"Mystery of Death and Resurrection" Music and Musings

In listening to vast amounts of music over the years, I have come to realize that orchestral conductors have a uniquely creative, interpretive voice which sounds through the music as they conduct. Some of these creative voices are fairly easy to recognize: Arthur Fiedler, Eugene Ormandy, Toscanini, Sir Neville Marriner, Von Karajan, Bernstein. Then, there are some whose interpretive voices can keep you guessing even to the very end of a piece: Marin Alsop, Solti, Gardiner, Nikolaus Harnoncourt all come to mind as this sort.

A few years ago I discovered the “voice” of a conductor whom I had previously only known by name. This conductor’s list of recordings was not as expansive as Bernstein’s, Solti’s or Harnoncourt’s; what caught my attention was the number of coveted “Recommendation” ratings this man has by his ArkivMusic list of CD’s—I estimated it to be around 80%. His name: Masaaki Suzuki, conductor of the Bach Collegium Japan. 

Suzuki was born in Kobe, Japan on April 29, 1954. His parents were both amateur musicians and were Christians. His genius for the keyboard was immediately apparent to his parents who nurtured it to the best of their abilities. He began playing the organ for his church at the age of 12.  At the Tokyo National University of Fine Art and Music, Suzuki earned degrees in both composition and the organ. Subsequently, Suzuki traveled to Amsterdam to study harpsichord and conducting from Ton Koopman, and the organ from Piet Kee. After teaching harpsichord in Germany for three years, Suzuki returned to Japan in 1983 to teach at Kobe Shoin Women’s University.  

If Suzuki’s Christian faith serves as the mortar of his life, then the bricks of his creative artistry are the works of a fellow, devout Christian, Johann Sebastian Bach. Suzuki introduced Bach and early Baroque music to Japan, and the Japanese fell in love with its beauty, structure, discipline, its perfect balance of yin and yang. In 1990, Suzuki created the Bach Collegium Japan. While the music of Bach was not unfamiliar to the members of the Collegium, the Biblical texts upon which so many of Bach’s works are based were unknown to most. To interpret Bach’s music, Suzuki felt it was vital that his musicians understand this Biblical context of Bach’s music. Before starting rehearsals, Suzuki would “teach” the biblical stories and context of each of Bach’s pieces to his musicians. After such “teaching”, the notes on the page became more than dots on a musical bar; they become the embodiment of the biblical passage. With the basis and structure now apparent to his players and singers, Suzuki brought his discipline, his yin and yang, to create a marvelous work of perfect beauty.

In 2000, John Eliot Gardiner recorded all of Bach’s 249 sacred cantatas in one year—a herculean feat when you consider these were performed in various churches throughout Europe. Suzuki, on the other hand, spent 18 years recording these same 249 pieces in a recording studio. Why so long?  Discipline. Each cantata was rehearsed intensively—imagine spending two hours to perform just 10 bars of music—and before ever entering a recording studio, a performance given in concert. For most ensembles and choirs, the quality of individual performances often form the basis of the group’s success; Suzuki’s Bach Collegium Japan is more concerned with a homogeneous, collective voice of the entire group. The results speak for themselves when you find all 55 of their Bach Cantata recordings receiving Arkiv’s coveted “Recommendation” rating.   

This month as we contemplate and celebrate the Mystery of Death and Resurrection, I offer my highest recommendation that you take some time to listen to the Bach Collegium Japan under the direction of Masaaki Suzuki as they perform the final movement of Bach’s Easter Oratorio, “Preis und Dank—Praise and Thanks.” This alchemy of Bach and Suzuki’s joy, faith and celebration of Christ’s resurrection is unmistakable. This piece easily recommends itself to the Glory of God.