Bach: Advent Cantatas

John Eliot Gardiner continues his series for Archiv with works which Bach performed on the First Sunday in Advent - two of them linked, to a greater or lesser extent, to Luther's great hymn Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, itself a metrical version of the fourth-century Veni redemptor gentium, the third a parody by and large of birthday music which Bach performed several times during the mid to late 1720s.

The cantatas in this fifteenth volume belong mostly to the transitional period between the second and the third yearly cycle of cantatas, i.e. the spring of 1725. BWV 3 is part of the series of chorale cantatas that give the second yearly cycle its special character, whereas BWV 28, 110, 146 and 168 already belong to the third yearly cycle. However, cantatas BWV 85, 87, 108, 128, 175, 176 and 183, mostly compositions on texts by Mariane von Ziegler, bring the second yearly cycle to its conclusion. Bach had taken up his position as Kantor of St Thomas's, Leipzig, at the end of May 1723 and so begun his regular performances of cantatas on the First Sunday after Trinity - in other words, in the middle of the church year.

Philippe Herreweghe has always seemed well-attuned to the more mystical aspects of Bach’s music, an empathy clearly evident on his new CD of Advent cantatas. Though the opening chorus of BWV 36 seems a touch reserved, those of BWV 61 and 62 match precision with vigour, and Herreweghe’s team of soloists are in fine voice throughout. BWV 36 is a parody, based on an earlier tribute to a local teacher. Bach retained his original music for the arias, but replaced the recitatives with chorales, so the cantata alternates delightfully between dance movements and more formal hymn settings.

Widely regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of Bach's music today, Masaaki Suzuki has made his name both as the artistic director of the Bach Collegium Japan and as a performer on the harpsichord and the organ. Much interest has been focussed on the BCJ/Suzuki series of Bach Cantatas, begun in 1995 and reaching its final stretch with the recent release of Volume 46 (of a projected 55 discs). Hailed by the international music press, this monumental undertaking has acquired a world-wide following. From the very beginning of the collaboration with BIS, however, there have been numerous recording projects beyond the sacred cantatas of Johannes Sebastian, and, indeed, beyond Bach himself. Some of these acclaimed recordings can now be found in a limited edition boxed set, released in connection with the 20th anniversary of Bach Collegium Japan this year.

Started in 2001 Sigiswald Kuijken cycle on Accent has made a very promising start. As one might expect these performances have a subtle sense of rhythmic hierarchy, with animated dance metres and well shaped continuo lines. The performances are highly convincing: the vocal soloists bring great energy to their lines, adding effective ornamentation in the choruses and projecting a distinctive character for each aria. These performances illuminate Bach’s cantatas with persuasive musicianship and also a critical appraisal of current performing styles. As a result, they are some of the finest examples of what historically informed performers can achieve.

This set is a rerelease of recordings made in 1991, not previously reviewed in Read more . In the order listed in the header, these four cantatas were composed for the following festal days in the liturgical church calendar: the Third Sunday in Advent, the Feast of St. John the Baptist, Pentecost, and Easter Sunday. All stem from the time of the younger Bach’s increasingly fractious and unhappy years as director of music in Halle, which spanned 1747 to 1764. The first of these is definitely known to have been written in 1749; the dates for the others are less certain, but stem from the mid to late 1750s.

The Magnificat was the very first work Bach composed after his appointment as Cantor of St. Thomas's School in Leipzig in 1723. We can imagine the care he lavished on the work that was to establish him in this new function. It was revised some years later: the key was changed to D major and the forces were considerably enlarged. This is the version in which one of Bach's most famous choral works has come down to us.

There is certainly nothing mechanical about the present performances, of three works which in emotional content range from the joyful vitality of the Advent cantata BWV36 to the meditations upon death and the leave-taking of this world which permeate BWV27. As always the opening choruses are of particular interest, for instance that of Cantata BWV47, a striking example of Bach’s skills in illustrating a text in music but also a highly complex composition in which the interplay between choir and orchestra is beautifully balanced. The soloists also have their share of fine moments on this instalment. Hana Blažíková, dubbed ‘an ideal Bach soprano’ in International Record Review on account of her performance on the previous Cantata volume, performs the charming and playful aria ‘Auch mit gedämpften, schwachen Stimmen’ with solo violin, while Robin Blaze and Peter Kooij – both veterans of this series – each have received a true display piece in the form of the two arias of BWV27.