Cantata

“ A work of art this cantata undoubtedly is; it is more free in conception than usual, the arie, and especially the recitatives, being allowed considerable scope, in order to fall in with the unequal and rhetorical words. The union of such an accentuation as was necessary to the sense of the words with the full expression of warm emotion and the subservience of both to appointed musical forms, are the essential features of this composition, and are the more likely to strike us, who are so entirely out of sympathy with the ideas suggesting the work. ”

“ The word “cantata” is so flexible and covers such a wide area in music, that it has been a work [4] of some difficulty to decide upon the compositions that properly come within the scheme of this volume. During the past two centuries it has been variously applied to songs, like those of the early Italian school; to ballads, like those of the early English composers; to concert arias, like those of Mozart, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn; to short operettas, dramatic scenas, cycles of ballads, and even to oratorios, whose subjects are more or less dramatic. ”

“ The introduction to the work is a quiet, tender movement in sonata form, written for two flutes, two viol-da-gambas and figured bass, which gives out some of the themes in the middle of the cantata. The opening chorus (“God’s own Time is the best, ever best of all. In Him we live, move, and have our Being, as long as He wills. And in Him we die at His good Time”) is very descriptive in character, opening with a slow and solemn movement, then passing to a quick fugue, and closing with phrases of mournful beauty to suit the last sentence of the text. ”

“ There is no friend like an old friend and after all there are no songs we love quite so much as the old ones.
This cantata furnishes a beautiful medium for the introduction of the old songs which we all know and love. There is just enough libretto to the work to form a continuous chain of thought throughout, and we know of no cantata that will afford such a pleasing entertainment at such a small expenditure of labor. ”

“ Examples of the sacred cantata are: Stainer's "The Crucifixion," Clough-Leighter's "The Righteous Branch," and Gaul's "The Holy City." Examples of the secular cantata are: Bruch's "Armenius," Coleridge-Taylor's "Hiawatha." ”

“ The cantata is written for the four solo voices, chorus of sopranos, altos, two tenors, and basses and orchestra. A stirring orchestral introduction leads up to a people’s chorus which describes the [347] disappearance of dissensions heralding the approach of victory. No. 3 is a bass solo entitled “Faith,” with a delightful violoncello accompaniment. In No. 4, Love (soprano) and Hope (tenor) join with Faith in a song full of feeling. No. 5 is a soldiers’ chorus of an enthusiastic and martial character, while in the distance is heard the Austrian Grenadier’s march mingling with it. ”

“ If this term be added to a piece of in mu, it signifies much the same as cantata: If placed in any part of a s, it implies the same meaning as allegro, and only denotes that the part to which it is prefixed, is to be played or s in a brisk and lively manner. ”

“ On reaching home after the performance he said to his wife, “O Stänerl, how madly they have gone on about my cantata! If I did not know that I had written better things, I should have thought this my best composition.” It is constructed upon a larger scale than the cantata of 1785, and is very pleasing and popular, but lacks the spirit and earnestness of the former. It has six numbers: 1. Chorus, “Laut verkünde unsre Freude;” 2. Recitative, “Zum ersten Male;” 3. Tenor aria, “Dieser Gottheit Allmacht;” 4. Recitative, “Wohlan, ihr Brüder;” 5. ”

“ Thy name shall shine, thy fame shall glow!"

O Music, from this height of time my Word unfold:
In thy large signals all men's hearts Man's heart behold:
Mid-heaven unroll thy chords as friendly flags unfurled,
And wave the world's best lover's welcome to the world.
Note to the Cantata.
The annotated musical directions which here accompany `The Cantata', arranged for the composer's use, were first sent with the newly-completed text in a private letter to Mr. Gibson Peacock, of Philadelphia. ”

“ The cantata is in five numbers. A short prelude of a quiet and cheerful character introduces the stately opening chorus (“Who believeth and obeyeth will be blest forever”) . Another brief prelude prepares the way for the brilliant tenor aria (“Of Love, Faith is the Pledge and Token”) , which leads up to the chorale, “Lord God, my Father, holy One,” based upon the old chorale, “Wie schön leucht uns der Morgenstern” (“How brightly shines the Morning Star”) , which has always been a favorite in the church service, and which more than one composer has chosen for the embellishment of his themes. ”

