Troost bij Luther en Bach: Theologie - Kerklied - Cantate

Abstract

This study of Comfort in Luther and Bach addresses the theme in Martin Luther’s songs and Johann Sebastian Bach’s chorale cantatas. It starts with Luther’s theology, in which he redefined the concept of consolation through his doctrine of justification. God’s promise of grace, found in the Bible, determined the way in which he expressed consolation for man charged with original sin. Faith in Christ offered man the consoling prospect of trust in God, both in fear of the fate of the soul after death and in suffering as a result of adversity during life. Luther was able to express comfort in many ways. Thus, in 1524/1525, a collection of songs was created with which even the illiterate could learn, and actively testify to, the doctrine of the faith. At the beginning of the 18th century, themes in songs by Luther and his contemporaries were no longer clear reflections of contemporary religious life. New songs gave voice to new personal needs and penance became a more important theme in the hymns of the Baroque period, as did the desire expressed in mystical poetry for unification with Christ after death. Orthodox Lutheran theologians, however, thought that these themes obstructed a clear view of consolation through faith, as commanded in the ancient hymns. Authoritative hymnologists from this period therefore published hymnbook commentaries in which the ambiguities were clarified for each song, and countered the criticism of, or adjustments to, songs by other currents. Many references to Bible passages served as a basis for this. The Lutheran Orthodox hymnologists placed their ambition to preserve the original comforting doctrine from the time of the Reformation in the spotlight by commemorating the 200th anniversary of Luther’s first hymnal from 1524. The choice of hymns in Bach’s chorale cantata cycle (1724/1725) is in line with this. In this study, eight chorale cantatas, in which consolation is an important theme, were selected and compared with the hymnological sources. From this it appears probable that Bach’s cycle of chorale cantatas was partly inspired by the activities of the orthodox hymnologists, and even partly determined by their input. The researched texts of arias and recitatives in the selected chorale cantatas show striking similarities with the indications Schamel gives in his Evangelischer Lieder-Commentarius for the text interpretation of the songs concerned. Moreover, when the mentioned Bible references are consulted in the Bible edition of Abraham Calov with collected commentary by Luther, it appears that there are also similarities in language and argumentation. Therefore, the conclusion seems justified that the unknown lyricist most probably consulted Schamel’s hymnal-commentary. From this research, it can be concluded that hymnological discussions influenced the content of Bach’s chorale cantatas. Many of the original comforting arguments from Luther’s teachings and songs have been preserved or accentuated in the texts of Bach’s chorale cantatas, while characteristic poetry from later consolation and penitential songs has been neutralised or weakened. Musically speaking, Bach shows himself to be an exponent of his time by incorporating modern recitatives and arias in his chorale cantatas, often with baroque expressions of emotion in the music. On the other hand, Bach also uses old stylistic characteristics, with which he particularly honours the oldest song repertoire, and alternates expressive elements with the comforting recognizability of lines or melody quotations from the early chorales. The ‘comforting’ argumentation has been examined in more detail in a case study of Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir, which shows that Luther’s hymn and Bach’s cantata pay similar attention to the support that can be offered to weak believers in order to guide them towards a faithful trust in God.