JOHANN LUDWIG BACH: Trauermusik – Anna Prohaska, soprano/ Ivonne Fuchs, alto/ Maximilian Schmitt, tenor/ Andreas Wolf, bass/ RIAS Kammerchor/ Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin/ Hans-Christoph Rademann – Harmonia mundi 902080, 77:27 ****:
The so-called “Meiningen” Bach (1667-1731) was a member of the family that split off from the main line of Bachs—the one J.S. belonged to—in the sixteenth century. But as it seems the very name automatically conjures up musical talent, and J.L. certainly got his share of it. While this member composed motets, cantatas, and operas—the latter unfortunately lost completely—he was no J.S., though one might consider his success in the world in terms of steady employment to have surpassed the famous Leipziger.
Duke Ernst-Ludwig of Saxe-Meiningen had a short and difficult reign, and was a prolific author of religious poetry, including two complete annual cycles of cantata texts, featuring one that Ludwig and Sebastian used as source material. He chose the biblical text for his funeral, wrote a sermon for it, and created a strophic song that was supposed to form the basis for the music given at the occasion. Odd indeed, especially for one so young at the time to be making such elaborate preparations!
The Trauermusik is his most ambitious and maybe greatest composition, at least compared to the ones that have survived. It is scored for double chorus and double orchestra and takes the listener on a journey from the darkest depths—not unlike the Duke’s own state of mind—to an almost apotheosis of joy and ecstasy, slowly emerging from the pathos of mourning and despair that mark the first part, and even the soul’s curiously cautious ascent to the gates of heaven in the second part, suitably exposed as the final state of glory in the third. The music is vivid in its imagery, and though in possession of a certain Baroque glory, contains many elements of the emerging classical style as well, unusual for a man who died almost a full 20 years before Sebastian Bach, and indicative of the cross-cultural climate that was going on during the swan song years of the late Baroque.
The forces here are superbly trained and eager in their assignments, the soloists wonderfully suited to the task at hand. Not everyone will be interested in this music, and it can hardly be said to be mandatory, but Baroque enthusiasts and most other classical music lovers will want to investigate.
— Steven Ritter
William Steinberg conducts Mahler Symphony No. 1 – Boston Symphony Orchestra – Forgotten Records
Excellent mid-century live performance of Mahler’s First