“ The intellectual realm is the most precious in my eyes, and far above all temporal and spiritual monarchies.”
[55]
The cantata itself, while not one of the most meritorious of the composer’s works, for reasons which are sufficiently apparent, still is very effective in its choruses. The detailed parts do not need special description; they are six in number, as follows: No. 1, chorus (“Europa steht”) ; No. 2, recitative and chorus (“O, seht sie nah und näher treten”) ; No. 3, grand scena, soprano, with violin obligato and chorus (“O Himmel, welch’ Entzücken”) ”

“ Appearing in solo and chorus songs, artistically elaborated or in simple popular form, resounding in a single instrument or in a group of instruments, while the singing voices are occupied with another text, which seems to receive its highest consecration from this interpenetrating melody, it imparts strength and animation to the entire work, and in proportion as Bach advanced in years, he gave greater definiteness to this central feature of the cantata. ”

“ The Cantata.—More popular even than the Oratorio with choral societies is the Cantata, both sacred and secular, and the great increase in strong choral organizations, particularly in England, Germany, France and the United States, has resulted in the production of a number of splendid works which show dramatic power and the highest skill in handling voices and instruments. ”

“ Responsoria de Venerabili; 1 Cantilena pro Adventu (German words) ; 6 sacred arias; 2 duets. Oratorios and cantatas—'The Creation'; 'The Seasons'; 'Il Ritorno di Tobia'; 'The Seven Words'; 'Invocation of Neptune'; 'Applausus musicus' (for the festival of a prelate, 1768) ; cantata for the birthday of Prince Nicolaus, (1763) : 'Die Erwählung eines Kapellmeisters,' a cantata. Operas—1 German, or more correctly, Singspiel; 4 Italian comedies; 14 ditto, buffe; 5 marionette operas; music for 'Alfred,' a tragedy, and various other plays; 22 airs, mostly inserted in operas ”

“ De Wind (1869) , an inspiriting cantata, which had a large measure of success and was crowned; De Liefde in ’t Leven (“Love in Life,” 1870) ; Elle and Isa (two musical dramas, 1874) ; Liederen voor Groote en Kleine Kinderen (“Songs for Big and Small Folk,” 1879) ”

“ Of the thirty-nine Choral Cantatas of the whole period only two exhibit the earlier form. Of all the others the libretto consists partly of unaltered hymn-stanzas—invariably used for the first and last movements, and occasionally elsewhere—but chiefly of paraphrased stanzas of the hymn, whose accustomed melody, wherever else it may be introduced, is associated invariably with the hymn when the text is used in its unaltered form. We, to whom both words and melody are too frequently unfamiliar, may view the perfections of the Choral Cantata with some detachment. ”

“ A positively ugly and raspy vocal tone may convey a certain dramatic effect that no mere variation in dynamics is able to bring about, an example of this being found in the Chorus of People who sing at various points in the cantata by Dubois called The Seven Last65 Words of Christ. ”

“ His vocal pieces are: manuscript, two masses for male voices; ‘Magnificat;’ cantata, ‘Jason,’ ‘The Siren's Song,’ for female voices, harp, violin, and pianoforte, published 1885; ‘'Twas when the seas were roaring,’ four-part song, 1882 ”

“ To complete the list, at least ten more operas and several cantatas on a large scale should be added, works for the cathedral choir, including several masses, a Miserere à 4, and some important motets. ”

“ and he wrote afterwards six cantatas, which were set to musick by the greatest master of that time, and seem intended to oppose or exclude the Italian opera, an exotick and irrational entertainment, which has been always combated, and always has prevailed. ”

