The marginalia establish the fervor of his belief: no Sunday Christian could have made such acute observations. But, where your office requires it, there you must get angry. Yes, Bach believed in God. What is harder to pin down is how he positioned himself among the theological trends of the time. The Pietist movement, which arose in the late seventeenth century, aimed at reinvigorating an orthodox Lutheran establishment that, in its view, had become too rigid.
Pietists urged a renewal of personal devotion and a less combative attitude toward rival religious systems, including Judaism. Bach made passing contact with Pietist figures and themes, though he remained aligned with the orthodox wing—not least because Pietists held that music had too prominent a role in church services.
As Chafe observes, the St. The opening chorus of the St. Matthew is the more openhearted, empathetic work; the St. John remains a little frightening. John detects theology in almost every bar. The very look of the notation on the page might be symbolic: sharp signs resemble crosses or x. After all, he had predicted that Peter would deny knowing him, and so that humiliation only leads to his victory. Before Pilate, Jesus exposes the emptiness of earthly authority.
Other writings endorse the blood libel—the legend that Jews kill Christian children for ritual purposes. One was the Hamburg pastor and poet Erdmann Neumeister. The pastor helped to invent the cantata as Bach practiced it: a suite of recitatives, arias, and choruses on a religious topic.
Other Lutheran theologians, particularly those in the Pietist camp, were considerably more tolerant. The musicologist Raymond Erickson has highlighted a document known as the Gutachten , published in Leipzig in , which denounces the blood libel as baseless. John Passion—advocated the conversion of Jews to Christianity, but did so in a spirit of persuasion rather than coercion.
Not only Caiaphas and Pilate, but I myself am the murderer. The vituperation of his later writings can be balanced against earlier, more generous judgments. It meditates on the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A. It is a musical picture of wandering and banishment. Yet, Marissen concludes, this cantata is a poor vehicle for righteous anger against Jews. The aching dissonances of its opening lamentation and the peculiar instrumental elaborations in the closing chorale leave a mood of overhanging gloom, as if casting doubt on the notion that contemporary Christian sinners can escape the fate meted out to the Jews.
Marissen says that his findings have often met with a frosty reception at musicological conferences. These objections show a shallow understanding of the psychology of bigotry. The notion that beauty trumps all really is too good to be true. That judgment applies to the Passions, and to the St.
John most of all. Of the Evangelists, John is the most vindictive toward the Jews, and many Baroque settings of his Passion narrative preserve that animus.
John, by an unidentified author, is based in part on a text devised by the Hamburg poet Barthold Heinrich Brockes—a lurid treatment that was set by Handel and Telemann, among others. Were these enlightened choices on the part of Bach or his collaborator? There is no way of knowing, but Marissen speculates that Bach, following Lutheran convention, wished to shift emphasis from the perfidy of the Jews to the guilt of all participants in the Passion scene and, by extension, to present-day sinners.
Still, the Jews retain enemy status, their presence felt in a series of bustling, bristling choruses. Many of these pieces share an instrumental signature—sixteenth notes in the strings, oboes chirping above.
Several exhibit upward-slithering chromatic lines. Bouts of counterpoint create a disputatious atmosphere. At the same time, the choruses are lively, propulsive, exciting to sing and hear. This incongruous air of merriment conveys how crowds can take pleasure in hounding individuals. Ultimately, Bach seems interested more in portraying the dynamics of righteous mobs than in stereotyping Jews. The choicest irony is that he uses his own celebrated art of fugue as a symbol of malicious scheming.
The Jews behave similarly in the St. The St. Such gestures help to explain why the Bach Passions have long found an audience far beyond Lutheran congregations. Matthew to her grandson, Felix Mendelssohn, who resolved to lead a performance. His reputation received a substantial boost in when German composer Felix Mendelssohn reintroduced Bach's "Passion According to St.
Musically, Bach was a master at invoking and maintaining different emotions. He was an expert storyteller as well, often using melody to suggest actions or events. In his works, Bach drew from different music styles from across Europe, including French and Italian. He used counterpoint, the playing of multiple melodies simultaneously, and fugue, the repetition of a melody with slight variations, to create richly detailed compositions.
He is considered to be the best composer of the Baroque era, and one of the most important figures in classical music in general. Little personal correspondence has survived to provide a full picture of Bach as a person.
But the records do shed some light on his character. Bach was devoted to his family. In , he married his cousin Maria Barbara Bach. The couple had seven children together, some of whom died as infants. Maria died in while Bach was traveling with Prince Leopold. They had thirteen children, more than half of them died as children. Bach clearly shared his love of music with his children. Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach and Johann Christian Bach, sons from his second marriage, also enjoyed musical success.
