“Handel + Bach” Programme Notes
Kia ora koutou and welcome to the first concert of the 2021 season for the Scholars Baroque Aotearoa. This concert is a concert of firsts - an opportunity for the choir to try new things, with a new way of selecting repertoire, a new composer to explore for the first time, and even an exciting new community to visit as we bring this music to a new audience in Matamata.
In preparation for this concert, the Scholars Baroque have nurtured a new, and hopefully long-lasting, relationship with the colossus of the Baroque Era – J. S. Bach. Undoubtedly the master of 18th century harmony and counterpoint, Bach’s music has been conspicuously absent from Scholars’ programmes in the past. Bach’s German motets represent the pinnacle of Baroque choral counterpoint. They are ferociously demanding and require a high level of musical skill from any and all singers who attempt them. Most choirs, in fact, simply opt to avoid Bach’s motets altogether in order to prevent unnecessary frustration and sheer defeat. Indeed, the Scholars Baroque themselves have had to carefully and patiently wait for the right moment in their development to take on the challenges these motets present. In many respects it would have been simpler to begin with a few of Bach’s less-taxing cantatas (which usually showcase soloists more than the choir), but, throwing caution to the wind, the Scholars have jumped into the deep end of Bach’s enormous choral pool.
It is unclear how many German motets Bach actually wrote, but most music historians agree on at least six. Lobet den Herrn (Praise the Lord), BWV 230, is a motet in C major scored for 4 voices which draws its text from Psalm 117. While the initial tempo must be robust and brisk to capture the overwhelming sentiments of joy and elation, it is still, perhaps one of the easiest and shortest of all Bach’s motets – it is in fact the only motet that requires the humble forces of just four parts (most of Bach’s other motets demand anywhere between five and eight). Ten minutes is still, however, a generous length of time in which the choir (and audience) can enjoy Bach’s glorious and superb counterpoint and rich harmonic dialogue. The Alleluia which concludes the motet is mighty and terribly exciting.
Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren, the other Bach motet on today’s programme, poses something of an enigma. Some musicologists considered it a second movement to the motet Jauchzet dem Herrn alle Welt, but others believe, based on its sheer size and scope, that Bach intended it as a separate stand-alone motet. This debate notwithstanding, it is nevertheless a suitable introduction to the motets of Bach for the Scholars Baroque. Listen carefully to the initial theme introduced by the tenor section of the Scholars – listeners might recognise this tune as the basis for the familiar hymn, Praise God, From Whom All Blessings Flow. The text Bach uses, however, is extracted from a Lutheran Hymn by Johann Gramann and is essentially a paraphrase of Psalm 103. Unlike Lobet den Herrn (which can only date loosely to Bach’s time in Weimar from 1708 – 1717, this motet’s date of composition can be accurately pinpointed to 1725.
The Scholars Baroque are no strangers to the choral works of George Frideric Handel. Last year, for example, the Scholars performed Handel’s exciting oratorio Israel in Egypt with our friends at Opus Orchestra. And, of course, the Scholars’ annual performance of Messiah with NZBarok is a community event that is not to be missed. I was first introduced to the Chandos Anthems as a young boy. I found an obscure scratchy old record while thumbing through my father’s eclectic vinyl collection. Ever the lover of order and organisation, his records were alphabetised (more or less), and I found the Chandos Anthems wedged somewhere between the Beatles and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Their hold on me was immediate and I was instantly mesmerised by their beauty. This is the first time that the Scholars have explored these often-forgotten works which teem with immense sensitivity and charm. For another first, the Scholars Baroque themselves (and not their Musical Director) elected which two from Handel’s twelve Chandos Anthems would be performed this weekend.
During the period 1717 – 1718, Handel was composer more-or-less in residence at Cannons (Edgware, North London) where James Brydges - Earl of Carnarvon, and, from 1719, the 1st Duke of Chandos - had set up a sort of princely court of the kind common enough on the continent but virtually unknown in England. The Duke’s star was clearly on the rise, and perhaps wishing to make a bold statement about his newfound status and favour, he employed the keen and eager young Handel, who was also determined to make a name for himself. This relationship might have begun somewhat prematurely however. The Duke’s new estate, and in particular his new chapel at Cannons, had not yet finished construction, so Handel and his musicians were forced to premiere Handel’s newly composed anthems at St. Lawrence’s Church, Whitchurch.
