M602--Melamed--BWV 244

Prof. Daniel R. Melamed MU011, 855-1738 dmelamed (AT) indiana.edu
Office hours: By appointment. E-mail questions are welcome at any time and are the fastest way to get an answer.

Course information, assignments, reserve lists and this schedule can be found at http://dmelamed.pages.iu.edu, also reachable through http://M602.melamed.org.

Resources are available at the Oncourse site called BWV244.

REQUIREMENTS

Class attendance/participation. Seminar members are expected to attend every meeting; please do not schedule conflicting activities. Religious commitments and serious illness are ordinarily the only acceptable reasons for missing a meeting; please let the instructor know beforehand by e-mail. Members of the seminar are expected to participate actively in discussions and to be fully prepared to do so every time.
Assignments for each meeting. Most meetings will be led (in shorter or longer segments) by members of the seminar based on assignments carried out beforehand in consultation with the instructor.
Final paper and presentation. The last meetings will be devoted to presentations by members of the seminar. At the first meeting we will establish dates for the presentations, which will be based on research papers circulated in advance. Completed papers will be due in electronic form for circulation one week before the date of presentations.

GRADING

The course grade will be based on presentations, participation and the final paper. There will be no examinations.

SEMINAR MEMBERS

Mollie Ables    mables AT indiana.edu

Dan Bishop     djbishop

Derek Stauff    dstauff

Nik Taylor       net

Alison Mero    atrego

Jon Yaeger      jyaeger

D. Melamed    dmelamed

REQUIRED SCORE

Johann Sebastian Bach. St. Matthew Passion BWV 244. Studienpartitur TP196. Cassel: Bärenreiter, n.d. [available at TIS or TIS Music]

RESOURCES

Scores

BG 4 (J. Rietz, W. Rust, 1854) Reprint New York, 1999. [M3 .B118 v. 4; M2000.B11 M43 D6]

BWV 244b: NBA II/5b (A. Glöckner, 2004) [M3 .B119 Ser. II, v. 5b]

BWV 244 (1736): NBA II/5 (A. Dürr, 1972) [M3 .B119 Ser. II, v. 5]

Music sources

1736 autograph score: Johann Sebastian Bach. Passio Domini nostri J. C. secundum Evangelistam Matthaeum. Faksimile-Reihe Bachscher Werke und Schriftstücke, vol. 7. Leipzig, VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik, s.d. [ML96.4 .B118 v. 7]

1736 parts: Microfiche AKK5958 (also available on Oncourse)

Score copy by J. C. Farlau: D-B Am.B. 6-7 (facsimile in NBA II/5a)

Text

German [not a critical text]

English Z. Ph. Ambrose M. Marissen

Recordings

Leonhardt    CD ADU6775 online

Rilling           CD AEC7209 online

Suzuki          Frontlog CD 5022310 online

McCreesh    CD .B118 D2.1-47   online

Basic reference tool

Daniel R. Melamed and Michael Marissen. An introduction to Bach studies. New York, 1998. [Ref ML134.B1 M45]

General writings on passion music and on BWV 244

Axmacher, Elke. 'Aus Liebe will mein Heyland sterben': Untersuchungen zum Wandel des Passionsverständnisses im frühen 18. Jahrhundert. Beiträge zur theologischen Bachforschung 2. 2nd ed. Neuhausen-Stuttgart: Carus Verlag, 2005. [BT431 .A95 1984]

Melamed, Daniel R. Hearing Bach's Passions. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. [MT115.B2 M43]

Mosewius, Johann Theodor. Johann Sebastian Bachs Matthäus-Passion: musikalisch-ästhetisch dargestellt. Hildesheim: Olms, 2001. [ML410.B12 M78]

Platen, Emil. Die Matthäus-Passion von Johann Sebastian Bach: Entstehung, Werkbeschreibung, Rezeption. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1991. [MT115.B2 P6]

Prinz, Ulrich, ed. Johann Sebastian Bach, Matthäus-Passion, BWV 244: Vorträge der Sommerakademie J.S. Bach 1985. Stuttgart: Internationale Bachakademie, c1990. [MT115.B2 J63]

