Cantata BWV 182 Himmelskönig, sei willkommen (1685-1750)

Bach’s cantata Himmelskonig, sei willkommen was among his earliest sacred works, written for his position in Weimar during the beginning stages of his career for Palm Sunday. In this program, Vittoria presents the first movement sonata and the choruses from the cantata.

The opening sonata, with string pizzicato and recorder/violin duet, is calmly effervescent with shades of processional music, setting the stage for Christ’s entry into Jerusalem. The following chorus casts Bach’s congregation as another “Zion” into which Christ might enter. Following this, the movement seven and eight choruses foreshadow Christ’s crucifixion as the act that will bring the congregation peace, finishing with, “so let us enter Salem (Jerusalem) with joy... Christ has opened the way!”

The writing in the opening chorus is sparklingly exuberant, with the choir and strings trading and repeating bubbly motives on each phrase of the text. Movement 7 is cast as a chorale motet, with the sopranos presenting each phrase of the text in long notes against the other parts’ counterpoint. The final chorus is dance-like and joyful, celebrating a newly possible relationship between the believer and Christ. For Bach’s congregation, with the celebration of the Passions impending, this might have been the last joyful musical expression until Easter morning.

William Byrd, Ne irascaris, Domine

William Byrd, a contemporary of Shakespeare, faced throughout his life the tension of remaining a Roman Catholic in newly Protestant England. As Queen Elizabeth I’s favorite composer, he was protected from the worst forms of persecution suffered by many Catholics of that time. However, his tenuous position and the tension he felt between his faith and his public life is reflected in much of his music. The double motet Ne irascaris, Domine is no exception.

Composed in the 1580’s on a text from the book of Isaiah, the Ne irascaris expresses themes of repentance in the face of punishment and lament for the desolation of Jerusalem. The first part of the motet highlights pleas for mercy – “be not angry... for we are all your people.” Part two, beginning at “civitas sancti tui,” is one of the most emotionally compelling passages of music in the Renaissance repertoire. The haunting declamation that “Zion is made a wilderness” gives way to the wistful, weeping subject on, “Jerusalem is made desolate.” The closing moments of the motet, with a final exquisite cross-relation dissonance, distill all the expressive craft in Byrd’s musical output.

James MacMillan, Data est mihi

Cantata 4 is another of Bach’s earlier compositions, written for Easter Sunday around 1707, when Bach was beginning his career. The words are taken from the eponymous hymn (chorale) by Martin Luther, and Bach set each verse of the chorale for chorus or soloists. Luther in turn had taken the tune and basic ideas of the poetry from a medieval sequence chant, “Victimae paschali laudes.” Luther adapted both tune and words, translating from Latin into German, to create the chorale. Bach took the further step of updating each verse of the chorale into a then-modern musical style.

The opening sinfonia establishes the opening half-step (changed from a whole step in the chant and chorale), and sets the stage with a somber and lamenting mood – as the cantata commences, Christ is still in the tomb.

Program Notes by David McNeil