While functioning as Kapellmeister (Director of Music) to the court of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen (1694 — 1728) J. S. Bach presented in 1721 to Christian Ludwig Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt (1677 — 1734) the Baroque masterworks known as the «Brandenburg Concertos». This delightful performance of the orchestral works by the Freiburger Barockorchester conducted by Gottfried von der Goltz takes place in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Cothen (Der Spiegelsaal im Schloss Köthen), where the great german composer himself served from 1717 to 1723.
From Wikipedia:
Bachs dedication to the Margrave was dated 24 March 1721. Most likely, Bach composed the concertos over several years while Kapellmeister at Köthen, and possibly extending back to his employment at Weimar (1708--17). The first sentence of Bachs dedication reads:
«As I had the good fortune a few years ago to be heard by Your Royal Highness, at Your Highnesss commands, and as I noticed then that Your Highness took some pleasure in the little talents which Heaven has given me for Music, and as in taking Leave of Your Royal Highness, Your Highness deigned to honour me with the command to send Your Highness some pieces of my Composition: I have in accordance with Your Highnesss most gracious orders taken the liberty of rendering my most humble duty to Your Royal Highness with the present Concertos, which I have adapted to several instruments; begging Your Highness most humbly not to judge their imperfection with the rigor of that discriminating and sensitive taste, which everyone knows Him to have for musical works, but rather to take into benign Consideration the profound respect and the most humble obedience which I thus attempt to show Him.»
The dedication page Bach wrote for the collection indicates they are «Concerts avec plusieurs instruments» (Concertos with several instruments). Bach used the «widest spectrum of orchestral instruments [...] in daring combinations», as Christoph Wolff has commented (Christoph Wolff, «Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician» (WW Norton, New York, 2000). «Every one of the six concertos set a precedent in scoring, and every one was to remain without parallel». Heinrich Besseler has noted that the overall forces required (leaving aside the first concerto, which was rewritten for a special occasion) tallies exactly with the 17 players Bach had at his disposal in Köthen (Besselers preface to the «Neue Bach-Ausgabe» edition of the Brandenburg Concertos is reprinted with a translation in «Bärenreiters Study Score of the Six Brandenburg Concertos», Bärenreiter TP9, 1988).
Because King Frederick William I of Prussia (1688 — 1740) was not a significant patron of the arts, Christian Ludwig seems to have lacked the musicians in his Berlin ensemble to perform the concertos. The full score was left unused in the Margraves library until his death in 1734, when it was sold for 24 groschen (as of 2008, about US$22.00) of silver. The autograph manuscript of the concertos was only rediscovered in the archives of Brandenburg by Siegfried Wilhelm Dehn in 1849; the concertos were first published in the following year. [Malcolm Boyd, Bach: The Brandenburg Concertos (Cambridge UP, 1993)]
00:00 Prelude and Fugue No.1 in C Major, BWV 846
05:00 Prelude and Fugue No.2 in C Minor, BWV 847
07:57 Prelude and Fugue No.3 in C-Sharp Major, BWV 848
11:00 Prelude and Fugue No.4 in C-Sharp Minor, BWV 849
20:00 Prelude and Fugue No.5 in D Major, BWV 850
22:46 Prelude and Fugue No.6 in D Minor, BWV 851
26:31 Prelude and Fugue No.7 in E-Flat Major, BWV 852
31:35 Prelude and Fugue No.8 in E-Flat Minor, BWV 853
42:49 Prelude and Fugue No.9 in E Major, BWV 854
48:00 Prelude and Fugue No.10 in E Minor, BWV 855
51:01 Prelude and Fugue No.11 in F Major, BWV 856
53:05 Prelude and Fugue No.12 in F Minor, BWV 857
01:00:56 Prelude and Fugue No.13 in F-Sharp Major, BWV 858
