*This is a brief summary of a demonstration lecture. Dr. Ehmann was assisted by the singers and instrumentalists of the Westfalian Kantorei. See recordings, Cantate 641203 and 641206, Darmstadt, Tonkunst-Verlag.

A. The Chorale, Note Against Note, a Harmonic Setting

1. Vocal

In our discussion the motets will receive primary attention. Here the problems of performance practice are still the greatest. We are all acquainted with the motet Jesu, meine Freude. The a cappella rendition is familiar and dear to us. This art of a cappella performance stems from the early 19th century, out of the period of the Bach renaissance, and not from Bach’s own time. The bearer of music culture in the 19th century was the mixed chorus. Through this mixed chorus of the 19th century the forgotten works of Bach again became known to us. Up to the present time we are accustomed to hearing his motets in this manner. This is not wrong, but it should not be the only manner of their performance. Further musicological research, new sound possibilities, and added choral organizations point to new ways.

2. Vocal and General Bass (basso continuo—thorough bass)

A noted musicologist has called the period from Schütz to Bach the general-bass or the thorough-bass period. The thorough bass belongs to the nature of that age; it is the support of this music and gives it its symbolic meaning. The 16-foot bass belongs to it. Without it there are numerous false harmonies when the tenor goes below the bass. In the motet Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden Bach himself provided a thorough bass.

3. Vocal and Thorough Bass and Strings

In most of Bach’s cantatas, in which similar movements occur as in the motets, the vocal parts are supported by strings. Johann Gottfried Walther, a cousin and contemporary of Bach, says in his lexicon that the definition of “a cappella” includes both singers and instruments. The pregnant phrases of the voices demand an instrumental precision.

4. Vocal and Thorough Bass and Strings and Cantus Firmus of Wind Instruments

The cantus firmus is a musical symbol. It is the bearer of the Word of God. Thus it is more often reinforced by a wind instrument in the cantatas of Bach. The brass instruments, since the Old Testament, likewise stood for a musical symbol, namely, the voice of God. The melodic symbol is supported by the instrumental symbol. The addition of a wind instrument is also desirable for stylistic reasons. It is important to hear the cantus firmus in a special way. Such a type of movement was designated by musicology as a contrasting movement (Spaltsatz).

These four possibilities with numerous variations serve fundamentally for all compositions of this type in the 17th and 18th centuries and also for other types of that time.

B. Soloists in Bach’s Music

Out of the before-mentioned development of the 19th century we are accustomed to have the choir consist of lay people interested in music but without special musical training, sing the choral movements from cantatas and oratorios. In between the professional soloists make their appearance, singing the arias The voluntary choir and the professional soloists are apart from each other. This was not the case from the Middle Ages to Bach’s time. The soloists were leading members of the Kantorei. Schütz divides his choir into Favoriten and Cappellisten, Bach into Concertisten and Ripienisten. The Favoriten and Concertisten are the soloists. We would like to point out several responsibilities of the soloists in the works of Bach without going into the arias, which are also known to us.

1. The soloists are leaders of their sections.

Pretorius calls them the essentia totius cantilenae.

2. The solo ensemble can sing the sections marked “piano” or the middle sections from oratorio and cantata movements, which are sparsely orchestrated or not orchestrated at all.

For an example, I refer you to the first and last movements of the St. John Passion of Bach. Arthur Mendel, an American musicologist, also mentions this type of performance. In this way the vocal section of Bach’s works becomes a vocal concerto grosso, as we have had in the instrumental field for a long time. As an illustration you will hear the second section from the motet Jesu, meine Freude. Here the solo ensemble will take over the portions marked “piano.”

3. Fugal Exposition.

The exposition of many Bach fuges are performed by the singers with thorough bass, but without orchestra. After the exposition the orchestra joins in with the tutti section. In any cantata, especially in the earlier ones, Bach designated these vocal parts of the exposition as “solo.” Not until the orchestra enters does he also write tutti for the choir. In this way the fugue contains a distinct baroque buildup. The example is the last movement of Singet dem Herrn.

4. Entire movements are performed by soloists.

Many movements of Bach’s works are better suited for a solo ensemble than for a mass chorus. In his memorandum to the Leipzig Council in 1730 Bach requires three singers for each part, in order to have at least two in the event that one of them is sick, a Concertist and a Ripienist. The more expressive movements are especially well suited for a solo ensemble. Example: “Gute Nacht, o Wesen” from the motet Jesu, meine Freude. In a rendition by soloists it becomes a chorale concerto on a cantus firmus in the sense of the baroque.

5. In a double chorus the solo ensemble can take over one of the choruses.

In the previously mentioned memorandum to the Council of the city of Leipzig, Bach speaks of Concertisten in connection with double choruses. Example: “Wie sich ein Vater erbarmet” from the motet Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied. The second choir is a choral cantus firmus setting and should be performed in an objective tutti manner. The first choir was designated by Bach as “Aria.” The parts are expressive and freely interpreted. It is an ensemble aria with continuo.

C. The Performance of a Double Chorus

The double chorus dates back to the end of the 16th century (Italy). It is a concerto for two choirs with typical baroque characterstics. In the motets of Bach it plays a still greater role.

1. Vocal performance is possible.

Example: “Lobet den Herrn in seinen Taten,” the third movement from the motet Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied.

2. Here also an employment of the thorough bass is desirable.

The reasons are the same. Bach himself had portable organs which he took along for musicals into the homes of the citizens and for serenades in the street. One could assign a basso continuo instrument to each choir and perhaps have a positiv play against a cembalo; or one continuo instrument for both choirs. The 16-foot bass is again important. We can play the same example with thorough bass.

3. The one choir will be colored with strings, the other with wind instruments.

This procedure was a common one also in the age of Gabrieli and Heinrich Schütz. In the motet Der Geist hilft unsrer Schwachheit auf (The Spirit Also Helpeth Us) Bach, in his own handwriting, himself assigned strings to the one choir and wind instruments to the other.

Bach orchestrated a double-choir motet of Palestrina in the same manner. That in several motets we do not find instrumental parts may be because most of the motets were written for funeral services in the Thomaskirche. Here instruments were forbidden at church funeral services. When Bach performed the same work upon another occasion, he naturally used instruments. Instruments could also be used ad libitum in the motets according to European tradition. The instruments of one choir should be of a specific kind. The instruments with the second choir must be of a contrasting nature. Here also the principle of contrast is important.

Herford, Westphalia
Germany

From The Musical Heritage of the Church, Volume V (St. Louis, Mo.: Concordia Publishing House, 1959). Copyright Concordia Publishing House. Printed by permission. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Concordia Publishing House.