Wikipedia Commons

I have another piece to recommend from the era of my specialisation! This time it is from the early German Baroque, which starts to edge onto the early part of what I am comfortable playing, but it is a piece and a composer (Buxtehude) that I always enjoy playing... it is a piece that still touches my heart when I perform it, even after so many performances!

So, to that effect, I'm expanding a bit further on each cantata with my particular thoughts and feelings when I perform this piece.

NOTE: The English translations of the Latin text are from Wikipedia. Also, the titles of the cantatas I have linked to the appropriate spots in the video (I've tried to start the embed in the appropriate spots, but I've always had good luck or skill doing that!). This particular performance that I've chosen to highlight article is one by The Sixteen, it is one that most closely resembles what I would consider my ideal representation of the piece.

Contents

1. The Composition
2. Cantata 1: Ad pedes
3. Cantata 2: Ad genua
4. Cantata 3: Ad manus
5. Cantata 4: Ad latus
6. Cantata 5: Ad pectus
7. Cantata 6: Ad cor
8. Cantata 7: Ad faciem
9. Final Thoughts

The Composition

Wikimedia Commons

The piece is the "Membra Jesu Nostri Patientis Sanctissima" (The Holy Limbs of our Suffering Christ, 1680) by Buxtehude. It is a collection of seven cantatas in the early German Baroque style set for choir (with soloists SSATB) and ensemble (2 violins and continuo, except in the 6th cantata which is set for gamba consort).

It is a depiction of the parts of Christ that the author is adulating, with each cantata addressing a specific limb.

I find the music to both powerful whilst holding true to the Baroque ideal of instilling emotion via the reflection of another's pain and joy rather than the Romantic idea of personal pain and joy. I do find there are many moments in this series of cantatas that can bring a tear to my eye, despite the fact that I"m not religious, through the beauty of pure emotions and affects.

It really is a piece that best felt when you have the piece and stillness to listen properly.... but these days, it is hard to make the time to do these things!

Of course, this is the cantata cycle described from the view of a violinist (instrumentalist) and so it is more than heavily biased towards the instrumental and sinfonias rather than the singing!

Ad pedes (To the Feet)

This piece is one that normally comes up at Easter and the preceding weeks (hence the subject matter of the cantata cycle!). The opening Sinfonia is a dark opening in g minor, one that sets the tone for the cantata (and the cycle as a whole). It is a moment where you really (especially as a violinist that opens the performance) sense the idea of the beginning of an epic journey, one that is tinged with sadness and reverence.

There are some interesting and unexpected moments of harmony, which lay the groundwork of something that is uncertain or not quite right.

In the violins, there are the motifs of the falling seconds in the many of the instrumental interludes. These are representative of tears or sighs in Baroque musical rhetoric.

TEXT

Ecce super montes
pedes evangelizantis
et annunciantis pacem

Salve mundi salutare,
salve, salve Jesu care!
Cruci tuae me aptare
vellem vere, tu scis quare,
da mihi tui copiam.

Clavos pedum, plagas duras,
et tam graves impressuras
circumplector cum affectu,
tuo pavens in aspectu,
tuorum memor vulnerum

Dulcis Jesu, pie Deus,

Ad te clamo licet reus,
praebe mihi te benignum,
ne repellas me indignum
de tuis sanctis pedibus.

Salve mundi salutare,
salve Jesu care!
Cruci tuae me aptare
vellem vere, tu scis quare,
da mihi tui copiam.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Behold, upon the mountains
the feet of one bringing good news
and proclaiming peace.

Hail, salvation of the world,
Hail, hail, dear Jesus!
On Your cross would I hang
Truly, You know why
Give me Your strength.

The nails in Your feet, the hard blows
and so grievous marks
I embrace with love,
Fearful at the sight of You
Mindful of Your wounds.

Sweet Jesus, merciful God
I cry to You, in my guilt
Show me Your grace,
Turn me not unworthy away
From Your sacred feet.

