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Home , St John Passion

No. 17 Fall 2012

BACH NOTES

THE NEWSLETTER OF THE AMERICAN BACH SOCIETY

Songs Both New and Old— A Review of the Bachfest 2012

The annual Bachfest Leipzig ran from June 7 to 17 this year under the theme “‘...a new song’—800 years of musical tradition at St. Thomas.” An 800th anniversary is an extraordinary jubilee in it- self, but to suggest Bach’s pres- ence and historical significance in it with the motto “... a new song” (referring to Bach’s motet Singet dem Herrn, ein neues Lied, BWV 225) is a testament to the emer- gence of the music Bach made in Leipzig from a long and proud tradition, and the impact he, to- gether with the school and its , has made on this venerable conducting in Leipzig’s Nikolaikirche. Photo by Gerd Mothes, Bach-Archiv Leipzig institution. The tradition remains intact in our day, and will surely atmosphere. One could not help In This Issue: continue in the future. The Bach- but notice the increased num- fest’s theme was thus felt in every ber of foreign visitors, especially 1. Songs Both New and Old— A Review of the Bachfest 2012 event, and its meaning was even from America. Of the 123 events by Yo Tomita more resonant when events were held over the 11-day festival, the 5. Redeeming the St. John Passion… held in Leipzig’s historic venues. flagship concerts were held in the and J. S. Bach The programmes were struc- two principal churches (the Niko- by Robert L. Marshall laikirche and the Thomaskirche) tured around the recurring old 12. Results of The 2012 Biennial favourites—a Passion (either St. and the Gewandhaus, and drew Bach Vocal Competition John or St. Matthew), the Gold- in large audiences. Equally popu- 12. News from Members, Officers, berg Variations, and the B-minor lar was a series of recitals called Advisory Board & Membership Mass. For a regular visitor, the “Ausgezeichnet” (“Award-Win- Information Bachfest Leipzig 2012 retained ning”), a kind of platform for emerging young talents who have © 2012 its identity as well as its charac- The American Bach Society teristic warmth and welcoming won the International Bach Com- 2 petition in recent years. Many programme items that the St. Thomas School. Both events were brimming have become regular features of the Bachfest over with enthusiastic audience members. the years were retained in this year’s programme. While the level of the concerts was generally high, The Sunday services offered a glimpse into a tra- there were few I would describe as truly memorable. dition to which Bach himself contributed. Organ The acoustic experience in historic venues such as tours to neighboring towns were an opportunity to the Nikolaikirche or Thomaskirche largely depends enjoy a relaxing day out in the beautiful and peaceful on where one is seated. It is easy to imagine the dif- countryside. Members of the Bach-Archiv gave lec- ficulties such an acoustically complex space can pose tures on their latest discoveries and the implications for the performers forced to make necessary adjust- of those discoveries. As part of this year’s museum ments during the limited time they have to rehearse. offerings, two of Bach’s Bibles were displayed to- Still, as Ton Koopman and his Amsterdam Baroque gether. Finally, an exciting outdoor concert entitled Orchestra masterfully demonstrated in the Nikolai- “Bach on Air” took place in the central marketplace. kirche on Saturday, June 9th, it was indeed possible Newly introduced this year was a series called “b@ to impress the sizeable audience, which responded ch for us,” featuring educational concerts for chil- ecstatically. Koopman’s programme of BWV 1066, dren and families. I attended one of these events in 51, 199 and 202 was colourfully enriched by the so- the Nikolaikirche on the afternoon of Sunday, June prano , who sang with breathtak- 10th. As could be surmised from its title, “Geheim- ing brilliance, making the evening unforgettable. code B-A-C-H” (“Secret Code B-A-C-H”), the con- Another group that received a rapturous reception cert explained the tone series of Bach’s name and was Marcus Creed with his Vocalconsort Berlin, showed how the row of notes came to inspire not who performed a programme entitled ‘Baroque only members of the Bach family but also compos- Funeral Music’ on Sunday, June 10th in the Thom- ers of later eras. Although attendance at these events askirche. Featuring works by J. H. Schein, J. M. Bach, was generally low, they were vitally important, not H. Schütz, J. Schelle, J. Crüger as well as two of J. S. just for the theme of this year’s festival, but to foster Bach’s own motets (BWV 227 and 229), it stimulated future generations of Bach lovers, performers and the imagination of the audience members as they scholars. For their sake it would be good to see such experienced this broad historical overview of the events develop further in years to come. Thomaskantor’s artistic heritage. The Bachfest displayed many faces to the public— Two English groups occupied what might be re- from very dignified to truly relaxed. The most digni- garded as the most prominent slots in the Bachfest. fied was the presentation ceremony for the “City of The first was the Orchestra of the Age of Enlight- Leipzig Bach Medal,” which took place on Friday, enment led by Margaret Faultless, on Saturday, June June 8th in the very spacious and exquisitely deco- 16th in the Nikolaikirche, with a performance of rated Altes Rathaus. This year’s recipient was Ma- BWV 1067, BWV 1043, J. A. Hiller’s F-major Sinfo- saaki Suzuki, who is about to bring to conclusion his nia and Mozart’s G-minor Symphony, KV 550. Hav- recording series of the complete cantatas. On the ing programmed the pieces more or less chronologi- following day he also performed the early version of cally, they began with a small ensemble of one on a Bach’s St Matthew Passion. Equally dignified, and at part, gradually increasing its size in response to both the same time intellectually very stimulating, was the the style of the period and the scoring of the works. lecture by , held in the same venue In this way they effectively demonstrated how or- on Saturday, June 9th. Wolff articulately illuminat- chestral works evolved in the 18th century, and at ed the significance of Bach’s 27 years of office in the same time created a cohesive programme with Leipzig within the 800-year-long musical tradition at a momentous climax. However, despite the inspired