For Cannons, Handel wrote the masque (semi-opera) Acis and Galatea, the oratorio Esther, and the so-called Chandos Anthems. These twelve instrumentally accompanied anthems (really Anglican cantatas) contain a mix of music that Handel had composed for earlier occasions as well as new material which Handel then re-used for future compositions. However, the musical resources available to Handel at Cannons were exceedingly slender. The small choir was somewhat irregularly balanced, so Handel wrote the choruses of his Chandos Anthems for sopranos, tenors, and basses, (curiously omitting the altos altogether). Since the choristers available at Cannons were so few, the soloists would generally also have sung as members of the choir – a practice which we follow in this performance.
Both of the Chandos Anthems performed today have unusual choral voicing which is reflective of the limited choral resources Handel was forced to work with at Cannons. Handel denotes the two inner choral parts as “Tenor 1 and 2” instead of the more usual alto and tenor. In later editions, music editors allocate the top tenor part to the altos instead, in an attempt to more evenly distribute the balance of the choruses to the more common combination of soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. While this might appear to make the anthems more appealing for choirs today (which are ordinarily S.A.T.B. in their makeup, as are the Scholars), this was not an entirely adequate or popular solution to the issues of balance: in both anthems, the altos are forced downwards to almost inaudible low tenor notes.
The anthem O Come Let Us Sing unto the Lord is a setting of verses from Psalms 95, 96, 99, and 103, all according to The Book of Common Prayer. The anthem opens with the customary two-movement sonata. The opening chorus is really a prototype for a chorus from one of Handel’s more popular oratorios such as Israel in Egypt. It begins with a kind of cantus firmus over a walking bass line until the various parts enter. An abrupt final cadence, which, after a period of silence, leads to an Adagio whose seven-bar coda to the words “For the Lord is a great God”, provides an element of drama. Moreover, the Chorus “Glory and Worship are before him” (No. 4) is typical of Handel’s bold, decisive treatment of such texts. Obvious parallels can be drawn between this and Handel’s final chorus from Messiah, “Worthy is the Lamb”. Handel’s true original masterstroke can be found in his word painting in the remaining two choruses. In No. 5, Handel sets the text “he made the world so fast it can’t be moved” above changing harmonies that are literally “made fast”. In No. 9 the opening words “There is sprung up” being set to an upward arpeggio and the following “and joyful gladness” being set to semiquaver roulades.
It is largely agreed upon that O Praise the Lord with One Consent is the finest of all the Cannons/Chandos Anthems. Unlike all the other Cannons anthems, the source of this text is not taken from The Book of Common Prayer, but relies instead on Tate and Brady’s New Version of the Psalms published in 1696. It sets the words to Psalms 117, 135, and 148. Another feature that makes this anthem unique among the set of Cannons anthem is that this anthem has no opening instrumental sonata (although the 36-bar introduction to the first chorus serves much the same function).
The majestic opening chorus relies for part of its effect on familiarity with the well-known hymn tune St. Anne (usually sung to the words, “O God, Our Help in Ages Past”), published in 1708 and attributed to Handel’s contemporary William Croft (1678 – 1727). Bach too, would later quote this popular hymn tune as the fugue subject in his glorious Prelude and Fugue in Eb Major (BWV 552).
Rather serendipitously, the music contained in this concert programme is the happiest, most uplifting, and most consistently joyful the Scholars have ever presented. It has left many choristers feeling euphoric and energised, even after they leave a gruelling and demanding two-hour rehearsal, and it is perhaps significant that the singers gravitated towards this joy-filled music as the world continues to struggle with the impacts of COVID-19.
Today’s performance sits in stark contrast to the Scholars’ next concerts (September 2021), in which we will partner with Opus Orchestra to present the Requiem, a much darker and inward-looking work left incomplete by a dying Mozart. Both dark and light form part of the landscapes of our human lives, and beauty, fulfillment, and powerful lessons can be found in either context – but for now, we thank you for joining us in this celebration of praise, joy, thanksgiving, and pure delight.
Chalium Poppy – Musical Director, Scholars Baroque Aotearoa
