J.S. Bach wrote almost
two hundred church cantatas that are
universally acknowledged as being without
equal in the history of liturgical music.
The great master’s inventiveness in
the genre is so varied with abundant
technical resources, subtle expression
and penetrating insight.
The towering cycle
by Masaaki Suzuki with his acclaimed
Bach Collegium Japan on BIS has reached
mid-point in a series that continues
to go from strength to strength. Volume
26 comprises three more of the cantatas
Bach composed for performances during
the last three months of 1742. At this
time Bach was in his very early period
as Cantor at the St. Thomas Church in
Leipzig. In his so-called ‘Chorale Cantata
Year’ every cantata was based on a familiar
chorale rather than the traditional
gospel reading. The intention of this
great liturgical plan was that for a
whole year in the main church service
on every Sunday and feast day, an original
cantata should be played that was based
not on the traditional gospel reading
for the day in question but on a well
known hymn. Bach never did complete
this extremely ambitious and reverential
project for the Lutheran church.
For those who are not
familiar with the Bach Collegium Japan,
they are an orchestra and choir founded
by their director and keyboard player
Masaaki Suzuki in 1990. The orchestra
are renowned as Japan’s foremost period
instrument performers and strive for
authentic interpretations of baroque
sacred music specialising in the work
of J.S. Bach. For this recording Maestro
Suzuki has selected instruments authentic
to the period or period-copies.
Of the three works
here the opening cantata ‘Schmücke
dich, o liebe Seele’ (Adorn thyself,
beloved soul) BWV 180 is certainly the
most famous. The celebrated cantata
was composed for the twentieth Sunday
after Trinity essentially to a communion
hymn by Johann Franck that still remains
popular today. The large-scale opening
chorus, which also opens this release,
has been acknowledged as one of the
most beautiful cantata movements that
Bach ever wrote. The principal source
of this work is Bach’s own handwritten
score from the Bachakademie in Stuttgart.
The scoring is for soloists; soprano,
alto, tenor, bass; four-part chorus;
orchestra: two recorders, two transverse
flutes, oboe, oboe da caccia, violoncello
piccolo, two violins, viola and continuo.
The score requires the use of a violoncello
piccolo which is a small-sized cello
with either four or five strings. However
the individual parts have not survived
and Masaaki Suzuki has decided to use
a double bass instead.
The cantata ‘Das neugeborne
Kindelein’ (The new-born little child)
BWV 122 was written for the Sunday after
Christmas, which in 1724 fell on New
Year’s Eve and as such could be described
as a meditation for the future. The
scoring is for soloists; soprano, alto,
tenor, bass; four-part chorus; orchestra:
three flauto dolce, oboe da caccia,
two oboes, bassoon, two violins, viola
and continuo with organ. The hymn text
Bach used was mainly by Cyriakus Schneegaß,
a Thuringian minister. As in the previous
cantata Bach’s original handwritten
score and the original parts have been
handed down and used for this recording.
Note the scoring of three flauto dolce
for which Suzuki has directed the use
of three recorders .
The final work here
is the cantata "Herr Christ, der einge
Gottessohn" (Lord Christ, the only Son
of God) BWV 96 that was composed for
the eighteenth Sunday after Trinity.
The libretto is provided largely by
the notable Protestant poetess Elisabeth
Cruciger. The scoring is for soloists:
soprano, alto, tenor, bass; four-part
chorus, orchestra: transverse flute,
piccolo flute, piccolo violin, two oboes,
two violins, horn and trombone in the
continuo. This score again comes to
us in the form of Bach’s own handwritten
full score together with the original
parts. For this recording Masaaki Suzuki
has decided to include the soprano recorder,
recorder, slide horn and for the basso
continuo part a harpsichord rather
than the organ.
Throughout this ongoing
series I have come to consider the magnificent
direction of Masaaki Suzuki to be one
of the greatest recording achievements
of my lifetime. The interpretations
of three of the Leipzig cantatas from
1724 on this volume 26 have given me
no reason to alter my view and several
more reasons in which to find reinforcement
for my stance. Maestro Suzuki’s undoubted
affection for these scores is incredibly
infectious. There are few conductors
who direct with such refinement, reverence
and colour; in such a way that one senses
that Bach’s intentions are being appropriately
fulfilled. In these three, predominantly
woodwind-weighted, scores the Bach Collegium
Chorus and Orchestra under the controlled
direction of Maestro Suzuki faithfully
convey the liturgical narrative with
considerable reverence and lyrical expression.
Particularly impressive is the carefully
selected and imaginatively realised
basso continuo.
The four vocal soloists
perform well up to expectations with
remarkably clear enunciation, accurate
phrasing and the appropriate combination
of style and veneration. In these performances
I should single out for special praise
the Japanese-born soloists: the soprano
Yukari Nonoshita for her clear upper
range and refinement of detail in remarkably
well-focused singing and also the expressive
tenor Makoto Sakurada for his keen intensity
and dramatic tone.
A natural and appealing
acoustic together with a superbly annotated
booklet add to the desirability of this
recording. The only significant drawback
is the rather short timing of just over
fifty minutes; the disc could easily
have accommodated another cantata. A
further wonderful release in this Bach
cantata series. Highly recommended.
Michael Cookson
Visit the Bach
Collegium Japan webpage for reviews of other releases
in this series
Yukari Nonoshita, soprano 
