Bach and Luther: Theology in Music

Johann Sebastian Bach is noted as the forefather of all Western music; without Bach, we wouldn’t have Mozart, Beethoven or Brahms. He lived in Germany from 1685-1750 during what has now become known as the Baroque period. Ironically, some musicologists suggest that without Martin Luther, the great German Reformer of the previous century, there would have been no Bach. The musical formations of Bach’s day grew out of the theological reformations of Luther’s day. It is not hard to see the connections between these two great men of God.

Bach’s family was incredibly musical; his family lineage shows seven generations of professional musicians. In some parts of Germany, the name “Bach” was synonymous with the word “musician”. But Bach’s family members were also faithful followers of Jesus Christ and they adhered to the reformed faith. Fleeing religious persecution, Bach’s family migrated to the region of Thuringia, a stronghold of reformed faith and a bastion of brilliant ecclesiastic music. This is where Bach grew up and attended school. This is also the region where Martin Luther spent his youth. Both Bach and Luther attended the same Latin School in Eisenach, albeit 200 years apart. Bach also spent his days in the shadows of Wartburg Castle, perched high above Eisenach, where in the previous century, Luther hid from his enemies and where he translated the Greek New Testament into German. These tangible reminders of Luther’s reformation must have left indelible impressions on the young Bach, but more powerful perhaps, was the influence of Luther’s view of church music.

Luther writes, “Next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise… I plainly judge, and do not hesitate to affirm, that except for theology, there is no art that could be put on the same level with music…” For Luther, music was an incredibly inspiring and powerful gift from God; however, it was not simply ‘music for music’s sake’. Luther believed that music aided and enhanced the Christian’s worship of the Great and Mighty Creator. “God has cheered our heart and minds through his dear Son, whom he gave us to redeem us from sin, death and the devil. He who believes this cannot be quiet about it. But he must gladly and willingly sing and speak about it so others also may come to hear it. And whoever does not want to sing and speak of it shows that he does not believe…”

Luther sought to apply his ideas about music and worship to actual church music; as a result, he was a prolific hymn writer. Luther’s hymns proved to be a great spiritual and musical inspiration to Bach throughout his life. He perused Luther’s hymns for comfort, theological instruction and for lyrics to articulate his own devotion to God. Bach adapted many of Luther’s hymns when composing his copious cantatas---he wrote over 200 cantatas! Bach was most influenced by Luther’s determination to incorporate music into the life of the church; this is why most of Bach’s church music was designed to be “accessible” to the congregations and why he incorporated vernacular chorales and familiar hymns into his cantatas.

Most notably, the mantra of the Reformation, “Sola Deo Gloria”, served as the basis of Bach’s conception of music; Bach writes, “The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.” For all the spiritual and theological benefits the Christian Church has reaped from God’s working through Martin Luther and the Reformation, we can thank God for the musical legacy of the Reformation as well. As we thank God for Luther, let us also thank God for Bach.

At the Kilns: Letters to an American Lady, grading papers and rediscovering Horatio

One of the things I have learned while reading C.S. Lewis is that grading papers is always a burden, no matter how much of a genius or master teacher one is. Perhaps, it is more of a burden for those who are geniuses and master teachers…

This point became clear after reading a short little book called Letters to an American Lady. It is a collection of letters C.S. Lewis wrote to an American woman over the course of a decade. She wrote to Lewis---at times incessantly---and Lewis responded faithfully to almost every single letter she wrote to him. During the course of years, academic terms and increasing illness on both their parts, Lewis recounts the demands on his time. Most prominent is grading papers.

I was encouraged, not by the fact that Lewis felt burdened by grading, but that I was not the only one who seemed to be feeling the pangs of poorly written prose. There is no easy way out of marking. It simply has to be waded through. During each stint of examinations, Lewis faithful trudged on despite his time being far more precious and valuable than mine. The other encouraging thing for me is that since Lewis inevitably finishes grading and is able to move on to other things he enjoys, so can I.

