La Palabra a través del prisma musical de Johann Sebastian Bachanálisis de sus dos grandes obras teológicas

Abstract

The importance of the figure of Johann Sebastian Bach is indisputable, being considered a reference icon in the musical world that marked the beginning of a new era and the end of the previous one. However, not only its relevance in the field of musicology is remarkable, but also because he is inseparably linked to the discipline of theology. As a deep Lutheran, the study of the Word was an essential part of the life of the musician and it was evolving as the composer reached his maturity, both personal and musical. In this way, his sacred compositions during his time in Leipzig, where he moved in 1723 with his family to work as a Cantor in the church of Saint Thomas, stand out. From the beginning of his stay in that city until the death of the composer in 1750, he was entrusted with the great task of composing any sacred work that sounded in the church during all the acts that made up the Lutheran liturgical calendar, in addition to other functions inside the school. Among these compositions, it is highlighted his organ corals, which form the basis of all Lutheran compositions, also interpreted by the congregation. It is in the art of this instrument where the composer stands out, transcribing by himself various cantatas and choral organs that were part, in turn, of larger works such as oratorios or passions. Applying the technique of parody, nothing rejected at the time and perfectly accepted and even demanded, composers could cope with the large number of works that had to write, making present the same melodic line but with different variations of tessitura, height and tonality, in different works. Among all the musical literature written by Bach, Saint John’s Passion and his Saint Matthew’s Passion stand out as the works that reflect a greater knowledge of the Written Text as well as a mastery of the art of composition. The present work gathers an analysis made to a selection of outstanding numbers of those passions where the sovereignty of the meaning of the text on the music is demonstrated, that is, how the music was at the service of the text and its message, as it was a usual practice at the time. With this characteristic of the musical Baroque linked to the profound knowledge of the Word by the composer, Bach manages to explain the text through music and involve a congregation in the active experience of faith. With the theology of the cross as the maximum exponent, the highlighted parts of these compositions emphasise the repentance of the parishioner, not the moment of the crucifixion or death of Jesus, but when we are aware of our guilt and ask for forgiveness. Music manages to convey a message in a very different way to the use of the spoken word that can be easily misinterpreted or questioned. However, music being an abstract art is understood by each person in a different but always accurate way. The theological message, the reading of the Word, as well as its interpretation, is also linked to the person who transmits the message, but the opposite process is carried out when the use of music is introduced in the transmission of said content. In a time when social and musical changes were intimately linked to the profession of faith and its experience, Bach managed to get the message of the Word to a congregation. He was a theologist devoted to music whose explanation was written in musical language and whose audience was the congregation.