Anne Leahy - J. S. Bach’s ’Leipzig’ Chorale Preludes: Music, Text, Theology

Contextual Bach Studies

A series of monographs exploring the contextsof Johann Sebastian Bachs life and music,with a particular emphasis on theology and liturgy.Series Editor: Robin A. Leaver

Music has its own distinctive characteristicsmelody, harmony, rhythm, form, etc.that have to be fully appreciated if it is to be effectively understood. But a detailed comprehension of all these musical elements cannot reveal the significance of all the compositional choices made by a composer. What? and how? questions need to be supplemented by appropriate why? and when? questions. Study of the original score and parts, as well as the different manifestations of a particular work, have to be undertaken. But if such study is regarded as an end rather than a beginning, then the music itself will not necessarily be fully understood. One must go further. There are various contexts that impinge upon a composers choices. Music is conditioned by time, place, and culture and therefore is influenced by particular historical, geographical, and social contexts; music written in fulfillment of a contractual agreement has an economic context; and so forth.

The music of Johann Sebastian Bach has been the object of intensive study and analysis, but in the past many of these studies have been somewhat narrow in focus. For example, the received view of Bachs music was to some degree incomplete because it was largely discussed on its own terms without being fully set within the contextual perspective of the musicians predecessors, contemporaries, and successors. It is only in fairly recent times that the music of these other composers has become accessible, allowing us to appreciate the nature and stature of their accomplishments, and at the same time giving us new perspectives from which to view a more rounded picture of Bachs genius.

The monographs in this series explore such contextual areas. Since much of Bachs music was composed for Lutheran worship, a primary concern of these monographs is the liturgical and theological contexts of the music. But Bachs music was not exclusively confined to these specific religious concerns. German culture of the time had more general religious dimensions that permeated secular society. Therefore, in addition to specific studies of the liturgical and theological contexts of Bachs music, this series also includes explorations of social, political, and cultural religious contexts in which his music was composed and first heard.

1. Cameron, Jasmin Melissa. The Crucifixion in Music: An Analytical Survey of Settings of the Crucifixus between 1680 and 1800 , 2006.

2. van Elferen, Isabella. Mystical Love in the German Baroque: Theology, Poetry, Music , 2009.

3. Leahy, Anne, edited by Robin A. Leaver. J. S. Bachs Leipzig Chorale Preludes: Music, Text, Theology , 2011.

J. S. Bachs Leipzig Chorale Preludes

Music, Text, Theology

Anne LeahyEdited by Robin A. Leaver

Contextual Bach Studies, No. 3

THE SCARECROW PRESS, INC.

Lanham Toronto Plymouth, UK

2011

Published by Scarecrow Press, Inc.

A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

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http://www.scarecrowpress.com

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Copyright 2011 by Anne Leahy and Robin Leaver

All rights reserved . No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Leahy, Anne.

J. S. Bachs Leipzig chorale preludes : music, text, theology / Anne Leahy ; edited by Robin A. Leaver.

p. cm. (Contextual Bach studies ; No. 3)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8108-8181-5 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-8108-8182-2 (ebook)

1. Bach, Johann Sebastian, 16851750. Chorle von verschiedener Art, BWV 651668. 2. Chorale prelude. I. Leaver, Robin A. II. Title.

ML410.B13L34 2011

786.5'18992dc22 2011012617

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America