Christmas is not just for good times

Bah, humbug. This year I am going to have a religious Christmas, because it suits my counter-cultural miserabilism and means I can forget that the enlightenment happened. I've been reading Diderot lately (see previous blog-posts) and anything that allows me to ignore the rise of capitalist consciousness is a Vile Favourite this month.

After I have seen my last pantomime, that's it: I'm pretending that is is about 1500, and the only art I'm allowed is Christian. Beat that, ascetics.

On the positive side, I totally win the music. The oft-repeated phrase 'the devil has all the best tunes' is tested by Christmas. Apart from that one song by her off Titanic, Christmas music is rubbish, and mostly celebrates the secular side of the season. So you can have Roy Wood, Chris De Burgh and Slade. I've got Bach and Arvo Part. 


And I've got the Scottish Ensemble. Three Parts Bach is their Christmas offering, and there's plenty of Jesus stuff there. Have some of this for starters.

Here's the lyrics.


German text

Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein
und wissen nicht, wo aus und ein,
und finden weder Hülf’ noch Rat,
ob wir gleich sorgen früh und spat:
So ist das unser Trost allein,
daß wir zusammen ingemein
dich rufen an, o treuer Gott,
um Rettung aus der Angst und Not.
Sieh nicht an unser Sünden groß,
sprich uns der selb’n aus Gnaden los,
steh’ uns in unserm Elend bei,
mach’ uns von aller Trübsal frei.
Auf daß von Herzen können wir
nachmals mit freuden danken dir,
gehorsam sein nach deinem Wort,
dich allzeit preisen hier und dort.
Paul Eber, 1566 based on In tenebris nostrae by J. Camerarius, c.1546
 

English translation
When we in deep distress and grief,
knowing not where to seek relief,
can find no help nor comfort here,
tho’ we have sought it far and near.

Then this alone our comfort be,
that we may all in unity
still call on Thee, true God, and know
Thou’lt save us from all fear and woe.

See not, thou’ great our sins may be,
but by Thy grace, Lord, set us free,
be near us in our misery
and keep us all from sorrow free.

That we with all our hearts may raise,
once more our joyful, grateful praise,
submissively Thy word declare,
and ever praise Thee, here as there.


Seriously, check the rhymes. 'Deep distress and grief... no help nor comfort here'. I'm just asking - what sounds more like the UK in December 2015: this, or that bloke with sideburns bellowing 'It's Christmaaaaas!!!!'?

Okay, I am against the bombing of Syria, and the best way I can imagine to combat ISIL is to celebrate the best of the western tradition. David Cameron might think that an elite group ignoring both common sense and the opinion of a large proportion of the populace is part of the western tradition (and yes, that has been a bit of a theme, especially in the twenty-first century), I am going to listen to the compositions of reverential composers.

Variatio 20. a 2 Clav.

Variatio 19. a 1 Clav.

Beethoven tells you what it's like to be Beethoven and Mozart tells you what it's like to be human. Bach tells you what it's like to be the universe.
Douglas Adams (author)

Like almost all Baroque music it's all based on Dance rhythms - the cello suites and the suites in the partitas are filled with Gigues, Sarabandes and Allemandes which spring from dance modes of the time and beg to be danced to.
Mark Morris

Bach is Dance music - even in pieces like the preludes and fugues there are minuets, bourees, gigues, passepieds - all the dances are there, you just have to recognise them.
Angela Hewitt 

 

Variatio 19. a 1 Clav

Sir John arrives at better answers by closely scrutinising the work. He discovers a wealth of hitherto unseen invention and ingenuity. But in the end, he finds, it comes down to an act of faith. Other composers, among them Monteverdi, Beethoven and Mozart, have achieved greatness in various ways, “but it is Bach…who gives us the voice of God—in human form.”

This business about Bach's music expressing the voice of

God, or the divine structure of the Universe? I'm out. Much as I would love it to be true - imagine how cool it would be to hear God talk - the contemporary argument for such hyperbole comes mostly from the number of religious works he composed. This goes against Jamie James' assertion that the words don't matter that much - not the best source, I admit, but I can sing rude words over the top of Figaro without making it a celebration of playground humour. 

Okay, this is a rather lovely  transcription of The Goldbergs for guitar. Have a listen. As always, the aria is the best part, because once Bach gets to work, it's the usual busy baroque business. If this is God, sounds like the One Above All likes to gossip on the telephone.

Bach's status as a composer is largely the result of a hagiography written at the start of the Romantic era, and the subsequent enthusiasm for 'the genius'. Bach, who worked really hard (his job allowed him to slap out a new tune every week), became an archetype of the genius for a country (Germany) that liked genius. 

None of this really demeans Bach's actual compositions, but it has made approaching the Goldberg Variations a proper pain. Time to strip away the theology, and see what is left.


Time for another bit of YouTube Bach: a quick warning though. The video footage that accompanies this version of Variation 19 is.. well, I'd say its use is inappropriate and sexist. The p0em's worth a listen, though.

 

What's all this about Goldberg, anyway?