These program notes were written by Elise Groves for a program of Bach for alto and violin soloists. This concert was presented by The Bach Project in conjunction with Ashmont Hill Chamber Music on October 2, 2022.
We like to picture artists as an endless fount of creativity, new ideas, and inspiration, but the reality is much less glamorous. Art in every form takes a tremendous amount of work. There are long dry spells of attempting to create without any results, deadlines looming with no inspiration in sight, and flurries of demand without enough work time. There is no concept of “balance” in a creative life – one simply becomes better at riding the waves of activity – and Bach was a master at finding ways to keep the output flowing by changing what he was creating.
Bekennen will ich seinen Namen, BWV 200, is an arrangement Bach made of an aria by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel. Stölzel (1690-1749) was a contemporary of Bach and was also a prolific and extremely talented composer. His output included five operas, twelve complete cantata cycles, two Christmas Oratorios, a significant amount of instrumental music, and many other works. Perhaps the most famous connection between Bach and Stölzel is the piece “Bist du bei mir” previously attributed to Bach (it was included in the notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach) which is actually from Stölzel’s opera Diomedes.
Bach knew Stölzel’s music well, especially the passion oratorio Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld (also known by the libretto’s title Die leidende und am Kreuz sterbende Liebe). Stölzel had premiered the work on Good Friday in 1720, and Bach would present it in Leipzig on Good Friday in 1734. Not content with merely presenting Stölzel’s work, in 1742-43 Bach reworked a portion of it into Bekennen will ich seinen Namen, BWV 200. The original aria, “Dein Kreuz, o Bräutgam meiner Seelen”, was scored for tenor soloist with oboe, violin, bassoon, and continuo. Bach’s version exchanges the oboe for a second violin, omits the bassoon entirely, and reworks the piece for alto rather than tenor.
Bach’s compositional borrowing wasn’t limited to the works of others. He frequently borrowed from himself, both creating new versions of older pieces and also reworking older ideas into new compositions. Many cantata arias were later transformed into movements of larger works (the masses and Christmas Oratorio, among others), and he would rewrite concerti to feature a new instrument based on the forces he had at hand. In the case of the Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, BWV 1041, it would take on a second life as the Harpsichord Concerto No. 7 in G minor, BWV 1058.
As much as we often think of Bach as a keyboard virtuoso, he was equally brilliant as a violinist and often led his ensembles from the violin rather than the keyboard. During his time in Leipzig, he led a collegium comprised of a few professionals, a few university students, and some talented amateurs in weekly performances at Zimmerman’s coffee shop. It was for this group that Bach composed a significant amount of secular instrumental repertoire, both reworking pieces from earlier times and also creating new compositions to highlight the strengths of the group. Some suspect that this concerto was originally written during his earlier time in Köthen, while others date it after his move to Leipzig. In any case, Bach likely premiered this concerto as the soloist leading the Leipzig collegium musicum.
Perhaps no other form has remained as constant through history as the theme and variations. Sei gegrüßet, Jesu gütig, BWV 768, is a chorale and eleven variations written by Bach while he was in Arnstadt around 1705. The original composer of the hymn tune is unknown, but it was first published in 1682 as part of the Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch (New Leipzig Hymnal) compiled by Gottfried Vopelius, where it was paired with the “Sei gegrüßet” text by Christian Keimann. Bach would reference this hymnal extensively in his later years in Leipzig. In composing his Partite diverse sopra "Sei gegrüßet, Jesu gütig", Bach drew on the techniques he had learned from Georg Böhm while he was a student in Lüneburg, as well as the style of Buxtehude, whom he admired.
While Bach had a well-paying job in Arnstadt at this time, as well as a fantastic organ, it appears he had difficulties “playing nice with others” (perhaps related to the fact he was only 18 when he started working at Arnstadt and 21 when he left). He complained about the ability of the musicians with whom he worked, insulting one of them so severely that they had a physical altercation which had to be settled by the authorities. He asked for four weeks of leave (to go hear Buxtehude) and ended up being gone for four months instead. It seems that then, as now, perceived “genius” can sometimes be used as an excuse for bad behavior.
Fortunately, by the time Bach took on the large demands of the job in Leipzig, he had grown up a bit – he was now 38, had lost his first wife tragically and recently remarried, and been through the wringer with his employers in Weimar. He wasn’t the first choice for the Leipzig job, so he came in with a need to prove himself. The demands of the church year dominated the early part of Bach’s compositional life. He took up the post of the Thomaskantor in May of 1723, which involved teaching in the school at St. Thomas Church and providing music for St. Thomas Church, St. Nicholas Church, the New Church, and St. Peter’s Church. Over the course of his time in Leipzig, he composed some 300 church cantatas with most dating from his first three years there.
A cantata was intended to expand on the readings assigned to a certain liturgical day, so Bach’s text choices for each week were somewhat predetermined. The message needed to align with the scriptural passages, Lutheran theology, and general idea of each service, thus providing Bach with guidelines in which to work. Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust, BWV 170 was premiered in July of 1726 for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity in the Lutheran liturgical calendar. Bach wrote three cantatas for solo alto in 1726, likely all for the same singer. This one focused on readings from the Gospel of Matthew and Paul’s epistle to the Romans which emphasized the role of sin in separating man from the divine. In expanding those ideas, the cantata describes the only place one can find true peace – in heaven with God.
Without a doubt Bach was a genius, writing music that has endured for centuries no matter what variation and interpretation one might add to it. At the same time, he was simply another skilled craftsman of his era. He had issues getting along with people, he suffered loss, he had professional successes and setbacks, and his reputation was mixed among his peers. Yet somehow looking at the realities of his life makes his enduring legacy even more exciting. He was unquestionably talented, but he also went into the family business and received extensive schooling. The musical treasures we enjoy are the product of an education and many decades of on-the-job training and working under pressure. If Bach could do it, perhaps there are those among us who will be equally celebrated in the future.