We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. Austrian composer Johann Strauss surpassed his father, Johann Strauss the Elder's popularity and productivity, becoming known as the "Waltz King. Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist who wrote symphonies, concerti, chamber music, piano works and choral compositions.
George Frideric Handel composed operas, oratorios and instrumentals. His work, 'Messiah,' is among the most famous oratorios in history. Over the course of his symphonies, Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn became the principal architect of the classical style of music.
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer whose Symphony 5 is a beloved classic. Some of his greatest works were composed while Beethoven was going deaf. Franz Liszt was a Hungarian pianist and composer of enormous influence and originality. He was renowned in Europe during the Romantic movement. A magnificent baroque-era composer, Johann Sebastian Bach is revered through the ages for his work's musical complexities and stylistic innovations.
Olivia Rodrigo —. I think that Bach has two reasons to complete the sections he had already composed into its present form: he wanted to leave a musical legacy to next generations of composers; he wanted to leave a testimony of his personal faith.
In the content or form of the B-minor Mass there is nothing which contradicts the messages of his previously composed works nor the things we know about his faith. There are lots of people whose faith regarding sin, hell, Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation is exactly the same as in Bach's days - and so, in all probability, the same as Bach's own.
I am one of them. I don't know if one of these is a composer of any standard. But if it is possible to have the same faith as Bach, I can't see any reason why it wouldn't be possible to be a prominent composer at the same time. I am aware of some of the discusson the Bach newsgroup, esp those that have spilled out onto other lists. Certainly, it is hard to look at the texts and the decades of service at St.
Thomas and conclude anything other than Bach as profoundly religious. From a doctrinal point of view, however, it is interesting however that he abandons almost all overtly religious composition, with the notable exception of the B-minor mass and the collecting of the chorales, after the cantata works stop in the early 's.
His later works are harpsichord concerti, the Musical Offering, Art of Fugue, WTC II; I personally don't see two much 'doctrine' of any sort floating around in these, although the spiritual nature of these works is unmistakable to me, in that they are some of the most profound and powerful compositions ever penned by a human being.
My conclusion from this is that Bach's message is religious beyond any doctrine and just maybe beyond any particular form of religion he is known to have Jewish and other religious texts in his private library, for example.
But first of all, we simply don't know exactly as why he stopped composing religious works. One of the reasons will certainly be the increasing problems he had with the authorities both in the church and in politics.
Apart from that, we even don't know whether he really didn't write anything religious. Quite a number of Bach's works have been lost, so it is always possible that pieces from that period have been lost as well.
But, unfortunately, we don't know, and we will perhaps never know. Secondly, in Bach's time there was no watershed between sacred and secular music. The fact that a composer in the baroque doesn't compose much religious music doesn't imply religious indifference.
Religious music wasn't considered as more valuable or of a higher level than religious music. Both cantatas and concertos were composed in praise of God.
Society and general thinking were deeply religious. From what I know about that period in history, being a Christian beyond all doctrines was extremely rare.
It is a concept which wins support in the second half of the 18th century, but even then it isn't a general concept. In the time of Bach being a Christian had always to do with supporting a number of doctrines.
Bach's reported ownership of August Pfeiffer 's "Anticalvinismus oder Unterredung von der Reformirten Religion" suggests an aversion to Calvinistic doctrine. He is also reported to have owned Pfeiffer's "Antimelancholicus oder Melancholievertreiber". While the majority of Bach's theological library apparently reflects typical professional needs of a Lutheran Cantor, the books above appear to fall outside this scope.
They suggest, to me at least, that Bach was a thinker and inquirer rather than a man of faith. Harry J. Ah, what the heck! I just enjoy the music Happy listening Steinman To Harry and all American fellow list members.
And others who want to enjoy some more Bach. Happy Thanksgiving. What about celebrating it with BWV I have the Herreweghe version, which is fabulous! Johan van Veen wrote November 23, : To Charles Francis It is a typical example of humanistic arrogance to think that you can't be a man of faith as well as a thinker and inquirer at the same time. Your behaviour on this list is exactly the same as in alt.
Therefore you land in my killfilter again. I didn't find anything to condemn - especially in such a straight and immediate way - in Francis message. And his "bahaviour" is still OK. His mail was - in fact - very thought provoking. But nothing more. Let us not become more familiar with your "killfilter problem".
It's your very, very personal business. Suggesting - without any argument, without evidence and for no reason - that faith and thinking exclude each other is an insult. It suggest that people who are believers are in fact not able to think properly and therefore are short-sighted ignorants. That is in line with what he is writing in the newsgroup alt. A number of people have tried to prove to him that his views of Bach being a crypto-Catholic or religiously indifferent have no basis in the historical facts.
