Music set to theology:
Speaker traces a remarkable Bach journey

PHILADELPHIA, PA (April 22, 2003) – Swarthmore College Music Professor Michael Marissen delivered a riveting, probing preview of Johann Sebastian Bach's Cantata No. 6 during a convocation that explored the theology of the eighteenth century composer's music.

Marissen has written extensively on Bach and taught at Oberlin College and Princeton University. He gave his remarks in an informal, extemporaneous style sprinkled with humor. He discussed in depth the extent of Bach's knowledge of scripture and the theology he gleaned from a continuing "close read" of the Reformer Martin Luther's Works, including the Book of Concord. Marissen noted that Bach used the resources gleaned from this deep background to imbue his remarkable music with a rich theological sense.

Marissen pointed out that Bach used part of the time spent in a small German town as director of a chamber music program (1717-1723) to immerse himself in this critical study of theology. This intense, careful study equipped him to withstand the rigors of a strenuous interview process that later earned him the prestigious position of music director for Germany's Leipzig, a post which made him also responsible for catechetical teaching at St. Thomas Church in the town.

"Bach in the interview process had to prove his ability to compose and direct an orchestra. He also took two three-hour exams on theology," Marissen said The exam questions were extremely difficult. One asked him to discuss the biblical genealogies of Jesus in Luke and Matthew and tell of the differences in each book. "He passed the exams without having a graduate degree in theology and Bible. Degreed people failed these exams," Marissen explained. The professor noted that even toward the end of Bach's life the composer engaged in close reads of books of theology, such as the Works of Luther.

During his professional tour in Leipzig, Bach was constantly in trouble with the town council he reported to. Critics either wanted him to be more of a teacher or more of a fame-seeker, and Bach was buffeted too by pressures from enlightenment thinkers of the day versus more orthodox Lutheran thinkers. Then too, some influential citizens divided along lines of belief that music was either a wonderful thing "or a big, expensive waste of time," Marissen said.

What Bach did during his Leipzig years was compose a 30-minute musical work for each Sunday of the church year. "The preacher would be expected to preach for an hour, and Bach would preach musically for one-half hour," Marissen said. At times like Easter and Christmas, Bach would be composing on overload. And the works composed for the holy seasons would be open-ended. For example, Cantata No. 6 has musical echoes of the St. John Passion composition, which would have been heard several days earlier. "The final chorus of the St. John Passion is similar to the opening" of the Cantata. Having traced Bach's musical and theological development, Marissen went on to play sections of Cantata No. 6, which he at one point described as a "sweeping musical sermon, which does not stay in the same place throughout."

Using the pericope of Luke 24, which depicts Jesus on the Road to Emmaus with his followers, the Cantata begins with a lament and shifts to notes of optimism as Jesus remains and is recognized on the road. The work, which isn't performed very often, Marissen said, ends with a focus on the cross as a source for the "shining light of redemption."

"If anyone ever tells you music can't be theological," Marissen concluded, "well, tell them they are just wrong."

Have we whetted your appetite? You can hear the Cantata performed at 6 p.m. Monday, April 28 in the seminary chapel. Seminary Musician Mark Mummert will direct the performance, which will feature the Seminary Choir and an orchestra.

Mummert introduced Marissen with a moving tribute to the late Dr. Michael Moller, the Systematic Theology Professor Mummert credited for kindling a renewed interest in Bach music on the seminary campus 10 years ago. Moller was tragically killed later in an accident in Bangkok, Thailand while on sabbatical.