The Mystic & the Storyteller - Conspirare

PROGR AM NOTES continuED
“O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden” from St. Matthew Passion
J. S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion was composed for Good Friday at St. Thomas Church in
Leipzig in 1729. A traditional Passion like Bach’s tells the story of Jesus’s suffering (Latin
passio) and death. It does not end in the triumph of Christ’s resurrection, but with his
entombment and the mourning of his disciples – not a happy story. In the Passion narrative,
the chorale “O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden” is inserted after the scene in which Pilate’s
soldiers strip Jesus, mockingly dress him in a scarlet robe and crown of thorns, spit on him,
and strike his head. Here the listener in Bach’s church would have joined in the singing of
the familiar chorale, stepping personally into the drama and reacting to it as a member of
the faithful Christian congregation. The chorales, even if new to one’s ears, seem familiar in
their regular, foursquare phrases and simple melodies, although adorned in Bach’s poignant
harmonies. The multiple musical forms Bach employs in the St. Matthew Passion include
dramatic settings of the words from the Bible, masterfully artistic arias commenting on these
words, and stunning double choruses forcefully advancing the action – yet the strongest
emotional responses may come from these superficially simple four-part chorales.
Requiem: Missa Pro Defunctis
The great late-Renaissance Spanish composer Tomás Luis de Victoria was a native of the
province of Ávila, where he received his early musical training. His music is often described
as embodying the mysticism of St. Theresa, another great figure of the Counter-Reformation
from Ávila. After studying in Rome, possibly as a student of Palestrina, Victoria became a
priest and served with distinction as an organist and chapelmaster. He returned to Spain
in 1587 and spent the rest of his life as chaplain to the Dowager Empress Maria, sister of
King Philip II and widow of Emperor Maximilian II, at the convent to which she and her
daughter had retired in Madrid. Victoria composed the Requiem (Mass for the Dead) for
Maria’s funeral in 1603. Victoria’s music is stylistically similar to that of Palestrina, whose
restrained polyphony was embraced by the Roman church as a centerpiece of the Counter-
Reformation. The preponderance of long notes and the slowly-moving harmony allow the
words of the text to be intelligible, and the sonorities created in a resonant church setting
create a mystical and ethereal atmosphere perfectly in tune with the eternal subjects of the
Requiem text. One short motet by Victoria is also on today’s program.
“Plorate, filii Israel” from Historia di Jephte
Jephte by Giacomo Carissimi is one of the earliest examples of an oratorio: a musical drama,
usually on a religious theme, performed without costumes, scenery, or stage action. Working
his entire career in Rome, Carissimi was an important teacher and a composer of wide fame.
His oratorios trend toward an operatic style that emphasizes solo arias more than choruses.
Usually performed during the penitential season of Lent, they emphasize themes of suffering
and obedience. The Jephte (1648) libretto, a paraphrase and elaboration of the words from the
Hebrew Book of Judges, tells of the warrior judge who rashly promised to sacrifice whatever first
came out of his house to meet him upon his return from victory over the Ammonites. This
greeter turns out to be his only daughter. Unnamed, like Hans Christian Andersen’s little match
girl, this daughter likewise becomes a father’s victim when Jephte fulfills his vow. He first allows
the daughter two months to “bewail her virginity,” which she does in a solo with a haunting
echo in which all of nature shares her lamentation. This solo is followed immediately by the
concluding chorus “Plorate, filii Israel,” as the people of Israel mourn the daughter’s death.
TexTS AND TR ANSlATiONS
O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden
O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden, O Head full of blood and wounds,
voll Schmerz und voller Hohn,
full of pain and full of derision,
O Haupt, zu Spott gebunden
O Head, in mockery bound
mit einer Dornenkron;
with a crown of thorns,
O Haupt, sonst schön gezieret
O Head, once beautifully adorned
mit höchster Ehr’ und Zier,
with the most honour and adornment
jetzt aber hoch schimpfieret:
but now most dishonored:
gegrüßet seist du mir!
let me greet you!
Du edles Angesichte,
You noble countenance,
dafür sonst schrickt und scheut before which once shrinks and cowers
das große Weltgerichte,
the great might of the world,
wie bist du so bespeit!
how you are spat upon!
Wie bist du so erbleichet!
How you are turned pallid!
Wer hat dein Augenlicht,
Who has treated those eyes
dem sonst kein Licht nicht gleichet, to which no light is comparable
so schändlich zugericht’?
So shamefully?
Requiem: Missa Pro Defuncto
1. Introitus 1. Introit
Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
Te decet hymnus Deus, in Sion, A hymn becomes you, O God, in Zion,
et tibi reddetur votum in Ierusalem. and to you shall a vow be repaid in Jerusalem.
Exaudi orationem meam;
Hear my prayer;
ad te omnis caro veniet.
to you shall all flesh come.
Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
2. Kyrie 2. O Lord
Kyrie eleison;
Lord have mercy upon us;
Christe eleison;
Christ have mercy upon us;
Kyrie eleison
Lord have mercy upon us.
3. Graduale 3. Gradual
Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine: Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord:
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
In memoria æterna erit justus, He shall be justified in everlasting memory,
ab auditione mala non timebit.
and shall not fear evil reports.
Notes by Eric Leibrock
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