#kohncantatas

[markseow]

Programme notes: Bach the European 6 October 2019, John Butt 3 November 2019, John Butt 1 December, Iain Ledingham Bach BWV 227, BWV 225, Schutz Selig sind die Toten SWV 391, Meine Seele erhebt den Herren SWV 494, Scheidt Komm heiliger Geist, Herre Gott SSWV 463, JC Bach Fürchte dich nicht. Bach BWV 78, BWV 572, Delalande De profundis. Buxtehude Win schön leuchtet der Morgenstern BuxWV 223, Das newgebohrne Kindelein, BuxWV 13, Bach BWV 1, BWV 69a. Duke’s Hall, Royal Academy of Music.

[markseow]

Programme notes: Bach the European 1 November 2020   Bach BWV 42, BWV 552, BWV 135 Royal Academy of Music Baroque Orchestra, directed by Eamonn Dougan. Royal Academy of Music, London.

[markseow]

Programme notes 5 November 2017

JS Bach BWV 234, BWV 105 Directed by Philippe Herreweghe, led by Margaret Faultless   Programme notes by Mark Seow Royal Academy of Music

...Belonging to Bach’s first cycle in Leipzig, BWV 105 was first performed on 25 July 1723.The libretto is drawn from the Sunday Gospel describing God’s judgement. Conscience, or Gewissen, is central to this message, and Bach’s music places its depiction at the core of his construction...

[markseow]

Programme notes 2 February 2017

JS Bach BWV 40, BWV 212 Directed by Iain Ledingham, led by Madeleine Easton Programme notes by Mark Seow Royal Academy of Music

...Performed on 30 August 1742, most likely preceding a lavish firework display, BWV 212 was composed to honour Carl Heinrich von Dieskau’s birthday. Picander’s text exhibits traces of an Upper Saxon dialect. However, the evocation of the ‘rustic’ is most clear in Bach’s use of dance. Despite an overall structure that alternates between aria and recitative, the cantata is very much a foray into the world of dance...

[markseow]

Essay: ‘Things Fall Apart: Humanity in Bach’s Cantatas’ January 2018

Essay commissioned by the Royal Academy of Music and Kohn Foundation to celebrate the tenth and final year of the Bach cantata series.  

[markseow]

Programme notes 8 October 2017

JS Bach BWV 181, BWV 17, BWV 196 Directed by Iain Ledingham, led by Margaret Faultless Programme notes by Mark Seow Royal Academy of Music

...With the mention of ‘Belial’ we enter the central contrasting section – or do we? Indeed the musical structure continues as expected, with the reprise of the opening material. However after only four bars into what we believe to be the da capo, the depiction of Belial returns ever the more declamatory. We realise that this is not a da capo structure as we were led to believe, but instead a ritornello movement. In other words, just as Satan deceived Eve with ‘sacred Fruit forbidd’n’, Bach tricks us, his loyal listeners...

[markseow]

Concert 25 June 2017

JS Bach BWV 202, BWV 82 Directed by Iain Ledingham, led by Madeleine Easton. Soloists: Claire Ward, Nicholas Mogg.     Programme notes by Mark Seow Royal Academy of Music

... Here a gavotte is used to set the good wishes for the newly-wed couple, but also gestures towards the music that will take place after the cantata has finished. This playful diegesis or musical pun is extremely succinct; but then again, the real wedding party has only just begun...

[markseow]

Programme notes 7 May 2017

JS Bach BWV 562 Organist: Andrzej Malitowski Programme note by Mark Seow Royal Academy of Music

...During his employment in Weimar, Bach began composing a work. The first 81 bars are a completed fantasia; however, after 27 bars Bach abandoned his plans for a fugue...

[markseow]

Programme notes 5 March 2017

JS Bach BWV 656 Organist: Marko Sever Programme note by Mark Seow Royal Academy of Music

...For the third and final verse, the tessitura is gloriously opened up as the cantus firmus is passed down to the pedal...Bach makes the movement of the cantus firmus from soprano to bass most emphatic. And indeed, this journey of tessitura reflects the Agnus Dei, painting Christ’s descent from heaven, and with it, peace on earth...