No. 17 BACH • NOTES 3 programming, their one-to-a-part rendition of Bach lier. In Tokyo, Suzuki’s rendition possessed an over- failed to carry sufficient power to impress the audi- whelming sense of drama and conviction, which was ence, and elicited little more than a tepid response. enhanced by his soloists’ technical brilliance. While The second English group was Harry Bicket with such variables as the choice of performance venue and Concert Choir, which per- and make-up of the ensemble may have influenced formed the B-minor Mass at the closing concert of the way in which the performance was prepared and the Bachfest on Sunday, June 17th. After an extra executed, it seemed that there were other fundamen- 10 minutes was spent on tuning the instruments, tal issues associated with performing this unfamiliar the opening tutti sounded over-articulated and did early version of the work. Answering the question not seem to gel in the vast, reverberant space. The of how it ought to be performed and appreciated is success of the choir’s strategically gradated dynam- not simple, as there will always be many unknowns. ics and phrasing in the fugal section of the opening A close look at the source situation shows us that the “Kyrie,” for instance, was soon met with disappoint- later version of the St. Matthew Passion has been ment in the following “Christe” by the distasteful preserved in a score that Bach wrote with meticulous vibrato-laden bel canto of the soloists. However, care; the original performance parts also survive. Bicket’s thoughtful structuring of the Mass was The early version, by contrast, is primarily known credible, particularly in the shaping of the “Dona through a distant manuscript copy in the hand of nobis pacem,” which contrasted well with the “Gra- a certain Johann Christoph Farlau, who, according tias” heard 90 minutes earlier. There were some to Peter Wollny, may have copied it around 1765, minor blemishes in every movement except in the presumably from a manuscript owned by Bach’s stu- “Agnus Dei.” The countertenor Iestyn Davies was dent and son-in-law, Johann Christoph Altnickol. astonishing: he sang the work with such intensity Given the tenuous connection to the composer, it and conviction that the audience was left breathless. is easy to imagine that Farlau’s score—in addition to I will remember it as one of the most gripping and the early readings or those that Bach had originally convincing performances of the festival. conceived—contained a certain number of errors. The last concert I will discuss here was Masaaki Su- Of course, Bach’s early readings pose many crucial zuki’s rendition of the early version (1727/29) of questions which are worth addressing. For example, the St Matthew Passion (BWV 244b), performed why did he replace some movements in the later ver- on Friday June 8 in the Thomaskirche. A showcase sion? The final movement of Part 1, for example, concert of this year’s Bach Medal winner, it was in was a simple four-part “Jesum laß ich nicht many ways the most important performance of the von mir” and only later became the grand choral Bachfest 2012. Numerous visitors flocked to hear fantasia “O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß.” Why the work in the venue in which it was originally con- did Bach change instruments in the later version? In ceived and performed, hoping to share in the acous- No. 19, for example, transverse flutes were used in- tic message that would have been imparted on the stead of recorders and in Nos. 56-57 a was used audience who sat in the same location 285 years ago. instead of a . Finally, why did Bach add another However, contrary to high expectations, the perfor- continuo group in the later version? Just listening to mance appeared somewhat tentative and uninspired. the early version reveals what Bach himself clearly I was dismayed to find that one or two soloists sang discerned 285 years ago. The lute used in No. 57 well below the level of professional performers. This (“Komm, süßes Kreuz”), for instance, sounded as was an utter surprise for someone who had heard if it was a misjudgement on Bach’s part. While the the the same group perform the later (1736) version large melodic leaps in dotted rhythm are manageable of the same work in Tokyo only two months ear- on the lute, and more idiomatic than on the viol, the

