Bach, J S: Cantata BWV140 'Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme' (Sleepers awake)

In Volume 52 of his monumental sacred cantatas project, Masaaki Suzuki includes one of J.S. Bach’s best-loved cantatas of all, Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140.

The famous chorale is joined by a couple of the most beautiful love duets in the history of music, here sung by the soprano Hana Blažíková and bass Peter Kooij.

Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt (‘the Lord is my faithful shepherd’) follows. Psalm 23 provides the text for all five movements.

Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir was composed for a church service celebrating the inauguration of a new city council – a ‘Ratswahl cantata’ – in which Bach shows off his capabilities as a composer. The first chorus is a reworking of material which Bach would return to in his Mass in B minor.

This startling recording project now nears its conclusion with three final volumes left to be released.

Initially, there was great scepticism towards the thesis that Bach’s sacred vocal works were originally written for solo voices.

With this edition of one cantata for each Sunday and the great feasts of the ecclesiastical year Sigiswald Kuijken and La Petite Bande want to strengthen this new approach and prove it right by their excellent performances.

This Vol. 15 of the edition contains cantatas which Johann Sebastian Bach wrote for the last four Sundays before Advent: BWV 52 „ False world, I trust thee not!“, BWV 60 „O Eternity, thou thunderous word“, BWV 116 „Thou Prince of Peace, Lord Jesus Christ“, BWV 140 „Awaken ye, the watchman calls us“.

Karl Münchinger recorded all the major orchestral and choral pieces by Bach for Decca, and over a period of some 30 years (from the Mono to the Digital eras), five of the Cantatas. All boast remarkable soloists from their eras. Suzanne Danco sings the two solo cantatas, BWV 51 and 202, recorded in 1953 and released on CD for the first time. Elly Ameling and Helen Watts are soloists in the early cantata, BWV 10. And the digital recordings of Ein feste Burg and Wachet auf feature Julia Hamari and Tom Krause. The collection is rounded off with two of the most popular orchestral arrangements from the Bach cantata repertoire – Jesu, joy of man’s desiring and Sheep may safely graze.

Recording locations: Tooting/ Winchester, November 2000.

SDG is delighted to release Volume 12 - Cantatas for the twenty-second and twenty-third Sundays after trinity.

John Eliot Gardiner, The Monteverdi Choir and The English Baroque Soloists performed both of these programmes in England: at All Saints church in Tooting and at Winchester Cathedral, in November 2000.

The soloists include James Gilchrist, Peter Harvey and Joanne Lunn.

The highlight of this album is Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (“Sleepers, wake”) – one of Bach’s best known cantatas, and one that has long been part of the Monteverdi Choir’s repertoire. It is described as “a cantata without weaknesses, without a dull bar, technically, emotionally and spiritually of the highest order”.

Ich armer Mensch, ich Sündenknecht (“I, wretched man, I slave to sin”) is Bach’s only cantata for solo tenor still in existence. It is sung movingly by James Gilchrist.

Of three cantatas on the parable of the unjust steward (BWV 55, 89, 115), Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit (“Prepare yourself, my soul”) is considered to stand out for its subtle instrumental writing and spellbinding arias, which evoke the yearning of the soul for divine mercy.

The recording in Tooting (CD1) is the only one in the whole series that wasn’t recorded live: the original concert took place in Eton chapel, right under the Heathrow airport flight path, so we had to try and recreate the same conditions in a quieter place.

This album is packaged with a separate index sheet of the Cantata series.

“This ongoing recording project ranks as one of the musical events of the decade.” The Observer

“One of the most ambitious musical projects of all time” Gramophone

Kempff's Baroque pedigree stemmed from the influence of his father, also named Wilhelm Kempff, and his grandfather Cantor Friedrick Kempff, both of whom were organists, and who taught the budding prodigy much of the organ's core repertoire. In fact, Kempff's youthful debut as an organist took place before his first recital as a pianist in 1907. With help from the great German violinist Joseph Joachim, the nine-year-old Kempff was awarded two scholarships at the Berlin Hochschule: one in composition with Robert Kahn, the other studying piano with Heinrich Barth, who also taught Arthur Rubinstein.

While most of Wilhelm Kempff's recordings were made for Deutsche Grammophon, his early Decca LPs and EPs are collector's items. Here issued internationally on CD for the first time is the LP of his Bach recital coupled with a delicious record of miniatures by Couperin, Rameau and Beethoven, including the latter's ubiquitous Fur Elise. In his liner notes, Jed Distler compares Kempff's arrangements of Bach with those of Busoni, and his performances with those of Hess and others. 'Fur Elise gently soars from Kempff's fingers in full-throated, legato arcs that might convince you that the piano has lungs in addition to hammers and strings,' he writes, and concludes, 'The warm, naturally balanced and timbrally true sonic image typical of Decca's piano recordings of this vintage only enhance Kempff's singular artistry. Whatever one makes of his style, his spirit defines authenticity.'

"...excellently recorded programme of arrangements made by Kempff himself..." Gramophone.