suites (BWV 1066–1070), or “overtures” as Bach called them, many agree that the heart of these suites lies in Leipzig. Bach most likely turned to the Collegium Musicum, comprised mainly of students at the University of Leipzig, for his orchestral forces in these larger works. The group, consisting of 50 to 60 members with many virtuosos in its ranks, regularly played public garden concerts in the summers. While the Triple Concerto, BWV 1044 is Bach’s only extant concerto for flute solo, and the composer had also written a handful of trio sonatas, flute sonatas, and an unaccompanied partita for the instrument, he must have known a great flutist in the Collegium, since the virtuosic flute role in this orchestral suite is so boldly foregrounded.

The “suite” at the time encompassed a collection of stylized dance movements—to be listened to, not as ballet, but as concert pieces—generally preceded by an overture. In the orchestral suite, the prelude pays homage to the three-part form of French overtures (such as those to the ballets of Jean-Baptiste Lully) with a limping introduction, a fugal Allegro, and a closing dance. In this sense, the ending of the B-minor overture is extrapolated over six rounded dance movements instead of one. In the keyboard and unaccompanied cello suites, each suite contains more or less the same order of dances, ending with a gigue. The orchestral suite, however, is a potpourri of once-popular dance forms (in this case ending with a rare battinerie or “jest”) of which only the minuet persisted into the latter half of the 18th century.

Sonata da Camera, “O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden”

janitsch

Patrick Campbell Jankowski

As with typical sonatas da camera, Janitsch’s contains lighter movements in a dancing style, introduced by a more wandering prelude; also typical is the egalitarian treatment of its three melodic voices atop the basso continuo. A deeply felt Largo opens the sonata. Its abundance of suspensions, or momentarily held dissonances, instill a sense of yearning. A more jovial dance movement follows, and then a surprise arrives in a setting of J.S. Bach’s “O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden,” from the St. Matthew Passion. Janitsch worked in Germany and was more or less a contemporary of Bach (outliving him by a few years). The inclusion of this liturgical element is likely connected to the sonata’s dedication to Janitsch’s nephew, and imparts the work with a unique tenderness not always found in these lighter examples of chamber music. An even more spritely movement in triple meter rounds out the sonata as expected: joyfully and danceably.

Cantata for solo bass, “Der am Ölberg zagende Jesus” telemann

Patrick Campbell Jankowski

Telemann was perhaps Johann Sebastian Bach’s most recognizable contemporary, and his popularity during his lifetime vastly exceeded Bach’s. Both composers wrote a number of cantatas and many of these depicted in poetic, humanistic fashion the Passion of Christ. Telemann, unlike Bach, seemed more attracted to solo passion cantatas as opposed to larger-scale works, and this one for solo bass is a fine example. Arias are sprinkled with narrative recitatives, and begin in a mournful tone, depicting with austerity the loneliness of Christ awaiting his crucifixion. The tone brightens from there, with a more optimistic central aria “Mein Vater,” and concluding with an appeal directly to the listeners (the “sinners” in this instance), noting that, at the very least, they’ve avoided the flames of hell. A rather dark textual image, though set in a startlingly jovial manner.

Paris Quartet No. 1 in D major telemann

Patrick Campbell Jankowski

When visiting a new place, it is customary to come bearing gifts for your host. In the instance of Telemann’s first visit to Paris, he wrote six new quartets for flute, violin, cello (or viola da gamba), and continuo, which he likely performed alongside the musicians who had brought him to the city. These quartets were certainly a success, and this first example shows why. Each instrument is featured prominently in solo lines, and moments of virtuosity abound in each of the movements: more or less three full movements with two interspersed “preludes” introducing the latter two dances. These preludes interestingly begin with the same discordant harmonies, and hold on to that overall tension for just long enough to make the subsequent dances all the more inviting. A second set of six quartets was published during Telemann’s stay, indicating something of a “hit.”

Cantata for solo bass, “Ich habe genug” bach

Samuel Suggs

Bach composed BWV 82 for the Feast of Purification, which fell on February 2, 1727. The Purification is described in the Gospel of Luke as taking place forty days after the birth of Jesus in which the family is met by Simeon the God-receiver at the temple of Jerusalem to sacrifice a lamb and a pigeon. Originally for a bass voice, representing the voice of Simeon, the cantata was so wellreceived that Bach created this arrangement for female voice and flute (BWV 82a). Upon meeting the infant Jesus, Simeon is moved — and in the weeping, sighing rhetorical style of the time, longs for death (sleep) after seeing the light of Christ.

The piece opens formally with a poetic ritornello featuring obbligato flute (or oboe in the original version) in such strong relief from the undulating strings and plodding bass as to suggest a concerto texture. The programmatic gravity of these gestures paints the scene as the trio processes towards the gates of the temple. The opening motif in the flute is reminiscent of the soprano aria “Zerfliesse mein Herze” from the St. John Passion, and, possibly due to its success, a month after BWV 82 was completed, Bach wrote “Erbarme dich, mein Gott” for the St. Matthew Passion on a similar motif.