Sunday, October 12, 2014

Finally, the pearl of pearls: the initial chorus of St Matthew Passion BWV 244, Kommt, ihr Töchter,

Lutherans corals in the work of Bach | Euterpe - Classical Music Blog
One of the most practical encouraged by Martin Luther (1483-1546) in the Protestant Reformation was the creation (or translation and adaptation) of corals melodies for Lutherans worship. Luther was a musician and fan of Josquin Desprez, and he created some corals that are sung today in the services world.
But when the melody needs to be accompanied north shore lij manhasset by an instrument north shore lij manhasset such as the organ or sung by a four-voice choir, only the melody is not enough: you need to add an accompaniment (chords) to the melody, a process north shore lij manhasset known as "harmonization of coral ". This was left to the performers or musicians kapellmeister site, and it was something trivial and common in Germany of the Baroque era. Among the composers who have excelled north shore lij manhasset in this craft is our old friend Johann Sebastian Bach: see what he did, for example, with the beautiful melody Wasserflüssen Babylon An organist Wolfgang Dachstein (1487-1553) - first hear the choral melody, then harmonization of Bach, BWV 267 (only the opening sentences of both):
In the catalog of works by Bach (Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis in German, north shore lij manhasset also known as BWV), the works numbered 250-438 are all harmonized choral voices 4. To this amount add more corals present in cantatas, north shore lij manhasset oratorios and passions, and you have a huge collection of different harmonies, sometimes even for the same choral melody. Listen to the opening sentence of Ach Gott, vom Himmel north shore lij manhasset sieh 'darein tune of Martin Luther, and then notice how different the harmonization of coral enclosing cantatas Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein BWV 2 and Du solLT Gott, deinen Herren, lieben BWV 77 Bach:
It is worth noting that, between the time of the creation of choral melodies (XVI century) and the time of Bach (XVIII century) much has changed in harmony and musical theory, which generated some interesting conflicts. For example, to coral repentance and penance Luther preferred the Phrygian mode, but during the Baroque modal music had given way to the (major and minor) tonal music. And there we see Bach giving treatment to the imagination to harmonize the previous example, Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh 'darein, which is in the Phrygian mode as well as Aus tiefer ich zu dir schrei Not harmonized in cantata BWV 38 of the same name:
In Luther's time there was a "requirement" that the music began and ended in the same tone (indeed, not even there the "concept" of hue). That is why Christ lag in Todes Banden Luther clearly starts in B minor and ends in E minor, but this is something that Bach could never agree. Thus, in his cantata Christ lag in Todes Banden BWV 4, it gives a forçadinha and starts the coral in even smaller Mi:
But the "Schoenberg Modernosidade Award" goes the same for Johann Rudolf Ahle (1625-1673), who dared to start your Es ist genug coral with a whole tone scale. north shore lij manhasset Only Bach even get this letter, there at the end of the cantata O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort II BWV 60:
Overcome the problem north shore lij manhasset of harmonization, north shore lij manhasset in many cases Bach also wrote a more elaborate accompaniment to frame the entire coral. The most famous example of this procedure is known for the tune "Jesus Joy of Man", which enriches the melody coral Werde munter, mein Gemüte Johann Schop (1590-1667) at the end of the cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben BWV 147. The same coral was also used at the end of the cantata Ich armer Mensch, ich Sündenknecht BWV 55 and in the middle of the St. Matthew Passion BWV 244 (No. 40, bin ich von dir gleich gewichen) with different harmonies:
But Bach was not restricted only to harmonization: the choral melodies were also used as a basis for creating more complex musical works, as fantasies, variations, partitas, motets and cantatas. Take the case of the Christmas choral of Luther, Vom Himmel north shore lij manhasset hoch, the komm 'ich her: Bach borrowed the three numbers in the Christmas Oratorio BWV 248 (listen here the beginning of # 9), but the melody north shore lij manhasset also led several preludes for organ as the Prelude in C major BWV 700, in addition to Canonical Variations BWV 769:
A melody coral could also lead to various movements of a cantata. The cantata Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott BWV 80 has four of his eight based on the famous coral Luther movements: beyond the traditional end of the cantata harmonization, he framed the choir with accompaniment also based on melody (# 5) and created a lovely duet in which the soprano sings a florid version of the anthem. But the genius of Bach appears even in the initial movement, a large choral fantasy on the famous tune:
Finally, the pearl of pearls: the initial chorus of St Matthew Passion BWV 244, Kommt, ihr Töchter, written for two choirs and two orchestras. No, it is not based on any choral melody, but over a third of the movement north shore lij manhasset choir singing comes Lamm Gotte

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