Bach in the World
Music, Society, and Representation in Bach's Cantatas
Published on 21. December 2022
Book
Hardback
304 pages
978-0-19-757884-1 (ISBN)
Description
Johann Sebastian Bach's works are often classified as either sacred or secular. While this distinction is fraught, it seems to provide a useful way to distinguish between Bach's vocal works for the liturgy and those he wrote to honor courts and members of the nobility. But even so, the lines cannot be drawn clearly. The political and social systems of the time relied on religion as an ideological foundation, and public displays of political power almost always included religious rituals and thus required some form of sacred music. Social constructs, such as class and gender, were also embedded in religious frameworks.
In Bach in the World, author Markus Rathey offers a new exploration of how Bach's music functioned as an agent of affective communication within rituals, such as the installation of the town council, and as a place where socio-political norms were perpetuated and sometimes even challenged. The book does so by analyzing public manifestations of the social order during Bach's time in large-scale celebrations, processions, public performances, and visual displays.
In Bach in the World, author Markus Rathey offers a new exploration of how Bach's music functioned as an agent of affective communication within rituals, such as the installation of the town council, and as a place where socio-political norms were perpetuated and sometimes even challenged. The book does so by analyzing public manifestations of the social order during Bach's time in large-scale celebrations, processions, public performances, and visual displays.
Reviews / Votes
Once again Markus Rathey has produced a seldom seen-and marvelously successful-integration of cultural and aesthetic writing on Bach. No serious Bachian should be without this erudite yet broadly accessible book on an undervalued segment of the repertory. * Michael Marissen, author of Bach & God * This fascinating study treats a subset of Bach's cantatas in panoramic fashion. In a laudably nuanced manner, Markus Rathey argues that the 'sacred' and 'secular' aspects of Bach's work were inextricably linked, and he illustrates with astonishing erudition the vital connections between this repertoire and the theology, visual culture, politics, and other aspects of eighteenth-century German society. * Stephen A. Crist, Emory University * Rathey brings a valuable interdisciplinary perspective to this illuminating book. Grounded in expertise that extends beyond J.S. Bach's works to encompass Baroque theology and a range of theoretical approaches, Rathey elucidates numerous ways in which Bach's cantatas were embedded in and shaped Baroque culture and political life. * Tanya Kevorkian, author of Music and Urban Life in Baroque Germany * Rathey (Yale) has published extensively on the music of J. S. Bach... Rathey's works include Bach's Major Vocal Works: Music, Drama, Liturgy and Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio: Music, Theology, Culture. * Choice *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
53 music examples and 16 figures
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 163 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
576 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-757884-1 (9780197578841)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
11/2022
OUP eBook
€56.99
Available for download
E-Book
11/2022
OUP eBook
€56.99
Available for download
Person
Markus Rathey is Robert S. Tangeman Professor of Music History at Yale University. His research focuses on music in the second half of the 17th century, Johann Sebastian Bach, and the Bach family. His books include a study of Bach's Christmas Oratorio and an introduction to Bach's major vocal works. He is past-president of the American Bach Society and associate editor of the Yale Journal of Music and Religion.
Content
Acknowledgements
A note on translations 1. Introduction
2. Music, Space, and Symbolic Communication in Bach's Installation Cantatas
3. Music as Spiritual Practice and Political Message: The Theology of Bach's Coethen Cantatas
4. Trumpets, Drums, and Thundering Cannons: The Te Deum Laudamus in Civic Ceremonies
5. Cantatas as Multisensory Spectacles: Beyond the Score of BWV 215
6. Defeminizing Virtue: Gender Identities in Bach's Secular Cantatas of the 1730s
7. Taming the Coquette: Literary Conventions and Compositional Processes in the Coffee Cantata
8. The "Wonderful Play" of Music: An Epilogue Bibliography
Index
A note on translations 1. Introduction
2. Music, Space, and Symbolic Communication in Bach's Installation Cantatas
3. Music as Spiritual Practice and Political Message: The Theology of Bach's Coethen Cantatas
4. Trumpets, Drums, and Thundering Cannons: The Te Deum Laudamus in Civic Ceremonies
5. Cantatas as Multisensory Spectacles: Beyond the Score of BWV 215
6. Defeminizing Virtue: Gender Identities in Bach's Secular Cantatas of the 1730s
7. Taming the Coquette: Literary Conventions and Compositional Processes in the Coffee Cantata
8. The "Wonderful Play" of Music: An Epilogue Bibliography
Index