All this being said, I recently read a student essay that brought me some delight. I am currently wading through 80 essays on Hamlet… and I have encountered the usual themes of death, revenge and death-resulting-from-revenge and death-resulting-in-revenge sort of essays… This essay stood out because it focused on Horatio. My student writes, “readers have a tendency to direct much of their energy towards the main characters. However, secondary characters in a work should never be overlooked…” True enough. He goes on to write, “In a play full of deception, betrayal, revenge and strong passion, it is very important for the audience to be able to rely on a voice of reason and truth.” Very true. He continues, “In Hamlet, Horatio is this truth teller; he is an observer of action and a commentator. Horatio is the one character in the play who can be trusted not only by Hamlet but by the audience.” I was gripped. In teaching Hamlet, I address Horatio’s importance only in relation to how he functions in advancing the plot shedding certain light on Hamlet. I had never really considered Horatio for Horatio’s sake. When all other human beings in the play betray all forms of human relationships, Horatio is the steadfast and faithful one. He is the hope that remains after Pandora’s Box is opened and a torrent of death and mayhem are unleashed in the closing scene of the play.

Anyway, it was great to read something inspiring. Although it is making the rest of my marking more challenging. Revenge and death, death and revenge. Oh, the carnage of words, paper and Shakespeare. As I tread through the battlefields of intellectual promise and academic potential, I long for a truth teller, someone who can be trusted… I need another dose of Horatio.

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750

When describing the foundations of Western music, some music scholars refer to the three B’s—Bach, Beethoven and Brahms—while others would simply say, there was Bach… and then everyone else. Bach was a prolific composer, brilliant organist and an inventive musical genius. His ability to act both as a conservator and innovator of music is what places him at the top of the list of musical giants. In his works, he excelled at traditional forms of music while expanding and transforming the forms to new heights, achieving “summa”—highest realised potential—in nearly every style of music known in Bach’s day.

When Mozart first encountered Bach’s music, he was “entranced” by it. According to Harold Schronberg, Mozart studied Bach’s compositions, “arranged some music, and was strongly influenced by Bachian counterpoint.” Beethoven and Brahms were also influenced by Bach. Brahms said, “Study Bach: there you will find everything.” Mozart said about Bach’s music, “Now there is music from which a man can learn something.” After hearing a performance of Bach’s music, Richard Wagner described it as “the most stupendous miracle in all music.” German poet, Goethe, described Bach’s music “as though eternal harmony were conversing with itself, as it may have happened in God’s bosom shortly before He created the world.” Robert Schuman writes, “Playing and studying Bach convinces us that we are all numbskulls.”

With such praise, it is surprising to discover that this musical giant was a humble and gracious man who devoted his life and talents to the glory of God. Over three quarters of his (astonishing) one thousand compositions consisted of music composed for worship in the church. Many scholars balk at the notion that Bach’s perceived Christianity had anything to do with his music; J.S. Bach, however, states plainly that “The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.” Soli Deo Gloria—To God Alone be the Glory. The letters S.D.G. were inscribed on many of Bach’s compositions; he meant this Latin phrase as a testimony to those who would perform his music and to generations to come, that this music was for God’s glory, not Bach’s. He strove to live by Paul’s words: “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Even on much of Bach’s “secular” compositions, we find inscribed the letters J.J., for Jesu, Juva (Jesus, help) or I.N.J., which stands for In Nomine Jesu (In the name of Jesus).

The life, music and legacy of J.S. Bach is a reminder to all Christians to use the gifts and talents God has given us for the Glory of God and the building up of His Church. For Bach, there was no dichotomy between secular and sacred. Whatever he did, for whatever purpose, he did for his Heavenly Father. To God Alone be the Glory.

The Wandering Blogger Posts Again...

As of late, I have been engaged with the start-up of the academic year. I am teaching Hamlet to my English students, The Odyssey to my Classical Civilization students and I am teaching about Roman poet Horace to my Latin students. I am delighted to say that I have a wonderful “batch” of students to work with this year.

