This prompted me to pick up the score and try the run. It *is* tough,
especially with the wee wee rest he gives you before it. Until I sussed it,
I managed it about 3 times out of six, and I think the solution is to be
very careful about the kind of breathing one does between the phrases
earlier, though if the conductor has a really slow idea of how this should
go you're sunk! For what it's worth, it seems to work if I allow the jaw to
relax and sing it very easily - note that the recorders drop out for the
last measure, reducing one kind of tension, if rather throwing the
spotlight on the singer even more, so at least there will be less of a
temptation to force the tone to compete with the instruments. This is a run
which will mecilessly expose deleterious tension or oversinging.
I have little doubt that Bach intended it not only to be sung without a
breath, but as an opportunity for a fine singer to really show off his
mastery of breath control. That the text means "he has filled" presumably
gave him the idea of illustrating this fullness, and I suppose the vocal
line exceeding the length of the recorder obbligati must be an illustration
of overflowing, just as earlier (m.15) the same device may illustrate the
opposite. I also wonder if Bach secretly cherished the idea of writing
opera, like Handel and their friendly rival Telemann, and paid close
attention to audience reaction to such attention-getting devices?
john
At 09:44 AM 7/6/01 -0400, you wrote:
...>
>Would that Herr Bach had been so kind, when writing that fiendish run in
>the "Esurientes" from his MAGNIFICAT, ...>KM
John Blyth
Baritono robusto e lirico
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
|
|  |