Rilling, Helmuth. Johann Sebastian Bach, Matthäus-Passion: Einführung und Studienanleitung. Frankfurt: H. Litolff's Verlag, c1975. [MT115.B2 R5]

Rilling, Helmuth. Johann Sebastian Bach, St. Matthew passion: introduction and instructions for study. Translated by Kenneth Nafziger. Frankfurt: H. Litolff's Verlag, c1976. [MT115.B2 R5 1976]

Smallman, Basil. The background of Passion music; J. S. Bach and his predecessors. 2nd ed. New York, Dover Publications, 1970. [ML3260 .S635]

Smend, Friedrich. "Bachs Matthäus-Passion. Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des Werkes bis 1750." BJb 25 (1928): 1-95. [Photocopy on personal reserve]

(Items on personal reserve are in a 3-ring binder under the instructor's name)

ASSIGNMENTS

1. Introduction

"St. Matthew Passion." Oxford composer companions: J.S. Bach. Edited by Malcolm Boyd. Oxford, 1999. [Ref ML410.B12 J15]

"Matthäus-Passion D3a-3b." Hans-Joachim Schulze and Christoph Wolff." Bach-Compendium. Vol. 3. Frankfurt and Leipzig: Peters, 1988. [Ref ML134.B1 S38]

2. Text sources/libretto construction

Sources

Barthold Heinrich Brockes. Der für die Sünde der Welt gemarterte und sterbende Jesus (1712). [Transcription available on Oncourse]

Christian Friedrich Henrici. Erbauliche Gedancken auf den grünen Donnerstag und Charfreytag über den leidenden Jesum in einem Oratorio entworffen (1725). [Facsimile available on Oncourse]

Christian Friedrich Henrici. "Texte zur Passions-Music, nach dem Evangelisten Matthäo, am Char-Freytage bey der Vesper in der Kirche zu St. Thomä." Iin Picanders Ernst-Schertzhaffte und Satyrische Gedichte Anderer Theil (1729). [Facsimile available on Oncourse]

Reading

Elke Axmacher. “Ein Quellenfund zum Text der Matthäus-Passion.” Bach-Jahrbuch 64 (1978): 181–91. [Photocopy on personal reserve]

Eric Chafe. "J. S. Bach's "St. Matthew Passion": Aspects of Planning, Structure, and Chronology." JAMS 35 (1982): 49-114. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-0139%28198221%2935%3A1%3C49%3AJSB%22MP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-T]

Don O. Franklin. “The Role of the ‘Actus Structure’ in the Libretto of J. S. Bach’s Matthew Passion.” In Music and Theology: Essays in Honor of Robin A. Leaver, ed. Daniel Zager, 121–139. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2006. [Photocopy on personal reserve]

Assignment

1. Carefully study the text of BWV 244. What kinds of texts are present? How is the Gospel narrative framed? Where is it punctuated with commentary? How relevant is the traditional actus division of the narrative?

2. How is the poetic portion of the text presented in Picander's 1729 print? What elements are contributed by typography? What is the likely relation between this reprint in a collection and the original text that would have been available at the service at which the work was heard? (You can find facsimiles of a few so-called Texte zur Kirchenmusik in Werner Neumann, ed., Sämtliche von Johann Sebastian Bach vertonte Texte (Leipzig: Deutscher Verlag für Musik, 1974) [ML49.B2 N4].)

3. What is the relationship between Brockes's poetic passion text and Picander's oratorio, clearly modeled on it? (You will probably need to make outlines of each and line them up.)

4. What is the relationship between numbers in Picander's oratorio and the texts he provided for BWV 244? What other elements carry over?

