Marcus Friedrich/Getty Images
Listen to the episode!
Hakuna matata, here's a Bach cantata! Tune in this week to learn more about the most important form of Baroque vocal music (outside opera and oratorio).
Howdy, howdy, howdy! I’m Solomon Reynolds, and this is: Saturday Morning Car Tunes! This morning… a Bach cantata!
Bach wrote over 200 cantatas in his lifetime. They’ve inspired musicians for centuries. Paul Simon’s “American Tune” borrows music from a few Bach cantatas, and “Lady Lynda” by the Beach Boys is based on another. But what is a cantata, and why did Bach write so many?
Bach is one of the most prolific composers in history, which means he wrote a lot of music. For most of his life, he worked as a church musician in Germany in the early 1700s. Music was a big part of the Lutheran service, and cantatas were the main musical event. Bach wrote a new one almost every week—mostly songs for choir and orchestra, with lots of movements. Here’s one of the first he ever wrote: God is My King.
Bach wrote cantatas for almost everything—Sundays, holidays, birthdays, weddings, funerals. Did you sneeze? Here’s a cantata! Because Bach had to write so many on such a tight schedule, he often reused older music for new occasions. He first wrote this music for the Queen’s birthday and later changed the words to make his Christmas Oratorio, which is like a religious opera.
Or this one, written for the Duke’s birthday, which later turned into his Easter Oratorio.
But Bach didn’t just write cantatas. Here’s a motet, another type of vocal music, which he wrote for a funeral. Can’t you hear the emotion in it?
Bach’s music is still relevant today because it’s so full of emotion. His St. Matthew Passion, which is like a long, dramatic cantata, tells the story of how Jesus died. How does this soprano aria make you feel?
One of his greatest works, the Mass in B minor, is actually made up of highlights from his favorite cantatas. This is the "Gloria" movement.
But cantatas don’t have to be religious. They can be fun, too! Bach’s Coffee Cantata is kind of like a mini opera about a woman who’s addicted to coffee. Maybe your grownup can relate.
Bach’s cantatas were written in so many different musical styles, he even used the pop music of his day. This one’s from his Peasant Cantata, composed in short, tuneful phrases, like folk music. Isn’t it delightful?
When you’ve got a lot of nada, listen to a Bach cantata!
I’m Solomon Reynolds. I write and produce Saturday Morning Car Tunes, with research assistant Carolina Correa and audio engineer Stephen Page, only on Classical California. Tune in—or out of your car—next Saturday morning!
