Cantata and Oratorio
Cantata
An important sacred vocal genre in the Baroque is the cantata. Like opera (discussed in lecture 5), it is a genre for voices and instrumental accompaniment which originated in Italy and later became popular throughout Europe. However, unlike opera, the term cantata refers to a wide variety of different works from small, single-movement, solo cantatas for one voice and basso continuo to larger works with multiple movements for choir and orchestra. Likewise, the texts for Baroque cantatas may be secular, as in the Italian chamber cantata, or sacred, as in the Lutheran church cantata. While we will not have time to cover an example of a chamber cantata in this class, we will look at two contrasting examples of church cantatas from the 18th century.
Johann Sebastian Bach
In Germany, by the 18th century, the Lutheran church cantata had become quite common. Mostly, these were written for choir, vocal soloists, and a small orchestra and were generally intended for performance during Lutheran church services (with some exceptions, see discussion of Telemann’s cantata below). Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) composed a large number of such works as part of his job overseeing church music in the main churches of the town of Leipzig. Typically, he would compose a new cantata for each Sunday of the year, with exceptions during Lent and Advent. His cantatas have been organized into yearly cycles following the Lutheran liturgical calendar. He composed multiple such cycles during his career at different points. The church cantata, like the chamber cantata, uses operatic forms like recitative, aria, and chorus, but of course has a sacred text. Frequently, the basis for these cantatas is the Lutheran chorale, a type of hymn specific to Lutheran church services. Many of these chorales were written by Martin Luther himself during the early days of the Protestant Reformation, sometimes using pre-existing melodies that most people would know, making it easier to sing them. Unlike Catholic services, Lutheran services included congregational singing, not just choral singing, and these chorales facilitated this. Bach’s church cantatas take the chorale melodies and spin out often complex polyphonic music around them, using the chorale melodies as a cantus firmus, similarly to the way in which Renaissance composers of polyphonic masses did, as in Dufay’s mass based on the popular song, “L’homme armé” (which we discussed in lecture 4). See the image below for an early 16th-century print of the Lutheran chorale for the Bach example below:
As an example, here is the opening movement of Bach’s cantata based on the chorale, “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott.” This tune is often sung in English today as “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” While the full cantata includes multiple movements of different forms (including recitative and aria), the opening is a chorus for the full choir with orchestra. It sets the first stanza of the chorale as a cantus firmus; however, in this case, the chorale melody is played by the oboe rather than sung by the voices. Instead, the four voice parts enter one at a time in imitative polyphony on a melody that is loosely based on the chorale melody. This technique is known as a chorale fantasia. Bach takes the simple chorale melody and spins out a whole, much longer chorus with melodies all based on that original chorale tune. In addition, the type of polyphonic writing he uses here actually is a bit old-fashioned by his time, as it points back to 16th-century polyphonic writing for voices, which is fitting for a chorale that was written in the 16th century.
Johann Sebastian Bach, “Ein feste Burg ist Unser Gott” (church cantata chorale fantasia), 1735
Recording performed by the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir, directed by John Eliot Gardiner. [Listen on YouTube]
|
Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, Ein gute Wehr und Waffen. Er hilft uns frei aus aller Not, Die uns jetzt hat betroffen. Der alt böse Feind, Mit Ernst er’s jetzt meint. Groß Macht und viel List Sein grausam Rüstung ist. Auf Erd ist nicht seinsgleichen. |
A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing: Our helper He, amid the flood Of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe Doth seek to work his woe; His craft and power are great, And armed with cruel hate, On earth is not his equal. |
Georg Philipp Telemann
Another major composer of Lutheran church cantatas is German composer Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767), a close friend of J.S. Bach and godfather to Bach’s son, the composer Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach (1714–1788). In his prolific career, Telemann composed thousands of cantatas of varying kinds, but some of his best-known come from a published collection called the Harmonischer Gottesdienst which loosely translates to “Harmonious Worship.” Published in installments from 1725–1726, this collection included a cantata for each Sunday and holiday for the whole Lutheran liturgical calendar, amounting to a collection which could provide music for a full year’s worth of services. However, Telemann wanted to appeal to as broad an audience as possible, not just professional church musicians. So although these cantatas could be and certainly were performed in church services in Hamburg where Telemann worked, he also intended them to be purchased and performed by amateurs in domestic, devotional gatherings. Such informal religious activities where friends and family would gather in a home and read the Bible and sing chorales were common at the time. These cantatas, featuring vocal parts that were not too difficult and very sparse instrumentation, were easily accessible to non-professional musicians. Each cantata in this collection has a solo vocal part, a single melodic instrumental part, and basso continuo. Unlike Bach’s church cantatas, there is no choir and no orchestra. Yet the music is just as beautiful and expressive of the meaning of the text. In addition, Telemann’s cantatas in the Harmonischer Gottesdienst consist only of two arias with a short recitative in between, rather than the multiple movements of Bach’s cantatas. Click here to see an original print of this collection including the cover, title page, and the score for the aria we will listen to below.
