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Out of the depths I cried to thee…in German and English

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[Begin theme music]

Welcome to Harmonia . . . I’m Angela Mariani. The biblical Book of Psalms forms an integral part of Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant rituals. On a previous episode of Harmonia, we heard Latin settings of one particular psalm: depending on which numbering you are using, Psalm 129 or 130. It’s one of seven Penitential Psalms, beginning (in one translation) “Out of the depths I cried to thee, O Lord.”

This hour, we’ll focus on an array of German and English settings by some of the best-regarded composers of the 16th through 18th centuries, and some very obscure ones. Plus, our featured release contains music from Marin Marais’ first book of Pièces de viole from 1686.

[Theme music fades]

 

MUSIC TRACK
Marin Marais - Pieces de viole - Livre 1
Atsushi Sakai, Christoph Rousset, Marion Martineau
Aparté 2021 / B09HP1QYB2
Marin Marais
Tr. 42 Sarabande (61) (4:43)

Ah, the sound of a great big 7-string French bass viol playing music by a composer who was himself a virtuoso on that instrument! Atsushi Sakai is the viola da gamba soloist and Marion Martineau and Christoph Rousset play continuo [on viola da gamba and harpsichord, respectively], on a Sarabande in A Major by Marin Marais from his first book of Pièces de viole.

 

On the previous episode of Harmonia, we listened to Latin settings of (what we’ll call) Psalm 130 - the one that begins “De profundis” - by composers from Josquin to Lully. Until the twentieth century, Latin was the official language of the Catholic Church, but in the sixteenth century during the Protestant Reformation, psalms were translated into widely spoken European languages in order to make them accessible to congregations. This hour, we’ll hear German and English settings of our penitential psalm by composers from Thomas Tallis to JS Bach.

In the first Lutheran hymnal in 1524, Martin Luther created a metrical paraphrase of Psalm 130 in German set to a simple tune. Numerous composers used his tune. Let’s hear the three verses of his hymn set by three individual and not terribly well-known composers—Mattaeus Le Maistre, Johannes Crüger, and Lupus Hellinck, respectively.

MUSIC TRACK 
Music from the Era of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Vol 6 - Religious Confrontation in the Low Countries
Huelgas Ensemble; Utopia; Bart Rodyns, organ; Jos Moors, organ (Various Artists)
Etcetera 2019 / B07VHY65JH
Matthaeus Le Maistre
Tr. 2 Aus tiefer (1:10) v.1 (Jos Moors, organ)
Johannes Crüger
Tr. 4 Aus tiefer Not (:51) v.2 (Bart Rodyns, organ)
Lupus Hellinck
Tr. 6 Aus tiefer Not (1:26) v.3

Three verses of “Aus tiefer Not” (based on Psalm 130) were performed by the Huelgas Ensemble and Utopia.

Michael Praetorius set Luther’s tune for two to eight voices more than ten times. To contrast the more intimate settings we just heard, let’s listen to Praetorius’ 8-part setting of “Aus tiefer not.”

MUSIC TRACK 
Praetorius: Dances from Terpsichore – Motets
London Early Music Consort/David Munrow
Virgin Veritas 2007 / B000002SSD
Michael Praetorius
Tr. 13 Aus tiefer Not (4:15) 8-pt

David Munrow directed the London Early Music Consort in Michael Praetorius’ double-choir setting of “Aus tiefer Not.”

Finally, one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s earliest cantatas, dating from the time he worked in Mühlhausen in his twenties, bases its text on Luther’s non-metrical translation of Psalm 130. It’s scored for tenor and bass soloists and a four-part choir accompanied by oboe, bassoon, violin, two violas, and basso continuo. We’ll hear Guy De May and Max von Egmond as the soloists with the Ricercar Consort.

MUSIC TRACK 
Bach: Aus der Tiefe
Ricercar Consort; Bowman, De Mey, Egmond, Reyghere
Ricercar 2010 / B001LJL684
JS Bach
Tr. 1 Aus der Tiefe, BWV 131 (9:18)

Guy De Mey and Max von Egmond performed Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantata BWV 131, “Aus der Tiefe,” with the Ricercar Consort.

The Anglican Church was fortunate to have an artist of Thomas Tallis’ caliber to serve it. Tallis made a relatively simple, but stunning, four-voice setting of a metrical text that begins:

“Out from the deep I call to thee,

O Lord, hear my invocation.

Thine ears bow down, incline to me, And hear my lamentation.” 

MUSIC TRACK 
The complete English anthems
Tallis Scholars/Peter Phillips
Gimell 1986 / B00005ATCV
Thomas Tallis
Tr. 9 Out from the deep (1:48)

From the 1986 CD Thomas Tallis: The complete English anthems, the Tallis Scholars, directed by Peter Phillips, sang “Out from the deep.” 

