Bach: The Master of the Baroque
Bach’s Ensemble Masterwork
While the six canonical motets are numbered consecutively as BWV 225-230, Bach did not compose them as a group as he did the Cello Suites, for example. The production cycle of his cantatas was dictated by the liturgical calendar; in contrast, Bach wrote motets as one-offs for unique occasions — above all, as memorial pieces for funeral celebrations (though scholars have speculated on some exceptions to this rule). And the six motets that have survived likely represent but a handful of the total Bach actually composed. Overall, they are products of his first eight years in Leipzig, apparently written between 1723 and 1731 — though even here scholars debate exceptions among particular motets. (As a footnote, a few other motets associated with Bach may have involved his participation; the choral piece O Jesu Christ, mein Lebens Licht (BWV 118) was recently reclassified as a motet but stands apart from the BWV 225–230 series on account of its written-out instrumentation.)
“As predominantly funerary pieces,” observes John Eliot Gardiner in Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven, “the motets epitomize the Lutheran longing for completion and union with God and that deeply implanted idea of heavenly love which gave justification to the lives of its adherents. They speak to us very directly, because, like several of the cantatas that take the ars moriendi as their subject matter, they address something we all share with Bach — our mortality.”
Historically, Bach inherited the motet tradition as practiced in the North from such predecessors as Heinrich Schütz and even members of his own family. This lineage evolved into two branches in J.S. Bach’s work: the motets and the cantatas. The primary differences from the larger-scale cantatas are, first, that the motets are chorally conceived, lacking the division into solo recitatives and arias that characterize Bach’s cantatas; and, second, that the motets are essentially vocal works, accompanied only by continuo.
The Motet
(French mot: “word”), style of vocal composition that has undergone numerous transformations through many centuries. Typically, it is a sacred choral part-song, sung by an ensemble.
The Motet would later be revolutionized and made famous in a different way by Johann Sebastian Bach in the Baroque Era with his 6 Motets BWV 225–230, which are considered to be some of the most challenging works in the choral repertoire - we hope you get to perform them MANY times in your life!
Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied (BWV 225)
The motet is for double-choir (Eight voices divided into two four-part choirs) and includes short sections for soloists, making it one of the larger motets to program the musical forces necessary to perform the work.
It may have been composed to provide choral exercises for Bach's students at the Thomasschule. The motet's biblical text would have been suited to that purpose. The final four-part fugue is titled "Alles was Odem hat" ("All that have voice, praise the Lord!")
Robert Marshall writes that it is "certain" that this motet was one heard by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart when he visited Leipzig's Thomasschule in 1789. Johann Friedrich Rochlitz, who graduated from the Thomasschule and remained in Leipzig to study theology in 1789, reported ten years later that Johann Friedrich Doles (a student of Bach, who through 1789 was cantor of the Thomasschule and director of the Thomanerchor) "surprised Mozart with a performance of the double-choir motet Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied by Sebastian Bach... he was told that the school possessed a complete collection of his motets and preserved them as a sort of sacred relic. 'That's the spirit! That's fine!' [Mozart] cried. 'Let's see them!' There was, however, no score... so he had the parts given to him, and ... sat himself down with the parts all around him." Rochlitz also reports that Mozart requested a copy, and "valued it very highly..."
(Wikipedia)
“A complete orchestra should be added to this”, wrote Mozart on his copy of Bach’s motet ‘Singet dem Herrn’, performed here by the Netherlands Bach Society for All of Bach. He was very enthusiastic about the piece, which was performed as a surprise when he visited the Thomasschule in Leipzig, in 1789. At his request, Mozart was given a copy of it. In his account of the event ten years later, Johann Friedrich Rochlitz says that Mozart even shouted “Now there’s something you can learn from!”
Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf (BWV 226)
The motet is scored for double choir, combined in a single 4-part chorus in movements 2 and 3. Although the concluding chorale "Du heilige Brunst" seems to have been sung at Ernesti's funeral, there is controversy over whether it was combined with the preceding movements or is to considered a separate composition.
