Dear Howard and All:
My intention in the original posting was not to declare that all
performances of Bach's cantatas were bad, as Howard seems to interpret my
comments. But it is undeniable that Bach was at times dissatisfied with the
forces available to him -- witness his notorious confrontation with the
bassoon player, whose playing he'd criticized.
My point here is that the original performance of a piece may not have
measured up to a composer's intentions or expections, for a wide variety of
reasons -- inexpert players, lack of practice time, limited resources, poor
performance venue, drunks in the audience, etc. For that reason, I think
one should think twice about slavishly following documentary evidence about
an original performance. Shall we play all our Francesco da Milano pieces
with silver thimbles on our fingers? We are musicians, not lawyers (well,
some of us are lawyers), and must use our musicial sensibilities to go
beyond the "evidence."
Yours,
Jim
Howard Posner
<[EMAIL PROTECTED] To:
cast.net> cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: hip
09/09/2004 12:18
AM
I asked:
>Is there evidence of Bach's dismay at the performances of his cantatas?
Jim Stimson answers:
> There's a letter from Bach to the Leipzig city council mentioning the
> shortcomings of the forces at hand and requesting additional resources.
The 1730 Entwurff is indeed a well-known document these days, since it is
Exhibit A for both sides in the debate about whether Bach intended his
cantatas to be sung one to a part. But it's hard to conclude from reading
it that Bach's music was performed badly. His complaints are mostly about
the numbers of performers available. When he complains, for example, that
too many of the boys he had at the school in 1730 (being the school
principal was part of his job) are untalented or unready, he then says that
he doesn't use them in the church services.
We should keep in mind a few things.
First, Leipzig was a major city, and the "local musicians" were no more
likely to be mediocre there than anywhere else. Some of them, like the
trumpeter Gottfried Reiche, were famous virtuosi.
Second, to suggest that Bach wrote his very challenging music for
performers
who were not up to performing it is to suggest that he wasn't very bright
or
successful. I don't think he would have lasted 27 years as Cantor of St.
Thomas cranking out bad performances, no matter how good the music was. He
was a practical musician. He may have written Cantata 51 for a "schoolboy"
(who was probably 16 or 17) but the kid must have had serious chops.
Finally, and most importantly, Bach was in charge of music at three
different churches. This involved overseeing the choice of music and
getting
musicians and singers assigned and rehearsed and ready to perform, but he
didn't have to compose the music for all three services (or indeed, any of
them, necessarily) and he obviously couldn't direct the music at more than
one of them. So if he were short of good performers, which church got
shortchanged? Thomaskirche, where he was directing his own music? Or one
of the other two?
HP
