Bach, J S: Cantata BWV68 'Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt'

Jonathan Freeman-Attwood’s ‘A Bach Notebook for Trumpet’ is a celebration of the music of the famous Johann Sebastian and ten other lesser-known Bachs, re-imagined for the combination of trumpet and piano.

Bach specialist Daniel-Ben Pienaar has arranged music from a great uncle, close cousins, distant cousins, and five sons, all related to the great J. S. Bach in a wholly unique recital programme.

Aesthetic passions drive the repertoire and performance choices as the duo explore vocabularies not usually associated with trumpet and piano chamber music: brushing up against ‘period’ gesture, ornamentation and articulation, whilst also co-referencing less fashionable inspirations from the past, including those judged ‘romantic’ in coloration, whether in the use of the pedal, rubati or articulation.

Jonathan is an established authority on Bach interpretation, particularly as it challenges and refocuses historical  perspectives on ‘performance practices’ and how recordings of the past can influence current priorities and tastes.

As a trumpet player and recording artist, Jonathan Freeman-Attwood has attracted plaudits from the press; his producing career has resulted in over 200 recordings and several awards including Diapasons d’Ors, eight Gramophone Awards and many nominations.

Jonathan broadcasts regularly for BBC Radio 3 and is in demand as an essayist for EMI, Warner, Deutsche Grammophon and other major record labels.

Daniel-Ben is active as a recitalist and chamber musician. He has received great acclaim for his interpretations of Bach’s keyboard music: ‘Pienaar produces a breathless, highly energised reading’ Gramophone on his Goldberg Variations.

Ophelie Gaillard has made recently a deep impression with the Suites for cello solo by Jean-Sebastian Bach. On this new recording, dedicated to the Cantor of Leipzig, she gathered her close team from the Pulcinella Ensemble and invited some of the most talented soloists: Sandrine Piau, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, Christophe Dumaux.

This programme gives a vision of the most beautiful cantatas written by Jean-Sebastian Bach in Leipzig from 1723 to 1750, interspersed with some of the masterpieces from the 'Schübler' Chorales and Orgelbüchlein.

With a passion for Baroque music played on period instruments, Pulcinella is a group of virtuoso soloists, gathered in a chamber spirit around cellist Ophélie Gaillard. Highly experienced musicians, who attach great importance to sound and articulation, they explore some of the major works of the repertoire, while aiming to present little known or unknown pieces as well.

Part of Pulcinella’s repertoire is devoted to important 17th- and 18th-century works for concerted cello, of which it is one of the foremost ambassadors. The ensemble’s first recording, devoted to Vivaldi’s complete Cello Sonatas (on Ambroisie) was highly acclaimed by the international press in 2006. The following year its tribute (with Sandrine Piau and Rolf Lislevand) to the cellist and composer Luigi Boccherini also received excellent reviews, including praise from The Times.

Pulcinella works with singers including Nuria Rial, Salomé Haller, Sandrine Piau, Max Emmanuel Cencic, Xavier Sabata, Christophe Dumaux, Carlos Mena, Dietr ich Henschel, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, who are among its guests at major festivals, such as those of Saint-Denis, Beaune, and Santiago de Compostela, and at venues such as the Cité de la Musique and the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

For a half-century he had the reputation of the trumpet soloist: Maurice André, who died in 2012. The best examples of his radiant tone are the recordings he made with different organists – a brilliant stroll through the golden world of Baroque music.

In Lutheran Germany of Bach’s time the Whitsun or Pentecost festival was celebrated like other high ecclesiastical feasts on three consecutive days, Sunday through to Tuesday. Music was performed in the services on all three feast days and Bach usually wrote cantatas for each of them. There were nine of these Whitsun cantatas altogether, and this collection presents a representative cross-section: BWV 172 for the Sunday and then BWV 68 and BWV 174, respectively, for the Second Day of Pentecost, and BWV 175 for the Third Day. As is typical for works to be performed on the high feasts, they invariably display a rich instrumental configuration: BWV 172 includes trumpets and timpani; BWV 68 makes use of 3 oboes, violoncello piccolo, and supporting cornetto and trombones; and BWV 174 features 2 horns, 3 oboes, along with an unusual complement of nine concertato strings.

These recordings have been selected from the award-winning cycle of recordings of the complete cantatas of J. S. Bach by Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir. The featured soloists are sopranos Barbara Schlick and Deborah York, altos Kai Wessel and Bogna Bartosz, tenor Christoph Pregardien, and bass Klauss Mertens

After two volumes concentrating on solo cantatas, the full forces of Bach Collegium Japan return in this programme of five cantatas dated 1725. The choir instantly makes its presence felt in the first movement of the opening work, BWV68. This is a large-scale hymn arrangement, where the choir is supported by an orchestra featuring horn and oboes. This is followed by one of the most charming and beautiful soprano arias in all of Bach’s cantatas, Mein gläubiges Herze’, in which Carolyn Sampson shines. The five works all include, to a certain extent, unusual instrumental combinations: from the three recorders which lend a pastoral character to Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen, BWV175, to the wind quartet (two oboi d’amore and two oboi da caccia) appearing in Sie werden euch in den Bann tun, BWV183. The variety of timbres is further aided by the appearance of the cornet and trombones of Concerto Palatino. Gerd Türk glows in the intensely melodic tenor aria ‘Seht, was die Liebe tut’ (from BWV 85), Peter Kooij, whose bass becomes the voice of Christ in Ich bin ein guter Hirt, (BWV85). All in all, another impressive installment in this highly acclaimed cycle.

Three great singers, including the acclaimed counter-tenor Andreas Scholl combine to wonderful effect with the soloist Christophe Coin and the Ensemble Baroque de Limoges in these classic performances of cantatas by J.S. Bach. These particular pieces were specifically written to feature a single voice with cello obligato.