Happy 340th Birthday J.S. Bach
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,240
    March 21, 1685

    Jesu Meine Freude:

    https://youtu.be/uN5Tt7SAhzg?si=ScJggQM5XB_vllv4
    Thanked by 9wspinnen DavidOLGC StimsonInRehab tomjaw Polyfollia sdtalley3 Paul F. Ford M. Jackson Osborn francis
  • francis
    Posts: 10,947
    Two renditions

    This one has to be right up there as being one of the best performances I’ve ever heard

    https://youtu.be/W6PzceNJom8?si=dfDrzAmofTNXkK92

    And the more modern piano…

    https://youtu.be/H2OQh9Cg7fk?si=X-EB1G4uehwxsA9O
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • PolyfolliaPolyfollia
    Posts: 29
    May I present my favourite?

    https://youtu.be/Lb9yi0lyrLA?feature=shared
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,208
    And, while this is a "secular" work by the master, it has bottomless depths for me. Watch this animation in a dark room, full screen:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iinvd4bB-_Q
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • kenstb
    Posts: 370
    For me, it's Matthauspassion. Amazing.
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,208
    And for me, as a whole work, its the Johannespassion! I get the structure and art of the Matthauspassion, and love it, but am more slayed spiritually by the Johannesspassion. The latter has the advantage of coming later, liturgically (though that was not true for its origin), and ends with this pivot to Easter, so the theological arc is more replete - I never fail to be moved utterly upon the lines starting "Alsdenn vom Tod erwecke mich":


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apWYzBxtT9M


    Ach Herr, lass dein lieb Engelein
    Ah Lord, let your dear little angels

    Am letzten End die Seele mein
    At the very end carry my soul

    In Abrahams Schoss tragen,
    Into Abraham’s bosom,

    Den Leib in seim Schlafkämmerlein
    My body resting in its little sleeping chamber

    Gar sanft, ohn einge Qual und Pein
    Altogether peaceably, without any sorrow and pain,

    Ruhn bis am jüngsten Tage!
    Until at the last day!

    Alsdenn vom Tod erwecke mich,
    Raise me thereafter from the dead,

    Dass meine Augen sehen dich
    So that my eyes will look on you

    In aller Freud, o Gottes Sohn,
    In all joy, O son of God,

    Mein Heiland und Genadenthron!
    My savior and throne of grace!

    Herr Jesu Christ, erhöre mich! erhöre mich!
    Lord Jesus Christ, do thou hear me! do thou hear me!

    Ich will dich preisen ewiglich!
    I will praise you eternally!
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • GambaGamba
    Posts: 580
    Those lines being, for anyone who doesn’t know, the conclusion of the last verse of Martin Schalling’s stunning 1567 hymn “Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, O Herr.“

    In Winkworth’s translation:

    1 Lord, thee I love with all my heart;
    I pray thee, ne'er from me depart,
    with tender mercy cheer me.
    Earth has no pleasure I would share;
    yea, heav'n itself were void and bare
    if thou, Lord, wert not near me.
    And should my heart for sorrow break,
    my trust in thee can nothing shake.
    Thou art the portion I have sought;
    thy precious blood my soul has bought.
    Lord Jesus Christ, my God and Lord, my God and Lord,
    forsake me not! I trust thy word.

    2 Yea, Lord, 'twas thy rich bounty gave
    my body, soul, and all I have
    in this poor life of labor.
    Lord, grant that I in ev'ry place
    may glorify thy lavish grace
    and help and serve my neighbor.
    Let no false doctrine me beguile;
    let Satan not my soul defile.
    Give strength and patience unto me
    to bear my cross and follow thee.
    Lord Jesus Christ, my God and Lord, my God and Lord,
    in death thy comfort still afford.

    3 Lord, let at last thine angels come,
    to Abr'ham's bosom bear me home
    that I may die unfearing;
    and in its narrow chamber keep
    my body safe in peaceful sleep
    until thy reappearing.
    And then from death awaken me
    that these mine eyes with joy may see,
    O Son of God, thy glorious face,
    my Savior and my fount of grace.
    Lord Jesus Christ, my prayer attend, my prayer attend,
    and I will praise thee without end.

    Still a popular hymn at Lutheran funerals, and even in translation, shows just how much can be done in the vernacular.
    Thanked by 3Liam NihilNominis M. Jackson Osborn
  • RMSawicki
    Posts: 129
    Wow! It seems like only yesterday when "every organist and his brother" who were capable of doing so were performing "the complete organ works of Bach" for his Tercentenary (300th). Among them was the late, great Donald Joyce (+RIP) whose 13-part series of recitals I happily attended.
    (Tempus fugit...don't it?). May this great music carry on for many more centuries!

    Gaudete in Domino Semper!
  • PolyfolliaPolyfollia
    Posts: 29
    Another but lesser known crown jewel of J.S. Bach is the alto solo cantata "Schlage doch gewünschte Stunde" BWV 53. An enchanting interpretation by the late Henri Ledroit with the Ricercar Consort can be heard here:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu_CCp-5UP0
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • francis
    Posts: 10,947
    I also prefer St John Passion
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen Liam
  • NihilNominisNihilNominis
    Posts: 1,038
    @Gamba

    I have made this hymn a Septuagesima Sunday tradition at the Oratory.
    CC39D366-9511-4108-A06B-EA5F891899FB.jpeg
    1536 x 2048 - 848K
    Thanked by 3CHGiffen francis M. Jackson Osborn
  • GambaGamba
    Posts: 580
    @NihilNominis and surely you will be taken more speedily to Abraham’s bosom for it!
    Thanked by 1M. Jackson Osborn
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