5. What are the compositional challenges and opportunities presented by the libretto?

3. Music sources/versions

Sources

Autograph score: D-B Mus. ms. autogr. Bach P 25 (facsimile ML96.5 .B2 S. 244; also Microfiche AKK5958)

Original parts: Mus. ms. Bach St. 110 (available on Oncourse; also Microfiche AKK5958)

Score copy by J. C. Farlau: Am.B. 6-7 (facsimile in NBA II/5a)

Reading/reference

NBA II/5 KB (Alfred Dürr)

NBA II/5b KB (Andreas Glöckner)

Alfred Dürr. "Beobeachtungen am Autograph der Matthäus-Passion." Bach-Jahrbuch 50 (1963/64): 47-52.

Supplemental materials

BWV 244 outline--Luther's actus structure

BWV 244 outline--Olearius' outline structure (D. Franklin)

BWV 244 text in compact form

Brockes-Passion--outline

Assignment

1. Study in detail the autograph score of the work (P 25), available in printed facsimile and on microfiche.

     Use the Critical Commentary volume of NBA II/5 for details we cannot see without the original in front of us, such as the gathering structure of the pages (KB p. 17). How is the music laid out on the pages? What kind of score is this on the axis composing score<-->fair copy? (On this point you can consult Robert M. Marshall, The compositional process of J.S. Bach: a study of the autograph scores of the vocal works, 2 vols. (Princeton, 1972) [ML410.B12 M369]).

     Look up the paper used in the score in the catalogue of Bach's papers in NBA IX/1. Note that the published version of this catalogue and its numbering system came after the edition of BWV 244; cf. pp. 40-41 of the KB.

     What is going on on the outside edge of the first 10 leaves? What do you make of the use of red ink? On this issue see the article by Alfred Dürr cited above.

     Examine Bach's handwriting in the score. Compare it with samples reproduced in NBA IX/2. Dating criteria for features of Bach's hand in this period are discussed in Yoshitake Kobayashi, “Zur Chronologie der Spätwerke Johann Sebastian Bachs: Kompositions- und Aufführungstätigkeit von 1736 bis 1750,” BJ 74 (1988): 7–72. By what criteria has this score been dated? To when? How exactly?

     What signs, if any, of correction or revision are there in this score? What kinds of details does the NBA KB report? Are they useful for anything?

2. Study in close detail the original performing parts for the work (St 110), available on microfiche and on Oncourse.

     What parts are there? What is in each? Make yourself a detailed table. How is material distributed among the vocal parts in particular?

     Study the parts for No. 19 especially carefully as a case study. How can you explain the distribution of material, and what does this tell us about the performance of this movement?

     How was the copying labor distributed? Who are the copyists? What did they each do? (See KB, pp. 58-59.)

     What can we tell about the date of these parts? How? (Paper? Handwriting? Copyists?) Several parts evidently date from after the others. Which ones? How do we know? When are they from? Why these new parts?

     How are vocal and instrumental parts each laid out on the page? How and why do they differ? (Check the physical structure of a few to help with this question.)

     Why do the organ parts look the way they do? (See Melamed and Marissen, An introduction to Bach studies, §9.5 if you need an introduction to this problem.)

3. Study the manuscript score copy by Farlau, available in facsimile in NBA II/5a. Information on this score is in the preface to that volume and in NBA II/5b KB.

     What technical details of this score can help us understand its significance and place in the work's history?

     On the identity of the copyist, See Peter Wollny, "Tennstedt, Leipzig, Naumburg, Halle--Neuerkentnisse zur Bach-Überlieferung in Mitteldeutschland," BJ 88 (2002): 36-47.

     Is the presentation in NBA II/5a useful?

4. Dating/parody

Source material

Original text print of BWV 244a [to be placed on personal reserve]

English translation of the text of BWV 244a

Outline of BWV 244a

Reading

Hans-Joachim Schulze. "The parody problem in Bach's music: an old problem reconsidered." Bach 20 (1989): 7-21. [Copy on personal reserve]

"Parody." Oxford composer companions: J.S. Bach. Edited by Malcolm Boyd. Oxford, 1999. [Ref ML410.B12 J15]

Detlef Gojowy. "Zur Frage der Köthener Trauermusik und der Matthäuspassion." Bach-Jahrbuch 51 (1965): 86-134. [Copy on personal reserve]

Paul Brainard. “Bach’s parody procedure and the St. Matthew Passion.” JAMS 22 (1969): 241–60. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-0139%28196922%2922%3A2%3C241%3ABPPATS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-N]

Joshua Rifkin. “The chronology of Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion.” Musical Quarterly 61 (1975): 360–87. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0027-4631%28197507%2961%3A3%3C360%3ATCOBSM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-I]

Assignment

1. Study the surviving text of BWV 244a (the "Cöthen Funeral Music"). How is this work organized? Compare its texts to those in BWV 244. How much of its music can be recovered?

