Bach’s surviving motets are few enough that they can be performed in a single program, and show him at the height of his compositional powers.
It’s hard to find a counterpoint to his complex, well structured and expressive motets, not even in the most intricate parts of his masses or oratorios. This is where in the motets, that polyphony finds its zenith.
The term “motet” means “little words” in French, demanding we pay attention to the text, and hold it as the highest point of consideration in performance.
It took the compositional genius of Johann Sebastian Bach to build on the tradition exercised by members of his own family, reworked and refined, for him to build on this tradition and create the most intricate and imaginative examples of the German motet.
They were composed for separate occasions, mostly funeral or commemorative memorial services, filling a liturgical role, sung after the organ prelude and functioning as a reinforcement of faith. One has to remember that their main and overreaching function was to the glory of God, thus giving Bach an opportunity to hone his skills in complex contrapuntal vocal writing and expressive word-painting.
Through these motets one glimpses the depth within his heart, a confident and steady conviction in his faith, that can be heard in the music, the sense of “rightness” that is unbearably emotional.
Madeleine Easton, the Artistic Director of Bach Akademie Australia, says that as a violinist she has had little exposure to Bach’s vocal music, and none whatsoever to the motets, considering herself lucky to have discovered his works through the cantatas and revel in the staggering beauty and wonder found within them. Easto’s statement that music is not just entertainment – it is nourishment for the heart and soul, bridging the belonging between people, resonates with me deeply.
There is a certain ambiguity regarding the Lost motets and some doubtful attribution among the surviving ones associated with Bach. Whilst in his prime composing locations, Weimar and Leipzig, his only vocal works that stayed in canon without interruption between his death in 1750 and the 19th century Bach revival, making the motets among his first printed music. Experts say that the form was considered archaic and perhaps called for in normal church services. Bach’s biographer Johann Nikolaus Forkal suggested that the choral writing could have been useful for training Bach’s young singers, certainly a pedagogical use.
*Susannah Lawergren soprano
*Michelle Ryan soprano
*Hannah Fraser mezzo-soprano
*Timothy Reynolds tenor soloist
*Christopher Watson tenor
*Andrew O’Connor bass-baritone
*Tom Herring bass baritone
*Iris Korfker Mezzo-soprano
*Daniel Yeadon cello and viola da gamba
*Pippa Macmillan double bass
*Neal Peres Da Costa historical keyboard
*Nathan Cox harpsichord
The performance took place on Sunday 8th February at Mosman Art Gallery.