BACH • NOTES Fall 2012 4

Example 1: BWV 244b/49 (1727/29), opening

Example 2: BWV 244/49 (1736), opening

quick flourishes were manifestly less so. On- hear Presumably the two versions would have been per- ing this performance, one cannot help but wonder formed quite similarly in Bach’s time. The later if Bach changed his mind after having heard his lu- version is simply more precise in its notation. In tenist struggle with these passages. performing the early version in a modern concert, Another question concerns the level of notational should one stick to what is written in the 1727/29 detail communicated in the sources. Recent studies score, ignoring what is known about the rhythmic have found that Bach was inclined to write fewer ar- flexibility, variability of articulation, and the addition ticulation marks, ornaments and embellishments in of cadential appoggiaturas in Bach’s time? The an- his composing scores, but more in his performance swer could be ‘yes’ if we are to regard a performance parts, his calligraphic autograph fair copies and pub- as the sonic manifestation of the score, rather than lished scores. The explanation for this state of af- the sonic manifestation Bach most likely expected. fairs is presumably that more detail was required in For the most part, Suzuki’s Leipzig performance fol- materials that would have been used by musicians lowed the former principle. Why? The artistic goals outside his immediate circle. What is worrying here seem to follow a broader principle. Suzuki deliber- is the disparity between what we have learned from ately refrained from intervening in the inherent dra- the study of historical performance practice and ma of the work, allowing the natural narrative of what can be learned from the sources of these two the story to carry the performance. There versions. The opening of No. 49 (“Aus Liebe”) illus- was no attempt by Suzuki’s , Gerd Türk,­ trates this point (See Examples 1 and 2 above). to accentuate Peter’s weeping or ’ death, thus

No. 17 BACH • NOTES 5 introducing a striking contrast with his rendition in strumental music: in my case the keyboard music. Tokyo of the later version. One suspects that with My familiarity with his church music was extremely his two Passion performances, Suzuki tried to dis- limited. So I hadn’t expected to encounter anything tinguish between the degrees of maturity in Bach’s like the explicit, relentless, denunciation of the Jews dramatic language. In my view, however, performing —my own eternally suffering people, after all—that the early version in a somewhat ‘naive’ manner is one is exposed to in that composition. Indeed there a mistake. Bach was not naive in 1727—indeed, he is nothing like it anywhere else in Bach’s work—sec- had already written nearly all of his cantatas by this ular or sacred. And this was all being expressed in point—and the attempt to contrast these two ver- the German language, the sound of which to Eng- sions of the St. Matthew Passion in terms of levels lish speakers at the time was inextricably associated of maturity strikes me as misguided. Masaaki Suzu- with ranting tyrants and demagogues and maraud- ki’s performance nonetheless provided ample food ing SS troops. It was not difficult to imagine Goeb- for thought to both musicologists and performers bels hollering “Die Juden aber schrieen…Weg, weg who consider performing early versions of Bach’s mit dem, kreuzige ihn!” (“But the Jews screamed… works, and he should be commended for his attempt Away, away, with him. Crucify him!”) The fact is, to offer a new perspective on a familiar work. English speakers of my generation effectively never The next Bachfest Leipzig, the theme of which will heard the German word “Juden” except when it was be “Vita Christi,” will take place from June 14 to 23, spoken—indeed, shouted—by a Nazi. I should add 2013. I have no doubt that attending will offer many that this was all barely fifteen years after the end of rewarding experiences. the Second World War, when the psychic wounds were still very raw indeed. Yo Tomita And yet Bach’s music in this stunning masterpiece, Queen’s University Belfast as just about everywhere else, was so profound and lovely—and so compelling. All this by way of indicating that I completely un- Redeeming the St. John Passion… derstand why so many people—especially Jews, of And J. S. Bach course—have a “problem” (to put it mildly) with Jo- By Robert L. Marshall hann Sebastian Bach’s Passion according to St. John, and why many to this day are unable to listen to it, much less perform it. I well remember the first time I heard Johann Sebas- Thank God—and you can take that figuratively or tian Bach’s Passion according to St. John. To say that literally—the roughest edges have by now, fifty years the experience was deeply disturbing would be an hence, been smoothed to a great extent, if certainly understatement. It was nothing less than devastat- not completely, and we have learned to put Bach’s ing. The music was, as expected, movingly expres- St. John Passion into historical, cultural, and theo- sive and beautiful, and breathtakingly complex in logical perspective. Moreover, musical scholars and that inevitable, inexorable way that is Bach’s alone. theologians are still working on that project. But it was also, thanks to its text, altogether painful In a word, the St. John Passion is without question for me to listen to. Bach’s most controversial work. In fact, it is really Bach was then—as he has always been—the princi- his only controversial work. All other controversies pal god in my personal pantheon. Like most Ameri- surrounding his music are concerned with the rela- can musicians of my generation, Jewish or not, my tively trivial matters of authenticity and chronology. acquaintance with Bach was largely through his in- Did Bach really write a particular work and, if so,

