Day 176
Johan Michael Bach: Dem Menschen ist gesetzt, einmal zu sterben
Yorkshire Bach Choir
Peter Seymour
Johan Michael Bach (1648-1694) was JSB's father in law. I got confused by this - how could his wife's father's name be Bach? - but the explanation is that JSB married his first cousin on his father's side, hence the same name. So JMB was not a blood relation of JSB but was still very much part of his musical world.
This is music from the generation before JSB and is very much in the tradition of Schutz. It is setting for double choir and continuo of words of St Paul for use at a funeral service. I found it impressive and moving. It is fairly simply in design, with alternation between the two choirs throughout. It is mainly in slow moving block harmony but has some more overtly contrapuntal passages at times - particularly towards the end. JM Bach doesn't seem to have composed very much music - he was also an instrument maker - but on the basis of this piece he had a real talent.
No comments:
Post a Comment