Lobet den Herrn

Among the myriad works left by Bach, only six complete motets survive. Lobet den Herrn, which has been performed many times in the Bach Choir’s 25-year history, is one of these, though its authorship is disputed among musicologists. With no known performance history during Bach’s life, it was published by Breitkofp and Härtel in 1821, which is considered an extremely early date for a Bach publication and a far too early one for Mendelssohn’s revival of the composer’s work. Some scholars think that it was conceived first as an instrumental piece. Taking its text from Psalm 117, it is one of only two motets that take their text entirely from the Bible.

In this work, listeners have a prime illustration of text as the driving force of motets. Bach divides the scant two verses he includes into five distinct sections, each marked by a movement to a different phrase. A light, prancing Alleluia provides an uplifting and almost merry end to the motet.

This work, along with all the others on this program, is scored for strings, organ, two oboes, English horn, and bassoon. The Bach Choir last performed this piece on October 16, 2005, with David Long conducting.


Cantata 80

Because of its basis in Martin Luther’s famous hymn, A Mighty Fortress, this work may well be the best known of Bach’s cantatas. Composed between 1727 and 1731, the piece was written for a celebration of Reformation Day on October 31, at which time the Lutheran Church celebrated Protestantism in general and Lutheranism in particular. So familiar was Luther’s melody to Bach’s audience that he abandoned his normal approach of featuring the unadorned chorale tune prominently in the first movement; instead, he composed a tour-de-force of variations and ornamentation on the tune from the first measure. The chorale melody occurs in four of the eight movements; it appears in the bass aria of the second movement, sung in long, slow notes in the soprano line. It reappears in the fourth movement in triple rhythm for unison choir and then is presented in a straightforward four-part harmony in the chorale that ends the piece.

Cantata 80 was last performed by the choir on October 29, 2000, with Dr. J. James Greasby conducting.



Der Geist hilft unsrer Schwachheit auf

This motet is the only one of the six for which scholars can be certain about the occasion of its composition: Bach wrote it for the funeral of Thomasschule Headmaster Johann Heinrich Ernesti, who died on October 16, 1729, and was buried four days later. It is based on Romans 8:26 and 27, the same text as the funeral sermon. It also has the distinction of being the only one of the motets for which all the instrumental parts survive.
The piece is written for double choir. It unfolds in three contrasting sections before the chorale. The first, in 3/8 time, is imitative, antiphonal, and cheery. This section is the only one in the motet that is truly in eight parts. The second division, in duple time, has the choir still in two groups but rarely has all those voices singing simultaneously. The third section brings the two choirs into one in a duple-time fugue which is livelier than the middle portion but less so than the opening section. The chorale has odd lines of irregular length set apart by rests. This motet was put together very quickly, probably in two or three days since Bach would not have known at once what the sermon text would be. It stands as an amazing example of that great talent can achieve even when time is limited.

This is the Bach Choir’s first performance of this motet.


Komm, Jesu, Komm

This double-choir motet takes its text from a hymn by Paul Thymich; it was used along with the music of one of Bach’s Leipzig predessors for the 1697 funeral of Jacob Thomasius, rector of the Thomasschule. The chordal cry of “Komm” at the beginning becomes the cry of all humanity, and the vocal entries become separate and poignant with the text “die Kraft verschwindt je mehr und mehr” (my strength leaves me more and more). Descending sevenths illustrate “der saure Weg wird meir zu schwer” (the bitter path grows hard for me) with dissonance; this yields in time to an undulating, gentle section in 6/8 time with “du bist de rechte Weg, die Warheit und das Leben” (You are the way, the truth and truth and the light). The stress of the earlier sections dissolves into a soothing comfort, and an ending chorale confirms the triumph of peace.

This motet was last performed by the choir on October 16, 2005, with David Long conducting.


Singet dem Herrn

When rehearsals for this concert began, conductor David Long told the choir that their lives would henceforth be seen into two divisions: before Singet dem Herrn, and after it. Intricately composed and lovely to listen to, its speed, sixteenth-note melismas and complex rhythms make it a choral challenge, but one the choir has been eager to meet and proud to master.
Like so many of Bach’s works, scholars argue about when and for what occasion Bach composed this tour-de-force of a motet. Handwriting experts date it to 1726 or 1727; the paper, however, dates to an earlier time, and historians cannot prove if Bach wrote earlier or was merely thrifty enough to hang on to an already-purchased resource. The catalyst for its birth is also in doubt; some say it was written for Leipzig’s annual festival honoring the birthday of King August, and others believe it was for the funeral of the Polish Queen, who had defied the Catholic Church and held firm in Lutheranism. The arguments mercifully do not alter one note of this spectacular work.

Bach took the motet’s text from Psalm 149 and 150 and also from a Johann Gramann hymn and set his work for double choir. The first of the piece’s four sections features constant reiterations of the text “Singet,” letting the singers do over 50 times what the Psalm says -- sing to the Lord a new song. This section is rife with text-painting: long, rapid melismas on “Reigen” — dance — lead to rhythmic arpeggios on “Pauken” — drums — thus transforming the words into physical experience. A fugue then begins in Choir 1, while Choir 2 repeats material from the opening before taking up the fugue itself and sending Choir 1 back to the beginning. A quieter, more thoughtful section follows, with a chorale nearly indistinguishable from the well-known doxology melody “Old 100th” in Choir 2, while Choir 1 deals with rhythmic, syncopated interjections of music. The third segment, lively and dance-like, uses the two choirs antiphonally before bringing the choirs together in the last segment in a cheerful and complex fugue that many listeners will find similar to the “Pleni sunt Coeli” section of the Gloria in the B-Minor Mass. It is said that Mozart, who heard the work in 1789, was so taken with it that he wrote out all the parts to study; some believe that this work influenced some fugues in his later works, most notably the Requiem and the final movement of Symphony 41.

This is the choir’s first performance of this work.