[Theme music begins]

[Theme Music Bed: Ensemble Alcatraz, Danse Royale, Elektra Nonesuch 79240-2 / B000005J0B, T.12: La Prime Estampie Royal]

Early music can mean a lot of things. What does it mean to you? Let us know your thoughts and ideas. Contact us at harmonia early music dot org, where you’ll also find playlists and an archive of past shows.

You’re listening to Harmonia . . .  I’m Angela Mariani. 

[Theme music fades]

:59 Midpoint Break Music Bed:
Marin Marais - Pieces de viole - Livre 1
Atsushi Sakai, Christoph Rousset, Marion Martineau
Aparté 2021 / B09HP1QYB2
Marin Marais
Tr. 38 Boutade (excerpt of 1:10)

 

(fades out at :59)

Welcome back. We’re listening to German and English settings of the “Song of Ascent” that begins in Latin with the words “De profundis” - “from the depths.” Thomas Morley uses The Book of Common Prayer’s non-metrical English translation, whose words, ideally, you will have no trouble understanding, because that, of course, is the whole idea…  

MUSIC TRACK
In Chains of Gold: Vol 2
Magdalena Consort; Silas Wollston, organ; Samuel Boden, soloist
Signum Classics, 2020 / B0851L9RLK
Thomas Morley
Tr. 13 Out of the deep (3:48)

Samuel Boden was the countertenor soloist performing Thomas Morley’s verse anthem “Out of the deep” with the Magdelena Consort and Silas Wollston, organ [on the 2020 Signum Classics In chains of gold.]. 

We’ve got another Thomas to consider, Thomas Weelkes, who sets an earlier metrical setting of the psalm that begins: 

“Lord to thee I make my moan, When dangers me oppress;

I call, I sigh, ‘plain and groan, Trusting to find release.”  

MUSIC TRACK 
Grant the King a long life: English anthems & instrumental music
Sidney Sussex College Choir, Fretwork/ D. Skinner
Obsidian 2012 / B007906378
Thomas Weelkes
Tr. 6 Lord, to thee (2:06)

Eleanor Cramer and Fretwork performed Thomas Weelkes’ “Lord, to thee I make my moan.” This was an arrangement of a full anthem for a more intimate setting. Robert Tailour goes a step further—just one viol, playing “lyra way,” that is, one person playing chords and single notes that imply more than one part, with a singer setting yet another metrical version of our psalm, this one beginning:

“Out from the deep to thee o Lord I cry:

From place far off; yet thow good Lord be nigh…”  

MUSIC TRACK
Alas poore men
Unidas / (Theresa Dlouhy, sop; Eva Reiter, vdg)
Gramola 2011 / B004RKC2AA
Robert Tailour
Tr. 15 Out from the deep (4:42)

We heard Theresa Dlouhy, soprano and Eva Reiter, viola da gamba perform Robert Tailour’s “Out from the deep.”

At the end of the 17th century, Henry Purcell set the same text that Morley used at the beginning of the century, this time for four solo voices and basso continuo. Purcell’s skill at setting English text speaks for itself.

MUSIC TRACK
The complete anthems and services. 10 / Henry Purcell.
King's Consort/Robert King
Hyperion, 1994 / B000002ZR3
Henry Purcell
CD1, tr. 7 Out of the deep Z45 (6:59)

The King’s Consort, Robert King, director, recorded Henry Purcell’s verse anthem “Out of the deep.”

This week we’re featuring Aparté’s 2021 recording Marin Marais: Premiere livre de pièces de Viole. The performers are viola da gamba players Atsushi Sakai and Marion Martineau and harpsichordist Christoph Rousset. Published in 1686, this is the first of five volumes of idiomatic music for one, two, and three viols and basso continuo that punctuate Marais’ life as a composer and virtuoso performer. Let’s Listen to the prelude of a suite in D Minor for two viols and basso continuo, in which Marais exploits the viol’s capabilities as a chordal instrument, making two viols sound like more than two.

MUSIC TRACK 
Marin Marais - Pieces de viole - Livre 1
Atsushi Sakai, Christoph Rousset, Marion Martineau
Aparté 2021 / B09HP1QYB2
Marin Marais
Tr. 30 Suite in D minor for 2 viols and continuo - Prélude (66) (5:53)

From that very atmospheric Prélude in D minor for two viols and continuo, let us round out our featured release of music by Marin Marais with a gigue  in A major for one viol and continuo.

MUSIC TRACK 
Marin Marais - Pieces de viole - Livre 1
Atsushi Sakai, Christoph Rousset, Marion Martineau
Aparté 2021 / B09HP1QYB2
Marin Marais
Tr. 43 Suite in A major for viol and continuo - Gigue (63) (2:21)

We’ve been listening to the 2021 Aparté release Marin Marais - Pieces de viole - Livre 1, performed by Atsushi Sakai and Marion Martineau, violas da gamba, and Christoph Rousset, harpsichord. We heard a gigue in A major for viola da gamba and basso continuo.

