Lutheran Theology in the Cantatas of J. S. Bach
ABSTRACT
This colloquium focused on the Lutheran theology and the music of the cantatas of J. S. Bach. The choral cantata as a musical form developed during this period, and gradually replaced the motet traditionally sung after the Gospel reading in the liturgy. The cantata (as conceived by Bach) thus filled the role of sermon on the Gospel of the Day—and was thus duty-bound both to conform to Lutheran theology and to explicate the Gospel of the particular festival day or the “ordinary” of the Lutheran mass.
READING LIST
Conference Readings
Butt, John, "Bach’s Metaphysics of Music." in Cambridge Companion to Bach, Edited by John Butt, 46-59. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press , 1997.
Leaver, Robin A., "The Mature Vocal Works and Their Theological and Liturgical Context." in The Cambridge Companion to Bach, Edited by John Butt, 86-99. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Leaver, Robin A., "Music and Lutheranism." in Cambridge Companion to Bach, Edited by John Butt, 35-45. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Luther, Martin. Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings. Edited by John Dillenberger. New York: Anchor Books (Random House, Inc.), 1962.
Pelikan, Jaroslav. Bach Among the Theologians. Eugene: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2003.
Schalk, Carl F. Luther on Music: Paradigms of Praise. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1988.
Stapert, Calvin R. My Only Comfort: Death, Deliverance, and Discipleship in the Music of Bach. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000.
Wolff, Christoph. Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000.