Hail, salvation of the world,
Hail, hail, dear Jesus!
On Your cross would I hang
Truly, You know why
Give me Your strength.

Ad genua (To the Knees)

The pulsing rhythm of the violins in the opening sinfonia is one that is normally associated with the fluttering heart, at the tempo that is indicated it represents something that is more racing and excited, rather than something restful. There is also a sense of striving and reaching as the violins try to reach higher and higher over each other only to brought back down.

The instrumental interludes of the following arias are the ones that I find immediately to be the most touching. The violins are always yearning, intertwining... reaching for something indescribable, only to always be brought back down to earth by the harmony. With a good deal of skill, the violinists can improvise embellishments with each iteration of the interlude that can further enhance this idea of yearning...

TEXT

Ad ubera portabimini,
et super genua blandicentur vobis.

Salve Jesu, rex sanctorum,
spes votiva peccatorum,
crucis ligno tanquam reus,
pendens homo verus Deus,
caducis nutans genibus.

Quid sum tibi responsurus,
actu vilis corde durus?
Quid rependam amatori,
qui elegit pro me mori,
ne dupla morte morerer.

Ut te quaeram mente pura,
sit haec mea prima cura,
non est labor et gravabor,
sed sanabor et mundabor,
cum te complexus fuero.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

You will be brought to nurse
and dandled on the knees

Hail Jesus, King of Saints
Hope of sinners' prayers,
like an offender on the wood of the cross,
a man hanging, true God,
Bending on failing knees!

What answer shall I give You,
Vile as I am in deed, hard in my heart?
How shall I repay Your love,
Who chose to die for me
Lest I die the second death?

That I may seek You with pure heart,
Be my first care,
It is no labour nor shall I be loaded down:
But I shall be cleansed,
When I embrace You.

Ad Manus (To the Hands)

The opening Sinfonia of this cantata is incredibly plaintive full of slowly resolving dissonances. It is a theme and character that is shared with the singers through the first chorus before being broken by a ray sad hope from the soprano aria. The instrumental interludes are again a beautiful yearning for release, with the rising harmonies and lines always being eventually dragged back to the tonic. Unlike the previous cantata, there is much more reservation and resignation to fate in these lines.Considering the subject matter, it is interesting that the arias have the perhaps unusual lilt of a slow dance to them.

The closing chorus brings us back to the theme of the beginning, closing the circle of contemplation for this cantata. I find this particular cantata to be a restful moment of contemplation in the performance, not as charged as other ones and not as obviously painful as the previous one.

TEXT

Quid sunt plagae istae
in medio manuum tuarum?

Salve Jesu, pastor bone,
fatigatus in agone,
qui per lignum es distractus
et ad lignum es compactus
expansis sanctis manibus.

Manus sanctae, vos amplector,
et gemendo condelector,
grates ago plagis tantis,
clavis duris guttis sanctis
dans lacrymas cum osculis.

In cruore tuo lotum
me commendo tibi totum,
tuae sanctae manus istae
me defendant, Jesu Christe,
extremis in periculis.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

What are those wounds
in the midst of Your hands?

Hail, Jesus, good shepherd,
wearied in agony,
tormented on the cross
nailed to the cross
Your sacred hands stretched out.

Holy hands, I embrace you,
and, lamenting, I delight in you,
I give thanks for the terrible wounds,
the hard nails, the holy drops,
shedding tears with kisses

Washed in Your blood
I wholly entrust myself to You;
may these holy hands of Yours
defend me, Jesus Christ,
in the final dangers.

Ad Latus (To the Sides)

The opening Sinfonia (despite being more gentle than I prefer in this performance) is a breaking of the previous contemplation. A rough shattering of the peace of introspection with a fairly rough dance-like rhythm. In a performance, it is a pleasant moment for the musician to break the spell and stretch out the virtuoso legs for a little bit, after all, too much beauty has no meaning without a contrast!

