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Actus Tragicus

Ton Koopman & Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir

Actus Tragicus

Format: CD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917228922
Catnr: CC 72289
Release date: 27 June 2008
1 CD
 
Label
Challenge Classics
UPC
0608917228922
Catalogue number
CC 72289
Release date
27 June 2008
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
EN
NL
DE

About the album

The two cantatas chosen for this album represent works composed by the younger Bach when he held positions as organist in Arnstadt (1703-07), Mühlhausen (1707-08), and Weimar (from 1708) and was not yet primarily responsible for vocal music. Supplying regular pieces for Sundays and holidays (“music of cantors”) was not part of the duties of an organist. Organists, however, frequently wrote works for funerals, weddings, and other special occasions. Bach apparently engaged in this kind of compositional activity from the very beginning even though only a fraction of pertinent works have survived.

Bach’s earliest vocal works demonstrate impressively that he understood how to operate on the level of the greatest composers of the late 17th century, indeed how to compete with Buxtehude, Pachelbel, and the older members of the Bach family, including above all Johann Christoph and Johann Michael Bach. Moreover, he knew how to introduce new musical elements into composing sacred pieces. Works like BWV 106 and 21 demonstrate how, in a deliberate confrontation with traditional and modern trends, Bach laid the foundation for a ifelong and extraordinarily productive occupation with the cantata genre.

The cantata “Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit” BWV 106 was composed for a funeral or memorial service. It must have been written at around 1707. The oldest source is a copy dated 1768 and made in Leipzig. It bears the heading “Actus tragicus,” a title that clearly sets the tone of the piece.

The cantata “Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis” BWV 21 shows a compositional design of a manner typical of the early Weimar period. It was not written for a specific liturgical occasion but could be performed “at any time.” However, the first documented performance took place in Weimar on the 3rd Sunday after Trinity in 1714. Yet the work is clearly of earlier origin even though its first version - most likely a setting of various psalm texts - did not survive.
Vroege vocale werken die de bekwaamheid van Bach tonen
De twee cantates op dit album vertegenwoordigen werken gecomponeerd door de jonge Bach toen hij als organist in Arnstadt (1703-1707), Mühlhausen (1707-1708) en Weimar (vanaf 1708) werkte en nog niet voornamelijk verantwoordelijk was voor vocale muziek. Het componeren van cantates voor de Zon- en feestdagen, ‘de muziek van cantors’, behoorde niet tot de taken van een organist. Organisten schreven echter regelmatig werken voor begrafenissen, bruiloften en andere bijzondere gelegenheden.

Bachs vroegste vocale werken laten op indrukwekkende wijze zien dat hij begreep hoe hij moest werken op hij niveau van de beste componisten van de late 17e eeuw, in feite hoe hij moest wedijveren met Buxtehude, Pachelbel en de oudere leden van zijn familie, onder wie boven alles Johann Christoph en Johann Michael Bach. Bovendien wist hij hoe hij nieuwe muzikale elementen moest introduceren in het componeren van geestelijke werken.

De twee cantates op dit album, Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit BWV 106 en Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis BWV 21 tonen aan hoe Bach in een opzettelijke confrontatie tussen traditionele en moderne trends de basis legde voor een levenslange en buitengewoon productieve bezigheid met het cantategenre. Daarnaast tonen de twee cantates ook de opmerkelijke expressieve diepgang van de muzikale taal van de jonge Bach en zijn beheersing van het vertalen van woorden en zinnen in muziek.
Die beiden Kantaten dieser CD sind Werke des jungen Bach aus seiner Zeit als Organist in Arnstadt (1703-07), Mühlhausen (1707-08) und Weimar (ab 1708), als er noch nicht in erster Linie für Vokalmusik verantwortlich war. Inhalt: 'Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit' (Actus tragicus) BWV 106 & 'Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis' BWV 21

Artist(s)

Klaus Mertens (bass)

Bass-baritone Klaus Mertens is celebrated by critics as an “excellent master of his craft” for his “unique power of expression, his congenial timbre, his keen intuition for text, as well as his convincing manner of making music”. He has recorded more than 200 CDs, including the entire works of Johann Sebastian Bach and Dietrich Buxtehude. These testify eloquently to his art of singing, which spans a great arch from Monteverdi to his contemporaries. Characterized as “the most significant Telemann interpreter of our time”, Mertens received the Telemann prize of the city of Magdeburg in 2016. In 2019, he was honored with the renowned Bach medal of the city of Leipzig as the “ideal interpreter of Bach’s cantatas and passion texts”.
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Bass-baritone Klaus Mertens is celebrated by critics as an “excellent master of his craft” for his “unique power of expression, his congenial timbre, his keen intuition for text, as well as his convincing manner of making music”. He has recorded more than 200 CDs, including the entire works of Johann Sebastian Bach and Dietrich Buxtehude. These testify eloquently to his art of singing, which spans a great arch from Monteverdi to his contemporaries. Characterized as “the most significant Telemann interpreter of our time”, Mertens received the Telemann prize of the city of Magdeburg in 2016. In 2019, he was honored with the renowned Bach medal of the city of Leipzig as the “ideal interpreter of Bach’s cantatas and passion texts”.