01:04:18 Prelude and Fugue No.14 in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 859
01:09:31 Prelude and Fugue No.15 in G Major, BWV 860
01:12:36 Prelude and Fugue No.16 in G Minor, BWV 861
01:17:14 Prelude and Fugue No.17 in A-Flat Major, BWV 862
01:20:53 Prelude and Fugue No.18 in G-Sharp Minor, BWV 863
01:25:27 Prelude and Fugue No.19 in A Major, BWV 864 ( Extract )
01:29:05 Prelude and Fugue No.20 in A Minor, BWV 865
01:34:07 Prelude and Fugue No.21 in B-Flat Major, BWV 866
01:36:33 Prelude and Fugue No.22 in B-Flat Minor, BWV 867
01:43:01 Prelude and Fugue No.23 in B Major, BWV 868
01:46:34 Prelude and Fugue No.24 in B Minor, BWV 869 ( Extract )
Matthäus-Passion, BWV 244, Zweiter Teil: Erbarme dich (Aria) · Philippe Herreweghe · Collegium Vocale Gent · Andreas Scholl
J.S. Bach: Matthäus-Passion BWV 244
℗ harmonia mundi
Released on: 2007-07-31
Artist: Andreas Scholl
Soloist: Andreas Scholl
Artist: Collegium Vocale Gent
Choir: Collegium Vocale Gent
Ensemble: Collegium Vocale Gent
Artist: Philippe Herreweghe
Conductor: Philippe Herreweghe
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
00:00 Toccata in F sharp minor BWV 910
11:50 Toccata in C minor BWV 911
23:08 Toccata in D major BWV 912
37:18 Toccata in D minor BWV 913
54:27 Toccata in E minor BWV 914
01:03:02 Toccata in G minor BWV 915
01:11:50 Toccata in G major BWV 916
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Artists: Emmy Verhey (violin), Camerata Antonio Luco, Rainer Kussmaul (violin), Henk Rubingh (violin), Thomas Hengelbrock (violin), Amsterdam Bach (Soloists)
Available as a separate release: all concertos for 1 violin by Bach. They are BWV 1041 and 1042: the well-known concertos. BWV1052, 1056 and 1064 are reconstructions. The latter one being for three violins. Soloists are among others Emmy Verhey and Rainer Kussmaul.
Tracklist:
Violin Concerto in A Minor, BWV 1041:
00:00:00 I. Allegro
00:03:52 II. Adagio
00:10:23 III. Allegro
Violin Concerto in E Major, BWV 1042:
00:14:22 I. Allegro
00:22:05 II. Adagio
00:28:47 III. Allegro assai
Violin Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1052:
00:31:42 I. Allegro
00:39:20 II. Largo
00:46:22 III. Presto
Violin Concerto in G Minor, BWV 1056:
00:54:14 I. Allegro
00:57:37 II. Andante
01:00:52 III. Allegro assai
St Matthew Passion — Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 | (Complete) (Full Concert) (J. S. Bach)
The St Matthew Passion, (also frequently St Matthews Passion) BWV 244, (German: Matthäus-Passion), is a sacred oratorio from the Passions written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander (Christian Friedrich Henrici). It sets chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel of Matthew (in the German translation of Martin Luther) to music, with interspersed chorales and arias. It is widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of classical sacred music. The original Latin title Passio Domini Nostri J.C. Secundum Evangelistam Matthaeum translates to «The Passion of our Lord J[esus] C[hrist] according to the Evangelist Matthew.»
Although Bach wrote four (or five) settings of the Passions only two have survived; the other is the St John Passion. The St Matthew Passion was probably first performed on Good Friday (11 April) 1727[1] in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, where Bach was the Kantor of the School and Directoris Chori musici of Leipzig. He revised it by 1736, performing it again on 30 March 1736, this time including two organs in the instrumentation. He further revised and performed it again on 24 March 1742. Possibly due to the second organ being under repair, he switched the continuo instrument to harpsichord in Coro II, reinforced the continuo group in Coro II with a viola da gamba, and inserted a ripieno soprano in both movements 1 and 29. There is evidence of a further revision in 1743--1746, when the score as we know it originated, but no performance.
