In my paper I will be discussing how Bach’s theological views had an effect on not just his sacred music, but on his secular music as well. As it is well known throughout the most of the academic world, especially in music, Bach was a composer for the Lutheran church. Many of Dr. Martin Luther’s teachings were concerned with the order of the church and the hierarchy that he believed should govern the church.
Bach, as a student of the Lutheran theology, agreed with this belief and wrote his music accordingly.We know that Bach was a devout student of theology because he was raised in a very orthodox family that sent him to the Ohrdruf Lyceum which was an old Latin school renowned for its theological teachings. It can also be differed that he loved the material because we know that, although he was the youngest in his class, he was allowed to skip a whole half year after his first year in school. It was at this school that he began to study the writings of Leonhard Hutter, who was called the “great defender” of Luther’s doctrines against the attacks of a group known as the “reformed” Protestants.
Even when he spent time in St.Michaels School in Lunenburg, the primary reading for upper classmen was Hutter’s theology of Lutheran orthodoxy. His religious faith is seen in Bach’s own handwriting when he says, “It must have given an ultimate meaning and direction of his calling to an orthodox organist to know that the hands too stand in the service of God. ” However, his faith was not limited to his service in to the church.
In one of his books entitled Little Clavier Book, which he wrote for the 9 year old William Friederman, he inscribed the book with the words In nomine Jesu. This was the inscription for a non-sacred book.It would make sense if it were for a sacred work like one of his cantatas. But the fact that it is inscribed on this non-sacred book shows us how much his faith affected everything he did. And part of that doctrine was that there should always be order in everything your hands do. This is probably one of the reasons why even his secular works don’t really have sections for improvisation, and every little trill is purposefully written in.
he believed that all of his music, sacred or secular, was to honor God. His dedication in his book The Little Organ Book is fine example of this: “Inscribed in honor of the Lord Most High,And that my neighbor may be taught thereby. ” And yet one more example of this faith is in his musical teachings to his pupils. His book Rules and Instructions for Playing Thorough Bass or Accompaniment in Four Parts has this doctrine that Bach passed along to his pupils: “Figured Bass is the most perfect foundation for music.
It is executed with both hands in such a manner that the left hand plays the notes written down while the right hand adds consonances and dissonances. The result is an agreeable harmony to the Glory of God and the justifiable gratification of the senses.For the sole aim and reason of the figured bass, as of all music, should be nothing other than God’s Glory and pleasant recreations. Where this is not kept in mind there can be no true music, only an infernal scraping and bawling. ” When Bach said all he meant all; instrumental or vocal, secular or sacred.
In Bach’s eyes, religious and secular art are not socially or intellectually separate. Journal of Renaissance and Baroque Music; Gerhard Herz Translated Bible of Bach Bach, a biography; Charles Sanford Terry Rules and Instructions for Playing Thorough Bass or Accompaniment in Four Parts; Bach
