Uns ist ein Kind geboren – Christmas Cantatas
Jessica Jans (soprano), David Erler, Franz Vitzthum (alto), Daniel Schreiber (tenor), Florian Hartmann (bass)
Chamber Choir of the Christuskirche Karlsruhe
L’arpa festante/Peter Gortner
rec. 2023/24, Christuskirche, Karlsruhe, Germany
Texts and translations included
Reviewed as a download
Christophorus CHR77479 [56]

It is not surprising that a considerable number of Christmas discs are devoted to music by German composers of the Baroque period. The German-speaking part of Europe was divided into many semi-autonomous regions and towns, which – depending on their wealth and size – had their own musical establishments. As Martin Luther rated music highly as a way to imprint people with the biblical message and give the faithful the opportunity to express their faith, a large amount of music was written in the Protestant part of Germany. An important part of the repertoire consists of hymns, either in polyphonic settings or included in one way or another in larger compositions, such as cantatas.

The programme on the disc which is the subject of this review spans a period of about 140 years. The earliest piece is the five-part song Übers Gebirg Maria geht by Johann Eccard, which was first published in an anthology in 1585. It is about Mary visiting Elizabeth, and her song about that visit, the Magnificat. It has become an evergreen in Germany, almost as much as the song that concludes this recording: “Es ist ein Ros entsprungen” by Michael Praetorius. This is taken from the sixth volume of the series of sacred works that the composer published under the title of Musae Sioniae; it was first published in 1609. Originally it had two stanzas; here a third is sung and the text is by Friedrich Layriz (1844), who added three stanzas to the original two.

In Praetorius’ oeuvre, the hymn – in Germany known as Choral – plays a central role. One of his aims was to disseminate the hymns across Protestant Germany. These hymns date from the 16th century, and were by Martin Luther himself and the poets who followed in his footsteps. The melodies mostly date from the same time, and are monophonic. By setting them in polyphony, they became suitable for school choirs, which played an important role in the liturgy, especially in Vesper services. An example is “Der Morgenstern ist aufgedrungen”; in this case the melody is Praetorius’ own. Praetorius also used a large number of them for sacred concertos in polychoral style, according to the latest fashion in European and, in particular, Italian, music. This way he was the link between the old and the new style, and may have saved these hymns for later generations of composers. Here we get two specimens in extracts: “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern” in nine parts, and “Resonet in laudibus” for seven voices. The latter is performed instrumentally. The text is in Latin, which attests to the continued use of Latin in Lutheran worship.

The two main works on the programme are cantatas by Johann Kuhnau or attributed to him. By all accounts he was brilliant, intellectually and musically. He received an outstanding education and came into contact with some of the brightest minds of his time. He was a kind of uomo universale, who was active as a lawyer, but also as an author of various books, spoke several languages and was also knowledgeable in theology and mathematics. He spent the main part of his life in Leipzig, where he was appointed as organist in the Thomaskirche in 1684. In 1701 he succeeded Johann Schelle as Thomaskantor. In this capacity he was the teacher of three of Germany’s most renowned composers of the generation of Bach: Johann David Heinichen, Johann Friedrich Fasch and Christoph Graupner.

It is often said that he was conservative, and an opponent of the new style in sacred music that manifested itself during his time in office. Cantatas in that style were modelled after Italian opera, with its sequences of recitatives and arias. However, Kuhnau’s extant oeuvre proves otherwise, and that also goes for the two cantatas performed here.

“Frohlocket, ihr Völker, und jauchzet, ihr Heiden” is probably one of the latest cantatas by Kuhnau. It is intended for Christmas Day and scored for four voices, four-part strings, three trumpets, timpani and basso continuo. It is a setting of a free poetic text; the choruses at the beginning and the end embrace two pairs of recitative and aria. Notable is the fact that the opening chorus has the traces of a violin concerto, before the choir enters. The violin also plays an obbligato role in the first aria (for tenor), as does the organ. The size and structure of the opening chorus, which has a da capo form and takes more than nine minutes in this recording, suggests that there is no real rift between Kuhnau and Bach, but rather a continuum. The arias are also of considerable length: 6’36” and 6’58” respectively; both have a da capo. The former, for tenor, is a proclamation of Jesus’s birth: “Little child, great hero, you are the delight of the whole world”. Daniel Schreiber has the perfect voice for it: a clear sound and an immaculate diction. The second aria, for alto, is founded on a basso ostinato figure; it is called aria da ciaconna. The singer welcomes Jesus: “Welcome, my life! Welcome, my light!” David Erler, the editor of Kuhnau’s cantatas, compares this aria with a lullaby. Franz Vitzthum performs it with the warmth and passion it requires.

The second cantata, “Uns ist ein Kind geboren”, is also written for performance at Christmas Day. The text is by Erdmann Neumeister, whose librettos were completely modelled after the Italian opera. It is from his annual cycle of 1710/11, which was originally written for Georg Philipp Telemann, who at the time worked in Eisenach. Kuhnau’s setting has been preserved in a copy from 1756 by Christian Friedrich Penzel, a member of the choir of the Thomaskirche. He ascribed it to Bach, and as a result it was included in the Schmieder catalogue (as BWV 142); later it has been moved to the appendix (Anh II, 23) as it is thought that it is stylistically different from Bach’s cantata oeuvre. It is known that Kuhnau has written a cantata on Neumeister’s libretto, but the text – the music has been lost – is partly different from the one of this cantata. The authenticity of this work cannot be established, but there are reasons to believe that Kuhnau may have written it. Erler mentions several stylistic considerations for this assumption. It may have been performed in 1720. It is scored for four voices, two recorders, two oboes, strings and basso continuo. It opens with a sonata which followed by a chorus on the text “Unto us a child is born, to us a son is given”. Next is an aria for bass, without a da capo. The other two arias do have a da capo section; they largely contain the same music. The first is for tenor with two oboes, the second for alto with two recorders.

This recording is a compilation of a live performances from December 2023 and a studio recording from July 2024. Fortunately they took place in the same venue, which makes sure that the acoustic is not audibly different. The two cantatas by Kuhnau have also been part of the complete recording of Kuhnau’s extant sacred works on CPO; they are included in the Volumes III and VII respectively. The major difference is that in those recordings, by the ensembles Opella Musica and camerata lipsiensis under the direction of Gregor Meyer, the tutti are sung by the soloists. That may be in line with the common performance practice at the time. Here the number of singers in the choir goes into the 30s; the personnel of the chamber choir of the Christuskirche Karlsruhe is not the same in both recordings. That number may be more than Kuhnau has ever known. The singing is very good, but the tutti sections may have been more transparent with a smaller ensemble. I have already indicated that the alto and the tenor are excellent, and so is the bass. The soprano has no solo role; she is the top of the ensemble in those pieces which are sung by the four soloists.

The two cantatas by Kuhnau may be available in the Kuhnau edition on cpo, but it is good that more recordings are available, especially as they help to make them better known. This disc presents a good case for him, and the disc as a whole is nice company for the upcoming Christmas season.

Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen

Buying this recording via a link below generates revenue for MWI, which helps the site remain free

Contents
Johann Kuhnau (1660-1722)
Frohlocket, ihr Völker, und jauchzet, ihr Heiden
Michael Praetorius (1571-1621)
Der Stern ist aufgedrungen
Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern
Johannes Eccard (1553-1611)
Übers Gebirg Maria geht
Michael Praetorius
Resonet in laudibus (instr)
Johannes Eccard
Übers Gebirg Maria geht (instr)
Johann Kuhnau
Uns ist ein Kind geboren
Michael Praetorius
Es ist ein Ros entsprungen