Die Matthäus-Passion, BWV 244, ist eine oratorische Passion von Johann Sebastian Bach. Der Bericht vom Leiden und Sterben Jesu Christi nach dem Evangelium nach Matthäus bildet das Rückgrat. Ergänzt wird er um eingestreute Passionschoräle und erbauliche Dichtungen von Picander in freien Chören und Arien. Die Matthäus-Passion und die Johannes-Passion sind die beiden einzigen vollständig erhaltenen authentischen Passionswerke von Bach. Mit etwa 200 Minuten Aufführungsdauer und einer Besetzung von Solisten, zwei Chören und zwei Orchestern ist die Matthäus-Passion Bachs umfangreichstes und am stärksten besetztes Werk und stellt einen Höhepunkt protestantischer Kirchenmusik dar. Die Uraufführung fand am 11. April 1727 in der Thomaskirche in Leipzig statt. Nach Bachs Tod geriet das Werk in Vergessenheit. Die Wiederaufführung in einer gekürzten Version unter Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy im Jahr 1829 leitete die Bach-Renaissance ein.
Passio secundum Matthaeum est longissimum oratorium a Iohanne Sebastiano Bach (BWV 244) compositum.
Texus musica est apud Evangelium secundum Matthaeum quod Ultima Cena et Crucifixio Iesu tractantur.
Pasión según san Mateo, Matthäus-Passion (J. S. Bach), Pasja według św. Mateusza, Матеус пасион, Passió segons sant Mateu, Matoušovy pašije, Κατά Ματθαίον Πάθη (Μπαχ), Matthäuspassion (Bach), Matthäus-Passion, Matteus-passio (Bach), Passione secondo Matteo, マタイ受難曲, 마태오 수난곡 (바흐), Passio secundum Matthaeum (Bach), Matthäus-Passion (J.S. Bach), Matteuspasjonen (Bach), Matteuspasjonen av Bach, Страсти по Матфею (Бах), Matteuspassionen,
1727
J. S. Bach
Cantatas:
BWV 167 [18:14]
BWV 7 [22:26]
BWV 30 [32:42]
Soprano: Joanne Lunn
Mezzo-soprano: Wilke te Brummelstroete
Tenor: Paul Agnew
Bass: Dietrich Henschel
Monteverdi Choir
English Baroque Soloists
John Eliot Gardiner
Recordings from the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage: at St. Giles Cripplegate, London, England.
Volume 1 — CD 1
‘Erbarme dich, mein Gott’ from St Matthew Passion (BWV 244) by J.S. Bach.
Performed by the Netherlands Bach Society conducted by Jos van Veldhoven.
Soloists: Tim Mead (Alto), Shunske Sato (violin)
The St Matthew Passion tells the story of the last days of Jesus. He is betrayed, tried, crucified and buried. The lyrics were compiled by Picander (the pseudonym of Christian Friedrich Henrici), probably in close consultation with Bach himself. For their theme, they took the story as told by St Matthew the Evangelist. As different groups or people have their say, the singers get different roles – Christ, Judas, Peter, a slave girl, the pupils, the high priests, the people and the soldiers, etc.
At key moments in the story, Bach and Picander added chorales and arias as a reflection of the biblical story. The action is suspended and the events are placed in the theological context of Bach’s day.
The chorale lyrics and melodies come from the Lutheran hymn book, and were well known to the congregation in Leipzig. Even though Bach’s harmonies were new, everyone would have recognised the melody and the words. The lyrics for the opening and closing choruses and the arias were brand new, however. Both the arias and the chorales often link up seamlessly with the evangelical words.
Watch the complete St Matthew Passion and read the full story at www.bachvereniging.nl/en/bwv/bwv-244/
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Artist: Yuan Sheng (piano)
This recording of the complete 6 Partitas is a marvel of elegance, wit, rhetoric and brilliance, played on a modern Steinway.
“China’s premier interpreter of Bach”, is what International Piano Magazine called Yuan Sheng. A pupil of Solomon Mikowsky (Manhattan School of Music) and notably Rosalyn Tureck Yuan Sheng extensively studied the performance practice of Baroque music. Equally at home at the harpsichord he has an instinctive feeling for the possibilities, sonorities and touch of the instrument at hand, so that “the listener might easily have imagined the composer at the keyboard” (Boston Intelligencer). Besides pursuing an international career Yuan Sheng is Professor of Piano at the Bejing Central Conservatory of Music.
Partita No. 1 in B-Flat Major, BWV 825:
00:00:00 I. Praeludium
00:01:43 II. Allemande
00:05:37 III. Corrente
00:08:35 IV. Sarabande
00:14:10 V. Menuet I