Bach & GodBach & God explores the religious character of Bach's vocal and instrumental music in seven interrelated essays. Noted musicologist Michael Marissen offers wide-ranging interpretive insights from careful biblical and theological scrutiny of the librettos. Yet he also shows how Bach's pitches, rhythms, and tone colors can make contributions to a work's plausible meanings that go beyond setting texts in an aesthetically satisfying manner. In some of Bach's vocal repertory, the music puts a "spin" on the words in a way that turns out to be explainable as orthodox Lutheran in its orientation. In a few of Bach's vocal works, his otherwise puzzlingly fierce musical settings serve to underscore now unrecognized or unacknowledged verbal polemics, most unsettlingly so in the case of his church cantatas that express contempt for Jews and Judaism. Finally, even Bach's secular instrumental music, particularly the late collections of "abstract" learned counterpoint, can powerfully project certain elements of traditional Lutheran theology. Bach's music is inexhaustible, and Bach & God suggests that through close contextual study there is always more to discover and learn. |
Contents
Bachs St John Passion and the Jews | |
The Theological Character of Bachs Musical Offering | |
INDEX OF BACHS WORKS | |
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Common terms and phrases
alto antiJewish appears aria Bach’s Cantata 46 Bach’s church cantatas Bach’s day Bach’s Musical Offering Bach’s musical setting Bach’s St Bärenreiter bars bass Bibles of Bach’s biblical Biblische Erklärung blessing blood Calov Bible canons chapter chorale Christ Christian commentary Concertos counterpoint covenant Cross and crown crowds destruction of Jerusalem disciples edited essay eternal example Fortress Press Frederick Friedrich fugue galant Gentiles German God’s Gospel of John Gott Greek Heiland heilige Bibel Herr interpretation Ioudaioi Isaiah Israel J. S. Bach Jesus Jesus’s Jewish Jews Johann Sebastian Bach John Passion John’s Josephus Judaism Leipzig libretto liturgical Lord Luke Luther Bibles Luther’s translation Lutheran Martin Luther Matthew Passion Michael Marissen movement Müller Musical Offering narrative notion ochlos Old Jerusalem Olearius passage polemic Psalm reading recitative religious rendering ritornello Romans sermon sonata Sunday after Trinity Tenth Sunday Testament ThreePart Fugue tonal verse Volk Wolff word Zechariah