Post by erik on Jun 4, 2022 12:46:43 GMT -5
The great Johann Sebastian Bach is in this week's Classical Works Spotlight with one of the many masterpieces of his that defined the Baroque era of Western music.
Bach: ORCHESTRAL SUITE NO. 4 IN D MAJOR, BWV 1069
Johann Sebastian Bach was one of the first absolute geniuses in Western music, with compositions that, with the sole exception of opera, ranged from cantatas and large-scale choral works to instrumental concertos, solo keyboard works, and all-orchestral pieces. In some ways, however, the latter ones were sometimes shrouded in mystery for centuries; and many of Bach’s works only found their way into the standard orchestral repertoire after having begun as keyboard works and then expanded into modern (not to mention large) orchestral showpieces (e.g. the famous Toccata And Fugue In D Minor, in the even more famous orchestral transcription by Leopold Stokowski). This was true of the four works designated as Orchestral Suites, all of which were written between 1725 and 1730. The first two (in C Major; in B Minor) were modestly scored with strings and woodwinds. The other two, however, both in D Major, are decidedly more elaborate affairs, featuring not only oboes but also trumpets and timpani. This is most true of the Fourth Orchestral Suite, with a grandiose, arguably imperial, opening overture that arguably anticipates the later Music For The Royal Fireworks of Bach’s near-contemporary George Frideric Handel. Bach specialist Joshua Rifkin, whose advocacy helped the composer re-emerge from relative obscurity in the 20th century, has argued that the original version of the Fourth Orchestral Suite did not have the trumpets or the timpani, but that the composer added these parts while adapting the Overture for the choral movement to his 1725 Christmas cantata “Unser Mund Sei Vol Lachens” (“Our Mouths Are Full Of Laughter”), BWV 110. The suite is in five movements, and remains easily one of the most played of Bach’s original orchestral pieces, particularly among the authentic-instrument sect.
Oregon Bach Festival Chamber Orchestra/HELMUTH RILLING (Hanssler)
Included:
ORCHESTRAL SUITE NO. 3 IN D MAJOR, BWV 1068
Bach: ORCHESTRAL SUITE NO. 4 IN D MAJOR, BWV 1069
Johann Sebastian Bach was one of the first absolute geniuses in Western music, with compositions that, with the sole exception of opera, ranged from cantatas and large-scale choral works to instrumental concertos, solo keyboard works, and all-orchestral pieces. In some ways, however, the latter ones were sometimes shrouded in mystery for centuries; and many of Bach’s works only found their way into the standard orchestral repertoire after having begun as keyboard works and then expanded into modern (not to mention large) orchestral showpieces (e.g. the famous Toccata And Fugue In D Minor, in the even more famous orchestral transcription by Leopold Stokowski). This was true of the four works designated as Orchestral Suites, all of which were written between 1725 and 1730. The first two (in C Major; in B Minor) were modestly scored with strings and woodwinds. The other two, however, both in D Major, are decidedly more elaborate affairs, featuring not only oboes but also trumpets and timpani. This is most true of the Fourth Orchestral Suite, with a grandiose, arguably imperial, opening overture that arguably anticipates the later Music For The Royal Fireworks of Bach’s near-contemporary George Frideric Handel. Bach specialist Joshua Rifkin, whose advocacy helped the composer re-emerge from relative obscurity in the 20th century, has argued that the original version of the Fourth Orchestral Suite did not have the trumpets or the timpani, but that the composer added these parts while adapting the Overture for the choral movement to his 1725 Christmas cantata “Unser Mund Sei Vol Lachens” (“Our Mouths Are Full Of Laughter”), BWV 110. The suite is in five movements, and remains easily one of the most played of Bach’s original orchestral pieces, particularly among the authentic-instrument sect.
Oregon Bach Festival Chamber Orchestra/HELMUTH RILLING (Hanssler)
Included:
ORCHESTRAL SUITE NO. 3 IN D MAJOR, BWV 1068