BACH • NOTES Fall 2012 6 when? Not many people outside the scholarly com- cording to St. John, in starkest contrast, purports to munity really care about such things. Just about ev- be factual: conveying historical truth; and the Jews eryone cares, though, whether a towering work of in it—whether they are taken to represent just the art by one of the world’s most famous creative ge- “authorities” or the entire Jewish people—are more niuses is conveying a doctrine of murderous hatred, than a single repellent individual, and they stand ac- or depicting dehumanizing stereotypes. cused and convicted of the worst imaginable crime The matter is still so sensitive that for the past decade of all: deicide—the murder of a god. or so it has been the rule more than the exception in But there is, nonetheless, a great irony in the strik- this country to attach a “warning label” of sorts to ingly dissimilar reception of both works in contem- any live performance of the St. John Passion (as if porary cultural life, and it is this: Unlike Shakespeare, dealing with some hazardous material), either in the Dickens, Dostoyevsky and those other troubling ge- form of a full-scale symposium, or in the form of a niuses who willingly contributed to the West’s anti- pre-concert lecture. Semitic cultural tradition, Bach was clearly not the One could, of course, try to excuse, or at least rela- author of the text of the St. John Gospel. By virtue tivize the problem by pointing out that anti-Semitic, of his position as Director of Music for the ortho- or at least anti-Jewish, stereotypes have long been dox Lutheran church of Leipzig and, according to part of the Western cultural tradition. The St. John the guidelines established by the clerical authorities, Passion is the musical counterpart of The Merchant he was obliged to set verbatim the holy biblical text of Venice. And the anti-Semitic caricatures or utter- of the Passion story—the word of God as translat- ances in the works of Dostoyevsky, Dickens, T. S. ed by , the founder of his Protestant Eliot, Ezra Pound et al ad nauseam, are familiar to us faith—for the religious service. all. The arguments for the prosecution and for the At this point it is advisable to review briefly some defense have been presented for them all. Our con- of the history that forms the cultural and religious temporaries—as individuals­—have rendered their contexts for Bach’s St. John Passion. Like virtually several verdicts. all of his astounding legacy, Bach’s great Passion set- But consider for a moment Shakespeare’s The Mer- tings represent a synthesis of musical styles and tra- chant of Venice. Unless I’m deceived, the play has be- ditions. On the one hand, they are descended from a come ever more popular in recent years, with ever long medieval liturgical tradition, in which the Gos- more stage and even film productions. Clever direc- pel readings of the Passion story during Holy Week tors have succeeded in finding layers of nuance and were presented as sung dramatizations: the narrator, complexity in what at first encounter seems to be, in i. e., the Evangelist, was joined by solo singers tak- the figure of Shylock, a merciless anti-Semitic carica- ing on the roles of Jesus, Pilate, and other personae, ture. (In fact, it is becoming difficult to recall a time while a chorus took on the role of the crowds (of now when Shylock was routinely depicted as the vil- soldiers, , the mob). Since the Lutheran Refor- lain rather than as the victim of the piece.) Over the mation these so-called “responsorial ” were same period, though, performances of Bach’s St. sung in German rather than Latin, and by the 17th John Passion are undertaken, if at all, with, at the century, the pure Gospel text was augmented by the least, considerable trepidation. Upon reflection, the addition of appropriate congregational hymns (cho- different attitudes on the part of modern audiences rales) that meditated on the larger meaning of the toward the two challenging masterpieces are read- biblical events. ily accounted for. The Merchant of Venice is a work But Bach’s Passions also built on a considerably of the imagination: Shylock nothing but a single, more recent innovation, one developed in fact just grotesque, and fictional ­individual. The Gospel ac- in the twenty or so years before he composed the

No. 17 BACH • NOTES 7

St. John Passion in 1724. Known as “Passion Ora- for bringing the Luther source to my attention.) To torios,” these compositions were an offshoot of the my knowledge this extraordinary document has nev- latest developments in secular musical drama and er been mentioned in previous discussions of the St. theater. They were non-liturgical works, consisting John Passion controversy, even though a substantial of rhymed verses instead of the Gospel text and set excerpt, in English translation, has been “hiding in to music in the style of the and of plain sight,” as it were, in Howard E. Smither, A His- contemporary Italian opera. tory of the , Volume 2: The Oratorio in the Baroque The North German city of Hamburg was at the cen- Era: Protestant Germany and England (Chapel Hill: Uni- ter of this development. The libretto for the first versity of North Carolina Press, 1977), p. 110. One true Passion Oratorio of this kind, Der blutige und ster- wonders whether its neglect can at all be attributed bende Jesus (“The Bloody and Dying Jesus”), dating to the fact that is does not fit the preferred contem- to 1704, was by Christian Friedrich Hunold (1681– porary narrative of the early eighteenth-century Pas- 1721, pen name: Menantes). The most significant sion Oratorio tradition—including Bach’s settings— and influential Passion Oratorio text, however, was as anti-Judaic or anti-Semitic works. by Barthold Heinrich Brockes. His libretto, Der für Now some have argued that the Brockes text is in die Sünde der Welt gemarterte und sterbende Jesus (“Jesus, fact virulently anti-Semitic. But I have to say that I Martyred for the Sins of the World”), published in fail to see this. For all its graphic, bloody, Baroque 1712, became enormously popular and influential, imagery, the Jews are never mentioned explicitly ex- and was eventually set to music by almost a dozen cept as part of the phrase “King of the Jews” or as composers—Telemann and Handel among them. part of the caption “Chorus of Jews” found only in It is important to understand that this development the libretto. Christ’s tormenters are characterized as in Hamburg was actually an early symptom of En- sinners, murderers, henchmen, devils, as “a furious lightenment thinking and indeed of incipient reli- brood of vipers” but also as simply “they.” gious tolerance. Although the clergy, the clerical au- At all events, in 1717 a successful performance of thorities, objected to the substitution of a modern Telemann’s setting of the in Leipzig paraphrase for the biblical narrative, the secular es- persuaded the conservative church authorities there tablishment—the Hamburg Senate—was concerned to permit such “theatrical” treatments of the story above all that the new texts not incite religious ani- in the city’s main churches—namely, St. Thomas and mosity. In a remarkable document dated 14 April St. Nicholas—so long as they retained the biblical 1710—that is, two years before the publication of texts rather than newly-minted rhymed versions of Brockes’s oratorio text and unquestionably known them. By 1721 Bach’s predecessor as Thomas Can- to him—the Senate, explicitly invoking the name tor, Johann Kuhnau, inaugurated an annual Good and authority of Martin Luther (and paraphrasing Friday tradition with a performance of his Passion the Reformer’s own “Meditation on Christ’s Pas- according to St. Mark during the Vesper service in sion” of 1519), issued this stern injunction: “Our the Thomaskirche. Henceforth, Passion perfor- blessed Luther… emphatically indicates that the mances were to alternate regularly from year to year right and proper goal of the reflection on the Pas- between the Thomas and Nicholas churches (and sion must be aimed at the awakening of true peni- also, presumably, to present settings of the four gos- tence… and of a life pleasing to God. The other things, pels in some sort of rotation). such as violent invectives and exclamations against Pilate, Ju- That, then, in brief, is the background for Bach’s das, the Jews (especially when entire sections are filled with composition. The narrative framework for the them) can by no means be tolerated.” (Emphasis added. work is provided by Martin Luther’s translation of My thanks to Robin Leaver and Michael Marissen Chapters 18 and 19 of the Gospel according to St.