[markseow]

Essay: ‘Bach’s Bodies: The Spiritual and Physical in the Cantatas’ by Mark Seow January 2017

Essay commissioned by the Royal Academy of Music and Kohn Foundation to celebrate the ninth year of the Bach cantata series. 

[markseow]

Kohn Foundation Bach Cantata concert 24 April 2016

JS Bach BWV 111, BWV 94, BWV 26 Directed by Iain Ledingham, led by Madeleine Easton Royal Academy of Music

[markseow]

Kohn Foundation Bach Cantata concert 21 June 2015

JS Bach BWV 11, 75, 1043 Directed by Masaaki Suzuki, led by Rachel Podger. Julliard415 and the Royal Academy of Music. Programme notes by Mark Seow. Royal Academy of Music

There are few skyscrapers in Leipzig. Only the City-Hochhaus, completed in 1972, dominates the cityscape; at 142 metres tall, and shaped like an open book, the building is striking and showcases the 20th-century German aesthetic of flagship architecture. To its east, the City-Hochhaus faces a much smaller, unassuming building: the Thomaskirche. Despite its inconspicuous presence and height that barely peeps into the clouds, the Thomaskirche is considered, and has been since its 12th-century origins, the true centre and spiritual heart of Leipzig...

[markseow]

Programme notes: BWV 59, BWV 203, BWV 207 17 May 2015

I wrote the programme notes for the Kohn Foundation Bach Cantata concert at the Royal Academy of Music, directed by Iain Ledingham and led by Margaret Faultless. A pre-performance was broadcast live on ‘In Tune’, BBC Radio 3, 14 May 2015.   Only one of two cantatas with Italian texts, the authenticity of ‘Amore traditore’ BWV 203 is still questioned by Bach scholars today. However, if we accept that the work belongs to the German fashion of emulating Italian secular solo cantatas, it is likely that the cantata originates from Bach’s period in Cöthen (1717-23), where Italian chamber cantatas were part of the performing tradition.

[markseow]

Kohn Foundation Bach Cantata concert 19 April 2015

JS Bach BWV 76, 204 Directed by Iain Ledingham, led by Rachel Podger Programme notes by Mark Seow Royal Academy of Music

...The cantata is in the unusual structure of two symmetrical halves, each with seven movements. The large-scale opening chorus is texturally vibrant with independent orchestral parts for the large ensemble which includes trumpet and oboes. After a prelude-like section, Bach begins a permutation fugue that begins with the soloists. Joyful melismatic counterpoint conveys the celebratory text. The fugue then passes through the choir, woodwind, strings, and finally reaches a climactic entry in the trumpet...

[markseow]

Kohn Foundation Bach Cantata concert 22 March 2015

JS Bach BWV 25, BWV 38, BWV 153 Directed by Iain Ledingham, led by Margaret Faultless   Programme notes by Mark Seow Royal Academy of Music

...The opening of BWV 153 is unconventional. Bach chooses not to open with a grand or solemn chorus, like so many of his other cantatas, but instead with a plain four-part chorale. Indeed, the choir is assigned only plain chorale settings throughout the cantata. The reason for this is largely historical. The Sunday after New Year in 1724 fell on 2 January; the pupils at Thomasschule therefore sang the previous day (BWV 190), which itself followed the intense musical activity of the three Christmas feast days. Bach’s decision to spare their voices is understandable...

[markseow]

Kohn Foundation Bach Cantata concert 22 February 2015

JS Bach BWV 201 Directed by Iain Ledingham, led by Rachel Podger Programme notes by Mark Seow Royal Academy of Music

...The heart of the cantata is the twocompetitive performances. Phoebus, the expression of high art, begins with a love song to Hyacinth. Long melismatic phrases are not virtuosity for virtuosity’s sake: Phoebus seeks not to outperform his opponent, but instead, prove that his art form is superior. Bach’s textural invention is clear: countermelodies weave in and out of the constantly changing web of instrumental parts, which on occasions is rich as seven parts...