(Fade in theme music)

Harmonia is a production of WFIU and part of the educational mission of Indiana University.

Support comes from Early Music America: a national organization that advocates and supports the historical performance of music of the past, the community of artists who create it, and the listeners whose lives are enriched by it. On the web at EarlyMusicAmerica-dot-org.

Additional resources come from the William and Gayle Cook Music Library at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

We welcome your thoughts about any part of this program, or about early music in general. Contact us at harmonia early music dot org. You can follow us on Facebook by searching for Harmonia Early Music.

The writer for this edition of Harmonia was Wendy Gillespie.

Thanks to our studio engineer Michael Paskash, and our production team: LuAnn Johnson, Wendy Gillespie, Aaron Cain, and John Bailey. I’m Angela Mariani, inviting you to join us again for the next edition of Harmonia.

(Theme music ends)

Detail from Karl Brullov's The Last Day of Pompeii

(Google Art Project)

The biblical Book of Psalms forms an integral part of Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant rituals. On a previous episode of Harmonia, we heard Latin settings of one particular psalm: depending on which numbering you are using, Psalm 129 or 130. It’s one of  seven Penitential Psalms, beginning (in one translation) “Out of the depths I cried to thee, O Lord.”

This hour, we’ll focus on an array of German and English settings by some of the best-regarded composers of the 16th through 18th centuries, and some very obscure ones. Plus, our featured release contains music from Marin Marais’ first book of Pièces de viole from 1686.

PLAYLIST

Marin Marais - Pieces de viole - Livre 1
Atsushi Sakai, Christoph Rousset, Marion Martineau
Aparté 2021 / B09HP1QYB2
Marin Marais
Tr. 42 Sarabande (61) (4:43)

Segment A:

Music from the Era of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Vol 6 - Religious Confrontation in the Low Countries
Huelgas Ensemble; Utopia; Bart Rodyns, organ; Jos Moors, organ (Various Artists)
Etcetera 2019 / B07VHY65JH
Matthaeus Le Maistre
Tr. 2 Aus tiefer (1:10) v.1 (Jos Moors, organ)
Johannes Crüger
Tr. 4 Aus tiefer Not (:51) v.2 (Bart Rodyns, organ)
Lupus Hellinck
Tr. 6 Aus tiefer Not (1:26) v.3

Praetorius: Dances from Terpsichore – Motets
London Early Music Consort/David Munrow
Virgin Veritas 2007 / B000002SSD
Michael Praetorius
Tr. 13 Aus tiefer Not (4:15) 8-pt

Bach: Aus der Tiefe
Ricercar Consort; Bowman, De Mey, Egmond, Reyghere
Ricercar 2010 / B001LJL684
JS Bach
Tr. 1 Aus der Tiefe, BWV 131 (9:18)

The complete English anthems
Tallis Scholars/Peter Phillips
Gimell 1986 / B00005ATCV
Thomas Tallis
Tr. 9 Out from the deep (1:48)

Theme Music Bed: Ensemble Alcatraz, Danse Royale, Elektra Nonesuch 79240-2 / B000005J0B, T.12: La Prime Estampie Royal

:59 Midpoint Break Music Bed:
Marin Marais - Pieces de viole - Livre 1
Atsushi Sakai, Christoph Rousset, Marion Martineau
Aparté 2021 / B09HP1QYB2
Marin Marais
Tr. 38 Boutade (excerpt of 1:10)

Segment B:

In Chains of Gold: Vol 2
Magdalena Consort; Silas Wollston, organ; Samuel Boden, soloist
Signum Classics, 2020 / B0851L9RLK
Thomas Morley
Tr. 13 Out of the deep (3:48)

Grant the King a long life: English anthems & instrumental music
Sidney Sussex College Choir, Fretwork/ D. Skinner
Obsidian 2012 / B007906378
Thomas Weelkes
Tr. 6 Lord, to thee (2:06)

Alas poore men
Unidas / (Theresa Dlouhy, sop; Eva Reiter, vdg)
Gramola 2011 / B004RKC2AA
Robert Tailour
Tr. 15 Out from the deep (4:42)

The complete anthems and services. 10 / Henry Purcell.
King's Consort/Robert King
Hyperion, 1994 / B000002ZR3
Henry Purcell
CD1, tr. 7 Out of the deep Z45 (6:59)

Featured Release:

Marin Marais - Pieces de viole - Livre 1
Atsushi Sakai, Christoph Rousset, Marion Martineau
Aparté 2021 / B09HP1QYB2
Marin Marais
Tr. 30 Suite in D minor for 2 viols and continuo - Prélude (66) (5:53)
Tr. 43 Suite in A major for viol and continuo - Gigue (63) (2:21)

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