BACH • NOTES Fall 2012 8

John. Following tradition—and the explicit Leipzig writes that Joseph left Nazareth and entered “in das prescription—it is presented verbatim (not in para- jüdische Land zur Stadt Davids…Bethlehem.” The phrase) but in dramatized form. A tenor, in the role German “das jüdische Land” would most readily be of the Evangelist, narrates the events while a bass translated into English as “the Jewish territory” or takes on the role of Jesus. Other solo voices repre- “the land of the Jews.” In the King James Version, sent Peter, Pilate, and some of the lesser characters. however, the passage reads “Joseph went into Ju- In the crowd scenes the chorus plays the protago- daea, unto the city of David.” nists—variously representing the High Priests, the But there is no gainsaying the fact that all the stan- mob, or the soldiers. In these so-called “turba” (or dard English translations, and, I suspect, the standard crowd) choruses Bach draws on the full spectrum of translations in just about all the modern languages, choral techniques from incisive chordal outbursts to render St. John’s Greek in the Passion narrative as free polyphony to formal fugal expositions. the equivalent of “the Jews.” For the modern listener it is precisely the crowd So the biblical, theological, and linguistic problems, choruses—and surely they alone—that are the lo- along with the modern moral problem, persist. Not cus of the distress. The sticking point is the fact surprisingly, modern theologians continue to grap- that the St. John Gospel specifically and repeatedly ple with them. I am indebted to Dr. Martin Rum- identifies those hysterically crying out for the death scheidt, a theologian and a good friend, for calling of Jesus as “the Jews.” The St. Matthew Gospel, in my attention to a new German translation of the contrast, does not use the “J” word in this context at Bible prepared by a consortium of German Scrip- all: it consistently refers to the crowd simply as “the ture scholars that aims to rectify these and other people” (in Luther’s translation: “Das Volk”). In all troubling passages in the Lutheran Bible. The pub- three synoptic , in fact, the word “Jews” oc- lication, which appeared in 2006, bears the title Die curs almost exclusively as part of the formulation Bibel in gerechter Sprache (“The Bible in just, or fair, “King of the Jews.” language”). Some modern theologians have argued that the In this version we find several different renderings rhetoric in John’s Gospel—the last of the four to for Luther’s “die Juden”—most typically “die jü- be set down—reflects conflicts among traditional dische Obrigkeit” (i.e. the Jewish authorities). and early Christianized Jewish communities in the Dr. Rumscheidt suggests, in a private correspon- period following the destruction of the Temple, and dence “that what the [compilers of the new text] are that John—himself a Jew (like all the disciples, and after is to make it completely clear that the ‘writer’ indeed like Jesus)—was directing his resentment to- of John does not accuse the entire Jewish popula- ward the religious establishment, i. e. “the Jews.” Oth- tion present in Jerusalem at the Passover time of ers maintain that John’s target encompassed all those having [wanted] Jesus killed but only the “Obrigkeit” who rejected Jesus and refused to follow him (that —that is, the religious authorities—who were in fact is, not only those who had official status)—in short, the real ‘government’ in the Roman province of Ju- once again, “the Jews.” The obvious implication is dea (rather than King Herod)—[and] who wanted to that the problem is with John’s choice of words, spe- have Jesus out of the way for fear that he could upset cifically the Greek formulation “hoi Ioudaioi” and, the delicate arrangements between Rome and them- following it, in Luther’s translation, “die Juden,” i. selves. All of the scholars involved in the… transla- e., the Jews. The Greek expression, however, could tion maintain that the ‘writer’ of John was a Jew and also have been translated as “the Judeans,” i. e., the not a Gentile and had, like the whole Jesus move- residents of the province of Judea. For example, ment at the time, little use for the ‘Obrigkeit’.” Rum- in St. Luke’s narrative of the Nativity (2:4), Luther scheidt goes on as follows: “I would claim therefore

