Robert Shaw Conducts Bach Cantatas

The young conductor Robert Shaw started recording the music of J.S. Bach soon after he began his association with the Victor company. His first effort was a set of arias with Marian Anderson in June 1946; soon thereafter he turned to Bach's Cantata BWV 140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Awake, a voice calls us, generally called Sleepers, awake! in English), one of the composer's best-known choral works.

Today's transfer comes from an early LP that coupled BWV 140 with Shaw's 1949 recording of the equally compelling but less recognized Cantata BWV 131 Aus der Tiefe (Out of the depths). 

Both these compositions are church cantatas, setting sacred texts. Aus der Tiefe is a very early example of Bach's work in the form, written in 1707 when he was resident in Mühlhausen. Wachet auf comes from 1731, when he was in Leipzig.

Robert Shaw

Bach structured the works to intersperse variations on a hymn tune with contrasting passages. In Wachet auf, the chorale is based on a Lutheran hymn published by Philipp Nicolai in 1599. The fourth movement is a chorale prelude that was later published as one of the Schübler Chorales for organ, achieving independent renown. (I've appended two of these to the post as a bonus - see below.)

In BWV 140 the chorales are separated by recitatives and arias from an unknown source or sources that depict a wedding of the soul and Jesus. In the fourth movement, the bass sings, "Ich habe mich mit dir / Von Ewigkeit vertraut" ("I have betrothed myself to you from eternity to eternity").

BWV 131 does not include recitatives. The text is based on Psalm 130 and also incorporates the words of a chorale, derived from "Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut" by Bartholomäus Ringwaldt.

Shaw's recordings are among the earliest of these works; BWV 131 was a first recording. The more popular BWV 140 had two earlier issues. As you might expect, stylistically Shaw's readings have been surpassed. Even so, his use of relatively small forces pointed to the future.

Paul Matthen

The vocal soloists are variable. Bass Paul Matthen is excellent in both works, as is tenor William Hess in Aus der Tiefe. Soprano Suzanne Freil is good in Wachet auf, but tenor Roy Russell is shaky in his brief recitative.

Shaw employed some of the best instrumentalists for these works. Oboist Robert Bloom and violinist Joseph Fuchs can be heard in both cantatas. The continuo in BWV 131 was provided by harpsichordist Sylvia Marlowe and cellist Bernard Greenhouse.

Joseph Fuchs and Robert Bloom

The sound in BWV 131, from 1949 and the Manhattan Center, was better than BWV 140, from three years earlier and Town Hall, but both are more than acceptable. 

Unlike the LP, the download is tracked and includes texts and translations, along with several reviews. The recordings were remastered from Internet Archive. 

LINK to Bach cantatas

Two Chorale Preludes

As a bonus I've added the organ chorale prelude Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme BWV 645 along with the brief prelude BWV 646 Wo soll ich fliehen hin, in 1944 performances by Carl Weinrich, who recorded with Shaw. You can hear him in the recent post of favorite hymns from the Shaw Chorale.

LINK to chorale preludes

Vaughan Williams and Tansman with the Zimbler Sinfonietta and Joseph Fuchs

One final shot in my fusillade of Fuchs recordings: this recording of the Vaughan Williams Violin Concerto (usually called the "Concerto Accademico") with the Zimbler String Sinfonietta accompanying Joseph Fuchs.

Joseph Fuchs

The coupling is "Triptych" from the Russian-French composer Alexandre Tansman (1897-1986), a most attractive work that is well played by the Zimbler strings.

Alexandre Tansman

Such judgments are entirely subjective, but I have to say this is the best recording of the Vaughan Williams work I have heard, including the roughly contemporary Louis Kaufman edition I posted here three years ago.

The Zimbler ensemble was formed by Josef Zimbler, a Boston Symphony violinist. It consisted substantially or entirely of BSO members, including on this recording assistant concertmaster George Zazofsky, principal violist Joseph de Pasquale, and principal cellist Samuel Mayes. The notes to this LP say it worked without a conductor, but I believe there are later recordings that designate Lukas Foss as conductor for the occasion.

Speaking of Foss and his association with the Zimbler group, nine years ago I transferred the US Decca 10-inch LP of Hindemith's "The Four Temperaments" with that ensemble and Foss as pianist. I've now remastered the recording and it is newly available here.

The sound is very good on both LPs.

Joseph and Lillian Fuchs in Mozart

As a follow-up to my recent post involving Joseph and Lillian Fuchs, here is a 1961 LP of the siblings in Mozart's sublime Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat Major, with a substantial bonus of Joseph in less-often-heard works.

Joseph and Lillian Fuchs

The album is presented under the aegis of "Musica Æterna," which I believe was a concert series at the Metropolitan Museum and Carnegie Hall led by conductor Frederic Waldman. On this LP, Waldman directs the Æterna Chamber Orchestra, which on its other recorded outings is usually called the Musica Æterna Orchestra.

Waldman has appeared on this blog before as conductor of a very early record devoted to Edgard Varèse, although I didn't even mention him in my comments, which seems thoughtless on my part. As I recall, Waldman's recorded output for US Decca was more conventional, by and large, but apparently the Musica Æterna concert programs were more adventurous.

Frederic Waldman

This present LP is a good one, although perhaps missing the exhilaration that marks the best performances. This may be accentuated because of the close recording. Regardless, the Fuchs duo displays a unanimity of phrasing that is its own source of wonder.

In addition to the Sinfonia Concertante, Joseph assays the Adagio in E Major and the Rondo in C Major. Both are impeccable performances.

A Beethoven Serenade with Joseph and Lillian Fuchs and Leonard Rose

This post is the result of a request on another forum, but I hope some readers here will enjoy it. Here we have a US Decca 10-inch LP containing Beethoven's early and genial Serenade in D Major, with some of the best chamber music players of the mid-century era.

Joseph Fuchs

Joseph and Lillian Fuchs, violin and viola, were siblings who both achieved renown as instrumentalists, and who recorded extensively as soloists and in chamber music.

Lillian Fuchs

At the time this recording was made (June 1950), Leonard Rose was the principal cello of the New York Philharmonic. He would soon embark on a career as soloist, making many records in the process.

They make a fine trio, with a forthright presentation of the Serenade, in excellent sound. This may be the only time Rose recorded with one or the other Fuchs sibling; there is no other instance in Michael Gray's A Classical Discography database.

Leonard Rose

Rose and Joseph Fuchs were connected by both having served as principals in the Cleveland Orchestra under Artur Rodziński.

The cover art is by Erik Nitsche, a superb graphic designer who did many covers for Decca. You can find more information on him here.