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Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1 discography

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Bach composed Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1, as chorale cantata for the Marian feast of the Annunciation, for a first performance in a church service in Leipzig on 25 March 1725.[1] The cantata, for soprano, tenor and bass soloists, four-part choir and Baroque orchestra, takes around 25 minutes to perform.[2]

Recordings

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The conductor Fritz Lehmann recorded nine Bach cantatas with the Berliner Motettenchor and the Berliner Philharmoniker with Deutsche Grammophon. Recordings of nine cantatas were made between 1950 and 1952, and Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern was the first one to be released, in 1952. Lehmann died in 1956, preventing an expansion of the project. The nine cantatas were reissued by Eloquence Classics[3] in 2018.[4] Fritz Werner recorded around 50 of Bach's church cantatas with the Heinrich-Schütz-Chor Heilbronn and the Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra between 1959 and 1974, recording Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern in 1965. Several of them were reissued in 2004. A reviewer of the first volume noted: "Fritz Werner has this music in his blood. His instincts for Bach style are generally sound and he directs the music with a profound belief in it. These are performances of quiet conviction."[5]

In 1971, Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern was the first cantata for the project to record all church cantatas by Bach on period instruments in historically informed performances for what is now known as the Teldec series (it began on the Telefunken label);[6] the conductor was Nikolaus Harnoncourt, who was one of two conductors on the project, the other being Gustav Leonhardt.[7][8][9] While some instruments such as baroque violins were relatively easily available, other instruments necessary for historically informed performance posed more challenges, for example, the oboe da caccia which is specified in the score of this cantata. A reconstructed version of this instrument was available by 1973,[10] when the revival of the instrument had benefited from scholarly research at the beginning of the 1970s.[11][12] However, it is not clear what would have been available for Jürg Schäftlein and Karl Gruber, the oboists of Harnoncourt's instrumental ensemble Concentus Musicus Wien, when BWV 1 was recorded. Another aspect of historically informed performance is the use of all male singers (which was the norm for Bach in Leipzig). Harnoncourt conducted the first four cantatas with the Wiener Sängerknaben, with a soprano soloist from the boys' choir and a countertenor for the alto part.[8]

Helmuth Rilling, who began a recording of all Bach cantatas in 1969 and completed it in 1985,[7] recorded Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern in 1980, with the Gächinger Kantorei and Bach-Collegium Stuttgart.[13]: 5  Thomaskantor Hans-Joachim Rotzsch, recorded Bach cantatas with the Thomanerchor and the Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum. They recorded Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, coupled with Bach's chorale cantata on a hymn by Nicolai, Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, in 1987.[14] Pieter Jan Leusink conducted all Bach church cantatas with the Holland Boys Choir and the Netherlands Bach Collegium in historically informed performance, however with women for the solo soprano parts. He completed the project within a year on the occasion of the Bach Year 2000. A reviewer from Gramophone noted: "Leusink's success elsewhere comes largely through his admirably well-judged feeling for tempos and a means of accentuation which drives the music forward inexorably".[15]

Masaaki Suzuki, who studied historically informed practice in Europe began recording Bach's church cantatas with the Bach Collegium Japan in 1999, at first not aiming at a complete cycle, but completing all in 2017.[16] They released Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern in 2007.[17] Sigiswald Kuijken recorded a series of cantatas with the ensemble La Petite Bande with vocalists singing one voice per part (OVPP). They recorded Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern in 2007.[18] The Swiss J. S. Bach-Stiftung plans to cover all church cantata by Bach in recorded live concerts with introductions. They covered Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern in 2010.[14] In 2013, a CD was released sung by the Thomanerchor with the Gewandhausorchester, conducted by Georg Christoph Biller. As part 9 of their series Das Kirchenjahr mit Johann Sebastian Bach (The church year with J. S. Bach), titled Marian Feasts, they performed Cantata 125 for Purification, Cantata 1 for Annunciation, and Cantata 147 for Visitation.[19]