He always thanks them for the information, and then repeats the same views as if nothing has been said. That is why nobody in that newsgroup is debating with him anymore. I am pretty sure that this is the main reason he joined this list. That happened after a long debate in the newsgroup which ended in a number of "regulars" announcing they were not willing to discuss with him anymore. I had hoped his attitude would be different on this list.
It isn't, alas. And It is a typical example of humanistic arrogance to think that you can't be a man of faith as well as a thinker and inquirer at the same time. Anachronism is very usual and you can never avoid it totally. But you can try. That is to be "objective", to put yourself outside.
Of course subjectivism is valuable too, but not always. I myself have no problems to understand Bach in that way. I am a convicted Lutheran but I am not confessional in my research. And one must not be an enemy of modern science if one believe in Christ as the only Saviour. I sent a message July 28 th with a biography and some links according to Bach as a Christian and a Theologian. Of course we cannot know for sure what he believed you can never know that about another person , but his music and the "Soli Deo Gloria" gives no reason to think that he was a non-believer.
The question if you can understand his music without a personal faith is not answered by that. I think you can, but I still think youwill get out more if you believe in Christ. Charles Francis wrote November 25, : To Diederik Peters We've been asked to end this discussion, so let's do that! If you're really interested in rationally discussing this topic and having your belief system challenged , then I'm willing to discuss off-line.
Needless to say, I stand fully behind my carefully chosen words! How the theology, the music, and the listener relate? What does the religious dimension in Bach's music mean for us today? To what extent is this dimension still valid, or even necessary, given that many of us today live in a primarily secular society? Kirk McElhearn wrote June 28, : To Nicholas Baumgartner In my opinion, the fact that we live in a secular society places the cantatas, and other sacred music works, in a different context than that which their original listeners had.
But this is unavoidable; times change. For me, not being "religious", yet nevertheless being "spiritual", the cantatas express the simple fact that music can transcend reality, and express the most subtle and profound feelings of spirituality.
While not especially touched by the actual words of the cantatas, the mere music shows me that the religious dimension is present, and is indeed a key aspect in these works. Arbeitman wrote June 28, : To Nicholas Baumgartner If I may, I should like to rephrase that question in a way I often do on this matter which sometimes troubles me on the Bach lists.
What does the Christian theological textual basis of Bach vocal music mean for a person who is either secular or non-Christian religious or non-traditional religions spiritual? I am certain and confident that the music with its texts can edify those of us who do not accept the theological premises. And that Bach cannot and should not be used to preach to the unconverted as one sometimes receives the impression.
Bach's music, all the more his Christian music or, better put, his music set to Christian theological texts, is universal in its appeal to many not of that belief system and there is nothing odd about that at all.
I would catagorize myself as being in both the non-Christian and in the secular worlds The underlying biblical text refers to the shepherds watching in the fields when angels come along to announce the birth of Jesus, and how the shepherds are unnerved by the heavenly apparation.
I do not personally believe for a minute that actual angels appeared to actual shepherds nor do I believe that there is such a thing as an angel. Please-no offense is meant to Believers; it's just not my pot of tea but understanding the biblical text makes the music richer and far more meaningful to me.
When I listen to the cantata-of-the-week, I enjoy knowing the scripture on which the music is based so I can understand Bach's goal I don't think you have to be jewish to like rye bread; christian to enjoy Bach; or Buddhist to be unattached to the fruit of action. Understanding each religion's contribution to culture and to the universal body of mythos enhances my experience of being human. So, on the one hand, I do think that knowing about Bach's religious orientation helps me apprehend the music.
On the other hand, sometimes the discussion of specific, very detailed theological elements is difficult to wade through.
Not offensive; boring. But I wouldn't have anyone self-censor except when it comes to criticising others! Well, back to the daily grind Roy Reed wrote June 28, : Sorry to be a lurker these days, but I am chained to my desk on other labors Besides, I have a deadline. I do wish to respond to the question by Mr. At the time of the big Bach birthday in l I conducted two performances of the St.
Passion BWV Among responses was this letter: Dear Dr. Reed: Please let me express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to you and the other musicians involved in the Sat.
John Passion. A group of choir members from our church in Chesterland, Ohio attended and for me it was a most meaningful experience. Our daughter was killed in an auto accident a while ago and I want you to know that hearing your sensitive performance allowed me to finish my active grieving and put it all to rest.
I have sung it and just heard it this year at Severence Hall again, but the sensitivity and intimacy you achieved made it a truly religious experience for me - I am grateful.
Best wishes in your work. Sincerely, Name Obviously this woman was well disposed religiously and musically to hear Bach; not everyone is. This note did say to me, though, that what JSB did in his passions still works. He puts you at the foot of the cross, confronts you with tragedy
0コメント