Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 62

John Eliot Gardiner conducts The Monteverdi Choir and The English Baroque Soloists in the first movement of Bach's Advent cantata, Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 62

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Music

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• komm
• der
• Heiden
• Heiland

[hcj4]

@1banders I checked out some Zelenka, and it is interesting. Thanks for the link.

[1banders]

@hcj4 In the early 1700s, the concerto grosso form that originated in Italy had become all the rage throughout Europe, and many church composers were eagerly integrating the features of the concerto grosso, e.g., the ritornello, into church music. Bach even called some his cantatas concertos. This movement from BWV 62 is a choral concerto /w a ritornello. That's how early 18th c. composers thought of it. They divided singers into concertists and ripienists, as in a concerto grosso.

[1banders]

@hcj4 Dresden was the musical capital of Bach's Germany. Many fine composers of Bach's day were employed there by the Catholic court of the Saxon Elector/King in Poland (who granted Bach and Zelenka court composer titles). A condition of employment was that your music was property of the Saxon royal/electoral family. As a result, works of many Dresden composers did not come to light until the late 20th century. By contrast, the Bach revival began already in the late 18th century.

[1banders]

@hcj4 Bach (my favorite composer) was not the only composer of his day who wrote outstanding contrapuntal church music. Here are excerpts from the Missa votiva ZWV 18 by Bach's Dresden colleague Zelenka (1679-1745):

/watch?v=vkfLdXHt4Bw&list=FL4T­1YqwvmhfMx-XUy_FVFhw&index=22&­feature=plpp_video

/watch?v=WAhASZ9jjLI&feature=r­elated

[hcj4]

@1banders I know they didn't stop writing motets and masses, nor do I think that pieces written before Bach's time are bad. I was just making the point that understanding Bach's place in music history makes his music seem that much more innovative and impressive. Do you know that you take yourself way too seriously?

[MrKain1000]

@1banders I think that you're fabricating a lot of implied context and assumption here. Granted, I didn't give much. Regardless, you're right. We studied Purcell, Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Rameau, and Handel in between (along with a few others), even so, the reaction I had to this piece was much more exponential than to even that of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons".

[1banders]

@hcj4 Do you think they stopped writing motets and masses in Bach day? Do you know the difference between concerted and non-concerted music?

[1banders]

@MrKain1000. Monteverdi was born more than a century before Bach and died a couple of years before Bach's father was born. I think your classical music survey class must have left out quite a few composers between Monteverdi and Bach, not to mention Bach's contemporaries.

[MrKain1000]

@hcj4 I had the EXACT same response. You kind of forget that this music exists back when you're listening to Monteverdi and Byrd, and then BOOM. I just sat in my chair with my mouth open and just took it all in.

[hcj4]

We went over this piece in one of my music history classes. Nothing makes Bach more impressive than listening to a semester's worth of motets and medieval church masses beforehand. When my teacher turned this piece on, I couldn't help but just break down and laugh at the genius of it.