MusicLover wrote:
> I have some knowledge of Bach, but mostly about his keyboard works. I
> want to introduce a friend to Bach's most gorgeous choral piece(s). I
> know that the "Qui Tollis Peccata" & "Kyrie Eleison" from his Mass in
> B minor are lovely, but am sure that there are even more extraordinary
> works that I'm not familiar with.
>
> Could someone please suggest Bach choral pieces that are either:
>
> 1) ethereal, heavenly
>
> 2) exceptionally beautiful melody (such as "Jesu Joy of Man's Desire")
>
> 3) dramatic
>
> or, any combination of the above qualities.
>
> These can be either with choir alone, or with choir plus additional
> instrumentation (orchestra, organ, etc.).
>
> I want my friend to say "WOW!" after hearing Papa Bach at his choral
> best.
>
> Thanks very much for all suggestions.
Bach wrote about 300 cantatas, about 150 of which have survived. I
grew up with recordings mostly by the Bach Guild, Hermann Scherchen
and Karl Richter. They are all worth listening to and extremely
diverse in their moods and orchestration.
To maximize your appreciation and understanding of how they fit into
Bach's overall plan I would study the Orgelbuchlein (as Albert
Schweitzer suggested in his biography of the composer).
"Everything begins with the chorale." Settings of the ancient
melodies were done in such a way as to harmonize them to maximize the
meaning of the text. The Orgelbuchlein (a collection of 46 short
preludes is rich in poetic symbolism. As the cantatas all include a
chorale, their character can be appreciated by knowing the organ
pieces first.
A few years ago, a previously undiscovered collection of early organ
preludes (from 1706) turned up and was now at Yale. These were
composed shortly after Bach's return from his study with Dietrich
Buxtehude. I don't know if they have been recorded but this must be a
major find as previously there were many more cantatas than chorales.
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