You might want to look up/listen to the "Trauer-Ode" BWV 198; outline here; text in original verse forms here.

2. Read the treatments of the relationship between BWV 244 and BWV 244a by Gojowy and Brainard, including the particular examples cited. Retrace their steps. To what conclusion does it lead you? (Be prepared to discuss examples in detail.)

What new approach does Rifkin take? How does this change your view of the methodology used by earlier scholars, and of their conclusions? What larger lessons are there for the problem of "parody?"

3. So what are the dates of composition and first performance of BWV 244?

5. Passion repertory

Händel, Brockes-Passion

Score: Georg Friedrich Händel. Passion nach Barthold Heinrich Brockes. Edited by Felix Schroeder. Hallische Händel-Ausgabe (Kritische Gesamtausgabe) I/7. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1965. [M3 .H21 Ser.I,v.7]

Recording: McGegan Early Music Archive CD ABN2148 online

J. S. Bach, St. John Passion BWV 245

Score: NBA II/4 (Arthur Mendel) [M3 .B119 Ser. II, v. 4;M2000.B11 J6 B3]

Recordings: Slowik (includes alternative mvts.) CD AAX4258 online
Rilling CD ALP9472 online

Reading

Alfred Dürr. Johann Sebastian Bach, St. John Passion: genesis, transmission, and meaning. Translated by Alfred Clayton. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. [ML410.B12 D7352]

Assignment

1. Read sections I and II of Dürr, Johann Sebastian Bach, St. John Passion. What are the original sources for this work? What versions of the piece do we have? How do those two categories--versions and sources--relate to each other?

2. Study the text and music of the St. John Passion BWV 245. You may want to make yourself text and movement outlines like those you constructed for BWV 244. Note that this is complicated by the multiple versions. What does BWV 245 owe to the text of the Brockes-Passion? How is the piece organized? What does it share in its organization with BWV 244? What is different? How much of this is compositional choice and how much comes from differences between the two Gospel narratives?

3. From Dürr, the NBA KB [by Arthur Mendel, and notoriously knotty], and the copy available as Microfiche AKK5958, figure out the contents of the original vocal parts. How many parts are there, what is in them, how are they labeled, and can we tell how they were designed to be used? And what is their relationship to the original parts for BWV 244? You may want to consult the brief discussion in Joshua Rifkin's first presentation of this material, reprinted as an appendix to Andrew Parrott, The essential Bach choir (Rochester: Boydell, 1996) [ML410.B12 P1996]. There is also a discussion in Chapter 1 of Melamed, Hearing Bach's passions.

4. Sudy the text and music of G. F. Händel's Brockes-Passion. How are the distinctive features of this poetic oratorio realized musically? How close is the resulting work to oratorio passions of the type represented by BWV 244 and 245? Compare Händel and Bach's treatment of shared texts between this work and BWV 245.

6. Performance practice/forces

Reading

Arnold Schering. Johann Sebastian Bachs Leipziger Kirchenmusik. Studien und Wege zu ihrer Erkenntnis. 2nd ed. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1954. Pp. 165-84. [Photocopy on personal reserve]

Laurence Dreyfus. Bach's continuo group: players and practices in his vocal works. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1987. [ML410.B12 D67] [Sections on BWV 244, particularly the execution of continuo lines in Gospel narrative]

Lothar Steiger and Renate Steiger. "Die theologische Bedeutung der Doppelchörigkeit in Johann Sebastian Bachs 'Matthäus-Passion.'" In Bachiana et alia musicologica. Festschrift Alfred Dürr zum 65. Geburtstag am 3. März 1983, 275-286. Edited by Wolfgang Rehm. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1983. [Photocopy on personal reserve]