Recordings of Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern
Title Conductor / Choir / Orchestra Soloists Label Year
J. S. Bach: Cantatas BWV 1 Fritz Lehmann[3]
Berliner Motettenchor
Berliner Philharmoniker
Deutsche Grammophon
OCLC 64384066 		1952 (1952)
Les Grandes Cantates de J. S. Bach Vol. 1 Fritz Werner
Heinrich-Schütz-Chor Heilbronn
Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra
Erato
OCLC 1078110812[5] 		1965
Bach Cantatas Vol. 2 – Easter Karl Richter
Münchener Bach-Chor
Münchener Bach-Orchester
Archiv Produktion
OCLC 7023395 		1968 (1968)
J. S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk • Complete Cantatas • Les Cantates, Folge / Vol. 1 Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Concentus Musicus Wien
Teldec
OCLC 624441832 		1971 (1971)
Die Bach Kantate Vol. 38 Helmuth Rilling
Gächinger Kantorei
Bach-Collegium Stuttgart
Hänssler
OCLC 673097273 		1980 (1980)
Bach Made in Germany Vol. 4 – Cantatas II Hans-Joachim Rotzsch
Thomanerchor
Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum
Eterna
OCLC 32373438 		c. 1987 (1987)[14]
Bach Cantatas Vol. 21: Cambridge/Walpole St Peter John Eliot Gardiner
Monteverdi Choir
English Baroque Soloists
Soli Deo Gloria
OCLC 68812471 		2000 (2000)
Bach Edition Vol. 18 – Cantatas Vol. 9 Pieter Jan Leusink
Holland Boys Choir
Netherlands Bach Collegium
Brilliant Classics
OCLC 872058181 		2000 (2000)
J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 13[20] Ton Koopman
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir
Antoine Marchand
OCLC 811333583 		2000 (2000)
J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 34 (Cantatas from Leipzig 1725) Masaaki Suzuki
Bach Collegium Japan
BIS
OCLC 811226000 		2007 (2007)[17]
Bach: Cantates Marie de Nazareth Eric Milnes
Montréal Baroque
ATMA Classique
OCLC 156910016 		2006 (2006)
J. S. Bach: Cantatas for the Complete Liturgical Year Vol. 6 (Sexagesima and Estomihi Sundays) Sigiswald Kuijken
La Petite Bande
Accent
OCLC 936410457 		2007 (2007)
J. S. Bach: Kantate BWV 1 "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" Rudolf Lutz
Chor der J. S. Bach-Stiftung
Orchester der J. S. Bach-Stiftung
Gallus Media
OCLC 918598096 		2010 (2010)[14]
Bach: Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern – Cantata BWV 1, 48, 78 & 140 Karl-Friedrich Beringer
Windsbacher Knabenchor
Deutsche Kammer-Virtuosen Berlin
Sony Music
OCLC 953527912 		2011 (2011)
Kantaten · Cantatas / 1, 125, 147 Georg Christoph Biller
Thomanerchor
Gewandhausorchester
Rondeau[19] 2013 (2013)

References

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  1. ^ Bach Digital 2021.
  2. ^ Dürr & Jones 2006, p. 666.
  3. ^ a b Eloquence 2021.
  4. ^ JPC 2021.
  5. ^ a b Quinn 2004.
  6. ^ Harnoncourt 1971.
  7. ^ a b Kenyon 2011.
  8. ^ a b Henahan 1971.
  9. ^ Marshall 1973.
  10. ^ Harnoncourt 1973.
  11. ^ Dahlqvist 1973.
  12. ^ Karp 1973.
  13. ^ Hamburg 2021.
  14. ^ a b c d Bertelsmann 2021.
  15. ^ Freeman-Attwood 2001.
  16. ^ Kemp 2017.
  17. ^ a b BIS 2021.
  18. ^ Veen 2008.
  19. ^ a b AllMusic 2021.
  20. ^ Anderson 2012.

Cited sources

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