In addition to school start-up, I am undergoing a crash course in music education. I have been busy researching and preparing a five-week study on the Spirituality and Music of J.S. Bach and George Handel for my church. Over the month of October, I will be presenting this series during the Wednesday Prayer meetings.

As a result, I have put my C.S. Lewis education on hold. My current foray into the world of music is incredibly illuminating. I am certain Lewis wouldn’t mind the short deviation from studying at the Kilns.

'blogspotting' blog of the week

Caroline Gill's blog Caroline at Coastguard has listed Galumphing as its "blogspotting" blog of the week. Thanks for the nod, Caroline!

Teaching Shakespeare as Literature

Shakespeare originally wrote his plays to be performed before a mostly uneducated and illiterate audience. Writing plays was Shakespeare’s “job”---he earned a modest living from writing and producing plays. He was not writing for “art’s sake” but for “food’s sake”. The old adage, “necessity is the father of invention” is particularly true in Shakespeare’s case. The point here is that Shakespeare’s plays were written to be performed on stage. Most of his plays did not appear in print until well after his death. For this reason, many gurus of education are arguing for a performance-based approach to teaching Shakespeare. If the plays were written for the stage, then they should be taught on a “stage”.

Peggy O’Brien from the Folger Library (one of the largest and most significant Shakespeare research centre in the world) writes, “Performing a Shakespearean scene or scenes is the single most important part of a student’s Shakespeare education. Period.” She may be right, but there is too much pressure on educators to use Shakespeare primarily as a drama unit rather than literature unit. The dramatic aspect of Shakespeare lends itself well to a performance-based approach. However, his plays run deep, much deeper than the average audience-goer would understand. This is the reason why Shakespeare can be, and should be, taught as literature. A student’s exposure to Shakespeare needs to be more than simply “working towards performance”.

Had Shakespeare been writing three hundred years later than his own time in history, he may have chosen to write novels as opposed to plays. His characters have a psychological complexity and depth that surpass most theatrical characters in Elizabethan drama; some of his characters are unsurpassed by present-day drama. Essentially, Shakespeare wrote his plays “deeper” than required for successful stage performance. In fact, I argue that some of Shakespeare’s plays “read” better than they are “performed”. So much of the “drama” in the play Macbeth, for example, is so internal and psychological that I have rarely watched a great on-stage performance of it (no fault to the performers or directors). It is a play, I believe, that is better read than watched. In some ways, Shakespeare is like a novelist trapped in a playwright’s body.

That being said, Shakespeare still works well on stage. The plays were as popular in Elizabethan England (for the most part) as they are now (if not more so). However, I find that my enjoyment of “Shakespeare performed” is different from “Shakespeare read”. Sometimes, my enjoyment of Shakespeare performed is, in part, due to the fact that I have read the play beforehand. As educators, it is important that we expose our students to both performance enjoyment and the enjoyment of a close reading. Why did Shakespeare include so much symbolism and metaphor in his plays, when so much of it would be lost on his audiences? Perhaps there is a bit of “art for art’s sake” in Shakespeare after all.

Three Days with the Bard

This week I was in Stratford (Ontario) attending a teacher conference at the Shakespeare Festival. The Stratford Shakespeare Festival is considered by theatre aficionados as North America’s premiere classical theatre. But, as they say, familiarity breeds contempt. While I was a student at the University of Western Ontario in London (ON), I took full advantage of the student rate ($20 at the time), and I saw numerous plays at the Festival. Now as a teacher, I catch a play or two every year with my students. I began to take the theatre for granted. I live and work next door to Stratford. This attitude of ingratitude, however, has changed this week for two reasons.

The first reason was the opportunity I had to work with teachers who came from places as far as Rochester NY, North Bay and New Brunswick! These teachers were thrilled to be in Stratford. I saw Stratford through their eyes. Would I drive six or eight hours to catch a Stratford play? Would I fly from New Brunswick? A different perspective on what you “have” makes all the difference.

