Overview

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.

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9780197578841

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Reviews

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

Author Information

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.

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