SKU: CA.4013091

Language: German.

Elijah is regarded as a milestone in Mendelssohn's compositional output and as a high point in the oratorio literature of the 19th century. Mendelssohn composed his second great oratorio just a year before his premature death. This excitingly dramatic work also expresses a fervent belief in God, a belief which in the 19th century was no longer self-evident. Mendelssohn transposed the visible world of the Old Testament into numerous musical expressive possibilities in which Old Testament texts, including psalm texts and commentaries from the words of the Prophets, were shaped into biblical dramas. For a subject like Elijah ... the drama must reign supreme ... the characters must be introduced speaking and acting like living people ... a quite vivid world of the sort we find in every chapter of the Old Testament. Mendelssohn to his librettist. Score available separately - see item CA.4013000.

SKU: CA.3114403

ISBN 9790007050054. Key: B minor. Language: German/English.

Score available separately - see item CA.3114400.

SKU: CA.3113909

ISBN 9790007208233. Text language: German/English. Text: Rube, Johann Chr.

Bach's chorale cantata with its opening text Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott recht kindlich kann verlassen (Tis well with him who on the Lord trusts just like a child) BWV 139 was performed for the first time on 12 November 1724 in the main Leipzig church service. The cantata text, based on the hymn of the same name by Johann Christoph Rube (1665-1746), is in praise of trust in God. In the opening chorus, full of depth of feeling, the hymn melody is heard throughout; this is followed by a lively tenor aria Gott ist mein Freund (God is my friend) with a musical depiction of the adversary raging in vain, and in the bass aria Das Ungluck schlagt auf allen Seiten (Misfortune assails me on every side) Bach presents both drama and Baroque imagery. One of the two solo violin parts for the tenor aria is lost, so our edition offers a reconstruction. The virtuoso violin part of the bass aria was evidently based on a part for violoncello piccolo, now lost. The edition provides for performance by violin or violoncello. Score and parts available separately - see item CA.3113900.

SKU: CA.3117719

ISBN 9790007140267. Text language: German/English.

The cantata Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ begins with an expansive chorale arrangement, for which Bach reverted to a proven model: The four voices of the solo ensemble take over the chorale, in which the melody lies in the soprano. For stanzas 2-4 Bach chooses the aria form with a highly differentiated scoring from movement to movement, ranging from a continuo Aria (1st movement), up to an aria accompanied by the violin, with obbligato bassoon and continuo. A straightforward four-part chorale movement concludes the cantata. Score and parts available separately - see item CA.3117700.

SKU: CA.3124585

Language: German/English.

Bach's St. John Passion is among the greatest settings of the Passion in the history of music. The St. John Passion underwent several fundamental changes during Bach's lifetime. Carus offers all of these surviving versions for sale. The traditional version of the St. John Passion, using the partial autograph score, is still most often performed. Carus now offers singers a new vocal score for performance which includes the well-known texts in the established sequence without requiring any additional page turns. Please use full score and performance material of our edition Carus 31.245/00. This edition includes also the traditional version. This work is now available in carus music, the choir app! Score available separately - see item CA.3124500.

SKU: CA.3106309

ISBN 9790007043704. Key: C major. Language: German/English.

With its scoring for a large number of performers, who according to earlier practice were divided into various groups, this Cantata is clearly a festive work. In the richness of its scoring it was equalled, but not surpassed, by Bach's first Leipzig Cantate for the Election of the Town Council, BWV 119, of 1723. It is noticeable that the words of BWV 63 relate to Christmas only in the recitatives, while the choruses and arias express the praise of God in general terms. Score and parts available separately - see item CA.3106300.

SKU: CA.3106963

ISBN 9790007206710. Text language: German/English.

Bach's Cantata BWV 69a of 1723, which has remained largely unknown to the present day, is now available for the first time in a practical edition with this Carus publication. It has been unjustly neglected as it was overshadowed by the Cantata BWV 69 of the same name, a piece which Bach reworked to celebrate the inauguration of Leipzig Town Council in 1748. On that occasion Bach re-used the parts from 1723 for simplicity, and adapted them for the new use by means of cuts, alterations, and additions - something which certainly did not mean that he rejected the 1723 version. This version can readily be recovered from the parts of 1723, if we explore beyond the alterations of 1748. With its rich wind instruments and great opening chorus, the 1723 cantata is in no way inferior to the later festive music in terms of musical splendor. The text takes the Gospel reading about the healing of the deaf and dumb man as a reason for praise and thanks for God's good deeds. In contrast to the later version, in which God is thanked for the wisdom of the Leipzig authorities, the original version of 1723 is free of such contemporary references, and is suitable for use in worship and concerts in many different ways. Score and part available separately - see item CA.3106900.

SKU: CA.4068805

ISBN 9790007131012. Language: Latin.

