Washington Bach Consort Noontime Cantata Trip

As you should know by now, we'll be taking a trip to see the Washington Bach Consort's Noontime Cantata performance on Tuesday April 2. To help you all get ready for that trip, I've added the two pieces we'll be hearing to the playlist. As a reminder, you can find the entire MUSC 320 playlist here.

Composer: J. S. Bach
BWV 540 - Toccata and Fugue in F Major
Score: HERE (it's a PDF)


It is thought that this piece was actually written originally as two separate works, the toccata sometime after 1714 and the fugue after 1731. Eventually, though, Bach joined them and created one of the more magnificent works in his organ oeuvre. The toccata begins with a quickly flowing canon for the two hands over an F pedal, which is then followed by a variation on the canon's theme in the pedals. This then is echoed, with the hands coming over the dominant pedal of C and the tonal center shifted a bit.

The toccata is so impressive that the fugue is often omitted in performance. It won't be at our concert, though. It is a sober contrast to the fireworks of the opening toccata. Here, we've got it performed by Ton Koopman.

Composer: J. S. Bach
BWV 6 - Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden
Score: HERE (it's a PDF)


Here you've got just the opening chorale, but the entire cantata is on the Spotify playlist.

And this is a pretty fun opportunity, to hear a Bach cantata on nearly the day it is supposed to be performed. BWV 6 was written in Leipzig in 1725 for Easter Monday, the day after Easter Sunday. We'll be hearing it, obviously, on Easter Tuesday. You can find a translation of the text here. You'll notice that, in addition to biblical quotations, the cantata is based on chorales by Nikolaus Selnecker and Martin Luther.

You'll notice that the second movement is an aria for alto, continuo, and oboe da caccia. The oboe fulfills what we call an obbligato role here, it is as important to the music as is the alto soloist. In obbligato passages, you can almost think of the singer and instrumentalist as members of a duet.

Laptop's Back, So Here Is Some Music for Spring Break

First thing's first, HERE is the link to our full playlist.

Now, I've finally gotten my laptop back which means that a lot of the music we've talked about for the past two week's can go up on our Spotify playlist. Below, I'll put some excerpts, but you can find everything on the actual full playlist. Let's get this show on the road:

Piece: Mystery Sonata, No. 15 "The Coronation of the Virgin"
Composer: Heinrich Biber


I've gone ahead and put the passacaglia that ends the set of 15 Mystery Sonatas here. The entire 15th sonata is on on Spotify though. Like I mentioned in class two weeks ago, this is a passacaglia for unaccompanied violin on a lamento bass. Way better than it has any right to be.

Piece: The Four Seasons, Spring, Mvmt. 1
Composer: Anotnio Vivaldi


I obviously don't have much to say about this, but I wanted to give you all a good version to make you give this piece a try again. I put "Spring" on the playlist, but the whole album is good.

Piece: The Four Seasons Recomposed, Winter, Mvmt. 1
Composer: Max Richter, recomposing (obviously) Antonio Vivaldi


Like I mentioned two weeks ago, this could have probably come next semester, but like Dawson, Pacey, and Joey, I don't wanna wait. This whole album is a really awesome re-imagining of the Four Seasons. Even if you hate the original, I imagine you'll like this. Recomposed as part of an initiative by Deutsche Grammaphon, and premiered in a German techno club.

Piece: Partita for Solo Violin No. 2, BWV 1004
Composer: J. S. Bach


An excellent recording of one of the pillars of the solo violin repertoire. I've put the first movement here, but the one to make sure to listen to is the last movement, the ciaccona. It's an absolutely breathtaking display of virtuosity in both composition and performance.

Piece: The Art of the Fugue
Composer: J. S. Bach


Here is the second movement, but I put on Spotify the first six movements as performed by six different ensembles. Remember that Bach didn't specify instrumentation, so all six versions are valid. I'd recommend finding one of these groups that you like, clicking on the album of their music and giving the entire piece a listen. It's like a masterclass in counterpoint, as Bach mutates a simple fugue subject in so many different ways that 12 variations of it never become boring.

Piece: Wir mussen durch viel Trubsal, BWV 146, Sinfonia
Composer: J. S. Bach


Anyone watch Avatar: The Last Airbender? This album cover makes me think of Aang. Anyhow, this is the sinfonia (orchestral opening) to Bach's cantata BWV 146 (Wir mussen durch viel Trubsal). Like we mentioned on Friday, this is really just a transcription of the first movement of Bach's Harpsichord Concerto in D Minor (which in turn seems to have been a transcription of a lost violin concerto). You'll find the harpsichord version on the playlist as well.

Alright, that's all. I hope you're enjoying spring break. Maybe this can be some fun music to listen to while you're out doing whatever it is you're doing. See you next week!