'Twas New Year's Eve at Chez Underbelly last night, at least according to the Lutheran calendar implemented in John Eliot Gardiner's rendering of the Bach Cantatas. That would be four items: BWVs 143, 41,16 and 171. Apparently some critics suspect that Bach many not have written 143, and I tend to suspect they might be onto something: to my untutored ear, it just doesn't sound Bachy enough. BWV 41 strikes a celebratory mood, with a lot of trumpets: there's also a remarkable obligatto wherein a violoncello converses with the tenor recitative. Of BWV 16, Spitta says it is close to the spirit of Telemann, but that "Telemann would have had difficulty even attempting to imitate what Bach accomplished here." BWV 171, produced in the grand tradition of musicians who steal from themselves and others, harbors a parody: "Scented kisses of Zephyrus are turned into Jesus on New Year's morning,"
No comments:
Post a Comment