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Paul Seymour Matthen (1914-2003) was an American bass-baritone, musical scholar and music pedagogue. [1] He attended Columbia University, where he studied chemistry in addition to music. While there he was a student of Friedrich Schorr.
Paul Matthen had a distinguished concert and operatic career, drawing much praise for his ability with opera, early music, and German Lieder. He performed with major symphony orchestras including that of the Boston Symphony, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and the National Symphony in D.C.
A leading bass-baritone at the Wurttembergishe Staatsoper for many years, he sang in operas directed by Wieland Wagner (grandson of Richard Wagner) as well as in Italian and French operas. In addition to regular appearances on national radio and television networks, he was soloist on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Town Hall, and was soloist at Radio City Music Hall for two years.
Matthen was twice offered contracts with the Metropolitan Opera, first in 1943 and again in 1950. He declined both offers due to preexisting contractual obligations, as well as for family reasons. [2]
In 1954 he appeared as a soloist in the Spring Faculty Festival of the Longy School of Music of Bard College at Harvard University's Sanders Theater in Cambridge, Massachusts. He was featured in a performance of Jean-Philippe Rameau's cantata Aquilon et Orithie, RCT 23 as well as Hubert Lambs' love songs Innocentium Carmina which are based upon the medieval poetry collection Carmina Burana . Matthen was cited by the critics at The Harvard Crimson magazine for demonstrating tonal beauty while performing demanding vocal lines. [3]
During the 1950s Matthen also recorded for the Vanguard Records label with the Collegium Musicum New York under the direction of Fritz Rikko. In addition, he recorded for RCA Victor with the Robert Shaw Chorale under the baton of Robert Shaw in a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach's Passion According to Saint John, BWV 245 . [4] He also recorded Bach's Magnificat in D major, BWV 243 and Bach's Mass in B Minor with Robert Shaw conducting the RCA Victor Chorale and Orchestra in 1947 [5] [6]
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Paul Matthen joined the faculty at the Indiana University School of Music in 1957 and remained at the university until his retirement in 1984. [7] [8]
In 1724 Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Meine Seel erhebt den Herren, BWV 10, as part of his second cantata cycle. Taken from Martin Luther's German translation of the Magnificat canticle, the title translates as "My soul magnifies the Lord". Also known as Bach's German Magnificat, the work follows his chorale cantata format.
Margaret Eleanor Hillis was an American conductor. She was the founder and first director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus.
Johann Sebastian Bach's Magnificat, BWV 243, is a musical setting of the biblical canticle Magnificat. It is scored for five vocal parts, and a Baroque orchestra including trumpets and timpani. It is the first major liturgical composition on a Latin text by Bach.
Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen, BWV 56, is a church cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach for the 19th Sunday after Trinity. It was first performed in Leipzig on 27 October 1726. The composition is a solo cantata because, apart from the closing chorale, it requires only a single vocal soloist. The autograph score is one of a few cases where Bach referred to one of his compositions as a cantata. In English, the work is commonly referred to as the Kreuzstab cantata. Bach composed the cantata in his fourth year as Thomaskantor; it is regarded as part of his third cantata cycle.
Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Es ist nichts Gesundes an meinem Leibe, BWV 25 in Leipzig for the 14th Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 29 August 1723.
The cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, known as Bach cantatas, are a body of work consisting of over 200 surviving independent works, and at least several dozen that are considered lost. As far as known, Bach's earliest cantatas date from 1707, the year he moved to Mühlhausen, although he may have begun composing them at his previous post in Arnstadt. Most of Bach's church cantatas date from his first years as Thomaskantor and director of church music in Leipzig, a position which he took up in 1723.
The Robert Shaw Chorale was a renowned professional choir founded in New York City in 1948 by Robert Shaw, a Californian who had been drafted out of college a decade earlier by Fred Waring to conduct his glee club in radio broadcasts.
Florence Kopleff was an American contralto.
Jesu, nun sei gepreiset, BWV 41, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig for New Year's Day and first performed it on 1 January 1725 as part of his second cantata cycle. It is based on the hymn by Johannes Hermann (1591).
Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats, BWV 42, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for the first Sunday after Easter and first performed it on 8 April 1725.
Unser Mund sei voll Lachens, BWV 110, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the Christmas cantata in Leipzig for Christmas Day and first performed it on 25 December 1725.
The listing shows recordings of the Mass in B minor, BWV 232, by Johann Sebastian Bach. The selection is taken from the 281 recordings listed on the Bach Cantatas Website as of 2018, beginning with the first recording by a symphony orchestra and choir to match, conducted by Albert Coates. Beginning in the late 1960s, historically informed performances paved the way for recordings with smaller groups, boys choirs and ensembles playing period instruments, and eventually to recordings using the one-voice-on-a-vocal-part scoring first argued for by Joshua Rifkin in 1982.
Recordings of the St John Passion are shown as a sortable table of selected notable recordings of Johann Sebastian Bach's St John Passion, BWV 245. The selection is taken from the 241 recordings listed on bach-cantatas as of 2015.
Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht, BWV 186 is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it originally in Weimar in 1716 for Advent, BWV 186a, and expanded it in Leipzig in 1723 for the seventh Sunday after Trinity, where he first performed it on 11 July 1723.
Christopher Stephen Varcoe is an English classical bass-baritone singer, appearing internationally in opera and concert, known for Baroque and contemporary music and a notable singer of Lieder.
Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen, BWV 65, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in 1724 in Leipzig for Epiphany and first performed it on 6 January 1724 as part of his first cantata cycle.
Christen, ätzet diesen Tag, BWV 63, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the Christmas cantata for the First Day of Christmas, possibly in 1713 for the Liebfrauenkirche in Halle. He performed it again for his first Christmas as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, on 25 December 1723.
Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit, BWV 115, in Leipzig for the 22nd Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 5 November 1724. The chorale cantata is based on the hymn by Johann Burchard Freystein (1695).
This is a list of recordings of Bach's cantata Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen, BWV 56, a solo cantata for bass or bass-baritone composed for the 19th Sunday after Trinity, first performed on 29 October 1726. In English, it is commonly referred to as the Kreuzstab cantata.
Thomas Paul is an American bass and voice teacher who had an active performance career during the second half of the 20th century. While more frequently heard in oratorios and other concert literature, Paul also appeared in operas during his career with companies like the New York City Opera, the San Francisco Opera, and Washington National Opera. In 1964 he created the role of Jack Spaniard in the world premiere of Robert Ward's The Lady From Colorado at the Central City Opera. In 1976 he portrayed Jared Bilby in the world premiere of Carlisle Floyd's Bilby's Doll at the Houston Grand Opera. He was a full time professor of voice at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester from 1973 through 1998, and also taught at the Aspen Music Festival and School.