Bach's autograph score survives, and in addition there are orchestral parts in the hand of Bach's son Carl Philip Emanuel Bach, indicating that choir I was doubled by strings, choir II by reeds (two oboes, taille and bassoon). For the basso continuo, separate violone and organ parts are provided.
Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf
Der aber die Herzen forschet
Du heilige Brunst, süßer Trost
““If we did not know the precise circumstances of ‘Der Geisthilft unser Schwachheit auf’, [] you might easily think that Bach wrote it for a cheerful Whitsun service. It is hard to sit still during the light-hearted passepied rhythm and the jubilant exclamations of ‘Der Geist hilft!’. On the contrary, it was composed for a solemn memorial service and was probably carefully prepared in collaboration with the dying man himself, the Thomasschule headmaster Johann Heinrich Ernesti (1652-1729). “”
Jesu, meine Freude (BWV 227)
The motet is scored for two four-part choirs, combined in a single 4-part chorus in movements 2 and 3. Although the concluding chorale "Du heilige Brunst" seems to have been sung at Ernesti's funeral, there is controversy over whether it was combined with the preceding movements or is to considered a separate composition. [5]
Bach's autograph score survives, and in addition there are orchestral parts in the hand of Bach's son Carl Philip Emanuel Bach, indicating that choir I was doubled by strings, choir II by reeds (two oboes, taille and bassoon). For the basso continuo, separate violone and organ parts are provided.[6]
Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf
Der aber die Herzen forschet
Du heilige Brunst, süßer Trost
““If we did not know the precise circumstances of ‘Der Geisthilft unser Schwachheit auf’, [] you might easily think that Bach wrote it for a cheerful Whitsun service. It is hard to sit still during the light-hearted passepied rhythm and the jubilant exclamations of ‘Der Geist hilft!’. On the contrary, it was composed for a solemn memorial service and was probably carefully prepared in collaboration with the dying man himself, the Thomasschule headmaster Johann Heinrich Ernesti (1652-1729). “”
Fürchte dich nicht ich bin bei dir (BWV 228)
'Fürchte dich nicht, ich bin bei dir', performed by the Netherlands Bach Society for All of Bach, shows strong similarities to a motet by Johann Michael Bach, the father of Bach’s first wife and the leading motet specialist of his day. His Christmas motet for double choir, entitled 'Fürchtet euch nicht', has many similar elements to Bach's motet. We cannot know for certain, but it would be typical for the young Bach to write a wonderful motet as a somewhat competitive tribute to his father-in-law.
Komm, Jesu komm (BWV 229)
Motet 'Komm, Jesu, komm, mein Leib ist müde', performed by the Netherlands Bach Society for All of Bach, used to be known amongst singers from Leipzig as ‘Der saure Weg’, after the most difficult phrase in the piece. The path to its origin is a straighter one, as although we still do not know precisely for whom Bach wrote this piece, it is anyway clear that he composed it himself. Moreover, we can presume that it is a funeral or memorial motet.
Komm, Jesu komm is another motet that is written for Double-Choir
Lobet Den Herrn (BWV 230)
BWV 230 The motet 'Lobet den Herrn', performed by the Netherlands Bach Society for All of Bach, was long regarded as one of the six canonic motets by Bach, but nowadays most specialists agree that it is not a work by Bach. The most serious charge brought against 'Lobet' is a technical one. The two themes at the beginning do not fit comfortably together in accordance with the rules of counterpoint – and if there was anyone who knew how to follow those rules from an early age… it was Johann Sebastian Bach!
For more information on BWV 230 and this production go to http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-230/
ich lasse dich nicht
BWV 159 - The “Bonus Motet” that’s not by that Bach
However beautiful, the motet 'Ich lasse dich nicht', performed by the Netherlands Bach Society for All of Bach, languishes in the list of ‘incorrectly attributed works’. The candidate composer in this list is Johann Christoph Bach. A pity, but not surprising when you consider that even Carl Philipp Emanuel, who made an inventory shortly after his father’s death, could no longer see the wood for the trees.
This work is often performed with the six motets as a 7th “half-sibling” piece