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Reine-Marie Verhagen (recorder)

Reine-Marie Verhagen studied the recorder with Pieter van Veen and Walter van Hauwe and graduated in 1976. She is a regular member of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Ton Koopman. With the ensemble La Sfera Armoniosa conducted by Mike Fentross she performed several 17th century operas. For the past 10 years she has also regularly performed 17th-18th and 20th-century music in San Francisco, Amherst, Boston, and New York. Verhagen takes keen interest in the contemporary repertoire. For the Steve Reich festival at the Royal Conservatory at The Hague in December 2003, she made a very successful transcription of his Vermont Counterpoint for solo recorder and an 11-member recorder ensemble. This composition was also performed in October 2007 at the International...
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Reine-Marie Verhagen studied the recorder with Pieter van Veen and Walter van Hauwe and graduated in 1976. She is a regular member of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Ton Koopman. With the ensemble La Sfera Armoniosa conducted by Mike Fentross she performed several 17th century operas. For the past 10 years she has also regularly performed 17th-18th and 20th-century music in San Francisco, Amherst, Boston, and New York.
Verhagen takes keen interest in the contemporary repertoire. For the Steve Reich festival at the Royal Conservatory at The Hague in December 2003, she made a very successful transcription of his Vermont Counterpoint for solo recorder and an 11-member recorder ensemble. This composition was also performed in October 2007 at the International Minimal Music Festival in Kassel, Germany, in combination with the premiere of a new minimal composition, written for Reine-Marie Verhagen, by Ulli Goette: “Mural”.
Not confining herself exclusively to musical performance, Reine-Marie Verhagen was a co-founder and former member of the board of the Dutch branch of the ERTA
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Guy de Mey (tenor)

Barbara Schlick (soprano)

Kai Wessel (alto)

Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir

Ton Koopman founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra in 1979. The group consists of internationally renowned baroque specialists who meet up several times a year and work together to prepare and perform new exciting programmes. For the musicians each concert is a new experience and Koopman's boundless energy and enthusiasm are a sure guarantee of the highest quality. The Amsterdam Baroque Choir was founded in 1992 and it made its debut during the Holland Festival of Early Music in Utrecht performing the world première of the Requiem (for 15 voices) and Vespers (for 32 voices) by H.I.F. Biber. The recording of both of these works won the Cannes Classical Award for the best performance of 17th/18th century choral music. For its rare...
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Ton Koopman founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra in 1979. The group consists of internationally renowned baroque specialists who meet up several times a year and work together to prepare and perform new exciting programmes. For the musicians each concert is a new experience and Koopman's boundless energy and enthusiasm are a sure guarantee of the highest quality.
The Amsterdam Baroque Choir was founded in 1992 and it made its debut during the Holland Festival of Early Music in Utrecht performing the world première of the Requiem (for 15 voices) and Vespers (for 32 voices) by H.I.F. Biber. The recording of both of these works won the Cannes Classical Award for the best performance of 17th/18th century choral music. For its rare combination of textural clarity and interpretative flexibility, the Amsterdam Baroque Choir is considered among today’s most outstanding choirs. In 1994 Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir embarked upon the most ambitious recording project of the last decades: the integral recording of Bach’s secular and sacred cantatas. For this extraordinary project Koopman and his ensemble received the Deutsche Schallplatten-Preis Echo Klassik. Next to the CD recordings three books have been edited and published by Ton Koopman and the musicologist Christoph Wolff and a series of six documentaries was produced and broadcasted by various TV stations.
Alongside Bach’s music the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir has recorded all major baroque and classical works. Major recognitions include the Gramophone Award, Diapason d'Or, 10-Repertoire, Stern des Monats-Fono Forum, the Prix Hector Berlioz and two Edison Awards. In 2008 the ensemble and Ton Koopman have been honoured with the prestigious BBC Award. Since March 2003 “Antoine Marchand”, a new sub-label of Challenge Classics, took over the release of Koopman’s new recordings and among many others has published 22 CD boxes of the Bach Cantatas, a new recording of the St. Matthew Passion (on CD and DVD) and St. Markus Passion of J.S. Bach (DVD), live recorded in Milan, as well as the first seven volumes of the Buxtehude Opera-Omnia Edition. Ton Koopman and the ABO & ABC are regular guests at the major concert halls of Europe, the USA and Japan. In the 2008/09 season they will tour extensively in Europe (Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid, Vienna, Milan, Cologne, Dresden, Düsseldorf etc) and in Far East with concerts in Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo.
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Ton Koopman (conductor)

