Key Terms
Cantata
An important sacred vocal genre in the Baroque is the cantata (from cantare meaning “to sing”). Like opera (discussed in lecture 5), it is a genre for voices and instrumental accompaniment that originated in Italy and later became popular throughout Europe. The term cantata refers to a wide variety of different works from small, single-movement, solo cantatas for one voice and basso continuo to larger works with multiple movements for choir and orchestra. Depending on the text being set, cantatas can be secular or sacred. In this class, we will look at two contrasting examples of church cantatas from the 18th century, one by Georg Philipp Telemann and the other by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Johann Sebastian Bach, A Mighty Fortress is Our God (cantata)
In Germany, by the 18th century, the Lutheran church cantata had become quite common. Mostly, these were written for choir, vocal soloists, and a small orchestra and were generally intended for performance during Lutheran church services. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) composed a large number of such works as part of his job overseeing church music in the main churches of the town of Leipzig. Typically, he would compose a new cantata for each Sunday of the year, with exceptions during Lent and Advent. His cantatas have been organized into yearly cycles following the Lutheran liturgical calendar. He composed multiple such cycles during his career at different points. The church cantata uses operatic forms like recitative, aria, and chorus, but of course has a sacred text. Frequently, the basis for these cantatas is the Lutheran chorale, a type of hymn specific to Lutheran church services. Many of these chorales were written by Martin Luther himself during the early days of the Protestant Reformation, sometimes using pre-existing melodies that most people would know, making it easier to sing them. Unlike Catholic services, Lutheran services included congregational singing, not just choral singing, and these chorales facilitated this. Bach’s church cantatas take the chorale melodies and spin out often complex polyphonic music around them, using the chorale melodies as a cantus firmus, similarly to the way in which Renaissance composers of polyphonic masses did, as in Dufay’s mass based on the popular song, “L’homme armé” (which we discussed in Lecture 4). An early 16th-century print of the Lutheran chorale for the Bach example.
As an example, here is the opening movement of Bach’s cantata based on the chorale, “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott.” This tune is often sung in English today as “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” While the full cantata includes multiple movements of different forms (including recitative and aria), the opening is a chorus for the full choir with orchestra. It sets the first stanza of the chorale as a cantus firmus; however, in this case, the chorale melody is played by the oboe rather than sung by the voices. Instead, the four voice parts enter one at a time in imitative polyphony on a melody that is loosely based on the chorale melody. This technique is known as a chorale fantasia. Bach takes the simple chorale melody and spins out a whole, much longer chorus with melodies all based on that original chorale tune.
Johann Sebastian Bach, “Ein feste Burg ist Unser Gott” (church cantata chorale fantasia), 1735
Recording performed by the English Baroque Soloists and The Monteverdi Choir, directed by John Eliot Gardiner. [Listen on YouTube]
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Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, Ein gute Wehr und Waffen. Er hilft uns frei aus aller Not, Die uns jetzt hat betroffen. Der alt böse Feind, Mit Ernst er’s jetzt meint. Groß Macht und viel List Sein grausam Rüstung ist. Auf Erd ist nicht seinsgleichen. |
A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing: Our helper He, amid the flood Of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe Doth seek to work his woe; His craft and power are great, And armed with cruel hate, On earth is not his equal. |
Key Terms
Oratorio
Alongside opera, the Baroque period also gave birth to another large scale dramatic vocal genre: oratorio. Like opera, oratorio tells a story, but it is typically unstaged, meaning there are no sets, costumes, and limited acting on the part of singers. Instead, the drama is presented in a narrative format rather than being acted out on stage. Like opera, oratorio uses soloists and orchestra as well as recitatives and arias to tell the story; however, oratorio features the chorus. The genre originated in Italy in the 17th century and soon spread to the rest of Europe. It continues to be a relevant genre today, although musically and stylistically it has undergone many changes in that time.