As an example, let’s listen to the first aria in the cantata “Wandelt in der Liebe.” This cantata features a solo flute, along with the voice and continuo. Here is the text and translation:
|
Wandelt in der Liebe Gleich wie Christus uns geliebt. |
Convert us to the same love With which Christ loved us. |
A |
|
Laßt die Flammen brünstig sein! Liebt euch herzlich doch auch rein! Heilig’t eure Triebe, Daß ihr sie nicht strâflich übt! |
Let its flames burn brightly. Love each other with affection that is warm yet pure! Sanctify your feelings So that they don’t work to condemn you! |
B |
|
Wandelt in der Liebe Gleich wie Christus uns geliebt. |
Convert us to the same love With which Christ loved us! |
A |
This aria is set in an operatic da capo form, where the first two lines form the A section (repeated again at the end) and the third through sixth lines form the B section. Here, the A section is in a slow triple meter, with calm and flowing melodies in the voice and flute. The bass line mostly stays on the same note, as a drone, and when it changes, it does so slowly. Then, the B section suddenly features a very active bass line and melodies which jump around more, reflecting the flames in the text. The vocal part is not difficult and sits in a relatively small range, which would be easily singable by almost any voice type.
Georg Philipp Telemann, “Wandelt in der Liebe” (church cantata aria), 1725–26
Recording performed by Bergen Baroque.
Oratorio
Alongside opera, the Baroque period also gave birth to another large-scale dramatic vocal genre: oratorio. While opera and oratorio share many musical features, including the use of forms like recitative, aria and chorus, the oratorio is sacred rather than secular. In addition, it tends to focus more on choruses rather than solo movements (recitative and aria). Like opera, oratorio tells a story, but it is typically unstaged, meaning there are no sets, costumes, and limited acting on the part of singers. Instead, the drama is presented in a narrative format rather than being acted out on stage. The genre originated in Italy in the 17th century and soon spread to the rest of Europe. It continues to be a relevant genre today, although musically and stylistically it has undergone many changes in that time.
Returning to the genre’s origins, oratorio has its roots in a variety of different sacred dramatic genres in the Medieval period, including liturgical dramas and so-called mystery plays, all of which involved narrative drama presented with music in some form. Later in the Renaissance, composers of madrigals and motets began to set longer, more narrative texts in those polyphonic vocal genres. In the 17th century, these offshoots of madrigal and motet coalesced into a new genre which featured a sacred text telling a narrative story that was used in religious services. Starting in Rome and spreading to the rest of Italy, these early oratorios could be either in Latin or Italian. The word oratorio in Italian is a reference to the oratory, which was a room in a church dedicated to prayer (from the Latin word for prayer: oratio). The earliest oratorios were sometimes performed in the oratory and thus acquired their name from that space.
George Frideric Handel
Perhaps the best-known oratorios today are by German composer George Frideric Handel (1685–1759). Although born in Germany (and originally known as Georg Friedrich Händel), Handel spent time in Italy and finally ended up in England, where he spent most of his career (and Anglicized his name). In doing so, he absorbed many different styles, including Italian opera as well as German instrumental music. His oratorios, which are entirely in English, have become a lasting part of British culture. At the time, Handel made the switch from composing opera to oratorio, partly because of the tradition of closing opera houses during Lent, but also for business reasons. There was growing competition in the opera space and he saw oratorio as an untapped market. His oratorios were incredibly successful, partly because they connected to a growing sense of British nationalism in the 18th century, by using Old Testament stories about Israel as an allegorical stand-in for the British nation. Yet his most famous oratorio, The Messiah (1741), is not an Old Testament narrative but rather a complete overview of the central belief of Christianity, which is that Jesus is the prophesied Messiah. Its text is not poetic but rather taken directly from the King James version of the Bible. It is organized into three parts: 1) the prophecies of the Messiah and Jesus’s birth, 2) Jesus’s life, crucifixion, and death, 3) Jesus’s resurrection and the promise of eternal life. This oratorio is still frequently performed today, often at Christmas, where only part 1 and the famous Hallelujah Chorus are presented. Although the latter is the best-known movement of this work, our excerpt comes from part 1 and involves a section relating to the narrative of Jesus’s birth.