Ulrich Leisinger. "Forms and functions of the choral movements in J. S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion." In Bach studies 2, ed. Daniel R. Melamed, 70-84. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. [Photocopy on personal reserve]

Daniel R. Melamed. "The double chorus in J. S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion BWV 244." JAMS 57 (2004): 3-50. [http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/pdf/10.1525/jams.2004 .57.1.3]

Klaus Hofmann. "Gedanken zur Instrumentalbesetzung des Satzpaars 'Mein Jesus schweigt zu falschen Lügen stille' - 'Geduld! wenn mich falsche Zungen stechen' der 'Matthäus-Passion' von J. S. Bach." Musik und Kirche 62, no. 2 (1992): 88-94. [Photocopy on personal reserve]

As a follow-up from last week if you are interested:

Joshua Rifkin. "The violins in Bach's St. John Passion." In Critica musica: essays in honor of Paul Brainard, ed. John Knowles, 307-32. Amsterdam: Gordon and Breach, 1996. [Photocopy on personal reserve]

Assignment

1. Read the sections in Schering, the classic statement of performance practice in Bach's vocal music. What issues does he pursue? What kinds of evidence and source material does he cite? What assumptions underlie his assertions and conclusions?

2. Read the sections in Dreyfus concerning the execution of the continuo lines in BWV 244. Study the original performing parts and score in these passages. What conclusions do you draw? Why this notation? How far should we extend the implications?

3. Read Steiger/Steiger, Leisinger and Melamed on the use of a double chorus in BWV 244. What various approaches are taken? Do they lead the same place?

4. What evidence do we have on the performing forces Bach used in 1727 and in 1736? What changed in the 1740s (with respect to forces)? What is going on with the the recit/aria pair discussed by Hofmann?

5. How does Bach distribute vocal duties in BWV 244, particularly small vocal roles? What can we learn from this? How does this compare to his practice in BWV 245?

7. “O Mensch, bewein”

In preparation for Prof. Rifkin's visit, please explore the following topics:

1. On "O Mensch, bewein" and the compositional history of the St. John Passion:

Arthur Mendel. "Traces of the pre-history of Bach's St. John and St. Matthew Passions." In Festschrift Otto Erich Deutsch, ed. Walter Gerstenberg, Jan LaRue and Wolfgang Rehm, 31-48." Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1963. [Copy on personal reserve]

Arthur Mendel. "More on the Weimar Origin of Bach's "O Mensch, bewein" (BWV 244/35)." JAMS 17 (1964): 203-206. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-0139%28196422%2917%3A2%3C203 %3AMOTWOO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-M]

Ulrich Leisinger. "Die zweite Fassung der Johannes-Passion von 1725. Nur ein Notbehelf?" In Bach in Leipzig--Bach und Leipzig. Konferenzbericht Leipzig 2000, ed. Ulrich Leisinger, 29-44. Leipziger Beiträge zur Bachforschung 5. Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 2002. [Photocopy on personal reserve]

[You should be sure to know the movement itself in close detail.]

2. On the possible existence of a pre-Leipzig era passion setting by J.S. Bach:

Andreas Glöckner. "Neue Spuren zu Bachs 'Weimarer' Passion." In Passionsmusiken im Umfeld Johann Sebastian Bachs/Bach unter den Diktaturen 1933-45 und 1945-89, ed. Hans-Joachim Schulze and Peter Wollny, 33-46. Leipziger Beiträge zur Bachforschung 1. Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1995.

The composition implicated, in Glöckner's view, is "Ich armer Mensch, ich Sündenknecht" BWV 55.

See also the entry in the Bach-Compendium, [D1] Weimarer Passion.

