J.S. BACH
Cantata No. 140, Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme
ILDEBRANDO PIZZETTI
Messa di Requiem
One of the greatest musical undertakings of any individual, J.S. Bach's cantatas are a vast reservoir of liturgical music of the very highest order. The 209 surviving cantatas of Bach stand with the symphonies of Mahler and Beethoven and Mozart as Everest in the musical firmament. Yet, even amidst such mastery, certain cantatas stand out. The Advent cantata Wachet auf, BWV140 reaches such heights of ceremonial splendor - the unprecedented chorus of three oboes, employed trumpet-like against the orchestral tutti usher in the wedding march of the opening chorus. The 'bridegroom' metaphor of Christ and His Church is a constant thread throughout the cantata, with love duets, virtuosic violin solos, and at its heart, the Tenor aria 'Zion hears the watchmen's voices', perhaps the most memorable melody in Bach's immense oeuvre.
Messa di Requiem (1922), Ildebrando Pizzetti's masterpiece, is infused with the solemn aroma of Catholic liturgy from beginning to end. As the opening basses sing Requiem aeternam, it is the haunting melodies of Gregorian chant that permeate each movement. Pizzetti takes the ancient forms of chant and polyphony, and transforms them into dazzling harmonic explorations of the drama of the Mass of the Dead. Nowhere is this greater demonstrated than the heart of the work - the immense Dies Irae. The immortal chant, so beloved of Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky and Berlioz, is accompanied by wailing singers, singing their ominous lament of the dread of damnation, until the placid comfort of the Pie Jesu overcomes the hellfire of the Requiem's tumultuous sequence.