“ Next we were favoured with a song in bass, accompanied with the piano—in which a male voice was so closely imitated as to defy the most acute ear to make it anything else; a male voice, however, highly refined—deeper, stronger, sweeter—than ever before fell upon our ear. The feelings of all present were delightfully stirred,—even the atmosphere in which we sat seemed trembling with emotion.
These were followed by other songs, enough to exhibit the vocal charms and operatic talent of this wonderful cantatrice, in all their strength and compass. ”

“ The principal numbers are the opening song, a joyous hymn to spring, in canon form, for two sopranos; the dancing choruses of the elves, for two sopranos and alto; the male chorus, “In the thick Wood,” which is very effective in harmony; the exultant bridal songs, “Why sound the Horns so gayly?” and “Now at the Miller’s;” the duet, “In the smiling Valley, ‘mid the Trees so green;” the Grave Song; the quartet, “Oh, Joy! foretaste of Heaven’s Rest;” and the duet, “I know a blushing Rosebud.” ”

“ And so easily are our musical sensibilities awakened, and so readily are we influenced by song-power, that these effects may be exerted upon us, to a very considerable extent, even by the singer of ordinary abilities. But by a beautiful cantatrice, gifted with a pure, resonant, sympathetic voice, its natural sweetness and power supplemented by careful artistic cultivation, possessing a pleasing, unaffected manner of appearance and expression, all these effects may be amplified, intensified. ”

“ At the close of this number begins a choral theme for trumpets, horns, and trombones, followed by [162] strings and woodwinds, and introducing a soprano recitative (“With Grace, thy Gaze, O Harmony”) descriptive of the blessing brought into the world by music, followed by a picture of the misery of the race without its consolation. At the close the brasses give out a solemn march-like theme. A short chorus (“Joy to us! Again descending, thou Heavenly One”) describes the might of song. ”

“ The solemn and affecting church chant, the passionate romance for the tenor, the great closing duet in which the ecstasy of despair rises to that of exaltation, the resistless sweep of the rhythm—all mark one of the most effective single acts ever written. ”

“ Then follows [263] a full chorus beginning with male voices in unison (“Why, my Soul, art thou cast down?”) , answered by the female voices (“Trust thou in God”) . Again the soprano voice is heard in pathetic recitative (“O my God! my Soul is cast down within me; all Thy Waves and thy Billows are gone over me”) . A beautiful quartet of male voices with string accompaniment replies: “The Lord will command His Loving-kindness in the Day-time; and in the Night His Song shall be with me, and my Prayer unto the God of my Life.” The response is full of hope and consolation ”

“ While we were at the Waterfall, some half-score peasants, chiefly women and girls, assembled just out of reach of the Spring, and set up—surely, the wildest chorus that ever was heard by human ears,—a song not of articulate sounds, but in which the voice was used as a mere instrument of music, more flexible than any which art could produce,—sweet, powerful, and thrilling beyond description. ”

“ We think, then, that the “psalms” are those which are simply played to an instrument, without the accompaniment of the voice, and (which are composed) for the musical melody of the instrument; and that those are called “songs” which are rendered by the voice in concert with the music; and that they are called “psalms of song” when the voice takes the lead, while the appropriate sound is also made to accompany it, rendered harmoniously by the instruments; and “songs of psalmody,” when the instrument takes the lead, while the voice has the second place, and accompanies the music of the strings. ”

“ Do you not see how many voices there are in a chorus? Yet out of the many only one voice results. In that chorus one voice takes the tenor, another the bass, another the baritone. There are women, too, as well as men, and the flute is mingled with them. In that chorus the voices of the individual singers are hidden; what we hear is the voices of all together. 10. To be sure, I am referring to the chorus which the old-time philosophers knew; in our present-day exhibitions [5] we have a larger number of singers than there used to be spectators in the theatres of old. ”

“ It has all the deep and powerful accents of high musical poetry from the religious accent, calm and imposing, to the wild clamors of the orgy. The composer can make it chant like a choir of priests, threaten, lament, ring a funeral knell, raise a hymn of glory, break forth into frantic cries, or sound a dread flourish to awaken the dead, or to doom the living. ”