There is something almost perversely joyful about the arias in this cantata, and this time it is the duty of the violins (and the rest of the instrumental ensemble) to continually try to bring the tone and character back to the reverence with low and middle register harmonies. In a way, it is a nice change from the previous cantatas where the instruments were the ones that were trying to plead for escape.

TEXT

Surge, amica mea,
speciosa mea, et veni,
columba mea in foraminibus petrae,
in caverna maceriae.

Salve latus salvatoris,
in quo latet mel dulcoris,
in quo patet vis amoris,
ex quo scatet fons cruoris,
qui corda lavat sordida.

Ecce tibi appropinquo,
parce, Jesu, si delinquo,
verecunda quidem fronte,
ad te tamen veni sponte
scrutari tua vulnera.

Hora mortis meus flatus
intret Jesu, tuum latus,
hinc expirans in te vadat,
ne hunc leo trux invadat,
sed apud te permaneat.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Arise, my love,
my beautiful one, and come,
my dove in the clefts of the rock,
in the hollow of the cliff.

Hail, side of the Saviour,
in which the honey of sweetness is hidden,
in which the power of love is exposed,
from which gushes the spring of blood
that cleans the dirty hearts.

Lo I approach You,
Pardon, Jesus, if I sin,
With reverent countenance
freely I come to You
to behold Your wounds.

In the hour of death, may my soul
Enter, Jesus, Your side
Hence dying may it go into You,
Lest the cruel lion seize it,
But let it dwell with You.

Ad Pectus (To the Breast)

This cantata marks a return to form for the violins. We open in a bright and major key, with a theme full of hope again. However, it does close in a way that forshadows something else. This time, it appears that the singers are in accord with our character, but it quite soon when there is a change for the more sombre.

The arias in the particular cantata have very little for the violinists to do, it is much more for the Continuo to shine. In fact, some of the entries tend to have me a little confused at times, as the entries sometimes sound like that are the cadence (the finish) of a phrase.

However, when we are employed, it is an lovely duet where we answer each other with leaps before joining together for cadences. This leaves us free to throw ornaments to and from each other. Normally, I prefer a partner that doesn't copy my ornaments but returns fire with something else. It is a bit of a contention in our field as to if ornamentation should be echoed back or not. From my point of view, if music is a rhetorical conversation, it makes for a poor conversation if you are speaking to an echo chamber.... If I have a copy-cat for my second, I will do my best to throw them off the scent!

TEXT

Sicut modo geniti infantes rationabiles,
et sine dolo concupiscite,
ut in eo crescatis in salutem.

Si tamen gustatis, quoniam dulcis est Dominus.

Salve, salus mea, Deus,
Jesu dulcis, amor meus,
salve, pectus reverendum,
cum tremore contingendum,
amoris domicilium.

Pectus mihi confer mundum,
ardens, pium, gemebundum,
voluntatem abnegatam,
tibi semper conformatam,
juncta virtutum copia.

Ave, verum templum Dei,
precor miserere mei,
tu totius arca boni,
fac electis me apponi,
vas dives Deus omnium.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Like newborn infants,
long for the guileless milk of reason,
that by it you may grow into salvation,
if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good

Hail God, my salvation,
sweet Jesus, my beloved,
hail, breast to be revered,
to be touched with trembling,
dwelling of love.

Give me a clean breast,
ardent, pious, moaning,
an abnegated will,
always conforming to You,
with an abundance of virtues.

Hail, true temple of God,
I pray, have mercy on me,
You, the ark of all that is good,
make me be placed with the chosen,
rich vessel, God of all.

Ad Cor (To the Heart)

This is the cantata where the violins move aside to allow the gamba consort to shine. In contrast to the violins they have a much more mellow tone that doesn't shine with the brightness that the violins have. It is a piece that I would dearly love to play, as the sound world and the harmonies is something that is quite magical. It is the feeling that you have when you are smiling through the most painful sadness, your eyes betraying the mask.

In contrast to the violins, the gambas are more well behaved. They keep to the character that is laid down by the cantata, and the singer's arias are ones that evoke a vast timeless wonder.

