by Brian Wise
At the age of 48, he had just acquired a copy of Luther’s three-volume translation of the Bible. Poring over it as one who had just found a buried treasured, he made notes in the margins and underlined one passage after another; spending a particularly great amount of time on passages containing a musical reference. The year was 1733 and this was not an individual who had a passing interest in the scripture, but rather an individual who would become the greatest church musician of the Baroque era. His name: Johann Sebastian Bach.
When most people are questioned about their knowledge of classical music and its composers, the majority of them will mention names such as Ludwig von Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, George Frederic Handel, or even Johannes Brahms, and maybe even Franz Joseph Haydn. But the one name that will most commonly be mentioned is Johann Sebastian Bach. During this month, the birth of Bach will be remembered by musicians and musicologists alike. The reason is not because Bach enjoyed the fame and popularity during his lifetime such as his contemporary, George Frederic Handel, or that he displayed the prodigy genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but it is because Bach, with his life and the music he composed, inspired and influenced all other composers who came after him.1
Born March 21, 1685, in Eisenach, Germany, during what is called the Baroque period of music (1600-1750), Bach came from a long line of musicians and composers. By the time of his birth, the Bach name had already become synonymous with the musical trade. More than 50 musicians bearing the Bach name are remembered by musicologists today.2 Indeed, when a vacancy occurred in 1693 at the Arnstadt court capelle, the court urgently called for a Bach to fill the position.3 Because of his family background, Bach’s parents’ natural expectation was that their son be a musician. However, the journey to achieving this was long and filled with adversity.
By the age of nine, both of Bach’s parents had died, and the family was forced to break up. Bach and his younger brother, Jacob, were taken in by their older brother, Johann Christoph, organist at Ohrdruf.4 While living with his older brother, Bach discovered some musical manuscripts and began copying the music at night in his bedroom even though it was against his brother’s wishes. The copied music was discovered by Bach’s brother and was promptly destroyed. However, through this experience and his unsatisfied interest in the organ, Bach began to display the undeniable musical talent that would surpass all others in the Bach family.
Throughout his life, Bach was known much more as an organist than a composer. He demonstrated unusual ability in playing the organ, and it would be this talent, not musical composing, that would be the main interest of his employers. He also became very proficient in repairing organs; making him an individual of much demand. Bach’s passion for the organ knew no limits. He once walked over 250 miles to hear the great organist of his day, Dietrich Buxtehude. Bach had acquired permission from his employer to be gone for a month to attend the concert, but Bach was so enthralled by the music that it was 16 weeks before he returned.5 As his ability and mastery of the organ developed, Bach also kept humility about his talent. Once, when an acquaintance praised Bach’s wonderful skill as an organist, he replied with characteristic humility and wit, “There is nothing very wonderful about it. You have only to hit the right notes at the right moment and the instrument does the rest.”6
Bach knew the source of his talent and he was not secretive about giving the proper credit for his gifts. His family background was greatly influenced by the Lutheran Reformation and the Moravians. This influence was more than a passing fancy or a popular fad in 17th century Germany. It was a lifestyle he practiced. Bach knew that his musical abilities came from God and God alone. To him “music is a mixed mathematical science that concerns the origins, attributes, and distinctions of sound, out of which a cultivated and lovely melody and harmony are made, so that God is honored and praised but mankind is moved to devotion, virtue, joy, and sorrow.”7 Therefore, he would frequently initial his blank manuscript pages with the marking, “J. J.” (Jesu, Juva \’96 “Help me Jesus”), or “I. N. J.” (In Nomine Jesu ’96 “In the name of Jesus”). At the end of the manuscript, Bach routinely wrote the letters “S. D. G.” (Soli Deo Gloria ’96 “To God alone, the glory”).8 To Bach, these were not simple religious slogans, but rather a true outward expression of an inward devotion to his Savior.
Interestingly enough, these markings were not limited only to his sacred work (i.e., chorales, cantatas, and masses) but are found on most all of his musical manuscripts. For instance, at the beginning of his “secular” Little Organ Book, he wrote as a dedication, “To God alone the praise be given for what’s herein to man’s use written.”9 In his Little Clavier Book, as it was in so many other of his compositions, was written, “In the Name of Jesus.”10 His belief was that God had given him the talent and ability and therefore God should also be given the credit.
With the gift of the talent, Bach knew there came the responsibility of using it. Oddly enough, Bach never considered himself as a composer but assumed, with good reason, that the titles “capellmeister” and “music director” themselves implied the function of composer. Therefore, he took to the task of being the best with the talent that God had given him.
And the best he was! Just in cantatas alone, Bach wrote approximately 340 of which only 200 survived. A cantata during the Baroque period was based on a particular scripture passage for the Sunday service and would be 20 to 30 minutes in length. These cantatas were grouped into cycles; one cantata specifically for each Sunday of the year. Most would end with a chorale, the forerunner to the hymn, with the music at all time closely bound to the biblical text. A more-noted chorale found in most hymnals is O Sacred Head Now Wounded. Although Bach did not compose the original melody, he harmonized it into what is now used in modern-day hymnals.
Not many of his cantatas are performed in their entirety. However, portions of these cantatas have become popular and recognizable to most who hear them today. An example of this is Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring. He wrote numerous chorales and motets; add to this the oratorios, masses, chamber music, and a myriad of instrumental music. It is staggering the amount of music that he composed!