No. 17 BACH • NOTES 9 that the so-called anti-Semitism or anti- of soloists in the arias were all members of Bach’s cho- the is a later interpolation on the rus. Every singer was called upon to empathize with, Gospel by people who were anti-Semitic and anti- to portray, and to enact a number of these roles in Judaistic like John Chrysostom of Constantinople.” the course of the performance. The same bass who With the mention of John Chrysostom of Con- sang the role of Jesus in one was part of stantinople I am in over my head. Others can judge the crowd calling for His blood in another. In short, better than I whether something like the new Ger- the singers were all variously believers, disciples, Ro- man translation and whether modern theological mans, Jews—victims, tormenters, the damned, the explanations like that of Dr. Rumscheidt suffice to blessed. “redeem,” as it were, and make palatable, if not the Whereas Bach could do nothing about the Gospel whole can of worms, at least some of the most dis- text, we can be sure that he played a major role— turbing passages in the St. John Gospel. very likely the decisive role—in the selection of the As for the St. John Passion: Let me suggest that other texts of the St. John Passion. And what mes- Bach is able to redeem the work himself—and has sages do they convey? Here is an outline of their done so triumphantly—without the help of modern contents. They counsel compassion, empathy, and theological revisionism. He has done so by means gratitude for the Savior’s suffering (which He en- of the texts of the remaining two-thirds of the work dured, after all, only on our behalf); also a resolve to and their extraordinary settings. follow him and at least to try to emulate His mercy, As is well known, the text for the St. John Passion, to weep and mourn for, but also to rejoice in, His like that for the St. Matthew and Bach’s other large- sacrifice: the act that brings everlasting life. But these scale , draws on three sources. In addition texts go on to counsel not only awareness of Christ’s to the Bible chapters, they are the repertory of tra- innocence and sacrifice but also of one’s own sins, ditional congregational hymns, as well as modern and an understanding that it is one’s own sins—and poetic verses. While the Gospel narrative relates (by clear implication) not just those of some Jewish the historical events, the congregational zealots who lived in the Middle East centuries ago— convey the church’s understanding of them; the po- an understanding, I repeat, that it is one’s own sins etic verses, for their part—set mostly as elaborate that are responsible for Christ’s suffering. Paul Ger- arias—express the emotional responses of the in- hardt’s chorale asks “Wer hat dich so geschlagen?” dividual believer to them. Put another way: the Bi- (“Who has struck you thus?”) and answers “Ich, ble text describes what took place in the historical ich und meine Sünden… die haben dir erreget [d]as past; the arias capture the present moment by giving Elend, das dich schlägt?” (“I, I and my sins…these voice to the emotional and spiritual experiences of have brought you [t]his misery that assails you.) the contemporary, individual, believer (“contempo- Just below the surface, I suspect, of all this modern rary” no matter whether to Bach’s time or today), as controversy and hand-wringing is one particularly that individual believer reflects upon those powerful, fraught and disquieting question, namely, what, if if distant, events. The chorales, finally, like a Greek anything at all, does the mere existence of such a chorus, assume a more reflective, timeless, perspec- work as the St. John Passion reveal of Bach’s per- tive, namely, that of the Christian community as a sonal attitude toward the Jews? The short answer, whole—in a word: that of the church. really, is: nothing. But let’s pursue the point a bit It is important to realize that in Bach’s time all these further. I believe a case can be made that Bach, if roles and points of view were entrusted to the same anything, was unusually tolerant of other religions performers. The dramatis personae of the biblical story, for someone of his time and place and situation. For the participants in the meditative chorales, and the example, his employer in Köthen was a Calvinist.