The second reason was the fact that I really enjoyed the shows I watched this week. Part of the Teachers’ Conference included complimentary tickets to three Shakespearean plays. I also had the opportunity to workshop with some of the actors from the plays, most notably, Adrienne Gould, who plays Ophelia in Hamlet. The plays I saw were Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Taming of the Shrew. The best of the plays was Hamlet.

I have watched Hamlet on stage a few times, once previously at Stratford (starring Paul Gross in 2000). This particular stage production of Hamlet was great. Award winning Canadian actor Ben Carlson shines as Hamlet. Gould’s Ophelia is also the best I have seen on stage. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. I was more than awake; I was engaged. Admittedly, there are odd bits in the production. One strange set piece is a gigantic pool table that miraculously appears after a blackout on stage. It is humongous. What made this especially odd is the fact that this huge table had little purpose. In the Kenneth Branagh film version of Hamlet (1996), there is also a pool table (I think?) in the identical scene. Claudius is---symbolically---a “pool shark”. He manipulates the situation, lures Laertes into his schemes and creates the ultimate set up. The symbol works well in the movie. On stage, the table is simply a colossal distraction---albeit a dazzlingly magnificent piece of furniture. The point is, the actors and the scene are lost behind the gorgeous oak pool table. Another reason making the table odd on-stage was the fact that Laertes, who just tragically lost both his father and his sister, and who almost raised a revolution in Denmark and nearly committed regicide, is in the next scene, playing snooker… In Branagh’s film it seems to work. Claudius is manipulating Laertes, distracting him from his rage. On stage, I couldn’t help but wonder how much that table cost, how did they get it on stage so fast and what are they going to do with it after the show is over?

There was also a piano on stage during the whole production. Although used cleverly throughout the performance, I found it a distraction as well. However, not enough of a distraction to cause me to miss Carlson’s Hamlet. He truly embodied Shakespeare’s most celebrated tragic hero. It was a risky manoeuvre, but Carlson’s and Gould’s performances redeem the show of all its flaws.
So, I appreciate Stratford a little more these days. I am looking forward to bringing my 90 Grade 12 English students to Stratford in order to see Hamlet. I feel confident this performance will not turn my students off the bard. It may do just the opposite. If you are in the neighbourhood, take advantage of Stratford’s Shakespeare Festival.

The Annotated Hobbit

Even though I have dedicated my reading time to C.S. Lewis over the course of this year, I have indulged in the occasional, “non-Lewis” reading material this summer. One of the books is The Annotated Hobbit. It is a beautifully annotated edition of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. I have looked at this book on numerous occasions while perusing Chapters bookstore, but I have not purchased the book (…it costs $60!). I recently found the book at our local library.

I am a big fan of reading annotation, particularly on a book I have re-read. There is much controversy among hard-line readers as to whether one should read annotations. I feel that they are useful to provide context or background information which I do not possess. Reading annotations provides a rich experience. This is especially true when reading ancient or historic literature. In addition, I always read with a pen, and the margins of my books are littered with my own comments, questions and reactions… my own informal annotations. I would feel like a hypocrite if I complained about annotations while writing my own!

This particular edition of The Hobbit provides rich commentary and cross references on all aspects of the story. It is very interesting and illuminating reading. For example, the annotator (Douglas Anderson) cites a hypothesis that Tolkien invented the name Baggins from the Lancashire English word “bagging”, a term that the Oxford English Dictionary defines as eating food “between regular meals”. In use, the word would be pronounced “baggin”, dropping the terminal “–g”. Tolkien was a philologist, and his interest and knowledge in language is crucial to his development of his Middle Earth mythology. The hypothesis about the origins of Baggins is given further weight by the citation Anderson provides from Walter E. Haigh’s A New Glossary of the Dialect of the Huddersfield (1928), which Tolkien himself “wrote an appreciative forward”. Haigh deifnes baggin as “a meal, now usually ‘tea,’ but formerly any meal; a bagging. Probably so called because workers generally carried their meals to work in a bag of some kind”.
Such is the nature of the annotations provided on Tolkien’s The Hobbit. The book also includes illustrations from various editions over the years, as well as references to the publishing history of the book. In short, it is a delightful book. If you can afford it, then buy it. If it is in your library, then borrow it.