TEXT

Vulnerasti cor meum,
soror mea, sponsa,
vulnerasti cor meum.

Summi regis cor, aveto,
te saluto corde laeto,
te complecti me delectat
et hoc meum cor affectat,
ut ad te loquar, animes.

Per medullam cordis mei,
peccatoris atque rei,
tuus amor transferatur,
quo cor tuum rapiatur
languens amoris vulnere.

Viva cordis voce clamo,
dulce cor, te namque amo,
ad cor meum inclinare,
ut se possit applicare
devoto tibi pectore.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

You have wounded my heart,
my sister, my bride,
You have wounded my heart.

Heart of the highest king, I greet You,
I salute You with a joyous heart,
it delights me to embrace You
and my heart aspires to this:
that You move me to speak to You

Through the marrow of my heart,
of a sinner and culprit,
may Your love be conveyed
by whom Your heart was seized,
languishing through the wound of love.

I call with the living voice of the heart,
sweet heart, for I love You,
to incline to my heart,
so that it may commit itself to you
in the breast devoted to You.

Ad faciem (To the Face)

The naughty violins are back in charge again, with an almost irreverent theme that has a almost devilishly playfulness to the Sinfonia. Contrasted with the long slowly moving lines of the singers, the violins are drawn back into the proper role of supporting the singers and text.

There is something a bit more glorious (in the slowly rising dawn of the sun type of glory) about the arias in this cantata. It is the moment when the contemplation has turned to the head and face, when the truth is revealed.

The closing Amen, whilst not being a rip roaring happy end, is one that has a sense of joyful relief, maybe a catharsis. However, it is one that is dangerously full of hemiloa rhythms and slightly unexpected entries, so I find it is the piece that I need to concentrate hardest upon when I am at my most tired state. Unfortunately, whilst I am often the first violin, sometimes I am the second, and so I can quite easily get my entries mixed up if I lapse in concentration(in rehearsals... so far, never in concert!).

TEXT

Illustra faciem tuam super servum tuum,
salvum me fac in misericordia tua.

Salve, caput cruentatum,
totum spinis coronatum,
conquassatum, vulneratum,
arundine verberatum
facie sputis illita.

Dum me mori est necesse,
noli mihi tunc deesse,
in tremenda mortis hora
veni, Jesu, absque mora,
tuere me et libera.

Cum me jubes emigrare,
Jesu care, tunc appare,
o amator amplectende,
temet ipsum tunc ostende
in cruce salutifera.

Amen

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Let Your face shine upon Your servant,
save me in Your mercy.

Hail, bloodied head,
all crowned with thorns,
beaten, wounded,
struck with a cane,
the face soiled with spit

When I must die,
do not then be away from me,
in the anxious hour of death
come, Jesus, without delay,
protect me and set me free!

When You command me to depart,
dear Jesus, then appear,
O lover to be embraced,
then show Yourself
on the cross that brings salvation.

Amen

Final Thoughts

Even just listening to this piece whilst writing this post brings emotions and a threat of tears. It is strange, every time I perform this piece, I find myself quite drained by the end, despite the fact that it is not an virtuosic or technically demanding piece. However, the ability to create and hold an atmosphere where so much is still and every little sound that comes out of my violin means so much, where every improvised ornament needs to add more to the character and all of this happening in real time... this is quite draining for the concentration.

In many ways, it is strange, but I see the violins (especially in the Sinfonias that begin each cantata) as something almost irreverent, something that wants to desperately escape the gravity and solemn beauty of the text. However, in each cantata we are always brought back into the fold and join with the singers in the reverence.

It isn't every piece that moves a musician in the same way that the musicians are trying to move the audience. For some musicians, it is one particular piece, for others it can be nothing... we are a strange mix between between craftsmen and artists. For me, this is one of the pieces that seems to get to me every time... it is a great feeling to have that exhausted and drained feeling at the end of the performance, it is what we all live for!