Bach Programmes
A SPECIAL series of Bach programmes which begins with the six Brandenburg concertos recorded by the National Orchestra and selections from the church and secular cantatas is to begin from all YC stations at 9.15 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6. Towards the end of May, the concertos and cantatas will be followed by a semidramatised, illustrated account of Bach's life and work prepared by the German Bach scholar, Dr. Hans Besch, with musical illustrations by the Northwest German Radio. The script, in eighteen episodes, will be produced in the Wellington studios of the NZBS. In November Marie Vandewart will continue the programmes with the six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello. Each programme is to be introduced by Owen Jensen. Interest will be aroused by this first complete recording by the National Or--chestra of the Brandenburgs. They were recorded at the end of last year while the visiting artists Maurice Clare (violin) and Dr. Thornton Lofthouse (harpsichord) were here. Soloists in the concertos include James Hopkinson (flute), Norman Booth (oboe) and Ken Smith (trumpet). . The six cantatas to be heard start with No. 78 "Jesu, Thou Hast Rescued My Soul," and include the lively secular Cantata "Aeolus Appeased" and the profound No. 80, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God." Bach wrote his church cantatas for the Lutheran Church Service when churchgoers must have had stouter constitutions than they have today. Services which lasted from seven until eleven included a half hour cantata. Bach wrote nearly 300, of which just over 200 survive, but his congregations were fortunate for these contain much splendid music. No. 80 is one of his finest-here the Lutheran chorale becomes the foundation for a dramatic statement of Christian belief with a climax in the titanic struggle of the true believers against the fiends of Hell. A complete contrast is provided by the secular cantata "Aeolus Appeased""Hear ye my lusty laughter! When ruin falls on every town; when all the world comes crashing down what care I what comes after? Hear ye my lusty laughter." Written for a student celebration in honour of a favourite professor it would scarcely have been popular in church. Other cantatas to be heard are Nos. 76, 6 and the rarely heard Missa Brevis No. 1.
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 36, Issue 916, 1 March 1957, Page 14
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374Bach Programmes New Zealand Listener, Volume 36, Issue 916, 1 March 1957, Page 14
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