Handel, Messiah (English oratorio), 1741
Nos. 14 and 15 from part 1 depict a section of the Christmas story where angels appear to shepherds and tell them of Jesus’s birth, leading eventually to them going to Bethlehem to see. Handel sets this section in two parts. “There Were Shepherds” is set as a recitative for a soprano soloist which gives the more narrative portion of the section. Then, “Glory to God in the Highest” is a chorus which depicts the many angels which appear to the shepherds. Here is the text for “There Were Shepherds”:
|
There were shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night, |
simple recitative |
|
And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, And the glory of the Lord shone round about them, And they were sore afraid. |
accompanied recitative |
|
And the angel said unto them, Fear not; For behold, I bring you good tidings Of great joy, which shall be to all people. |
simple recitative |
|
Then, suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: |
accompanied recitative |
Handel uses two kinds of recitative here: simple and accompanied. The text which is set as accompanied recitative is bolded above. Simple recitative uses only basso continuo (a bass line with chords above it) to accompany the voice, while accompanied recitative includes the full orchestra. Here, Handel chooses carefully which text to set in which type. The narration begins in simple recitative but as soon as an angel appears, the orchestra comes with accompaniment to heighten the imagery of the scene (remember there is no staging, so Handel can only depict this musically). Then, the angel begins to speak and this is rendered as simple recitative again. Finally, more angels appear, a multitude, and Handel returns to accompanied recitative to illustrate this sight. Throughout, the soprano soloist sings in a speech-like recitative style, but it is the use of the two types of accompaniment which truly illustrates what is happening. The recitative ends on a cliffhanger, as the chorus which follows, “Glory to God in the Highest” sets the words which the multitude of angels are saying.
|
Glory to God, glory to God in the highest. And peace on earth. Glory to God, glory to God, glory to God in the highest. And peace on earth. Good will towards men [repeated many times]. Glory to God, glory to God, glory to God in the highest. And peace on earth. Good will towards men. Good will, good will, etc. |
In this chorus, Handel takes the few words from the Bible which describe what the angels say and repeats them many times to form this movement. Here, the whole choir joins the orchestra to represent these angels. Handel uses both texture and word painting to depict what is happening in the text. First, he begins with the choir singing homophonically on “Glory to God, etc.” Then for “And peace on earth” it actually briefly reduces to monophony. This all repeats before launching into imitative polyphony on “Good will towards men.” The second time this text appears, he shortens it to imitation on just the words “Good will.” This alternation between the three textures highlights certain words and helps to give a sense of different sections to the chorus. In addition, some word painting is used, for instance, “Glory to God in the highest” is sung by the whole choir minus the basses, that is the three higher voice parts. Then, “And peace on earth” is sung by just the tenors and basses (the lower two voice parts). Thus, he is depicting the physical relationship of earth and heaven.
Take a listen now to the whole excerpt: Recording performed by Les Musiciens du Louvre, directed by Mark Minkowski. [Listen on YouTube]
In addition, if you are curious, you might look at the autograph manuscript. Manuscript means handwritten, and autograph means that it was written by the composer himself. You will see that some of the writing is messy and seems rushed (since he likely had to complete much of this work in a short amount of time). In addition, there are many places where things are crossed out, and he changed his mind.
Discussion Questions
- Do you think oratorio is still dramatically effective in conveying a narrative, even though it is not staged like opera?
- Like the oratorio, the cantata uses operatic forms to express the text in music. Why do you think those forms were used outside of opera where they originated and transplanted to these sacred genres? What is effective about them?
- Compared to earlier church music such as mass and motet, how are the cantata and oratorio similar or different in terms of their function in a religious context?
