MUSIC:Make a date for Bach's 'Christmas Oratorio' in St Patrick's Cathedral next Friday and Saturday, writes EILEEN BATTERSBY
THERE COULD BE no better beginning to the New Year, no finer close to the festive season than experiencing Bach’s glorious Christmas Oratorio which will be performed over two nights, next Friday and Saturday, January 6th and 7th, in the neo-gothic splendour of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin.
The RTÉ Philharmonic Choir and the RTÉ Symphony Orchestra under Matthew Halls will be joined by soloists, tenor Mark Padmore, soprano Julia Doyle, alto Paula Murrihy and bass Peter Harvey. This most joyful work, written by Bach in 1734, really does celebrate the birth of Christ and resounds with good will and humanity. Whereas Handel's wonderful Messiah, familiar, beloved and omnipresent, is dual purpose, as suited to Easter as it is to Christmas, and offers a whirlwind tour of Christ's life: from birth to death to resurrection, the Christmas Oratoriois about the nativity of the sacred child, the bringer of hope.
Of the many fascinating aspects of this lively oratorio is that it is not really an oratorio. Bach composed the six main cantatas as a series to be sung at six services beginning with the first day of Christmas, or Christmas morning, on through the second and third days, continuing with the Feast of the Circumcision and on to the First Sunday of the New Year and closing with the final part, intended for the Feast of the Epiphany. So the first time it rang forth – and it is as rousing as any anthem – was during the Christmas period of 1734 and into 1735. Initially parts one, two and six were the most performed, often at both services on a given day, while parts three, four and five tended to feature in the morning service. The cantatas are individual yet closely related and beautifully consistent in sound and tone, so that heard in their entirety they sound like a cohesively conceived work.
Mark Hindley, delighting in his first project as chorus master with the choir points out: “The complete work does take about three hours, so that’s why we decided to spilt it over two nights.”
Bach an organist, rebel, father of many children and the complete musician, would not have objected; he never intended it as a single work and would never have heard it performed as such.
Rehearsals for the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir began in mid-October. Hindley never had any doubt about the vocal power of the versatile, 90-voice choir and he has been concentrating on refining the lightness of tone needed for the work. Above all, this is a happy piece and this was obvious from watching the faces of the choir members at rehearsal in studio at RTÉ a couple of weeks before Christmas. It is a great sound, it elevates a even on that night without the orchestra, the music and its sentiments lift one’s soul. The choir appears to have also enjoyed the challenge of learning to sing the work in its original German.
This is sacred music written for the church not the concert hall yet the presence of a full orchestra adds to the soaring wonder. It begins with a dramatic, almost medieval fanfare, followed by an exuberant chorus, brilliantly accompanied by kettle drums. We are urged to rejoice and all who listen can’t help but rejoice.
The Christmas Oratoriois unmistakably Bach; all the characteristics are present a the powerful choruses, the beautiful solo pieces with their meditative element and of course, those thrilling instrumental passages from the consummate artist who was also one of music's most pioneering improvisers.
In common with Handel, the cosmopolitan contemporary and rival Bach never met a although he did try to arrange a meeting a the cantor of St Thomas’s, Leipzig, a church organist who never travelled beyond the various states as Germany then was, often re-cycled his music and there are many recurring tunes, themes and motifs. He was a composer who regarded the human voice as merely another instrument and he tests his singers.
Above all though, Johann Sebastian Bach was very human, and it shows in his art. His music makes one feel more alive and at no time is this more true than when either singing or listening to the oratorio that is not really an oratorio with its welcoming of the return of the sun: “and glorious light/For evermore may witness.”
If we need a musical work that suggests the beginning of the end of winter, this must be it. The Christmas Oratoriois about the triumph of life and also of light.
Tickets: €25 per concert, €45 for both. Book on 01-4170000 or online at nch.ie
Mark Padmore as the Evangelist
Leading the outstanding soloists appearing with the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir in next week's performance of Bach's Christmas Oratorio at St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, is one of the world's finest tenors, Mark Padmore, singing the role of the Evangelist.
Born in London in 1961, Padmore has performed in the Bach passions as well as recording these major works and various Bach cantatas under both John Eliot Gardiner and Philippe Herreweghe. Last month he and pianist Paul Lewis continued their mesmerising exploration of Schubert's work by releasing Schwanengesang, following their 2010 recording of Die Schöne Müllerin. Their first Schubert collaboration resulted in a magnificent interpretation of Winterreise in which Padmore's warmth of tone and emotional intensity graced his uniquely beautiful sound.
Even those who prefer the baritone voice for the Schubert song cycles can not fail to be seduced by Padmore fluidity. He is also a natural Handel singer and no music collection should be without his Handel arias, As Steals the Morn (2008). Padmore has appeared in productions of Handel's Jephtha with both English National Opera and Welsh National Opera and he has also recorded
Messiah. In an interview Padmore remarked that the melancholic Winterreise was Beckett's favourite music: "There's something very Beckettian about its barrenness, its ironic, alienated, anti-bourgeois vision and its moments of black humour," said Padmore whose subtle, sweet voice simmers with a humanity Beckett would have appreciated.
