CMNW Presents the Oregon Bach Festival: Celebratory Cantatas

In every culture and land, music is a part of special events. One of the great masters of celebratory music is none other than Johann Sebastian Bach!

Bach wrote more than 300 cantatas, of which 200 survive, and a special subset of these were for special celebratory events rather than religious occasions. For these festivities, Bach composed many of his most spirited secular works—including Cantatas 201 and 207. These jubilant works—full of delightful wit, virtuosity, and musical pageantry—remind us that universities have long been gathering places for ideas, creativity, and community.

Join Maestro Jos van Veldhoven as he leads the Oregon Bach Festival’s esteemed soloists with the Berwick Academy Orchestra for this joyous evening of music!

Reed College, Kaul Auditorium
Monday, 7/6 • 8:00 pm

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Program

Click on any piece of music below to learn more about it.

J. S. BACH Cantata 201: “The Contest Between Phoebus and Pan”

J. S. BACH (1685-1750) Cantata 201: “The Contest Between Phoebus and Pan”

I. Chorus: Geschwinde, ihr wirbelnden Winde
II. Recitative: Und du bist doch so unverschämt und frei
III. Aria: Patron, das macht der Wind
IV. Recitative: Was braucht ihr euch zu zanken?
V. Aria: Mit Verlangen druck’ ich deine zarten Wangen
VI. Recitative: Pan, ruck deine Kehle nun in wohlgestimme Fallen
VII. Aria: Zu Tanze, zu Sprunge, so wackelt das Herz
VIII. Recitative: Nunmehro Richter her!
IX. Aria: Phoebus, deine Melodei hat die Anmut selbst
X. Recitative: Komm, Mydas, sage du nun an
XI. Aria: Pan ist Meister, lasst ihn gehn
XII. Recitative: Wie, Mydas, bis du toll?
XIII. Aria: Aufgeblas’ne Hitze, aber wenig Grutze
XIV. Recitative: Du guter Mydas, geh’ nun hin
XV. Chorus: Labst das Herz, irh holden Saiten

In 1729, as Bach’s frustrations with the town council reached their boiling point, he abruptly stopped producing sacred cantatas and turned his focus to secular works. Taking over direction of the Collegium Musicum that spring, Bach suddenly had access to a group of talented musicians and a set of fine instruments. A new secular cantata, Geschwinde ihr wirbelnden Winde, BWV 201, was likely performed by the Collegium sometime that year. The libretto, titled “The Contest between Phoebus and Pan,” recounts the mythological triumph of refined, learned composition (represented by Apollo/Phoebus) over unsophisticated country music (Pan with his rustic pipes).

It’s hard to imagine equivalent tributes today, when celebrations of teachers and learning are sometimes drowned out. This seemingly extinct genre might remind the modern listener that education is not always guaranteed. Be thankful, Bach says, for any opportunity to learn.

—© John Wood

J. S. BACH Cantata 207: “Vereinigte Zwietracht der wechselnden Saiten”

J. S. BACH (1685-1750) Cantata 207: “Vereinigte Zwietracht der wechselnden Saiten”
   
I. Marche
II. Chorus: Vereinigte Zwietracht der wechselnden Saiten
III. Recitative: Wen treibt ein edler Trieb zu dem, was Ehre heisst
IV. Aria: Zieht euren Fuss nur nicht zurucke
V. Duet Recitative: Dem nur allein soll meine Wohnung offen sein
VI. Duet Aria and Ritornello: Den soll mein Lorbeer schützend decken
VII. Recitative: Es ist kein leeres Wort, kein ohne Grund erregtes Hoffen
VIII. Aria: Ätzet dieses Angedenken
IX. Recitative: Ihr Schläfrigen, herbei
X. Chorus: Kortte lebe, Kortte blühe

In the world of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), the glory of education was second only to that of God. Bach studied diligently throughout his life to learn the musical idioms of both his predecessors and his contemporaries. An air of learnedness was foundational to Bach’s High-Baroque aesthetic. When he moved his family to Leipzig in 1723, it was in part so that his sons could attend the university. He served a teacher at the St. Thomas School and musical tutor to his own children. In his later years, he compiled encyclopedic collections that today are the foundation of many musical educations.

But Bach’s duties as a teacher were not always to his liking. He resisted the requisite that in addition to music he should also teach Latin to the St. Thomas students. By the end of the 1720s, he was increasingly disgruntled by the limited resources the school provided. In a scathing 1730 letter to the Leipzig town council, Bach complained that their lack of support was hampering his abilities to produce adequate music—the council had stopped awarding honoraria to student musicians, and Bach’s ensemble was in dire need of capable singers and instrumentalists. In response to Bach’s complaints, the council, finding him “incorrigible,” restricted his income.

Between his arrival in Leipzig and the falling out with his employers, Bach wrote hundreds of cantatas for Leipzig church services. He also found occasions for the performance of secular cantatas, including at various events for Leipzig University. Sometimes, works were even commissioned by students in honor of their favorite professors. In December 1726, Bach led a performance of Vereinigte Zwietracht der wechselnden Saiten, BWV 207, a secular cantata honoring the appointment of Professor Gottlieb Kortte. Bach cast four soloists in the roles of Honor (Ehre, bass), Diligence (Fleiß, tenor), Gratitude (Dankbarkeit, alto), and Good Fortune (Glück, soprano), each singing Kortte’s praises. The opening choral lines invite students to gather around: “United discord of quivering strings, piercing crash of rolling kettledrums! Tempt the eager students to come this way.” Later, the libretto pays tribute to Kortte’s specialty (Roman law) by namechecking Augustus (founder of the Roman empire).

—© John Wood

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