Baroque Period

Bach’s “Sanfte soll mein Todeskummer”: An Easter Lullaby

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Sanfte soll mein Todeskummer (“Gentle shall be my contemplation of death”) is a sacred tenor aria from Bach’s Easter Oratorio, BWV 249. Sung by Simon Peter following the discovering of the empty tomb of Christ, it is a serene reflection on death as a peaceful slumber. Accompanied by recorders, with their pastoral connotations, the aria unfolds with the gentle rocking motion of a lullaby. The Netherlands Bach Society writes, In Bach’s church …

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Purcell’s “Sound the Trumpet”: Celebratory Music for a Royal Birthday

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In the festive countertenor duet, Sound the Trumpet, English Baroque composer Henry Purcell (1659-1695) did not use actual trumpets. Instead, he called upon the singers to imitate the regal, antiphonal calls of these “instruments of joy.” First performed in April of 1694, this music is part of Come Ye Sons of Art, Z.323, the Ode for Queen Mary’s Birthday. The text is attributed to Nahum Tate, who served as poet laureate at …

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Bach’s “O Lamm Gottes, Unschuldig,” BWV 618: Canon Alla Quinta

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Typically, a musical canon involves a melodic line which is imitated by one or more voices after a set duration, resulting in a magical contrapuntal layering. In the chorale prelude for organ, O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig (“O Lamb of God, innocent”), BWV 618, Bach expanded on this idea by creating a canon “alla quinta” (“canon at the fifth”). Unlike a canon in unison, the voices are set a fifth apart. In this …

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Bach’s Violin Concerto in A Minor, BWV 1041: Hilary Hahn and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen

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“Bach has played a long part in my musical life,” said violinist Hilary Hahn in a 2018 interview. “I started playing the solo Bach Sonatas and Partitas when I was nine in preparation for a couple of movements that I played on my first full recital when I was ten, and shortly after that I started at Curtis…” While Bach’s six groundbreaking Sonatas and Partitas showcase the violin as an instrument capable …

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Remembering Helmuth Rilling

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Helmuth Rilling, an acclaimed German choral conductor and influential interpreter of Bach, passed away last Wednesday, February 11. He was 92. Rilling founded numerous ensembles including the Gächinger Kantorei (1954), the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart (1965), the Oregon Bach Festival (1970), and the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart (1981). He served as professor of choral conducting at the Frankfurt Musikhochschule from 1965 to 1989 and led the Frankfurter Kantorei from 1969 to 1982. “Music has to …

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Rameau’s “Zaïs” Overture: Creation Develops out of Chaos

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Creation develops out of primordial chaos in the Overture to the 1748 opera, Zaïs, by French Baroque composer Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764). The shocking and innovative music predates Haydn’s similar depiction in the opening of his oratorio, The Creation, by half a century. The Zaïs Overture begins with muted drumbeats, followed by detached fanfare fragments. At first, rhythm falters and the harmony is directionless. Disparate musical building blocks, representing the four elements of Earth, …

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Handel’s Minuet in G, HWV 434/4: Alexander Malofeev

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Handel’s haunting and melancholy Minuet in G, HWV 434/4 is a frequent encore of Russian pianist Alexander Malofeev. Following a virtuosic tour de force such as Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, the simple, sensuous melodic lines of the Minuet pull listeners into a magical space. This music originated as the fourth movement of Handel’s Keyboard Suite in B-flat major, HWV 434, published in 1733. It was revived by pianist Wilhelm Kempff. This performance, featuring …

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