Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel (1690-1746)
Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld (1720)
Veronika Winter (soprano); Franz Vitzthum (alto); Markus Brutscher (tenor); Martin Schicketanz (bass)
Rheinische Kantorei
Das Kleine Konzert/Hermann Max
rec. live, 14 & 15 June 2019, Thomaskirche, Leipzig
Geran text & English translation included
cpo 555 311-2 [2 CDs: 110]

In July 2023, during the Three Choirs Festival, I attended and reviewed for Seen and Heard a rare UK performance of a Passion oratorio by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel. The work was billed as Die leidende und am Creutz sterbende Liebe Jesu (The Love of Jesus Suffering and Dying on the Cross). In advance of the concert, I tried to do some homework – both work and composer were completely unknown to me – and I looked on line to see if there was a recording. I was unable to find one. At the end of my review, I expressed the hope that a recording might be made one day and I even suggested that it was the sort of repertoire which might be especially attractive to the cpo label. Little did I know that cpo had already issued a recording which, quite by chance, I discovered in January 2024. Perhaps I can be forgiven for overlooking the recording because cpo have not used the same title for the work but instead have used the first line of the work’s opening chorale, Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld (translated in the booklet as ‘A Lamb goes uncomplaining forth…’) Anyway, that confusion cleared up, I now have the opportunity to experience Stölzel’s oratorio again.

The 2023 concert was given by the Corelli Orchestra directed by Warwick Cole – the singers were the eight voices of the Selene Consort. Cole and his orchestra had given the UK premiere of the oratorio in 2018 and for their performances they used an edition prepared by Cole. I learned much about the work from material on the Corelli Orchestra website on which I’ll draw again for background information.

Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel was born in 1690 in a small village in Saxony, near what is now the German/Czech border. He was educated at Leipzig University and his subsequent career as a composer included spells working in Breslau, Gera, Bayreuth, Prague, and Innsbruck. From 1720 to his death in 1749 he was Kapellmeister in Gotha. Apparently, much of his music was lost during the eighteenth century but, in fact, many of us will have long been familiar with a piece by Stölzel, possibly without knowing it: the famous aria ‘Bist du bei mir’, long attributed to Bach (as BWV 508) is, in fact, from Stölzel’s opera Diomedes (1718).

Stölzel composed Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld in 1720, right at the start of his tenure in Gotha; it was first performed there at Easter that year. The work was performed quite extensively over the next couple of decades: Bach himself gave a performance in 1734. However, after Stölzel’s death the work lapsed into obscurity. It seems that quite a lot of his music survives in a collection in the Schlossmueum in the German town of Sondershausen, including a set of parts for this particular work, which was performed at the Sondershausen court in the 1730s. Warwick Cole obtained copies of these parts and by collating them with the original libretto from Stölzel’s performance in Gotha in 1720, it was possible to produce his edition. Hermann Max, too, has accessed the Sondershausen material to prepare the score used in this recording although, slightly confusingly, cpo also describe the work is “Passion oratorio ….from the private library of J S Bach”. Judging by the libretto, the work which I heard back in 2023 seems to be identical to what is presented on the present recording. I’m not in a position to say, however, to what extent there may be differences between what Hermann Max here presents and Warwick Cole’s edition.

In his booklet note for cpo, Klaus Rettinghaus makes reference to “this first performance of Stölzel’s Passion in St Thomas’ Church for 285 years”; I infer that the recording was made at live performances in the Thomaskirche in June 2019, for which Rettinghaus originally wrote his note. Hermann Max uses slightly larger forces than those which were used in the performance I heard. Warwick Cole used a consort of eight voices; the singers took the solo parts between them. Max, on the other hand, has four designated soloists and the twelve voices of the Rheinische Kantorei. Max also employs a somewhat larger orchestra (Cole had just four string players; Max uses 13).

