Bringing Bach's Music to Life: Essays on Bach Cantatas

24 essays on J.S. Bach's church cantatas, written by renowned conductor Craig Smith, founder of Emmanuel Music, the first American ensemble to complete a full cycle of Bach cantatas. The essays are accompanied by full libretti, numerous musical examples, the liturgical readings for the respective Sunday, and selected art works that illustrate the cantatas' themes.

With a unique relationship to Bach's works and their liturgical function, Smith engages the cantatas as living works of art, exploring how they work musically, emotionally, and theologically. Integrating spiritual, psychological, and compositional analysis, these vivid essays reveal Bach's power to communicate complex messages of faith, doubt, and the human condition.

In the Foreword, eminent composer and close friend of Smith, John Harbison, writes:
"Craig's writing embraces, at times dissolves, never ignores, the distance – esoteric, temporal, linguistic, cultural – that the Bach cantatas carry. The paternalistic theology, the presentness of sin, the Devil, the rough proximity of Death is never evaded or finessed. That which should remain difficult is acknowledged. That which immediately attracts is gratefully received. What is constantly suggested is that this may be the finest music that the finest composer wrote, and that it is never too late to catch up to it."

Craig Smith (1947-2007) was the founding music director of the Emmanuel Music orchestra and chorus in Boston and led the first complete cycle of Bach's cantatas in the United States as well as expansive explorations of works from the 16th century to the present day. Mr. Smith was born in Lewiston, Idaho, on Jan. 31, 1947. He began studying the piano at 4 and continued at Washington State University and the New England Conservatory, where he completed a bachelor's degree in 1969 and a master's in 1972.

He founded Emmanuel Music, a group based at Emmanuel Church in Boston, in 1970. Its original goal was to present a season of Bach cantatas, but after a few performances, Mr. Smith decided to make his way through the entire collection of more than 200 works. That project occupied Mr. Smith and his ensemble for seven years, and he maintained the tradition of conducting a Bach cantata every Sunday as part of the church's worship service. But in the ensemble's own concerts, he found other composers to explore. He led most of the major sacred works of the 17th-century composer Heinrich Schütz, as well as the compete Schumann lieder and the chamber music and vocal works of Brahms and Debussy. Mr. Smith devoted 51 concerts, over seven years, to the chamber and vocal music of Schubert and performed several works by the contemporary composer John Harbison.

Mr. Smith was best known internationally for his collaborations with the iconoclastic director Peter Sellars and the choreographer Mark Morris. Mr. Smith's work with Mr. Sellars included three Mozart operas, "Così Fan Tutte," "Don Giovanni" and "Nozze di Figaro," which were controversial for their urban 20th-century settings. He also conducted Mr. Sellars's production of Handel's "Giulio Cesare" and works by Weill, Gilbert and Sullivan and Gershwin, as well staged performances of Bach's Cantatas BWV 82 ("Ich habe genug") and BWV 199 ("Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut"). The soloist in those works was the mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, who began her career as a violist in the Emmanuel Music orchestra. Her recording of the works with Mr. Smith and the ensemble is regarded as one of the highlights of the current Bach discography. Mr. Smith's principal collaboration with Mr. Morris was a choreographed setting of the Handel work, "L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato," first performed at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, where Mr. Smith was principal conductor from 1988 to 1991. He conducted it at the Serious Fun festival at Lincoln Center in 1995.

He taught at the New England Conservatory from 1993 to 2000 and also at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, Juilliard and the Tanglewood Music Center. His discography includes the Peter Sellars Mozart trilogy on DVD and CDs devoted to the music of Bach, Schütz, Mozart and John Harbison.

Pamela Dellal, mezzo-soprano, has enjoyed a distinguished career as an acclaimed soloist and recitalist, She has appeared in Symphony Hall, the Kennedy Center, Avery Fisher Hall, and the Royal Albert Hall, and premiered a Harbison chamber work in New York, San Francisco, Boston and London. Her repertoire encompasses an astonishing range from 12th-century monody through Renaissance songs, Baroque cantatas and oratorios, 18th–21st century art songs and operas, and premieres of new works. She has performed under acclaimed conductors William Christie, Seiji Ozawa, Christopher Hogwood, Paul McCreesh, Bernard Labadie and Roger Norrington, in appearances with the Handel and Haydn Society, the Tokyo Oratorio Society, the Lydian String Quartet, The Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Boston Baroque, the Boston Early Music Festival, Aston Magna, among others. Ms. Dellal has received critical acclaim for performances of major oratorios and operas and has appeared in concert in major cities in Europe, the United States, Australia and Japan.

Dellal's association with Emmanuel Music's renowned cantata series spans her entire career, including performances of nearly every sacred work by Bach. Known for her work with Renaissance and Baroque chamber music, Ms. Dellal has appeared multiple times with the Boston Early Music Festival and the Newberry Consort, is a frequent guest artist with Ensemble Chaconne and the Musicians of the Old Post Road, and was a longtime member of the Blue Heron Renaissance Choir. As a member and Acting Director of Sequentia's women's ensemble Vox Feminae, Ms. Dellal has made numerous recordings of the music of Hildegard von Bingen, and has toured the U.S., Europe, and Australia. A passionate advocate for contemporary music, she has premiered works by many contemporary composers, some written specifcally for her voice. She has nearly forty recordings to her credit, on the Artona, BMG, CRI, Dorian, Meridian, and KOCH labels among others.

As an educator, Dellal is the Director of Emmanuel Music's Bach Institute, an annual training program for aspiring professional musicians in performing the Bach cantata repertoire. She serves on the faculty at The Longy School of Music of Bard College and the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. She has taught at Brandeis University, The Berkshire Choral Festival and at numerous summer workshops including the Amherst Early Music Festival. She has been invited to give master classes and lecture/demonstrations at many institutions throughout the US, including Stanford University, Cal. State Fullerton, SUNY New Paltz, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and other organizations. She is a recognized specialist in early vocal techniques and the music of Hildegard von Bingen; in addition, she has become a sought-after translator of musical texts including the Bach cantatas, translations of which appear on the Emmanuel Music website. Her translations are included in the complete works of C.P.E. Bach, published by the Packard Humanities Institute. An article on C.P.E. Bach lieder was published in the August 2014 issue of Early Music (U.K.). She has edited a book on Bach cantatas featuring essays by the late Craig Smith. More info. at www.pameladellal.com.