Sinfonia from O Wunder       Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784)

Wenn Kömmst du, mein Heil from cantata BWV 140       Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Herr, nun lässest du deinen Diener, from cantata JLB 9       Johann Ludwig Bach (1677-1731)

Pastorale, from Die Hirten bei der Krippe       Johann Friedrich Agricola (1720-1774)

Esurientes implevit, from Magnificat, BWV 243       Johann Sebastian Bach

Wie herrlich lenkt, from cantata HoVW II. 13       Gottfried August Homilius (1714-1785)

Trio Sonata in G Major, Krebs-WV 321       Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713-1780)
     Adagio
     Presto
     Siciliana
     Allegro un poco

Die Kindheit Jesu       Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (1732-1795)

Michele Kennedy, soprano
Sophie Michaux, mezzo-soprano
Jason McStoots, tenor
Daniel Fridley, bass
Suzanne Stumpf and Wendy Rolfe, traversi
Sarah Darling and Jesse Irons, violins
Jason Fisher, viola; Daniel Ryan, cello
Nicola Canzano, harpsichord
 

Imagine the scene: Johann Sebastian Bach’s bustling living quarters where his children and students are busily copying out the parts for the weekly cantata while Bach teaches keyboard lessons from one of his many didactic works. Such were the daily activities in the Bach household in Leipzig, where the preparation of concert and service music was coordinated by teacher, students, and colleagues.

Over the course of his lifetime, hundreds of aspiring musicians and peers came in contact with the master to be taught by him or to collaborate with him. This program showcases a sampling of works by J.S. Bach and some of his gifted students who carried forth his legacy while charting their own musical paths.

Johann Sebastian’s eldest musical son, Wilhelm Friedemann, became known as a brilliant improviser on the organ and was recognized as one of the last great German Baroque organists. He held a couple of church positions, including one in Halle, where he ran into trouble due to his interest in modern Enlightenment philosophy and his inability to cooperate with the religious conservatism of the town rulers. The Sinfonia from his Christmas cantata O Wunder sets a celebratory atmosphere. Here W. F. Bach makes use of Empfindsamer Stil (“sensitive style,” emphasizing emotions), with sudden dynamic contrasts to build anticipation and excitement.

Johann Ludwig Bach, a second cousin to Johann Sebastian, was born outside Eisenach and joined the court at Meiningen as violinist in 1699, eventually becoming Kapellmeister in 1711. His aria Herr, nun lässest du deinen Diener is from his Advent cantata Mache dich auf, werde Licht (Arise, Shine). Its text quotes the canticle known as the Song of Simeon, words that are also found in J.C.F. Bach’s oratorio Die Kindheit Jesu. Its gentle, lilting rhythm conveys Simeon’s peace, while the voice duets mellifluously with a solo wind instrument.
 

Johann Friedrich Agricola was a student of Bach from 1738-1741 while studying law at the Thomasschule in Leipzig. He subsequently studied composition with J.J. Quantz and, in 1751, was appointed Court Composer for Frederick the Great. His Pastorale is the opening movement of his Christmas oratorio Die Hirten bei der Krippe (The Shepherds at the Manger), composed in 1757.

Gottfried August Homilius was also a law student at the Thomasschule. He began studies with Bach in 1735, around the time of his matriculation. He became the music director of the principal churches in Dresden and developed a reputation as one of the finest German composers of church music in the decades after Bach’s death. His aria Wie herrlich lenkt, from his 1765 Christmas cantata Uns ist ein Kind geboren (Unto Us a Child is Born), has an element of folk-like simplicity which was trending at that time.      Johann Ludwig Krebs was perhaps J.S. Bach’s most beloved student. Bach referred to him by the pun “the best crab (Krebs) in the brook (Bach).” After his studies at the Thomasschule, Krebs applied unsuccessfully for Bach’s Leipzig cantorate after his death, but eventually found success as the castle organist in Altenburg. In addition to being a fine composer who continued Bach’s contrapuntal tradition, Krebs was an important copyist and transmitter of Bach’s works. His Trio Sonata in G Major is from a set of six published around 1743. The work shows the influence of both the Empfindsamer Stil and the lighter galant style, but uses added contrapuntal complexity throughout. 

The two arias by J.S. Bach included in this program are both beloved works. Wenn Kömmst du, mein Heil is from his Advent cantata Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Wake up, a Voice is Calling). It is composed in the form of a vocal dialogue between Jesus (bass) and the soul (soprano), with a florid obbligato for the violino piccolo representing the soul’s fervent longing. Esurientes implevit is taken from Bach’s Magnificat. Bach invokes musical painting of the text in this work:  he uses charming figuration in the flutes and voice that feels like “ear candy” for “He has filled the hungry with good things.” At the end, conveying the passage “sending the rich away empty,” Bach cleverly leaves off the final cadence note in the flute parts.

Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach spent the majority of his career in the service of Count Wilhelm of Schaumburg-Lippe in Bückeburg, where he composed the short oratorio Die Kindheit Jesu in 1772 for the birth of Countess Emilie Eleonore Wilhelmine. In writing this work, he collaborated closely with the philosopher, theologian, poet, and literary critic J.G. Herder, who served as the court preacher from 1771 to 1776. Herder was a protégé of Immanuel Kant and had a strong influence on Goethe after the two met in 1770. His oratorio texts had a lasting effect on J.C.F. Bach and the music of the court.

J.C.F. Bach described Die Kindheit Jesu as “a biblical painting.” His evocative musical setting effectively conveys Herder’s intimate and humanistic account of the biblical stories of Jesus’ birth, Mary’s emotional state as the mother of this special child, and Jesus’ presentation at the Temple to the “just and devout” elderly man Simeon.

The work is composed in three sections. In the first part, an angel heralds the birth of Christ to sleepy shepherds, while a band of angels approaches from the distance. The shepherds begin to understand and rejoice in the prophecies’ fulfillment. The first part concludes with a chorus of angels praising God, and the shepherds’ decision to seek out the newborn Jesus. The second part opens with the intimate scene of Mary’s lullaby to the infant, colored by some dark clouds of worry. The joyful shepherds sing their hymn of praise. In the third part, the character of Simeon appears, singing the Martin Luther chorale that is a paraphrase of the Canticle of Simeon. In a dramatic recitative, he expresses the ecstatic vision “He will be a light to the peoples and comfort and glory to his people, salvation to many, grief to many, and struggle to all!” The work concludes with a joyful chorus of praise. 

— Daniel Ryan and Suzanne Stumpf