The opening inscription in the book cites Horace: “What we read with pleasure, we read again with pleasure.” Reading The Annotated Hobbit is very pleasurable indeed!

Narnia Illustrator Pauline Baynes (1922-2008)

Pauline Baynes passed away earlier this month. She is best known for her illustrations of C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. She had previously worked with J.R. R. Tolkien on Farmer Giles of Ham, and it was through Tolkien that Baynes was introduced to C.S. Lewis. Amazingly, Baynes only met Lewis twice over the course of illustrating the seven novels. Without a doubt, her artwork is a memorable part of the Narnia world. Lewis, however, was not totally satisfied with Baynes work; he noted in a letter to a friend that Baynes was unable to draw lions properly. Aslan, the principal character in the Narnia series, is, of course, a lion! I must admit that Baynes's illustration of the Lion is odd looking... Nevertheless, Lewis never made his concern public and the Baynes's lion will "forever" be part of Narnia folklore.

For an obituary on Pauline Baynes, click here.

Esther 4: "For such a time as this..."

Last Sunday (July 27th), I had the opportunity to preach on Esther 4 at West London Alliance Church in London, ON. The sermon title was, “For such a time as this”. The central question that framed the message was, “How do we live as Christians in a world that is opposed to us?”

This is not an easy question to answer. What I hoped to do was draw three main truths from the text to help us answer this question on a personal level. There is no “play-by-play” handbook on how to deal with specific situations we encounter in our lives. All we know, is that “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim 3:12).

Like us, Esther was an outsider—an alien—who sought to live out her faith in a culture that was hostile to her faith and her God. The people of God, the Israelites, were a displaced nation, dispersed throughout the Persian Empire. In our own “post-Christian” culture, it often feels like we are a displaced people group. By looking at Esther’s example, we can glean three central truths to help us live lives worthy of the cross of Jesus Christ.

The first point is that God made Esther “for such a time as this.” She was unique in physical appearance and in character (Esther 2:7,9). She was “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:13-16) for a purpose; the Lord designed her to be what he wanted her to be for his purpose and plan. Like her, we are also made for this time and place. We have been given gifts “for such a time as this.” God has a plan for each of us. Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” God doesn’t call you to be who you are not, but who you are—who He made you to be, for the plan He intends for you. This is a great truth. It is easy to lose hope and despair when we feel inadequate for the challenges of living out our faith in this world. We need to remind ourselves that God has made each of us and He has placed each of us in our current situation (time and place).

The second point is that God prepared Esther and her circumstances for such a time as this. Esther was made Queen not only because of who she was and how she was made, but because God had engineered the circumstances and orchestrated details of her life. Mordecai, Esther’s cousin tells her, “who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?” The “such a time as this” Mordecai was referring to was a royal edict that called for the death of all the Jews living in Persia. Esther had been placed in a perfect position to help save her people. Likewise, God has placed us—our job, school, neighbourhood, family, church—for such a time as this; we are where we are to serve the kingdom of God.

Thirdly, with these truths square in our minds, what should we do? Esther asks Mordecai and all the Jews to “fast for me”. She goes on to say, “I and my maidens also will fast in the same way” (Esther 4:16). Esther is “waiting on the Lord” and “seeking His guidance and strength”. We ought to do the same when faced with persecution and trouble: pray and ask others to pray for us. God will guide and empower us for such a time as this (Psalm 31:3; 2 Timothy 1:7; Isaiah 58:11).

What has God gifted you to do? Are you doing it?
Where has God placed you? Are you serving Him there?
What has God called you to do? Are you seeking His guidance and power?

An mp3 audio version of the sermon is available by clicking here or by browsing the West London Alliance online sermons (scroll down for Sunday, July 27, 2008).

A kid's odyssey: Homer's The Odyssey for young readers

For two years, I have been teaching Homer’s The Odyssey to Grade 12 Classical Civilization students. My students (those who actually read the epic poem…), are absolutely thrilled by the story. I am thrilled myself. It is a great story. I am planning on teaching it again in the Fall.

