St. Martin's Chamber Choir - Program Notes - "Masterpieces of the German Baroque: Buxtehude Tercentenary"

Program notes - Masterpieces of the German Baroque:
Buxtehude Tercentenary

Inaugurating St. Martin’s Chamber Choir’s 14^th Season, I have chosen a group of works focused on and commemorating Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707), who died 300 years ago. Buxtehude himself wrote almost nothing that can be performed a cappella, so it might seem odd that a principally a cappella choir should choose to honor him. Yet he stands in the middle of an era – the Baroque – that both began and ended with great flowerings of a cappella music; and his debt to the earlier composers, and the influence that he, in turn, exerted over the later ones, is unquestionable. So it is more for his place in music history that we pay him homage this evening, rather than his own contribution to a cappella choral music.

Motets 4 & 5 from Geistliche Chor-Music ................................... Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672)

We begin with, arguably, the greatest German composer of the early Baroque, Heinrich Schütz. Like most transitional eras, the early 16^th century was awash in a mixture of styles. The prevailing Renaissance idiom of imitative counterpoint, polyphonic voice-leading, and soaring Palestrinian lines, was still alive and well in sacred composition, and we hear that in this work by Schütz. Schütz set this particular text three times, and this is the last chronologically. I have chosen it partly for what I believe to be its strong plea for peace – an insistence that it is only God who can fight for us, and not other men. The work emerged out of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), in which Protestants and Catholics slaughtered each other with wholesale abandon and little conscience – and had nothing to show for it at the end. Schütz himself was profoundly affected by the war, his choir and budget dwindling to almost nothing by the end of it. I believe Schütz was chastising both Catholics and Protestants for their hubris in saying that they fought for God; Schütz implies that it is only God who protects His people, and not men fighting on His behalf – indeed, that it is the responsibility of princes to promote peace, good order, and quietness.

Passion nach dem Evangelisten Johannes .......................... Christoph Demantius (1567-1643)

Liturgical churches make provision for singing or reciting the story of Jesus’ betrayal, conviction, and crucifixion (the “Passion”) from the Gospel of John on Good Friday. This has resulted in hundreds of musical settings. Demantius’, for six voices (SSATTB), is of the type called “motet Passion,” which is the shorter version more suited for liturgical use (as opposed to the “oratorio Passion” such as Bach’s, which, due to its length, is more suited to a sacred concert than a church service). It stands alone, however, among the former category in that there is no trace of the traditional “Passion tone,” or Gregorian chant. It is also unique in its scoring for the words of Jesus and Pilate, where Demantius portrays the former with a low-voiced quartet (ATTB) and the latter with a high-voiced trio (SSA). I have positioned the two roles opposite each other in the front row of the choir for antiphonal effect.

Magnificat No. 13 ........................................................................ Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)

Although principally known for his organ and keyboard works, Johann Pachelbel was a prolific composer of vocal, church and chamber music. He was also one of the leading progressive German composers of his time. All but two of his Magnificat settings are in the concertato style, and are wildly different from each other in that they share no formal design, and break away from the tradition of having the verses of text dictate the musical form. Yet in the Magnificat no. 13 in D Major, Pachelbel seems to be looking backwards. This Magnificat is in the style of an unaccompanied Motet, where each verse of text receives its own musical treatment, and although mostly written in four part homophony, it does contains passages of imitation and fugal like writing. (notes on Pachelbel by Ace Edewards)

Missa Brevis (BuxWV 114) .................................................. Dietrich Buxtehude (c.1637-1707)

The vast majority of Buxtehude’s works are accompanied choral works or organ solos. The only choral work that can be sung without accompaniment is his Missa Brevis. Consisting only of the Kyrie and Gloria, it was probably intended for performance in Lent. Its voice leading is at first an excellent imitation of Palestrina, and exhibits a stunning aptitude for this antique style, especially in someone who wrote nothing else like it. But late in the Gloria – first on the words “Miserere nobis” (“have mercy upon us”), and again on “Tu solus Altissimus” (“You alone are the most High”) – Buxtehude asserts his Baroque credentials with a rush of chromaticism.

Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt (BWV 160 ) ......... attrib. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

There are two motets for which copies exist in J. S. Bach’s handwriting (indicating they were performed at the Thomaskirche under Bach’s direction) whose authorship is unknown. They were for many years attributed to Bach, although most scholars are agreed that there are stylistic differences that would indicate they are not by Bach, but rather by some unknown contemporary. The first and last movements of tonight’s motet are arrangements of works by Telemann (from his Christmas cantata Lobt Gott, ihr Christen, allzugleich, TWV1066), and the second movement is an arrangement of a movement from Bach’s cantata Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren (BWV 28). The arranger of all three has been variously attributed to Bach and others. Still, Bach’s use of them implies his approval, which is enough to recommend them to most people (myself included).

Timothy J. Krueger
October 2007