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Bach’s relationship with Prince Leopold of Köthen fairly favorable one in the book of Ecclesiastes. The was exceptionally warm—almost brotherly, it seems annotator observes: “The writings of the Jews dif- to me. Bach later described his years at the Calvinist fer from those of the Gentiles in that the Jews have court of Köthen as the happiest of his life. We can received God’s word and commandments and that also point to the composer’s repeated efforts to in- they teach us through their writings that everything gratiate himself with the Catholic Court at Dresden. proceeds according to God’s will and order, and for These efforts famously included his offer to provide that reason these writings are all the more useful to music for the church service there—an offer that he read.” reinforced by sending to King Frederick Augustus It is easy to conclude, moreover, from Bach’s mar- II of Saxony, as a modest display of his earnestness ginalia that the biblical figure whom the composer (and of his ability), a handsome dedication copy of most revered (next to Christ, of course), and the one the B minor Mass—a work that was later referred with whom he most identified, was very much a Jew: to in the Bach family as “the great Catholic Mass.” none other than King David, the legendary author It’s striking, in fact, that Bach’s relations with both of the Book of Psalms. the Calvinist prince during his Köthen years and the Specifically, Bach annotated no fewer than three pas- Catholic Court in nearby Dresden during his Leipzig sages in the two books of Chronicles, which narrate years were considerably better than those with any the life of King David. 1 Chronicles 25 describes of his Lutheran employers (the “Obrigkeit,” we the musical forces provided by David for the divine might say)—co-religionists all—whether in Arn- service. Bach writes: “NB: This chapter is the true stadt, Mühlhausen, Weimar, or Leipzig. foundation of all God-pleasing church music.” At As for the Jews: literally nothing definitive is known 1 Chronicles 28:21, commenting on David’s injunc- about Bach’s personal relations with Jews. It is not tion to Solomon “to use every willing man who has even known whether Bach had ever had any per- skill for any kind of service, Bach observes: “NB: sonal contact with Jews at all, since—with few ex- Marvelous proof that, along with other parts of the ceptions—they were generally banned from living in divine service, music, too (and especially), was or- Leipzig—or indeed in the regions of Thuringia and dained by God’s spirit through David.” Finally, Bach Saxony where Bach spent almost the entirety of his entered the following remark at 2 Chronicles 5:13-14 life. They could and did, however, visit the Leipzig describing the use of musical instruments to praise trade fairs, and Bach may have met Jews on those oc- the Lord: “NB: Wherever there is devotional music casions. There has also been speculation that Johann God, with His grace, is ever present.” Abraham Birnbaum, the university professor of These three observations, incidentally, make up ful- rhetoric, and Bach’s friend, who published a famous ly half of the grand total of just six verbal com- defense of Bach’s music in the 1730s, may have been ments—as opposed to the numerous underlinings a Jewish convert. or strokes in the margins—that Bach bothered to But far more important is the evidence provided by enter into the Calov tomes. the numerous underlinings and marginal comments And in this connection I think it is of more than in Bach’s personal copy of a massive annotated edi- passing interest that Bach launches his monumen- tion of the Bible known, after the name of the edi- tal setting of the Passion according to St. John with tor, as the “Calov Bible.” It is striking that the com- what? Not some newly invented modern poetic vers- poser completely ignores those passages that can es penned by his librettist, as he does the St. Mat- be read as hostile to the Jews. On the contrary: the thew Passion. Nor has Bach chosen to take some only remark in the volume specifically concerning appropriate chorale text or a passage from the New the Jews that Bach was inclined to mark at all was a Testament. The St. John Passion begins rather with

No. 17 BACH • NOTES 11 lines taken almost (but not quite) verbatim from the Postscript: Psalms of David, specifically from the opening of Psalm 8. (The text of Bach’s chorus: “Herr, unser The foregoing text was delivered, with minor Herrscher, dessen Ruhm in allen Landen herrlich changes, on March 10, 2012, in Sanders Theater, ist!.” Luther’s rendering of the corresponding lines Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, preceding a of Psalm 8 reads: “Herr, unser Herrscher, wie her- performance of J. S. Bach’s St. John Passion by the rlich ist dein Name in allen Landen.” This is given in Back Bay Chorale, Scott Allen Jarrett conducting the King James Version as: “O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth.”) It turned out, much to my surprise, that the Jewish Now, in addition to serving important theological and Gentile members of the audience who cared purposes—namely, that of emphasizing Jesus’ di- to express their views after this talk had completely vine nature from the outset—it seems to me that different responses to it. this Psalm citation does something more. It consti- tutes an implicit homage to King David, someone For the most part Christians reported that they who for Bach was not only a biblical hero but a fel- barely registered the negative depiction of the Jews low musician whose conviction that music was an in the St. John narrative. Many apparently were indispensable adornment of the divine service en- not even aware that there was a “problem.” They riched and justified Bach’s own calling. seemed to regard it, along with the depiction of the Moreover, with this prominent reference to the Romans, Pilate, the High Priests, etc., almost as a Book of Psalms on the most somber day and, cer- background story. That is, they did not seem much tainly in Leipzig, the musical climax of the church (if at all) inclined to connect this historical account year—Bach’s first year as Thomaskantor—the com- of events that happened centuries ago with pres- poser was perhaps revealing his interest in shaping ent-day Jews. The Christians’ focus, they assured the sacred music he had produced so far during that me, when they hear or perform the Passion, is on inaugural year into a coherent cycle of sorts. For he the message that Jesus was crucified for the salva- had introduced himself to the Leipzig congregations tion of all mankind: that we are all guilty of it, that of the St. Thomas and St. Nicholas churches just we all should be thankful for it and rejoice in it. ten months earlier, on successive Sundays in the two churches, with a pair of ambitious cantatas (Cantatas In starkest contrast, the Jewish members of the 75 and 76) that, like the St. John Passion, open with audience who were moved to voice their opinion elaborate choral settings of texts from the Book of confessed that they have difficulty noticing any- Psalms. thing in the St. John Passion other than the harsh To summarize, and to belabor the obvious: The Pas- portrayal of the Jews. They were grateful, they said, sion According to St. John gives voice to some of that I owned up to having had a similar experience. the loftiest sentiments of the human spirit. It does so through the medium of some of the most pro- Needless to say, others lecturing on the St. John found, expressive, and beautiful music, ever con- Passion may have had different reactions. ceived by the mind of man. Neither that supreme masterpiece nor its incomparable maker—one Jo- Robert L. Marshall hann Sebastian Bach—needs any apology. Brandeis University (Emeritus)

