I had two reasons for requesting this CD: it’s an
example of the first-rate material that was lost when Conifer folded,
though I’m pleased to see that much of that lost material is being restored
to us from a variety of sources. I missed this recording when it was
first released on CDCF158 and wanted to see if Richard Marlow and his
choir could revise my opinion of these Motets – my one serious blind
spot in Bach’s sacred music. I love his cantatas and often turn to
them to de-stress but I’ve never managed to do more than admire the
motets, though I’ve listened to several highly regarded recordings.
Reviewing the Warner/Teldec USB set of the whole of Bach’s extant
works –
here
– didn’t help because the Harnoncourt recordings included there are
the very same that I own on CD and they didn’t persuade me any more
on USB than on disc. I listened to the award-winning set recorded
by Masaaki Suzuki and his Bach Collegium of Japan for comparison then
and found myself warming to the music a little more (BIS-SACD-1841).
As well as the six motets included here, Suzuki offers BWV118b,
O
Jesu Christ, mein Lebens Licht, usually classed as a cantata because
of its
obbligato instrumental part, and BWV Anh 159,
Ich
lasse dich nicht, which some scholars now ascribe to JSB rather
than to Johann Christoph Bach.
That makes the BIS recording better value in terms of length but,
as neither of these extra works is included here, the obvious comparison
on this occasion is with another super-budget-price recording, from
The Sixteen and Harry Christophers, recently reissued on Hyperion
Helios CDH55417: from
hyperion-records.co.uk
on CD and as mp3 or lossless download with pdf booklet.
Marlow keeps the music moving at a goodly pace, which I think is to
its advantage. Christophers mostly takes the motets a little more
slowly. Neither allows the pace to slacken to the extent that the
music seems not to be going anywhere, which is the problem with some
of those other recordings which have failed to gel.
A good track for comparison would be the opening section of
Lobet
den Herrn, available as a free sample download from
hyperion-records.co.uk.
In both sections of this motet Marlow is a shade faster and, heard
one after the other, I have to award him the palm for keeping the
music together. He also shows slightly great commitment to the music
– at least he comes closer to getting me involved.
Some performances interpret these motets as
a cappella in the
strictest sense, with no instrumental backing. The Marlow recording
credits Graham Jackson and Richard Pearce on chamber organ and Christophers
uses a slightly larger team: Jane Coe (cello), Amanda MacNamara (violone),
Robin Jeffrey (theorbo) and Paul Nicholson (chamber organ). Both
use the instrumentation very discreetly, Marlow simply underpinning
the vocal parts, which seems to have been a common practice with
a
cappella music in the eighteenth century. Christophers comes a
little closer to employing his instruments as a conventional continuo.
If you find even this modest instrumental involvement too much, there’s
always the somewhat ascetic Harnoncourt recording. This is currently
available only on the USB recording of all Bach’s music, which you
will already have if you took my advice and snapped up this wonderful
bargain: 2564661127 –
review.
If you didn’t, some dealers still have it, though it’s a little more
expensive now at prices varying from around £135 to £165 or around
$320. It can be ordered from
Amazon UK and
Amazon
US. Don’t be discouraged by the grumpy ‘reviewer’ on the Amazon
website who complains that all the keyboard music is played on the
harpsichord – that’s the instrument that Bach had in mind.
Philippe Herreweghe’s earlier recording for Harmonia Mundi, employing
simple instrumental doubling of the vocal parts, has been reissued
at super-budget price on Musique d’Abord (HMA1951231) but his more
recent recording for his own PHI label employs varied instrumentation
(LPH002 –
review).
Much as I like most of Herreweghe’s recordings, I give Marlow and
his team a slight edge over both of his recordings of these motets.
The reissue is licensed from Sony so, presumably, is taken from the
Conifer master tape. The recording is very clear but with a sense
of the ambience of the Trinity College chapel. If anything it’s slightly
fuller than the Hyperion, but there isn’t a great deal in it: both
still sound very fine.
Alto include the texts and the original notes from Richard Marlow
in the booklet even if they are printed in a rather small font. This
puts to shame those labels who think that inexpensive CDs merit brief
and poorly detailed booklets. Hyperion, as always, includes the original
booklet from the full-price release with texts and translations in
a more legible font and excellent notes from Peter Holman. I haven’t
seen the material that comes with the Herreweghe but budget-price
Harmonia Mundi releases rarely come with anything more than rudimentary
documentation.
The same performers also recorded for Conifer motets by other members
of the Bach family – several generations of them. I enjoyed their
recording of JSB’s motets so much that I’d very much welcome the reissue
of that, too. Two other recordings from them have been reissued at
the same time as ALC1271: Purcell
Anthems for the Chapel Royal
(ALC1268) and Victoria
Holy Week Lamentations and Responsories
(ALC1269), both well received when first released. I asked for
the reissue of the latter more than four years ago – it’s especially
valuable for placing the Lamentations in liturgical context. Sometimes
you do get what you ask for.
Brian Wilson
