The Aha! Concert

by

Lyn Bronson

 

Looking at the program for the Carmel Bach Festival’s Tuesday evening main concert, your first reaction is, “What do all these fifteen offerings on the program have to do with each other? What is the connecting link?” Well, in a word, the connecting link is David Gordon reprising the concept we heard in last year’s festival “Aha, Mozart.”  Mr. Gordon came out on stage in full concert dress looking as though he were about to break out in song or play the violin, but instead to act as our affable (he loves it when I describe him as “affable”) host and tour guide talking about Bach and reading excerpts from contemporary correspondence related to various periods in Bach’s life. In his narration and reading we heard about the frustrations of Bach’s relationships with his employers (princes puffed up with their own importance), neighbors (sometimes envious), colleagues (always envious), and devoted friends and family (his true supporters).

Gordon reminded us that although Bach had 20 children, only ten survived. When you see the vital statistics of the children who did not survive flashed up on the supertitles, it brings home to you that these children who did not survive were lovingly anticipated members of a growing family. They had names (often impressive names) and while some died in childbirth others survived a few days and a few even for several years. As Gordon has mentioned in other lectures, “Death was a constant visitor in the 18^th century, but your faith helped you to manage your grief.” Most shocking was the revelation that in the summer of 1720 Bach was away serving his prince at a summer retreat when his wife died. His prince decided that Bach’s services were needed there and didn’t want him to return home, so the news of his wife’s death was concealed from him. When Bach finally did return home, he discovered that in his absence, she had died, was already in the ground and that his children were being cared for by neighbors – not exactly the situation to endear you to your princely employer.

Gordon’s pointed out that even such a tragic event as this could be internalized by Bach and inspire him to create a work of enduring value. Just such a work was the Cantata, BWV 8, Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben? (Dearest God, when will I die?) Tenor Alan Bennett sang an aria from this Cantata, Was willst du dich, mein Geist, entsetzen (Why should you recoil, my spirit), an aria expressing deep emotions of pain and reconciliation of grief. Similarly moving was the aria Schlummert ein, from Cantata BWV 82, sung by baritone Sanford Sylvan.

So the evening went. After each narration, we heard some relevant and meaningful piece of music that had the ability to enrich our souls. The absolute standout “knock ‘em dead” offering on this program was the final movement of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 – you will never hear it performed any better than this, and it received a firestorm of applause and bravos. So, this program, a joint effort by the Festival Orchestra, Chorale and soloists, was certainly one of the most outstanding programs of the Festival so far. Gordon’s closing words were, “We give thanks to J. S. Bach for having inspired us to have a 70^th Festival in his name in Carmel.” 

 

End