J.S. Bach's Passions

Bath straddled two eras, that of the post-Reformation period, with the msuical tradition that flowed out of Luther's reformation, and that of the new secular age of "Enlightenment" (Aufklarung). Orthodox and devoted to the glory of God, Bach fashioned his music to reflect the truth of the Gospel and of the Reformation.

Historical theologian, Jaroslav Pelikan, explores these themes in his short book: Bach Among the Theologians (Wipf & Stock). Firstly, he sets Bach within the ecclesiastical struggles of the 18th Century, and then applies these themes to three great pieces of Bach's choral music: The St. Matthew, St John Passions and the B Minor Mass. The Lutheran church was dividied into three groupings: the orthodox, the pietists and the "liberals", those who had adopted the faith of enlightenment rationalism.

For Bach there was no great distinction between sacred and secular, he was prolific with both. producing dozens of Church cantatas. He also produced reams of keyboard music, as well as the great orchestral works, like the Brandenburg Concertos.

When in Lutheran Germany, Bach produced church cantatas at an astonishing rate. When in Calvinistic Cothen, his direction was towards "secular" music, cantatas and instrumental music.

The refreshing thing about J. S. Bach ws that he was primarily a muscial craftsmen. He created music before the Romantic era with its overwrought emphasis upon the god-like creativity of the "artist". There is none of this egotism in Bach.

At Easter there is an opportunity to explore Bach's musical interpretation of the Gospel passion narratives of Matthew and John. Pelikan shows us that in the St Matthew Passion, Bach centers upon the sacrificial nature of Christ's death, whereas in the St John's Passion his motif is that of Christus Victor - Christ the conqueror of sin and death.

We need to hear both this Easter.