The Cantatas | 2018 Royal Academy of Music/ Kohn Foundation Bach Cantata Series
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The Cantatas | 2018
Royal Academy of Music/
Kohn Foundation
Bach Cantata Series
1
Celebrating the complete sacred and secular
HOW TO BOOK cantatas by JS Bach
‘Anybody who’s been to these wonderful cantatas at the ‘Don’t miss the Royal Academy of Music’s outstanding Sunday
Royal Academy of Music knows they really are extraordinary’ lunchtime series surveying all of Bach’s cantatas’
Sean Rafferty on BBC Radio 3 In Tune The Times
‘A wonderful sense of binding intimacy... surely a glimpse of
ONLINE BOOKING Our Box Office is open for telephone and heaven’
personal bookings from Monday to Friday,
Opens at 10am on Tuesday 10 October 2017
10am–4pm. Answering service at all other Evening Standard
from www.ram.ac.uk/bach
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IN PERSON model of vitality, concentration and period authenticity’
Each cantata concert begins at midday
Opens at 10am on Tuesday 10 October 2017. and lasts around one hour. The Academy’s The Sunday Times
Box Office telephone: 020 7873 7300 restaurant will be open for light refreshments
from 10.30am until the start of each concert.
Tickets £15
We do not charge any fees for Box Office
(concessions £12) bookings.
‘The relevance of Bach cantatas for the twenty-first century,
Book now for season discounts:
and the sheer exuberance of the music, could not have been
The Royal Academy of Music is where many
leading musicians learn their trade. Our more refreshingly presented’
book for all nine concerts and save 30% student community is truly international,
book for at least six concerts and save 20% Musical Opinion
representing more than fifty countries.
book for at least four concerts and save 10% The Academy’s wide range of concerts and
events includes solos and chamber music,
as well as ensembles of all kinds, from
symphony orchestra to big band, opera, jazz, ‘The perfect Sunday lunch for any Bach lover’
musical theatre, contemporary music and
period performance. The Times
Royal Academy of Music
Marylebone Road, London NW1 5HT
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Box Office telephone (10am–4pm, Monday–Friday): 020 7873 7300
2
Registered charity no.310007
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most listeners fall into this second category, ‘Preparing and performing Bach’s
which makes the whole project particularly
thrilling, as performer and audience explore
cantatas is one of the great
the bulk of the music without preconceptions. privileges of being a musician.
I believe this is what makes Academy cantata
performances especially fresh, spirited and Doing so with the Academy’s
communicative. Regular supporters and
those who have read the enthusiastic reports
talented and passionate
about these performances in the press will young musicians enriches the
know that this ambitious series of concerts
has become an integral part of life both at the experience still further. This is an
Academy and on the London musical scene.
extraordinary project — a great
The distinguished violinists Rachel Podger,
Madeleine Easton and Margaret Faultless
gift to our cultural well-being’
BACH AT THE ACADEMY form the select roster of orchestral leaders
which has, with the choral group, developed a
remarkably vibrant and dynamic ‘house style’
The Last Year of the Complete over these past nine years. This series has also Margaret Faultless
become a celebration of Bach’s continuing Head of Historical Performance
Cantatas and announcing inspiration to performers of many different
a new cycle until 2024 traditions. Every season we incorporate
a couple of concerts played on modern
instruments, alongside our mainly ‘period’
Welcome to the tenth and final year of our instrument ensemble. Bach’s incomparable
epic Bach cantata voyage. works for solo organ also feature in selected SUNDAYS IN MARYLEBONE
For this last chapter of the series we will be programmes, performed on the Duke’s Hall’s
performing twenty-six cantatas alongside spectacular Elton John/Ray Cooper Organ. The Academy’s building is just across
a special concert with our former Director Marylebone Road from Marylebone Village.
of Opera and Felix Mendelssohn Professor No other institution in the country is as As well as being inspired by Bach’s immortal
of Music, Jane Glover, which includes steeped in Bach as the Royal Academy of music, why not spend more of your Sunday
the evergreen Magnificat. We’ll also be Music, where we have been introducing his enjoying the many other sights and sounds
celebrating the Bach Prize in April with our music to new audiences since our very early
of Marylebone?
own Iain Ledingham as the popular recipient. days in the 1820s. What’s more, every time we
I very much look forward to both these dates join together in homage to Bach’s timeless
The Academy’s restaurant will be open from
as we end Part 1 of our adventure on the genius we are also, de facto, celebrating a
European musical language with no barriers.
