About the Composers and Program

During Bach’s lifetime, the more important churches felt a need for musical sermons to supplement those of the clergyman. Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot (Break Thy Bread with the Hungry) is a sacred cantata that Bach composed in Leipzig in 1726 for the first Sunday after Trinity.

Although the exact date of composition is unknown, the secular Wedding Cantata Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten, was probably written while Bach was at the court in Cöthen. There were actually two manuscript notebooks for Bach's second wife, Anna Magdalena, the 1722 notebook and the 1725 notebook. Although Bach composed many of the pieces in these notebooks, pieces by other composers are included. The selections for this concert all come from the 1725 notebook.

Bach commissioned Hildebrand, an instrument maker, to build a keyboard lute or Lautenwerk to Bach’s design. Lautenwerke were European keyboard instruments of the Baroque period that were similar to the harpsichord but with gut rather than metal strings, which gave the instrument a mellow tone. Praeludium und Fuge in E flat, BWV 998, was one of three compositions Bach wrote after Hildebrand completed his Lautenwerk. Bach favored this instrument and owned two of them at the time of his death.

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) was self-taught in music; he studied law at the University of Leipzig. Often described as the most prolific composer in history (at least in terms of surviving oeuvre), he was a lifelong friend of George Frideric Handel. Telemann is known for writing concertos for unusual combinations of instruments, such as multiple violas, trumpets, oboes, or harpsichords. He held a series of important musical positions, culminating in that of music director of the five largest churches in Hamburg, from 1720 until his death in 1767.

This second of six Telemann Sonatinas from 1730 or 1731 was originally extant through the melody part only and has been published with various contemporary constructs for the basso continuo part. However, another version which included the original basso continuo (as well as another sonatina) was discovered in a Dresden library. A merging of materials from these two sources provides the complete versions we now enjoy.

The solo cantata Am Sonntage Quasimodogeniti auf ehernen Mauern comes from Telemann’s Harmonischer Gottes-Dienst (Harmonious Divine Worship). This is a complete liturgical cycle of 72 cantatas for high or low voice with one obbligato instrument (recorder, violin, transverse flute or oboe) and basso continuo.

Johann Ernst Galliard (1687 – 1749) began his first composition instruction at age 15 and studied composition under Farinelli, the director of music at the Court of Hanover, and Abbate Steffani. He was also a capable oboe and recorder player. After moving to England, Galliard became chapel-master of Somerset House and a familiar face in high society due to his involvement with the royal residence. To celebrate victories on the battlefield Galliard composed a Te Deum, Jubilate, and three additional anthems.

Although he foresaw promising career growth in the competition for kingdom-wide directorial status after helping found the Academy of Ancient Music, Galliard fell short to such greats as Handel and Bononcini. As a result, he refocused on his oboe performance and joined Handel’s Italian Opera in 1713 as an oboe soloist. His published instrumental music includes Six Sonatas for the Bassoon or Violoncello with a Thorough Bass for the Harpsichord.

Most of Handel’s Italian cantatas, no doubt including Parti, l’idolo mio, stem from his trips to Italy from 1706 to 1709. At the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries in Rome operatic performances were prohibited by papal decree, so vocal chamber cantatas became popular as a substitute for opera. Handel caused a sensation in Rome with his virtuoso playing of the harpsichord and organ, and received commissions from high-ranking patrons to compose new cantatas. Written for the outstanding musicians of the time, Handel’s solo soprano cantatas demand much from musicians both musically and technically.