The discovery of Bach works is not unknown in our day—the Neumeister chorale preludes saw light of day in 1984, for instance—but the occurrence is rare and much to be celebrated, as in this first recording of the ode from the Bach forces of John Eliot Gardiner.

For Bach, “Alles mit Gott” is something of an unusual piece: a strophic continuo air for soprano in twelve stanzas with lengthy instrumental ritornello between the strophes. The text is by Johann Anton Mylius, who penned the ducal salute as a trope on the duke’s motto, “Omnia cum deo et nihil sine eo” (All things with God, and nothing without Him). Both he and Bach imbedded separate patronal gestures in the ode itself: orthographically Mylius creates an acrostic of the Duke’s name; Bach, drawn we suspect to things numerological, supplies the continuo introduction to the air with fifty-two notes, corresponding to the Duke’s fifty-second birthday (1713), which occasioned the ode itself.

The discovery of any work by Bach is significant, and “Alles mit Gott” rewards the listener not only with the aura of novelty, but also with an engaging lyrical lilt in the dialogue between soprano and bass. Does the lilt wear out after twelve successive stanzas? We are not given the chance to find out, as Gardiner opts for a three-stanza abbreviation, likely a smart choice where listeners are not closely attuned to the details of the text. The length of the poem raises a significant issue of proportion with regard to the string ritornello, as well. In the abbreviated version, the nineteen string bars seem long relative to the thirty-some odd measures for the voice. With twelve stanzas, however, the need for a substantial variety is a more pressing one, to say nothing of the singer’s need for vocal rest, and the length of the ritornello would meet these needs well.

Soprano Elin Manahan Thomas sings the ode with a congenially youthful sound, light and bright with notably clear articulation. The string band is wonderful in its blossoming of major downbeats and also in its fluent ornamentation on repetitions of the ritornello.

The remainder of the recording is devoted to live cantata excerpts from Gardiner’s millennial Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, celebrating both the dawn of the new millennium as well as the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death. In a mammoth undertaking, Gardiner led performances of the entire corpus of Bach’s surviving church cantatas on the appropriate liturgical dates in churches throughout Europe and in the US from Christmas, 1999 to Christmas, 2000. The present recording offers a number of movements from Pilgrimage performances, mostly arias,that highlight the rich interplay of voice and obbligato instruments. All are accomplished renditions, and one of the pleasures of the disc is the opportunity to hear so many different soloists in a unified context—four different sopranos, singing arias “side-by-side” is here a treat of riches. Of the four, I would particularly single out Gillian Keith, whose performance of “Süsser Trost” from Cantata 151 is memorable for her focus of tone and elegance of execution. Keith is joined in this aria by flautist Rachel Beckett who brings to Bach’s ever-inventive line a remarkable choreography of decorative grace.

Peter Harvey’s performance of “Es ist vollbracht” from Cantata 159 with oboist Xenia Löffler is hauntingly beautiful, as well. One of Bach’s most sensuous arias, “Es ist vollbracht,” weds a slow-moving oboe line to string haloes and exquisite suspensions that underscore Bach’s affective depths. Harvey’s ability to keep the slow motion alive—a formidable challenge of control—and his lean and yet resonant tone combine to make this one of the best in the anthology.

Steven Plank
Oberlin College