10.30am to midday for light refreshments.
highest possible note in 2018.
This acts as an emblem for the life of an
institution which continues to profit so deeply The restaurants, bars and cafés in
For those unfamiliar with the format of our
concerts, we do not follow a strict liturgical from its international outlook over nearly Marylebone Village offer perfect meeting
path when deciding which works to perform 200 years. And while this is the final year of points from coffee catch-ups to the
throughout the year. The cantatas are our current cantata series, it is by no means important lunchtime or evening rendezvous.
programmed in ways which we feel make the end of our Bach journey — news on the
sense musically, often binding or juxtaposing exciting next stage will follow in Autumn 2017. Marylebone Farmers’ Market takes place on
styles to bring additional perspectives to this Sundays from 10am to 2pm. Fresh seasonal
inimitable oeuvre. This is a series of monthly flowers, fruits and foods are the order of the
concerts designed for the broadest church of day.
belief and non-belief, a chance to introduce
some of Bach’s greatest but least-known Marylebone Village is also the perfect place
music to a wide-ranging audience. to spend time exploring its unique collection
of shops. Treats for the home, designer-wear
Some visitors have a profound knowledge
fashions and presents for friends can all be
of the cantatas, while others are hearing
Jonathan Freeman-Attwood found as you weave your way through the
this music for the first time. We know that
Principal Village.
www.marylebonevillage.com
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THE CANTATAS: 2018 AT A GLANCE
All performances start at midday in the Academy’s
21 Sunday Midday
JANUARY 2018
Duke’s Hall and last around one hour
BWV 115 Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit
SUNDAY 21 JANUARY SUNDAY 17 JUNE BWV 90 Es reißet euch ein schrecklich Ende
BWV 115 Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit BWV 2 Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein
(Prepare yourself, my soul) (Ah God, look down from heaven) BWV 120 Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille
BWV 90 Es reißet euch ein schrecklich Ende BWV 145 Ich lebe, mein Herze, zu deinem
(A terrible end shall sweep you away) Ergötzen BWV 190 Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied!
BWV 120 Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille (I live, O heart, for your delight)
(Praise waiteth for Thee, O God) BWV 114 Ach, lieben Christen, seid getrost
(opening chorus - completion Professor Timothy Jones)
BWV 190 Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied! (Ah, dear Christians, be comforted)
(Sing unto the Lord a new song!)
(opening chorus - completion SUNDAY 7 OCTOBER
Professor Timothy Jones) TICKETS £15 (concessions £12), Iain Ledingham director
BWV 13 Meine Seufzer, meine Tränen
season discounts available Madeleine Easton leader
(My sighs, my tears)
SUNDAY 18 FEBRUARY BWV 55 Ich armer Mensch, ich Sündenknecht Book from Tuesday 10 October 2017:
BWV 184 Erwünschtes Freudenlicht (I, wretched man, a slave to sin) By telephone 020 7873 7300 and in person Performed on modern instruments.
(Longed-for light of joy) BWV 233 Mass in F (Monday–Friday, 10am–4pm)
BWV 243 Magnificat Online at www.ram.ac.uk/bach
SUNDAY 4 NOVEMBER
SUNDAY 25 MARCH BWV 197 Gott ist unsre Zuversicht
Our final Jahrgang begins with three strongly the New Year cantata Singet dem Herrn ein neues
BWV 24 Ein ungefärbt Gemüte contrasting cantatas. Mache dich, mein Geist, Lied!, BWV 190, will be performed in a new
(God is our trust)
(An unstained mind) BWV 542 Fantasia and Fugue in G minor bereit, BWV 115, was first performed on 5 completion by Timothy Jones.
BWV 44 Sie werden euch in den Bann tun I BWV 191 Gloria in excelsis Deo November 1724. Based on JB Freystein’s 1695
(They shall put you out of the synagogues I) (Glory to God in the highest) hymn, this work has long held a special place
BWV 134 Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß amongst Bach aficionados on account of the
(A heart that knows its Jesus to be living) SUNDAY 2 DECEMBER delectable instrumental writing in its opening
BWV 195 Dem Gerechten muß das Licht immer chorus and, especially, its soprano aria, ‘Bete
SUNDAY 22 APRIL wieder aufgehen aber auch dabei’, one of the most profound
BWV 126 Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort (Light is ever sown for the righteous) and beautiful movements in all Bach’s music.
