Last Saturday & Sunday our choir organized a Bach Cantata music Camp.

I remember 7 years back, I was a free thinker at the time and know nothing about Christianity. But as a music student, we always study that classical music has a very strong influence on religion at that time. So it really makes me wonder and curious about the Christianity.

One day, 1 of my colleague in Kindergarten invited me to her church, and I accepted her invitation right on the spot due to my curiosity. And from that time onwards, I got to know more about Christianity and I got Baptised 3 years later.

The hymns that we were singing in the church were written by great composers in few hundred years ago. The lyrics of the hymns are profound and meaningful, and the melody and the music arrangement is also effect by the character of the periods of the composer. But sad to say that, nowadays, people tend to forget to use all these beautiful music to praise our Lord.

I agree that times have change, the trend of music has also changed. So pop friendly music is widely use in most of the churches now. Most of them are nicely written and people easily relate with the songs. But when the pop music couture become too extreme, the people might not be aware that, they indulge in the music and enjoy the feeling that bought by the great band….. It makes me wonder , it is what GOD wants to hear??? I think it is a good question to ask ourselves!

Back to the Cantata! So what is Cantata about?

Just like many others musical form, Cantata was evolved many times in history.

Basically, it is from the Italian cantare, meaning a piece “to be sung”. The term “cantata” did not exist prior to the 17th century, when all “cultured” music was vocal. With the rise of instrumental music in the 17th century the term emerged as the instrumental  art. It is a work for solo vocalists, chorus, and instrumentalist based on lyrical or dramatic poem. Generally, it is short, consisting of several movements: recitatives, arias and ensemble numbers. In late 17th century, it meant for a performance before a small  discriminating audience in a room without stage, scenery, or costumes.

Many music students know Bach AKA “The Father of Music”, but he is also a Musician who loves GOD very much. Many times before he starts his composition, he would write down “J.J” , stand for Jesu Juva, meaning – Help me, Jesus. And also, after he finished his composition, written down “S.D.G”, stand for Solo Deo Gloria, meaning- Give the glory alone to the GOD.

The 2 cantata that perform after the camp were BWV 78 Jesu, der du meine seele & BWV 140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die stimme.

It was a great perform that our choir had been preparing for a year. From the response of the audience, I can feel that it was really touching their hearts. 

NO.4 of BWV 140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die stimme is a Tenor Aria. The video below is the original version of the piece.

But the melody of the accompaniment was so beautiful, and it has been used by many other instruments to perform as a solo piece.

The beauty of the classical music is – the more that you listen, the more you cannot get enough of it!