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Results of the 2012 Biennial News from Members The American Bach Society Bach Vocal Competition Don Freund would like to announce Officers Stephen A. Crist, President (Emory University) Dashon Burton, bass-baritone the release of his recording of the Markus Rathey, Vice-President (Yale University) from New Haven, Connecticut, was Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1 Reginald L. Sanders, Secretary-Treasurer awarded first prize in the Seventh on Parma Recordings. Subtitled “A (Kenyon College) Andrew Talle, Editor, Bach Notes (Peabody Biennial Bach Vocal Competition Composer’s Approach,” Freund Conservatory & The Johns Hopkins University) for Young American Singers, attempts to develop a composer- co-sponsored by the American centric interpretation of the Advisory Board complete Book 1 at the piano. The James Buswell (New England Conservatory) Bach Society and the Bach Choir of Don O. Franklin (University of Pittsburgh) Bethlehem, PA. Mr. Burton is a native two-disc set is accompanied by a Greg Funfgeld (Bach Choir of Bethlehem) of Bronx, NY, who has been praised third disc, a video series of lessons Mary J. Greer (Cambridge, MA) for his “enormous, thrilling voice that provide deeper insight into the Walter B. Hewlett (Center for Computer-Assisted Research in the Humanities) seemingly capable… [of] raising the master’s process of composition Robert Levin (Harvard University) dead;” and “nobility and rich tone,” and Freund’s approach. For more Daniel R. Melamed (Indiana University) (New York Times). He studied at information please visit www. George Ritchie (University of Nebraska) Kenneth Slowik (Smithsonian Institution) Case Western Reserve University, parmarecordings.com. Kerala J. Snyder (Eastman School of Music) Oberlin College Conservatory George B. Stauffer (Rutgers University) of Music, and Yale University’s Timothy A. Smith, Professor of Jeanne R. Swack (University of Wisconsin) Melvin Unger (Riemenschneider Bach Institute) Institute of Sacred Music. Recent Music Theory at Northern Arizona Allan Vogel (Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra) collaborators include Pierre Boulez, University in Flagstaff, would like Christoph Wolff (Harvard University) , Steven Smith, and to invite ABS members to visit his project, Exploring J. S. Bach’s Editorial Board Greg Funfgeld. The first prize comes Gregory G. Butler (Univ. of British Columbia) with a cash award of $3000. The ten Goldberg Variations at digitalbach. Stephen A. Crist (Emory University) finalists were selected from more com/goldberg. This is the second Mary J. Greer (Cambridge, MA) phase of the Oregon Bach Festival’s Robin A. Leaver (Yale University) than 70 applicants nation-wide who Daniel R. Melamed (Indiana University) submitted audition tapes. Applicants, Digital Bach Project, which Kerala J. Snyder (Eastman School of Music) who must be 30 years or younger, represents a collaboration between George B. Stauffer (Rutgers University) were screened by David Gordon, Northern Arizona University, the Russell Stinson (Lyon College) Ruth Tatlow (Danderyd, Sweden) education director, vocal coordinator University of Oregon, Oregon Bach Christoph Wolff (Harvard University) and master class director of the Festival, Hänssler Classic, and the Carmel Bach Festival in California. Hinkle Charitable Foundation. The Membership Information Each finalist performed two Bach browsing/gaming approach adopted Founded in 1972 as a chapter of the Neue Bach-Gesellschaft, the American Bach Society arias of his/her choice. The five here is intended to stimulate curiosity is dedicated to promoting the study and per- judges included Mary Greer, president and promote exploration. The formance of the music of Johann Sebastian of the American Bach Society; object is to develop new audiences Bach. Annual dues are $50 ($25 for students). Greg Funfgeld, artistic director and for Bach’s music by presenting Membership information and application conductor of The Bach Choir of interesting pedagogical material, materials are available online at www.american- bachsociety.org. Interested persons may also Bethlehem; and Bethlehem Bach including animations of the nine contact Reginald L. Sanders, Kenyon College Festival soloists Rosa Lamoreaux, canons of BWV 988 as well as Bach’s Music Department, Storer Hall, Gambier, OH soprano; Benjamin Butterfield, fourteen-canon addendum (BWV 43022, USA, or [email protected]. tenor; and William Sharp, bass- 1087). The site features complete ® 2012 by The American Bach Society baritone. Honorable mention as well performances on All rights reserved as cash prizes of $500 were awarded (Matthew Halls) and piano (David to Steven Brennfleck, tenor, from Korevaar), synchronized with a 1741 Ewing, NJ; Sarah Mesko, mezzo- copy of the score once owned by soprano, from Washington, DC; and Johann Nikolaus Forkel. Please visit Please visit the ABS website Jonathan Woody, bass-baritone oregonbachfestival.com and follow www.americanbachsociety.org from Brooklyn, NY. Congratulations the link to Digital Bach Project for for concert and festival listings to all who participated in the finals. more information.

No. 17 BACH • NOTES