(Uphold us, Lord, in Thy Word) BWV 51 Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen! Es reißet euch ein schrecklich Ende, BWV 90,
BWV 176 Es ist ein trotzig und verzagt Ding (Rejoice unto God in all lands!) has an altogether darker tone. Written for the
(There is something stubborn and faint-hearted) BWV 248vi Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity in 1723, its
BWV 192 Nun danket alle Gott schnauben (Christmas Oratorio Part 6)
(Now thank ye all our God) opening impassioned tenor aria sets the scene
(Lord, if proud enemies rage)
for a sustained meditation on desolation and
SUNDAY 20 MAY temptation. Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille,
BWV 120, was written for a service to celebrate
BWV 27 Wer weiß, wie nahe mir mein Ende?
(Who knows how near is my end?) the election of the Leipzig Town Council in
BWV 14 Wär Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit the late 1720s. It begins unusually with a highly
(If it had not been the Lord who was on our side) ornate but gentle alto aria, rather than the
BWV 47 Wer sich selbst erhöhet, der soll customary communal rejoicing, but the festive
erniedriget werden www.ram.ac.uk/bach sounds of trumpets and drums dominate the
(For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased) rest of this magnificent work. To celebrate the
new year, the fragmentary opening chorus of
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18 Sunday Midday
FEBRUARY 2018
25 Sunday Midday
MARCH 2018
BWV 184 Erwünschtes Freudenlicht BWV 24 Ein ungefärbt Gemüte
BWV 243 Magnificat BWV 44 Sie werden euch in den Bann tun I
BWV 134 Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß
TICKETS £15 (concessions £12), Jane Glover guest director TICKETS £15 (concessions £12), Iain Ledingham director
season discounts available Rachel Podger leader season discounts available Margaret Faultless leader
Book from Tuesday 10 October 2017: Book from Tuesday 10 October 2017:
By telephone 020 7873 7300 and in person Performed on historical instruments. By telephone 020 7873 7300 and in person Performed on modern instruments.
(Monday–Friday, 10am–4pm) (Monday–Friday, 10am–4pm)
Online at www.ram.ac.uk/bach Online at www.ram.ac.uk/bach
We welcome the return of Jane Glover, the Each of the cantatas in this concert
Academy’s Felix Mendelssohn Emeritus demonstrates how Bach could reinforce the
Professor of Music, to conduct this perennial power of his musical ‘sermons’ by imaginatively
favourite. Bach composed the original version subverting the congregation’s formal
of his Magnificat for Christmas Day 1723, expectations. The theme of Ein ungefärbt
interpolating Christmas hymns between Gemüte, BWV 24 — ‘do unto others what you
some of the verses of the canticle. A decade would have them do unto you’ — is reflected
later, for the Feast of the Visitation in July in the cantata’s symmetrical structure. In its
1733, he thoroughly revised this masterpiece, central chorus Bach sets the same text twice:
transposing it from E flat major to D major, first as a prelude with unequal voices, then as a
changing many details in the instrumentation fugue in which all the voices play the same role.
and some of the ornamental details of the Sie werden euch in den Bann tun I, BWV 44, is a
vocal writing, and omitting the Christmas meditation on martyrdom. It vividly portrays
interpolations. Today’s performance will be of the persecution of a minority in its opening
that later, more familiar, version. The work’s sequence of movements: an exceptionally fine
twelve movements set the text with intense lament for tenor and bass leads without a break
drama, great character and colour, and sure- into a vigorous chorus with the character of the
footed pacing, leading one critic to describe crowd from the Passion settings. Ein Herz, das
it as ‘perhaps the most perfect of Bach’s seinen Jesum lebend weiß, BWV 134, a cantata of
shorter choral works’. The cantata Erwünschtes praise and thanksgiving for the Easter season
Freudenlicht, BWV 184, was composed for in 1724, was revised by Bach in later years
the first week of Pentecost in 1724. Its music, to sharpen the impact of the music on the
drawing on an earlier secular cantata, strikes a message of the text.
pastoral note perfectly in keeping with its new
liturgical text.
