Rhetoric and Theology in Bach’s St. John Passion

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Rebecca C. Buchert and James L Siebach, Philosophy; Douglas E. Bush, Music

Johann Sebastian Bach was completely Lutheran in his world view, and Luther was thoroughly Augustinian both in his theology and theory of rhetoric. St. Augustine’s views on the purpose of rhetoric are exemplified in Bach’s St. John Passion. In On Christian Doctrine,1 St. Augustine outlines three elements of communicating the truth: docere (to teach), delectare (to please) and movere/flectere (to move). Bach employs all of these elements in his compositional practice.

Besides his use of Augustinian rhetoric, Bach’s St. John Passion is informed by Luther’s doctrine of suffering. Luther maintained that the Christian ought to live a life imitating Christ’s. In order to live a Christ-like life, the believer needs to become of the same mind as the suffering Jesus. The task of theology is not to ascertain the nature of God by reason, but rather to recognize God through the narrative of Christ’s life. Bach meticulously places the listener in the middle of passion to partake of the suffering and thus come to a greater understanding of God and his nature. In this way the passion performs a vital function for the Christian: it helps facilitate a knowledge of God by illustrating the suffering of Christ.

Bach was also influenced by Joachim Burmeister (1564-1629) and the idea of Affektenlehre, the “doctrine of affections,” or the way music affects, moves (movere) and ultimately teaches (docere) the soul through a language of musical figures. Burmeister developed a chart of musical figures that corresponds to rhetorical terms. Thus by Bach’s time there existed the musical equivalent of rhetorical elements to achieve rhetorical tasks in music. Bach’s rhetorical task is to move the will in a well-ordered soul. The soul consists of reason, memory and will. The soul must be properly ordered or the mind is not free to know God. The purpose of music is to move the will. Once the will is moved the mind naturally assents to God. Bach’s purpose is thus to facilitate and enhance a knowledge of God by making God the proper object of the will.

I have to begun to examine how all of these elements work in the text structure and music of Bach’s St. John’s Passion. My examination is not yet complete (nor can it ever be exhausted) and will continue through the next year as I have the opportunity to participate in singing the passion for a second time.

References

  1. St. Augustine. On Christian Doctrine. Trans. D. W. Robertson, Jr. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1958
  2. Lötscher, A. (1983). Schweizerdeutsch: Geschichte, Dialekte, Gebrauch. Frauenfeld: Verlag Huber.
  3. Werlen, I. (1983). Eine interaktive Funktion der schweizerdeutschen Partikeln jetzt, gerade, denn/dann. In Weydt, H. (Ed.), Partikeln und Interaktion. Tubingen: Niedermeyer.
  4. Wyler, A. (1984). Dialekt und Hochsprache in der deutschsprachigen Schwiez. Regensdorf: Hürzeler AG.
  5. Schneider, P. (1991).Deutsch-Schyzertütsch Eichborns Sprach-Lexikon. Frankfurt am Main:
    Eichborn Verlag.