To mark Easter this year, we have the Robert Shaw Chorale's performance of Bach's profound Cantata Christ lag in Todensbaden (Christ Lay in the Bonds of Death), BWV 4.
The composition itself is an early one by the composer, dating from 1707 when he was in Mühlhausen. It is believed that he wrote the piece for an Easter performance that year.
The work is considered a "chorale cantata," a form that is generally based on a hymn tune, in this case Martin Luther's work of the same name published in 1524. For Bach, this chorale style would be succeeded by the recitative and aria format he would soon begin to use.
The Easter Cantata that is known to us today is a version that Bach performed in 1724 and 1725 at services in the Thomaskirche Leipzig.
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| Robert Shaw |
This excellent performance dates from 1946. It was recorded in New York's Town Hall, I believe during the same sessions as the Cantata BWV 140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Awake, a Voice Calls Us, also known as Sleepers Awake).
The performers are listed on the cover as the RCA Victor Chorale and Orchestra, but the choral group is of course the Robert Shaw Chorale. Although some movements are designated as "duet" or "aria" as well as "chorale," in this performance Shaw allots all sections to the chorus.
The contemporary reviews I have found were generally positive. Here is the American Record Guide: "That Mr. Shaw's Chorale makes a fine and impressive sound is certainly no news, and we have come to expect clarity in their singing of contrapuntal passages. This we certainly get in the opening chorus, though somewhat to the detriment of the orchestra. If the conductor has not probed the depths of the mystery expressed in the first section he gives the hallelujahs with proper spirit and sweep."
I stop here often but rarely comment, though I should always say thank you.
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter and thank you for the blog and the music you share.
Anon - Happy Easter to you as well, and thanks so much for your note!
DeleteThank You for the Shaw. And happy Easter! ... do You have in Your collection this Cantata from Günther Ramin? It would be great for comparison.
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter, MPT - and good question about the cantata. I don't think I have the Ramin, but I'll check!
ReplyDeleteSorry, I don't have it.
DeleteI know, I am demanding listener :-D so one question more: Is this Your rip from
Deletethe LM-9035 LP or the M-1096 set?
MPT - I did this a few years ago, so I am not sure. But I believe I worked from 78 transfers that were on Internet Archive at the time. These actually sound better than the LP transfer I used for BWV 140, recorded at about the same time. That's not unusual.
DeleteGreat
ReplyDeleteMuch appreciated Buster! Speaking of IA, do you have this?: https://archive.org/details/SymphonyNo.9fromTheNewWorld/01_adagio_allegroMolto.mp3 Whoever made the tranfer over did it with the noise reduction, to the point the quiet passages sould like their underwater. The louder bits are okay.
ReplyDeleterev.b - It's always fascinating what people come up with. I wasn't great at this stuff years ago, but I learned early on that you have to be careful with noise reduction. Unfortunately, I don't have this set, which sounds very interesting!
ReplyDeleteHola, me extraña no encontrar musica de un grande, Pee We Hunt, gran musico gracias.
ReplyDeletemanuel - No creo que Pee Wee haya aparecido alguna vez con Robert Shaw, pero si buscas aquí lo encontrarás:
Deletehttps://bustersss.blogspot.com/2024/10/what-folks-were-listening-to-90-years.html
Happy belated Easter!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ernie - Hope you had a good one!
DeleteThis Lp shows one more time all the ability and musicality of Shaw in the famed Choral Cantata. Very good sound. Thanks Buster.
ReplyDeleteA pleasure, Jean!
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