The Social and Religious Designs of J. S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos
1/5
()
About this ebook
This new investigation of the Brandenburg Concertos explores musical, social, and religious implications of Bach's treatment of eighteenth-century musical hierarchies. By reference to contemporary music theory, to alternate notions of the meaning of "concerto," and to various eighteenth-century conventions of form and instrumentation, the book argues that the Brandenburg Concertos are better understood not as an arbitrary collection of unrelated examples of "pure" instrumental music, but rather as a carefully compiled and meaningfully organized set. It shows how Bach's concertos challenge (as opposed to reflect) existing musical and social hierarchies.
Careful consideration of Lutheran theology and Bach's documented understanding of it reveals, however, that his music should not be understood to call for progressive political action. One important message of Lutheranism, and, in this interpretation, of Bach's concertos, is that in the next world, the heavenly one, the hierarchies of the present world will no longer be necessary. Bach's music more likely instructs its listeners how to think about and spiritually cope with contemporary hierarchies than how to act upon them. In this sense, contrary to currently accepted views, Bach's concertos share with his extensive output of vocal music for the Lutheran liturgy an essentially religious character.
Michael Marissen
Michael Marissen is Assistant Professor of Music at Swarthmore College. His most recent book is Lutheranism, Anti-Judaism, and Bach's "St. John Passion."
Related to The Social and Religious Designs of J. S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos
Related ebooks
Twelve Good Musicians: From John Bull to Henry Purcell Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJohann Sebastian Bach Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chamber Music: Selections from Essays in Musical Analysis Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bach's Operas of the Soul: A Listener's Guide to the Sacred Cantatas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Style of Palestrina and the Dissonance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeethoven Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDance and the Music of J. S. Bach Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Debussy and His World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Accompaniment from a Thorough-Bass: As Practiced in the XVII and XVIII Centuries, Volume I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Johann Sebastian Bach, his Life, Art, and Work Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beethoven's Early Chamber Music: A Listening Guide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Haydn and His World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLuther and Bach on the Magnificat: For Advent and Christmas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDvorák and His World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music, with Special Emphasis on J.S. Bach Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMusic in the Baroque Era - From Monteverdi to Bach Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of Fugue: Bach Fugues for Keyboard, 1715–1750 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBrahms's Vocal Duets and Quartets with Piano: A Guide with Full Texts and Translations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn the Performance of Beethoven's Symphonies and Other Essays Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBach: The Conflict Between the Sacred and the Secular Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Treasury of Early Music: Masterworks of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Baroque Era Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Beethoven's Chamber Music: A Listener's Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn the Cantatas of J.S. Bach: Trinity I-VII: The Bach Cantatas, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Forms of Music Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Delphi Masterworks of Johann Sebastian Bach (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFive Graphic Music Analyses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Life with Wagner Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beethoven's Symphonies: Nine Approaches to Art and Ideas Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Main Stream of Music and Other Essays Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Guide to the Registration of Church Organs - A Selection of Classic Articles on the Technical Aspects of Organ Performance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Music For You
Guitar For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Music Theory For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learn Guitar A Beginner's Course Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learn Jazz Piano: book 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Guitar Theory For Dummies: Book + Online Video & Audio Instruction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/588 Piano Classics for Beginners Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learn Your Fretboard: The Essential Memorization Guide for Guitar (Book + Online Bonus) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Easyway to Play Piano: A Beginner's Best Piano Primer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Piano Chords Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Guitar Practice Guide: A Practice Guide for Guitarists and other Musicians Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Songwriting For Dummies Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Circle of Fifths: Visual Tools for Musicians, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Music Theory For Beginners Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Everything Songwriting Book: All You Need to Create and Market Hit Songs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Complete Piano Rags Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Becoming a Great Sight-Reader–or Not! Learn From My Quest for Piano Sight-Reading Nirvana Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Meaning of Mariah Carey Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Weird Scenes Inside The Canyon: Laurel Canyon, Covert Ops & The Dark Heart Of The Hippie Dream Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Play Ukulele: A Complete Guide for Beginners Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Can I Say: Living Large, Cheating Death, and Drums, Drums, Drums Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hal Leonard Pocket Music Theory (Music Instruction): A Comprehensive and Convenient Source for All Musicians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Social and Religious Designs of J. S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos
2 ratings1 review
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Easily one of the most preposterous pieces of alleged scholarship I've seen in almost half a century of serious reading. Always lloking for the good in other people (even the least desrerving)I would like to think that perhaps I'm just too square to get an elaborate hoax like Ossian, or more particular to music, a joke in the manner, say, of the legendary work on the Guild of Funerary Violinists, but I fear that nobody would have put so much time into just making a joke like this. Another reminder that paper will put-up with anything printed on it. In the interest of full disclosure, let me add that I had a free copy of this, so it's not as if I was cheated on the material plane. The spiritual and intellectual planes are quite another story. LibraryThing badly needs a revised scale to reflect disappointing and lousy writing (see my review elsewhere of Zadie Smith's WHITE TEETH).