With its tonal language of subjective avowal, the first of Beethoven's two masses opens up new worlds of expression for the liturgical texts of the Mass which are expressly modern and point towards the future. Not to be considered a preliminary work to the Missa solemnis, it is an entirely independent work which set standards for the further development of settings of the Mass in the 19th century. Its newness, of which the composer himself was fully aware (I do not speak gladly of my Mass, or of myself, but I do believe that I have treated the text in a manner in which only few have treated it.), paves a way to an hitherto unknown, contemporary avenue to faith which today is still current. Carus presents this important work of church music history in a new critical edition by the Beethoven expert Ernst Herttrich. Score available separately - see item CA.4068800.

SKU: CA.3112619

ISBN 9790007140038. Language: German/English. Text: Luther, Martin. Text: Martin Luther.

Score and parts available separately - see item CA.3112600.

SKU: CA.3109719

ISBN 9790007136499. Key: B flat major. Language: German/English. Text: Fleming, Paul. Text: Paul Fleming.

Liturgical intention unknown. Score and parts available separately - see item CA.3109700.

SKU: CA.3112314

ISBN 9790007207502. Text language: German/English. Text: Fritsch, Ahasverus.

This six-movement cantata uses the hymn of the same name by Ahasverus Fritsch, first recorded in 1698 in the Darmstadter Liederbuch. This places it amongst those chorale cantatas which use a hymn from the repertoire associated with Pietism. As was customary, the hymn text is retained in the outer movements, whereas the text for the inner movements - two secco recitatives and a tenor and a bass aria - are concerned with the contrast between the hostile world and the certainty of Jesus; the links between the cantata text and the Feast of the Epiphany are correspondingly tenuous. In the first movement the soprano sings the hymn melody complete, accompanied by mainly homophonic vocal parts, whilst the instrumental writing is largely influenced by the melody of the first line of the hymn. Remarkable is the tenor aria, with its contrasting central section and its chromatic twists and turns, in which Bach once again proves himself to be a master of harmony. The demands on the chorus are fairly modest, whereas the instrumentalists are challenged in the first movement and in both the arias. Score and part available separately - see item CA.3112300.

SKU: CA.3123291

Language: Latin.

Bach's B minor Mass is among the greatest and most ambitious works of all time. The various stages of composition of the Mass occupied the composer for over two decades: beginning with the Sanctus (1724), by way of the Missa of 1733, to the remaining movements of the Ordinary, which were composed during his last years. Thus the Mass, in its wealth of forms with arias, duets, as well as concertante and fugal choruses, displays the essence of Bach's skill and personal style. The greatest musical work of art of all times and all peoples (to quote the enthusiastic Hans Georg Nageli, who first edited the Mass in 1818) and one of the most demanding choral works in the repertoire is presented by Frieder Bernius, the Kammerchor Stuttgart and the Barockorchester Stuttgart in a stellar recording based on the principles of historical performance practice (Carus 83.211). Awarded the Gramophone - Editor's Choice. Score available separately - see item CA.3123200.

SKU: CA.3107914

ISBN 9790007045289. Key: G major. Language: German/English.

After the really well-known cantata Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott BWV 80, Bach's only other cantata for Reformation Day is Gott, der Herr, ist Sonn und Schild BWV 79. The central chorale movement Nun danket alle Gott has become extremely famous separately from the cantata. This movement is characterised by the catchy melody of the two horn parts with their interludes between the lines of the chorale. These in turn are taken from the freely-composed opening chorus, thus forming a surprising link between the movement for chorus and the chorale. The chorus and both the arias in the cantata were used later in a Latin parody in the so-called Lutheran Masses. Score and part available separately - see item CA.3107900.

SKU: CA.3100111

ISBN 9790007041236. Key: F major. Language: German/English. Text: Nicolai, Philipp. Text: Philipp Nicolai.

Score available separately - see item CA.3100100.

SKU: CA.3114909

ISBN 9790007208554. Key: D major. Language: German/English. Text: Henrici (Picander), Christian Friedrich. Text: Christian Friedrich Henrici (Picander).

In composing the Cantata BWV 149 Bach reverted to parts of an earlier work: The opening chorus is a parody of the Jadgkantate BWV 208 (Hunting Cantata). In addition to smaller changes which were made necessary due to the text, Bach used trumpets instead of horns. For this purpose he transposed the movement from F major to C major. Musically, the form of the three arias and their instrumentation is rich in variety. The bass aria (2nd mvt.) is characterized by an active continuo accompaniment. After the secco recitative an extended dance like soprano aria with string accompaniment follows. The third aria (6th mvt.) is impressive due to the animated melody and the forming of a canon between the voices, and especially through the entry of the bassoon as the instrumental counterpart to a duet between the alto and tenor. Score and parts available separately - see item CA.3114900.