Pic Edinburgh
Many mysteries surround JS Bach’s Trauermotet, O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht, (BWV 118). Only composition scores of both versions are extant - the first version with a watermark from 1736/37; the second circa 1740. Neither autograph scores nor parts survive. Both versions specify lituus I & lituus II.
It is not clear what is meant by the word lituus, which was originally a Etruscan cavalry instrument from Roman times. Lexica from the early 18th century give various definitions, ranging from trumpet to shawm. The parts for lituus in BWV118 can be played on a “natural” instrument: i.e. one limited to the harmonic series (when pitched in Bb - about 2.65 metres long). Later in the 18th century, the word lituus appears on many other scores (mainly from Bohemia) as a general word for “brass instrument”- horn or (possibly coiled) trumpet. So, mystery solved? Many people assume that lituus simply means “horn”.
Photo by Russell Gilmour, during symposium in Edinburgh (July 2009)
Maybe it’s no so simple for this piece: BWV 118 is a Trauermotet – funeral music. The cornetto and trombones also specified in the first version had a strong symbolic association with mourning, whereas trumpets and horns represent noble celebration - very inappropriate at a funeral and also, because of an Edict* restricting their use, illegal at the time (there are no trumpet or horn parts in Bach’s Passions, for instance). Baroque horn and trumpet parts tend to be in short, dramatic bursts. The lituus parts in BWV 118 are unique in character, with long, lyrical phrases that, when played on horns or trumpets, don’t really blend in ensemble as well as they could.
* Published in Versuch einer Anleitung zur heroisch-musikalischen Trompeter- und Paukerkunst, J.E. Altenburg, 1795.
(PIC OF Pole holding pole)
With this in mind, “we” (Balthasar Streiff -then a fellow student at the SCB-, Anselm Hartinger, a musicological Bach specialist and I), considered and researched the proposal of Patryk Frankowski (National Museum, department of Musical Instruments, Poznan, Poland), who suggested that the appropriate instrument for the lituus parts in BWV 118 would be the trombita - a traditional long, straight wooden horn that is still played at funerals today in Poland, CZ, Romania and Ukraine, similar to the German fränkischen Langhorn. There is no doubt that wooden horns have been played throughout Europe for millennia. Other surviving traditions are the Norwegian nevelure and Swiss alphorn, which has also been referred to as piffel, tuba pastoralis, lituus alpinus and schalmei (schalmei simply means “shepherd instrument”) and was written for in the 18th century by, amongst others, Franz Xaver Schnitzer and Leopold Mozart.
Pic Romanian funeral
There are many theories about where and for whom BVW 118 was first performed - Graff Sporck in Bohemia, Count von Flemming in Leipzig or even for a respected musician - all of which lead to more theories and possible symbolic links. We accept that we simply do not know. Our aim was to work “backwards” from a likely ensemble sound that would both work and have been legal at the time. The trombita’s “haunting” timbre and direct association with mourning would make it appropriate for a Trauermotet. The combination of three wooden and three metal instruments has an elegant balance, which we now know blends well and sounds “right”.
Since we knew what sound we wanted but had neither a working original to copy nor ten years to develop the instrument, we asked the University of Edinburgh to help “optimise” the inner profile because it had to be right first time. Thankfully it was - we got them just four days before our first performance.
Mike Diprose
*Comment.
It’s difficult to know where to start. Since the above words were written, a lot more information has come to light and it seems that the theory originally put forward by Patryk Frankowski can be well corroborated. We now have concrete connections between the word “Lituus” and wooden horns. Whether they were straight instruments or, as the word suggests, folded or curved, is less clear. Long, straight instruments are difficult to hold horizontally and tend to be kept in one place. A traditional alphorn, for instance is used to call the cows home, rather than to chase them around pastures. Portable instruments, such as those used by shepherds or goatherds, usually have a form more practical for carrying (see Büechel).
The last time I performed BWV118, my colleague and I played on traditionally-built Swiss Büchels; or “liti”, as they are known in some Cantons. These sound a lot less “boomy” than the ones we had built for the project - this was partly my fault for not specifying outer dimensions, meaning that the walls of the tubing were too thin - and blended much better with the historical trombones and cornetto, as one might expect from a design that has also been around for centuries.
I’m planning to write an article about the information that has emerged since but don’t hold your breath.
MD 2017
Website pages about the Lituus project
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Viertakt (Dutch radio programme)
Presentation Adam Apostoli and Shona Logie
SOUND FILE BBC World Service Jingle played by two Litui (Mike and Balthasar)
PIC from shepherd museum.