Unfortunately, a great deal of his work has been lost. Stories relate how his music was used as wallpaper or as wrapping paper for garbage. His genius as a composer was never recognized by the populace of his day. Many thought he held stubbornly onto obsolete forms of music, and consequently never considered his compositions worthy of notice.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Bach was not swayed by what would sell musically but rather chose to compose what he felt would honor God. He never thought highly of himself but reportedly said that, “What I have achieved by industry and practice, anyone else with tolerable natural gift and ability can also achieve.”11 Yet, it was through the combination of using his talent, hard work, and with the most indefatigable study that Johann Sebastian Bach was able, whichever he turned, to extend so greatly the bounds of his art that his successors have not even been able to maintain this enlarged domain to its full extent; and this alone enabled him to produce such numerous and perfect works, all of which are, and ever will remain, true ideals and imperishable models of art.12
Bach was an avid reader of the scriptures. Some have said Bach lived with his Bible. He wrote many notes in the margin of his Bible expressing his own commentary on certain passages, especially those that dealt with music. A passage in 1 Chronicles 25 relates how King David set apart musicians for the temple worship. In response to this passage Bach wrote, “This chapter is the true foundation for all God-pleasing music.”13 Yet 2 Chronicles 5:13-14 seemed to have special meaning to Bach relating to the purpose of music in the church.
“It came to pass as the trumpeters and singers were as one to make one sound to be heard in the praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice, with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth forever 97 that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD. So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.”
Bach understood that these verses related the message that God was pleased with the music and with the unity that the music brought. God’s glory filled the temple before any message or any prayer was given. In his Bible, he wrote these words: “Where there is devotional music, God is always at hand with His gracious presence.” 14
This personal understanding of the scripture influenced his compositions. Bach was a master at “word painting.” He had the ability to use voices and musical instruments to enBaptist Bible Tribune [ March 2009 ] 15 hance or create an audible picture to enhance the meaning of the text. One of the most notable examples of this is found in his Mass in B Minor. Toward the end of the dramatic crucifixion movement, the voices and the instruments quietly sing and play in lower tones to depict the burial of Jesus. This is immediately followed by an explosion of voices and instruments on higher notes announcing the resurrection of our Lord. This style of word painting has been copied by many composers and is especially seen in the hymn Christ Arose.
In the later years of his life, Bach’s eyes began to fail him. He endured two unsuccessful eye surgeries without any anesthesia; eventually leading to his blindness. This, however, did not dampen his spirit or his desire to compose. Before total blindness had engulfed him, he wrote what has been considered his greatest works. The Art of the Fugue and The Goldberg Variations displayed the artistry and mastery of Bach like no other of his compositions. On July 28, 1750, Bach was finally united with his Savior and with the One to whom he served and dedicated his music. Two days before his death, he dictated a chorale from his bed entitled, “Before Thy Throne I Come.” (BWV 668)
Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit
O Gott, und dich demfctig bitt
Wend dein genadig Angesicht
Von mir, dem armem Sunder nicht.
Before your throne I now appear,
O God, and bid you humbly,
Turn not your gracious face From me,
a poor sinner.
Ein selig end emir bescher,
am jugsten Tag etwecke mich,
Herr, dabich dich schau ewiglich;
Amen, amen, erhore mich.
Confer on me a blessed end,
On the last day awaken me,
Lord, that I may see you eternally;
Amen, amen, hear me.
After his death, Bach’s work went into obscurity; fading out of the minds of people, and his music was not performed. Not until the 19th century with the performance of his Mass in B Minor would the name of Johann Sebastian Bach be known again. Composers who followed Bach, such as Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Wagner considered the wealth of music and the way it was composed to be a great gift from God. But popularity was not Bach’s highest goal. His idea of music was that its ultimate goal was to honor God and refresh the soul. Soli Deo Gloria, to God alone, the glory.
SOURCES
1 Christoph Wolff, Johann Sebastian Bach the Learned Musician (W. W. Norton & Company, New York, London: 2000) pg. 9. A biographical account of the life of Johann Sebastian Bach including his family history; places he lived and worked and the compositions that he wrote.
2 Patrick Kavanaugh, Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan: 1996) pg. 18. Brief biographical sketches focusing on the life of certain classical composers and their spiritual walk; showing how this influenced their compositional works.
3 C. Wolff, Johann Sebastian Bach the Learned Musician pp. 14-15. Much has been discovered concerning the musical lineage of Johann Sebastian Bach and how it also influenced his younger years.
4 Christoph Wolff, et al. “Bach.” In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK “http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/”}}{\fldrslt \cf2 \ul \ulc2 www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/}} music/40023pg10 (accessed January 29, 2009).
5 Ibid.
6 P. Kavanaugh, Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers pg. 19.
7 Kurze doch deutliche Anleitung zu der lieblich- und l\’f6blichen Singekunst (M\’fchlhausen, 1690, 1704) (Butt 1994, pg. 37).
8 P. Kavanaugh, Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers pg. 20
9 Ibid.
10 Ibid.
11 C. Wolff, Johann Sebastian Bach the Learned Musician pg. 10.
12 Ibid, pg. 472.
13 Robin Leaver, J. S. Bach As Preacher (St. Louis; Concordia, 1982), pg. 13.
14 Ibid
Bryan Wise is currently a graduate student at Missouri State University, finishing his Master’s of Music degree in Theory and Composition. His undergraduate degree is from Tennessee Temple in Music Education. He has been involved in church ministry since 1969 and has served, with his family, on the mission field of Honduras and as a minister of music.