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22 Sunday Midday
APRIL 2018
20 Sunday Midday
MAY 2018
BWV 126 Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort BWV 27 Wer weiß, wie nahe mir mein Ende?
BWV 176 Es ist ein trotzig und verzagt Ding BWV 14 Wär Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit
BWV 192 Nun danket alle Gott BWV 47 Wer sich selbst erhöhet, der soll erniedriget
werden
TICKETS £15 (concessions £12), Iain Ledingham director TICKETS £15 (concessions £12), Iain Ledingham director
season discounts available. Margaret Faultless leader season discounts available Rachel Podger leader
Book from Tuesday 10 October 2017: Book from Tuesday 10 October 2017:
By telephone 020 7873 7300 and in person Performed on historical instruments. By telephone 020 7873 7300 and in person Performed on historical instruments.
(Monday–Friday, 10am–4pm) (Monday–Friday, 10am–4pm)
Online at www.ram.ac.uk/bach Online at www.ram.ac.uk/bach
Sometimes the continuities between Bach’s Each of today’s cantatas is dominated by its
musical world and ours are striking. Some highly original opening chorus in which aspects
hymns that were well-known in Bach’s Leipzig of the text seem to have prompted Bach to
are still part of the common currency of dig deep into his stylistic resources. Wer weiß,
Christian worship: for example, Martin wie nahe mir mein Ende?, BWV 27, composed
Rinckart’s Nun danket alle Gott (1636), which in October 1726, meditates on the believer’s
is the basis for Bach’s BWV 192. Although the preparation for death. Its opening chorus sets
cantata only sets three of the hymn’s verses, Ämilie Juliane von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt’s
each of its movements has ample dimensions 1686 chorale in a particularly complex way, with
and the shape of the hymn tune permeates recitative insertions commenting on the lines
the music. At other times the discontinuities of the hymn as it unfolds. Wär Gott nicht mit
between Bach’s time and ours can shock. uns diese Zeit, BWV 14, written for the Fourth
Thus the musical modernity of Erhalt uns, Sunday after Epiphany, is based on Luther’s
Herr, bei deinem Wort, BWV 126, based on 1524 adaptation of Psalm 124. As if taking
Martin Luther’s 1542 hymn, belies an aggressive his cue from the venerable ancient source,
sectarianism in the text of the opening chorus. Bach sets the first verse in the style of an old
motet, rather than in his ‘modern’ chorale
There is an uneasy balance between cantata manner. Wer sich selbst erhöhet, der
superstition and rationality in the text of Es ist soll erniedriget werden, BWV 47, opens with a
ein trotzig und verzagt Ding, BWV 176, composed pithy text exemplifying the rhetorical pattern
for Trinity Sunday in 1725. Of special interest chiasmus, the crossing over of concepts:
is the way in which Bach reflects the irrational whoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled,
sentiments of the opening text by deforming and whoever humbles himself shall be raised
the musical shapes in a mighty choral fugue. up. Bach’s musical response is simply
awe-inspiring.
10 11
17 Sunday Midday
JUNE 2018
07 Sunday Midday
OCTOBER 2018
BWV 2 Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein BWV 13 Meine Seufzer, meine Tränen
BWV 145 Ich lebe, mein Herze, zu deinem Ergötzen BWV 55 Ich armer Mensch, ich Sündenknecht
BWV 114 Ach, lieben Christen, seid getrost BWV 233 Mass in F
TICKETS £15 (concessions £12), Iain Ledingham director
season discounts available Madeleine Easton leader
Book from Tuesday 10 October 2017:
By telephone 020 7873 7300 and in person Performed on
(Monday–Friday, 10am–4pm) historical instruments.
Online at www.ram.ac.uk/bach
Two of today’s cantatas, belonging to Bach’s
1724–5 chorale cantata cycle, draw on TICKETS as page 12
venerable sixteenth-century Lutheran hymns.
Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein, BWV 2, Iain Ledingham director Scored for strings, oboe da caccia and flutes,
written for the Second Sunday after Trinity in Margaret Faultless leader it shares its characteristic sound world with
1724, is based on Martin Luther’s 1524 version the melancholy cantata for solo tenor Ich
of Psalm 12. The text warns Lutherans to be Performed on historical instruments. armer Mensch, ich Sündenknecht BWV 55, from
wary of slipping into heresy, and Bach — as November 1726, whose motto — ‘Erbarme
if mindful of the dangers of departing from Poetic texts about sighs and tears usually dich!’ — inspires a Passion-like response from
tradition — sets the opening verse as a chorus inspired Baroque composers to give of their the composer. Like Bach’s other so-called
whose tone is deliberately archaic. In contrast, best, since the common musical vocabulary of Lutheran Masses, the Mass in F, BWV 233, draws
the opening of Ach, lieben Christen, seid getrost, the time was so rich in appropriate expressive on pre-existing cantata arias and choruses for
BWV 114, is in a modern concerto style, though The nineteenth-century source of the Easter conceits. Bach was no exception, and two of its music. Its arias parody the bass and tenor
a melancholy tone is struck by the melody of cantata Ich lebe, mein Herze, zu deinem Ergötzen, today’s cantatas show how imaginatively he was arias from Herr, deine Augen sehen nach dem
Johannes Gigas’s penitential hymn of 1561. The BWV 145, appears to lack some of the music able to work within this tradition. Meine Seufzer, Glauben, BWV 102, from August 1726, and the
cantata’s two arias both contain memorable demanded by Picander’s published text; meine Tränen, BWV 13, first performed in January final chorus is based on the opening movement
woodwind obbligatos, for flute and oboe but what remains is a delightful evocation 1726, is a particularly powerful example of of Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes, BWV 40,
respectively. of the joy of Easter. Bach’s penitential art. from 26 December 1723.
12 13
04 Sunday Midday
NOVEMBER 2018
02 Sunday Midday
DECEMBER 2018
BWV 197 Gott ist unsre Zuversicht BWV 195 Dem Gerechten muß das Licht immer
BWV 542 Fantasia and Fugue in G minor* wieder aufgehen
BWV 191 Gloria in excelsis Deo BWV 51 Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen!
BWV 248vi Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben
(Christmas Oratorio Part 6)
TICKETS £15 (concessions £12), Iain Ledingham director TICKETS as page 14 Iain Ledingham director
season discounts available Rachel Podger leader Margaret Faultless leader
Book from Tuesday 10 October 2017: James Orford organ*
By telephone 020 7873 7300 and in person Performed on modern instruments.
(Monday–Friday, 10am–4pm) Performed on historical instruments.
Online at www.ram.ac.uk/bach In this final concert of the series two
celebratory cantatas preface the final cantata
of the Christmas Oratorio. In the form that it has
Bach is thought to have fashioned the cantata come down to us, Dem Gerechten muß das Licht
Gloria in excelsis Deo, BWV 191, at Christmas immer wieder aufgehen, BWV 195, is a revision
1745 from the Missa he had composed for from the late 1740s of an earlier wedding
presentation to the Elector of Saxony in 1733. cantata. Conceived on a luxurious scale, it
Its three movements are most famous as the must have been written for some wealthy
Gloria, Domine Deus and Cum sancto spiritu of Leipzig citizens. The text’s many references to
the Mass in B minor. In BWV 191 the new texts justice suggest that the groom may have been
for the aria and closing chorus allow a prominent lawyer or jurist. The solo soprano
us to marvel at the subtlety of Bach’s parody cantata Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen!, BWV 51,
techniques, as well as the brilliance and is a true virtuoso showpiece: as justly famous
colour of his instrumental and vocal writing. for its splendid trumpet obbligato as for its
Envy the lucky couple for whose wedding in compelling concerto-like vocal writing.
the late 1730s Bach composed the splendid Part 6 of the Christmas Oratorio tells the story of
cantata Gott ist unsre Zuversicht, BWV 197. With the adoration of the Magi. Its jubilant tone, with
its ten movements, splendid choruses, full a return to the brilliant key of D major from
instrumental complement (including three Part 1, is darkened by the final chorale that
trumpets and timpani), and generously formed looks forward to Christ’s Passion. How fitting
arias, this is lavish celebratory music in Bach’s to end with a narrative that is both a conclusion
most exuberant vein. and a pointer to the future.
14 15
Patron HM The Queen
President HRH The Duchess of Gloucester GCVO
Principal Professor Jonathan Freeman-Attwood
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