I think it’s worth saying something about the structure of the work. As we know, the surviving Passion settings by Bach were designed for use at the solemn Good Friday liturgy in Leipzig; Parts I and II would have been performed respectively before and after the sermon. Stölzel’s Passion is very different in conception. It is cast in four parts and after my review of the Three Choirs performance appeared, the director, Warwick Cole contacted me to explain the liturgical context for which Stölzel wrote: “the four parts (roughly half an hour each) were intended to form part of four services from the evening of Mandy Thursday and then on Good Friday at 9am, noon and 3pm, so that the narrative plays out in real time so to speak. Obviously, Bach adjusted that pattern, but that was certainly Stölzel’s original conception to observe the real time continuous observance.”

Musically, Stölzel follows a different path to Bach. His is a much more reflective approach: the recitatives are not as dramatic in nature as we experience with Bach; the chorus is used for reflective commentary, mainly through the singing of chorales – there are no dramatic turba episodes, for example – and the arias are generally simpler in design than Bach’s. Most of the arias are da capo pieces and all of them are succinct; only rarely is there an instrumental obbligato. All this leads to a more intimate approach to the Passion story. Furthermore, unlike Bach, Stölzel did not set text directly from the Gospel. Instead, the Passion story is related through a poetic paraphrase. Klaus Rettinghaus states that Stölzel “evidently wrote the libretto himself”.

The structure of the work is important. It is divided into twenty-two ‘reflections’. For the most part, these follow a pattern, First comes a pair of recitatives: initially, the Evangelist narrates the particular episode in the Passion story; then a different singer, labelled ‘Gläubige Seele’ (Faithful Soul) comments on the narration. The same singer then expands the commentary through a short aria after which the episode finishes with a verse from a Chorale. The Chorales are sung by the choir who are designated ‘Christliche Kirche’ (Christian Church). It’s interesting that Stölzel uses two distinct styles of recitative. The Evangelist’s narration is in the form of secco recitative with continuo support. However, when the ‘Gläubige Seele’ takes over the style is closer to recitativo, with accompaniment from the orchestra. Unlike Bach, Stölzel uses two singers – the tenor and bass soloists – at different times to deliver the Passion narration.

The four Parts cover different stages of the Passion story. Part I begins in Gethsemane and runs through to the point where false witnesses testify when Christ is before the High Priest. Part II opens with Christ being taken to Pilate and ends with the Governor washing his hands of the matter. Part III begins with Christ carrying his cross to Golgotha and ends with Him on the cross, receiving the appeal from the repentant thief. Part IV opens with Christ receiving the draught of vinegar and ends with Joseph and Nicodemus burying the body. Incidentally, I think there’s a small error in cpo’s track listing. I’m sure that Part III closes with track 17, a Chorale, and not the tenor recitative ‘Die Sonne hüllet ihre Strahlen’; that would fit with Stölzel’s careful design.

The music is well worth hearing. Stölzel’s meditation on the Passion story may lack the intense drama of Bach’s Passions but it’s beautifully crafted and often moving. The recitatives are poetically set. Individually, the arias may not be as memorable as those that we hear in the Bach Passions but I admire their succinct nature – I think that without exception they are in ABA da capo form. The arias are also very varied in nature and it seems to me that time and again Stölzel’s music fits very well indeed with the sentiments of the words he is setting. Those of us accustomed to the Bach Passions may find it strange to hear arias in which, except on a handful of occasions, the composer eschews the use of an instrumental obbligato. I love the way in which Bach adds to the expressiveness of his arias through obbligati that are at least as interesting as the vocal line. However, I quickly warmed to Stölzel’s approach, finding that the focus is very firmly placed on the vocal soloist – and thereby, of course, on the words. Furthermore, the melodic material of his arias is delightful. Like Bach, Stölzel makes considerable use of Chorales and does so to excellent effect. A good number of these traditional melodies will be familiar but many others are less well-known.