Recently, my second son, Nate (7 yrs) also discovered the excitement and thrill of the Odyssey… dangerous voyages, meddling gods and goddesses, escaping an inhospitable Cyclops, outwitting bewitching nymphs, battling self-serving and usurping nobles…

He isn’t reading Homer (per se)… Rather, he is reading a 6-part series of chapter books retelling the famous story. The series, called Tales from The Odyssey, is written by Mary Pope Osborne (the author of the bestselling Magic Tree House series). She retains the bulk of the narrative, including the sordid moments (albeit appropriately diluted for young readers). She also uses the Greek names of gods and goddesses, heroes and monsters and she provides a pronunciation guide at the back of each book.

My son couldn’t put them down. He devoured the books as fast and as ravenously as the six-headed Scylla or the one-eyed Polyphemus devour Odysseus’s men.

Great stories truly stand the test of time. For almost three thousand years, people have been delighted by the adventures of Odysseus and his fated voyage. Thanks to Mary Pope Osborne, the next generation is able to whet their appetite for great---and ancient---storytelling. If you know any Grade 2 students who would love to go on a romping ride of a read, look up Osborne’s Tales for the Odyssey.

NB: For big people interested in The Odyssey, I highly recommend the recent award-winning translation by Robert Fagles. For a great audio version, Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s recent film adaptation of Lord of the Rings, reads Fagles translation (unabridged) on CD.

At the Kilns: Letters to a Friend

Arthur Greeves

I recently borrowed from the library a collection of letters by C.S. Lewis called They Stand Together: The Letters of C.S. Lewis to Arthur Greeves (1914-1963). Arthur Greeves was one of C.S. Lewis oldest and most cherished of friends. Next to his brother W.H. Lewis or his wife Joy Davidman, I do not think C.S. Lewis had a closer friend in his life. The book contains the nearly all Lewis’s correspondence with Greeves during the course of his lifetime. The book, which is currently out-of-print, runs over 500 pages.

I am sporadically reading through the weighty tome, and I am utterly amazed at Lewis’s intimacy, candidacy, and his fluidity of writing. His gift for communication is clearly evident in even his earliest letters to Greeves.

One of the biographical aspects that struck me was the impression I get that Lewis liked the “look of books” almost as much as the content of the books he read. It seems that he and Arthur purchased and repurchased books in various editions based on their aesthetically pleasing binding (I must admit that I have done the same thing myself...). Most people who are familiar with Lewis are aware that he read copiously. However, it is still astonishing how much Lewis read. He frequently comments to Greeves about his reading such-and-such a book or re-reading such-and-such an author. He read classical literature, he read widely in English literature and European literature, and he read a considerable amount of contemporary literature.

In one letter to Arthur, Lewis describes his present enjoyment while reading Tolstoy’s War and Peace. He recommends that Arthur read the book himself. He writes,

I strongly advise you to try it. Its length, which deters some people, will not frighten you: you will only rejoice, when the right time comes, —say after tea some day next autumn when fires are still a novelty—at that old, delicious feeling of embarkation on a long voyage, which one seldom gets now.

After reading these words, I was struck with a longing for a cool autumn night in order to begin my own “embarkation” into the world of Tolstoy's War and Peace.

All of the letters I have read are compelling reading. It is particularly striking to read about his thoughts on Christianity as they develop from atheism to unshakable faith in Jesus Christ. In one particularly famous letter, we learn about Lewis’s late night “memorable talk” about Christianity while strolling Addison’s walk with Tolkien and Hugo Dyson. In the letter, dated October 1st, 1931, Lewis writes to Greeves,

How deep I am just now beginning to see: for I have just passed on from believing in God to definitely believing in Christ—in Christianity. I will try to explain another time. My long night talk with Dyson and Tolkien had a good deal to do with it.

Hopefully this most fascinating and incredibly valuable collection of letters will find its way back into print. For my present copy of the book, well, it is due back to the library today.