3. On analytical aspects of "O Mensch, bewein" and its compositional relation to the chorale cantata cycle of 1724-25, you could consult:

Friedhelm Krummacher. Bachs Zyklus der Choralkantaten. Aufgaben und Lösungen. Göttingen, 1995. Pp. 88-90. [Partial photocopy on personal reserve]

Note: This is tough going without the full context of Krummacher's discussions of other works. His point is that the movement displays analytical features, especially the relationship of various elements to each other, much more characteristic of Bach's music in 1725 than in c.1715. As comparative repertory you can examine "Herr Jesu Christ, wahr Mensch und Gott" BWV 127/1 (from 1725) and "Jesu, deine Passion" BWV 182/7 (in its earliest form probably from 1714).

8. Theological issues

1. Please read Chapter 1 and the chapters on the St. Matthew Passion (12-14) in this volume. Leave yourself some time:

Eric Chafe. Tonal allegory in the vocal music of J.S. Bach. Berkeley, 1991. [ML410.B12 C48]

You might find it useful to review the treatment in Chafe's article from assignment 2.What are Chafe's goals? What topics does he think are most worthy of investigation? What elements of the work does he investigate, with what kinds of results? You might want to read some or all of Friedrich Smend's 1928 article (cited in the general writings above), to which Chafe refers often.

2. Read the following article:

Michael Marissen. "Blood, People, and Crowds in Matthew, Luther, and Bach." Lutheran Quarterly 19 (2005): 1-22. [Published version not available here, but Prof. Marissen has supplied a pre-publication text.]

3. On the St. John Passion, please read this book:

Michael Marissen. Lutheranism, anti-Judaism, and Bach's St. John Passion: with an annotated literal translation of the libretto. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. [ML410.B12 M261]

What does this theological treatment of a Bach passion share with Chafe's?

4. Review the theological approaches of Axmacher (assignment 2) and the Steigers (assignment 6). Where do they fit?

9. Liturgy

1. Read the section on Bach's passions (and other works) in the liturgy in

Robin A. Leaver. “The mature vocal works and their theological and liturgical context.” In The Cambridge companion to Bach, edited by John Butt, 86-122. Cambridge, 1997. [ML410.B12 C24]

2. Read the relevant sections on passions in the liturgy in

Günther Stiller. Johann Sebastian Bach and liturgical life in Leipzig. Translated by Herbert J.A. Bouman, Daniel F. Poellot, Hilton C. Oswald. Edited by Robin A. Leaver. St. Louis: Concordia, 1984. [ML410.B12 S853] [particularly 48-66 and 74-95]

3. Examine the liturgy for Vespers on Good Friday as outlined in

Charles Sanford Terry. Joh. Seb. Bach. Cantata texts, sacred and secular. With a reconstruction of the Leipzig liturgy of his period. London: Holland, 1964. [ML49.B2 T3 1964]

4. Study the motet by Gallus (Handl) "Ecce quomodo moritur justus" Score Text [Be prepared to sing this in class]

5. From Stiller, Terry and An introduction to Bach studies, p.55f, study the liturgical year and its observation in Leipzig.

6. Examine the organization and contents of the Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch (the so-called Vopelius hymnal, 1682). Study the St. Matthew passion setting provided on pp. 179ff. [Compare Johann Walter: Sämtliche Werke, ed. O. Schröder (Kassel, 1953–73), vol. 4; M3 .W23]

10. Analytical issues

1. We'll focus on ritornello forms. The classic analytical formulation is

Wilhelm Fischer. "Zur Entwicklung des Wiener klassischen Stils." Studien zur Musikwissenschaft 3 (1915): 24-84.

2. The following readings should give you an introduction to ritornello analysis and its application to Bach's instrumental and vocal music.

Michael Talbot. Vivaldi. 2nd edn. London, 1993. [ML410.V85 T34 1993]

Laurence Dreyfus. "The ideal ritornello." In Bach and the patterns of invention. Cambridge, MA, 1996. Pp. 59-102. [ML410.B12 D68]

Stephen A. Crist. "Aria forms in the vocal works of J. S. Bach, 1714-24." PhD diss. Brandeis Univ., 1988. Chapter 4 (and others as useful). [ML410.B12 C75 1988]

Karol Berger. "Die beiden Arten von Da-Capo-Arie in der Matthäus-Passion." Bach-Jahrbuch 92 (2006): 127-59. [Photocopy on personal reserve]

3. Analyze the ritornello-form movements in BWV 244. You will probably find it worth the time to make structural diagrams for your reference. Consider both ritornello formation and overall architecture. Be sure to include No. 1. How does it work as a ritornello form?

