The Thursday before spring break, I found myself with a lot of free time between my last class and my evening activities so I decided to make use of the moment and made my way to the library where I found a book that seemed to be a good source for exploring more about my topic. The book is Bach Among the Theologians by Jaroslav Pelikan. I just finished reading the second chapter [The Musical Heritage of the Reformation]. In the chapter, Pelikan explores the relationship between Luther's theology, Luther's Hymn's, and Bach's settings of Luther's music. Though I plan on reading the chapter again to make sure that I have a firm grasp of what Pelikan is trying to convey, I enjoyed how he explained the clear relationship between Luther's theological treatment of sin and Bach's setting of a chorale by Luther for his cantata for the Sunday closest to Reformation Day.
"The same affirmation of the Reformation heritage is audible in Bach's other settings of Luther's hymns. A leading Swedish interpreter of that heritage in the twentieth century, Einar Billing, once summarized it in the proposition: Regard nothing as the theology of Luther that cannot be reduced to a simple corollary of the forgiveness of sins...Luther's faith was rooted in a profound awareness of the crisis of the human predicament. I his own language he spoke of that awareness as Anfechtung. Quite appropriately, Bach built his cantata for the Sunday nearest Reformation Day in 1724...around the words and music that Luther wrote for his hymn version of Psalm 130 in 1523 "Aus tiefer Not schrei icy zu dir [In deep distress I cry to thee]." Luther called Ps. 130 one of the "Pauline Psalms," along with Psalms 32, 51, and 143, because they dealt with so many of the topics of the epistles of Paul (who does indeed quote them) in their depiction of Anfechtung and the sense of sin; and this hymn was sung by the congregation for Luther's burial on 20 February 1546:"
Out of the depths I cry to you;
O Father, hear me calling.
Incline you ear to my distress
In spite of my rebelling.
Do not regard my sinful deeds.
Send me the grace my spirit needs;
Without it I am nothing. (LBW 295)
-Pelikan, 20-21.
Here is Bach's setting of the text.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjHzIFWKPOA
Wow, Luke. I'm so impressed by your deep interest in pairing the music and the history of the Reformation, and in a geeky way, I very much appreciated the link to YouTube so I could hear the music that you were referring to. As I clicked on your hyperlink, I was thinking how cool it would be if you could write a thesis that was digital, so that you could have hyperlinks that took the reader to audio files of the music you're referring to in your prose. SO COOL! I also very much like this line from the quote you've posted: "Luther's faith was rooted in a profound awareness of the crisis of the human predicament." I wonder if Bach found himself in the same awareness; I wonder if this is how musicians are similarly inspired. Anyway, you certainly got me thinking about something I'd never otherwise think about...
ReplyDeleteDid Luther write many hymns? I had no idea. But anyway, seeing his own take on hymns is a great way to go about showing the connection between the Reformation and the changes in sacred music.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I love Dr. Cook's idea about having the music integrated into the thesis. I think music, like the visual arts, is so much easier and more interesting to understand when you can actually HEAR it. It would really bring your research to life and allow the reader to actually experience what you're trying to show.