The effect that Stölzel’s music makes is significantly enhanced by the quality of this performance. Everything about the music-making here seems to me to be expert and very stylish. The twelve members of the Rheinische Kantorei (three per part) sing the Chorales splendidly. Their blend and balance are excellent and, though there’s no unwarranted exaggeration, they sing these traditional German hymns very expressively. In Part IV they get what we might call “conventional” choruses to sing and these are very well done indeed. The players of Das Kleine Konzert make a fine and stylish contribution; everything about the instrumental playing seems to me to be expertly judged.

The four solo singers do very well indeed. All four of them have voices that sound well suited to their music; all of them are blessed with clear diction too. Veronika Winter, the soprano, has a clear, pure voice. She makes a positive impression in her very first aria in Part I (‘Hirte, der aus Liebe stirbt’). Later, in Part III she sings one of the few arias which has an obbligato part – in this case a gamba; nicely partnered by the gamba, Winter sings ‘Ich finde mich beiziet’ beautifully. The alto, Franz Vitzthum also offers expressive singing; he’s well matched with his soprano colleague in the duet ‘Bei der Größe meiner Sünden’ in Part II. I also admired his delivery of the Part III aria ‘Hier am diesem Kreuzesstamm’.

We hear most from the tenor and bass soloists because not only do they have their fair share of commentary recitatives and arias but also, they relate the Passion story between them When it comes to the delivery of the Passion recitatives, I prefer, but only by the shortest of heads, tenor Markus Brutscher, whose voice is light, flexible and clear. He has a compelling way of delivering the words and music, investing just the right amount of drama where required. Martin Schicketanz has a clear, firm bass voice, which isn’t too heavy; so, it’s just right for this music. He matches his tenor colleague in the intelligence with which he delivers the recitative. Perhaps the reason why I find Brutscher particularly involving lies in the nature of the music each is required to sing; as a broad generalisation, Schicketanz’s passages of narration call for dignity rather than dramatic bite; he’s certainly equal to that task. Both singers give fine accounts of their various arias.

Schicketanz is particularly impressive in the recitative in Part IV where he tells of the death of Christ (‘Der Heiland spricht sodann’); at the start, he’s suitably dignified but then, when he tells of the veil of the Temple being rent asunder, he injects fire and drama into his singing. Significantly, perhaps, the point at which Stölzel departs most firmly from his usual structure is in Part IV. As I’ve already indicated, this portion of the score requires the choir to comment on the action in two choruses, rather than just singing Chorales. Furthermore, Stölzel deploys his soloists in different ways. So, after the tenor Evangelist has told of the soldier piercing Christ’s side, all four soloists in turn take the role of ‘Gläubige Seele’ and each sings a brief recitative reflection. Then, in one of the most affecting parts of the work, the tenor and soprano combine – though I wouldn’t describe their music as a duet – to meditate on the entombment of Christ. Here, Markus Brutscher and Veronika Winter sing in an ideal fashion. After that, Stölzel brings his oratorio to a simple close by means of a single verse of a Chorale.

There’s one person who I haven’t yet mentioned: the conductor Hermann Max. His scholarship in preparing the performing edition enabled Stölzel’s oratorio to come into the light once more. Having achieved that, he brought the music to life through his direction of the performances on which this recording is based. It seems to me, from my admittedly limited experience of the work, that he has done a really fine job. His pacing of the music is at all times well judged – I particularly approve of the way in which he injects life into the Chorales yet always allows time for the melodies – and the harmonisation – to make their effect. In the recits and arias I never felt that the music was being allowed to drag yet he avoids falling into the trap of rushing things. This is a fine all-round achievement on his part.

The recording per se is very good. Just once or twice I thought I detected an extraneous noise but this in no way distracted me; the Leipzig audiences were commendably silent. No doubt they felt drawn into the music, as I did. The engineers have presented the music in excellent, clear sound; one can hear every strand of Stölzel’s score.

It must have been quite an experience for both the musicians and the audience to be part of a performance of Stölzel’s Passion oratorio in the very church where Bach himself had performed it in 1734. The work may not be on the same exalted level as Bach’s Passions – what is? – but hearing (and enjoying) this very fine performance made it easy to understand why Bach esteemed it.

John Quinn

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