4. Analyze the first Kyrie of the Mass in B minor BWV 232/1 as a ritornello movement. If you need it, there is an analysis in John Butt, Bach: Mass in B minor (Cambridge, 1991) [ML410.B12 B972].

Score (continues under "Christe")

Recordings: Shaw Gardiner Harnoncourt.

Facsimile of the performing parts for the Dresden Missa of 1733: ML96.5 .B2 S. 232, 1983 Rare Book.

11. Mendelssohn's performances. Guest: Prof. Celia Applegate (Univ. of Rochester)

Please read:

Celia Applegate. Bach in Berlin: nation and culture in Mendelssohn's revival of the St. Matthew Passion. Ithaca.: Cornell University Press, 2005. [ML410.B12 A82]

Supplemental reading

Martin Geck. Die Wiederentdeckung der Matthäuspassion im 19. Jahrhundert. Die zeitgenössischen Dokumente und ihre ideengeschichtliche Deutung. Regensburg: Bosse, 1967. [ML410.B12 G24]

Barbara David Wright. "Johann Sebastian Bach's 'Matthäus-Passion': A Performance History, 1829--1854." PhD diss. University of Michigan, 1983. [ML410.B12 W8]

Michael Marissen. "Religious aims in Mendelssohn's 1829 Berlin-Singakademie performances of Bach's St. Matthew Passion." Musical Quarterly 77 (1993): 718-726 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0027-4631%28199324%2977%3A4%3C718%3ARAIM1B%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Q]

Martin Geck. Die Geburtsstunde des "Mythos Bach". Mendelssohns Wiederentdeckung der Matthäuspassion. Stuttgart: Carus, 1998. [AKT2906 Frontlog - Books]

Recording (1841 version): http://www.music.indiana.edu/cgi-bin/var/access?AFK5582

Questions

What do you think of Max Weber’s definition of culture as a “finite excerpt from the meaningless infinity of events in the world, endowed with meaning by human beings” and accessible to those “who are people of culture, with the capacity and the will deliberately to adopt an attitude towards the world and to bestow meaning upon it”? Does the book manage to write a history of culture understood this way?

[Chapter 1, on FM] Why was leading this revival not a perfectly natural thing for Mendelssohn to undertake, and why was he able to pull it off? Were non-musical considerations more important than musical ones?

[Chapter 2, on 18^th c. matters] What were the issues that troubled/moved literate Germans in the 18^th century? How did musical writing make a place for itself in literary culture? What does it mean to experience the nation aesthetically (Bernhard Giesen)? What are the methodological challenges of integrating the history of ideas with the history of music or the history of society?

[Chapter 3, music journalism] What were the goals of music journalism in the early decades of the 19^th century? What do you see as the promise and pitfalls of music journalism as a source for musicologists and/or historians?

[Chapter 4, amateurism] What are the social/cultural conditions that make amateurism possible? How does one undertake a gender analysis of amateurism? A class analysis? Do these kinds of analyses pay off? Does amateurism matter, either historically or musically or whatever? (The recent TLS review of the book praises it for having lots of “bit-part players” who add vividness to the narrative. As a matter of self-critique, I’ve been inclined to think that some of these bit-players, e.g. Michael Traugott Pfeiffer, are somewhat irrelevant. Any comments on that?!)

[Chapter 5, religion] In light of the discussion in this chapter, how would you answer the simple question of, was this a secular performance of the SMP or not?
Do you find plausible the implication that the 1829 reception still shapes, or at least set the terms for, our own reception of the work, up until the present? (Especially given the brevity and limited chronological scope of the final chapter, it might be interesting to discuss further aspects of its post 1829 adventures, esp. 20^th century ones.)

12. [Hiatus]