George Frideric Handel, Messiah (oratorio), 1741
Perhaps the best known oratorios today are by German composer George Frideric Handel (1685**–**1759). Although born in Germany (and originally known as Georg Friedrich Händel), Handel spent time in Italy and finally ended up in England, where he spent most of his career (and Anglicized his name). In doing so, he absorbed many different styles including Italian opera as well as German instrumental music. His oratorios which are entirely in English have become a lasting part of British culture. His most famous oratorio, The Messiah (1741), uses text taken directly from the King James version of the Bible. It is organized into three parts: 1) the prophesies of the Messiah and Jesus’s birth, 2) Jesus’s life, crucifixion and death, 3) Jesus’s resurrection and the response of the believer. This oratorio is still frequently performed today, often at Christmas. Although the latter is the most well-known movement of this work, our excerpt comes from part 1 and involves a section relating the narrative of Jesus’s birth.
Nos. 14 and 15 from part 1 depict a section of the Christmas story where angels appear to shepherds and tell them of Jesus’s birth, leading eventually to them going to Bethlehem to see. Handel sets this section in two parts. “There Were Shepherds” is set as a recitative for a soprano soloist which gives the more narrative portion of the section. Then, “Glory to God in the Highest” is a chorus which depicts the many angels which appear to the shepherds. Here is the text for “There Were Shepherds”:
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There were shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night, |
simple recitative |
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And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, And the glory of the Lord shone round about them, And they were sore afraid. |
accompanied recitative |
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And the angel said unto them, Fear not; For behold, I bring you good tidings Of great joy, which shall be to all people. |
simple recitative |
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Then, suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: |
accompanied recitative |
Handel uses two kinds of recitative here: simple and accompanied. The text which is set as accompanied recitative is bolded above. Simple recitative uses only basso continuo (a bass line with chords above it) to accompany the voice, while accompanied recitative includes the full orchestra. Here, Handel chooses carefully which text to set in which type. The narration begins in simple recitative but as soon as an angel appears, the orchestra comes with accompaniment to heighten the imagery of the scene (remember there is no staging, so Handel can only depict this musically). Then, the angel begins to speak and this is rendered as simple recitative again. Finally, more angels appear, a multitude, and Handel returns to accompanied recitative to illustrate this sight. Throughout, the soprano soloist sings in a speech-like recitative style, but it is the use of the two types of accompaniment which truly illustrates what is happening. The recitative ends on a cliffhanger, as the chorus which follows, “Glory to God in the Highest” sets the words which the multitude of angels are saying.
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Glory to God, glory to God in the highest. And peace on earth. Glory to God, glory to God, glory to God in the highest. And peace on earth. Good will towards men (repeated many times). Glory to God, glory to God, glory to God in the highest. And peace on earth. Good will towards men. Good will, good will, etc. |
In this chorus, Handel takes the few words from the Bible that describe what the angels say and repeats them many times to form this movement. Here, the whole choir joins the orchestra to represent these angels. Handel uses both texture and word painting to depict what is happening in the text. First, he begins with the choir singing homophonically on “Glory to God, etc.” Then for “And peace on earth” it actually briefly reduces to monophony. This all repeats before launching into imitative polyphony on “Good will towards men.” The second time this text appears, he shortens it to an imitation on just the words “Good will.” This alternation between the three textures highlights certain words and helps to give a sense of different sections to the chorus. In addition, some word painting is used, for instance, “Glory to God in the highest” is sung by the whole choir minus the basses, that is, the three higher voice parts. Then, “And peace on earth” is sung by just the tenors and basses (the lower two voice parts). Thus, he is depicting the physical relationship of earth and heaven.
Take a listen now to the excerpts:
- Handel: Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 1: Nos. 14-16 “There Were Shepherds…” [Listen on YouTube]
- Handel: Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 1: No. 17 “Glory to God” [Listen on YouTube]
Recording performed by Les Musiciens du Louvre, directed by Mark Minkowski.
Discussion Questions
- Do you think oratorio is still dramatically effective in conveying a narrative even though it is not staged like opera?
- Like the oratorio, the cantata uses operatic forms to express the text in music. Why do you think those forms were used outside of opera where they originated and transplanted to these sacred genres? What is effective about them?
- Compared to earlier church music such as mass and motet, how is the cantata and oratorio similar or different in terms of its function in a religious context?