Ton Koopman is a leading figure in Early Music and historically informed performance practice. As organist and harpsichordist Ton Koopman has performed all over the world and played the most beautiful historical instruments of Europe. His Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir has gained worldwide fame as one of the best ensembles on period instruments. Between 1994 and 2004 Ton Koopman and ABO&C have recorded all sacred and secular cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach, an extraordinary project that earned international acclaim. After that Koopman recorded the complete works by Bach’s predecessor, Dieterich Buxtehude. Besides performing as a soloist and with his ABO&C, Ton Koopman is very active as a guest conductor for modern orchestras and also devotes part of his time...
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Ton Koopman is a leading figure in Early Music and historically informed performance practice. As organist and harpsichordist Ton Koopman has performed all over the world and played the most beautiful historical instruments of Europe. His Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir has gained worldwide fame as one of the best ensembles on period instruments. Between 1994 and 2004 Ton Koopman and ABO&C have recorded all sacred and secular cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach, an extraordinary project that earned international acclaim. After that Koopman recorded the complete works by Bach’s predecessor, Dieterich Buxtehude. Besides performing as a soloist and with his ABO&C, Ton Koopman is very active as a guest conductor for modern orchestras and also devotes part of his time to teaching. Ton Koopman is president of the International Dieterich Buxtehude Society and, since 2019, president of the Leipzig Bach Archiv.

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Composer(s)

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He enriched established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor, two Passions, and hundreds of cantatas. His music is revered for its technical command, artistic beauty, and intellectual depth.  Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognised as a great composer until a revival of interest in and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. He is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.  
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Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He enriched established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor, two Passions, and hundreds of cantatas. His music is revered for its technical command, artistic beauty, and intellectual depth.

Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognised as a great composer until a revival of interest in and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. He is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.


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Press

Play album Play album
01.
Gottes Zeit is die allerbeste Zeit (Actus Tragicus) BWV 106: Sonatina
02:45
(Johann Sebastian Bach ) Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
02.
Gottes Zeit is die allerbeste Zeit (Actus Tragicus) BWV 106: Chorus: “gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit” Arioso: (tenor): “Ach Herr, lehre uns bedenken” Arioso (Bass): “Bestelle dein Haus: denn du wirst sterben”
08:23
(Johann Sebastian Bach ) Klaus Mertens, Amsterdam Baroque Choir, Guy de Mey, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
03.
Gottes Zeit is die allerbeste Zeit (Actus Tragicus) BWV 106: Aria (Alto)
05:55
(Johann Sebastian Bach ) Kai Wessel, Amsterdam Baroque Choir, Guy de Mey, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
04.
Gottes Zeit is die allerbeste Zeit (Actus Tragicus) BWV 106: Chorus: “Glorie, Lob, Ehr und Herrlichkeit”
03:03
(Johann Sebastian Bach ) Amsterdam Baroque Choir, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
05.
Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis BWV 21: Sinfonia
02:57
(Johann Sebastian Bach ) Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
06.
Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis BWV 21: Chorus: “Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis”
03:43
(Johann Sebastian Bach ) Amsterdam Baroque Choir, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
07.
Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis BWV 21: Aria (soprano): “Seufzer, Tränen, Kummer, Not”
04:46
(Johann Sebastian Bach ) Barbara Schlick, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
08.
Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis BWV 21: Recitative (soprano): “Wie hast du dich, mein Gott”
01:34
(Johann Sebastian Bach ) Barbara Schlick, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
09.
Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis BWV 21: Aria (soprano): “Bäche von gesalznen Zähren”
06:33
(Johann Sebastian Bach ) Barbara Schlick, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
10.
Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis BWV 21: Chorus: “Was betrübst du dich, meine Seele”
03:35
(Johann Sebastian Bach ) Amsterdam Baroque Choir, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
11.
Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis BWV 21: Recitative (soprano, Basso): “Ach Jesu, meine Ruh”
01:35
(Johann Sebastian Bach ) Barbara Schlick, Klaus Mertens, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
12.
Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis BWV 21: Duet (soprano, Basso): “Komm, mein Jesu”
04:25
(Johann Sebastian Bach ) Klaus Mertens, Barbara Schlick, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
13.
Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis BWV 21: Chorus: “Sei nun wieder zufrieden”
05:39
(Johann Sebastian Bach ) Amsterdam Baroque Choir, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
14.
Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis BWV 21: Aria (soprano): ”Erfreue dich, Seele”
03:17
(Johann Sebastian Bach ) Barbara Schlick, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
15.
Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis BWV 21: Chorus: “Das Lamm, das erwürget ist”
02:59
(Johann Sebastian Bach ) Amsterdam Baroque Choir, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
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