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5 - Bach's Situation in the Cultural Politics of Contemporary Leipzig
- Edited by Carol Baron, Stony Brook University, State University of New York
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- Book:
- Bach's Changing World
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 17 March 2023
- Print publication:
- 09 June 2006, pp 127-173
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Summary
This study describes the negotiations over the appointment of a new cantor for the Thomasschule following Johann Kuhnau's death. The negotiations give a clear picture of the position that the Leipzig town councilors assigned to Bach within the cultural-political context of the time. They also shed light on the members of the Leipzig Town Council who were responsible for filling this position. Their deliberations take place within a specific political context, in which the town councilors were committed to factions created by the prevailing political forces functioning at that time: one protecting the city's prerogatives of selfgovernment that were rooted in the traditional system of estates, the other supporting the absolutist aims of the current electoral government. The author's recent article, “Bach and the Domestic Politics of Electoral Saxony,” describes the political structures in place in Saxony during the first half of the eighteenth century, which are represented by these factions, and how the tensions they created conditioned the fulfillment of Bach's vocational goals—both assisting and restricting them—while they may also have played a role in shaping Bach's music. As the members of the Leipzig Town Council sought appropriate candidates and deliberated on their qualifications, they articulated concerns that also included the complex philosophical and religious ramifications that emanated from this political situation.
When the appointment of a new cantor for the Thomasschule became necessary following Johann Kuhnau's death on June 5, 1722, there were two factions in the Leipzig Town Council. One faction desired to see the position of cantor filled along the lines of the traditional teaching post. The occupant of the office certainly should know music as well as possible, but he should be equally competent in the realm of academic instruction—a teacher and musician in one. I will call this faction the “Cantor faction.” The other faction wanted to see the position filled along the lines of a modern municipal music directorship. The occupant should be highly qualified, if possible even a musician with the highest possible qualifications, with skills as a composer, performer, conductor, and organizer. Furthermore, he should be exempted from the instructional responsibilities hitherto attached to the position in order to concentrate solely on music. I will call this faction the “Kapellmeister faction.”
8 - A Treatise on Liturgical Text Settings (1710)
- Edited by Carol Baron, Stony Brook University, State University of New York
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- Book:
- Bach's Changing World
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 17 March 2023
- Print publication:
- 09 June 2006, pp 219-226
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Summary
Introduction
Bach's immediate predecessor at the Thomasschule in Leipzig, Johann Kuhnau (1660–1722), was a person of broadly cultivated tastes, with a decided literary flair that he developed successfully according to prevailing styles. His literary works interest us here since, quite side from being a successful composer, he left us documents that are unique and have been referred to in modern musicological studies as significant statements about current issues in literature, music, and religion—all of which, fortunately for us, drew his attention and are relevant for our study.
In 1700, Kuhnau published a novel entitled Der Musicalische Quack-Salber which, translated into English, is The Musical Charlatan. It is closely modeled on Christian Weise's earliest and most popular novel, Die drey ärgsten Ertznarren in der ganzen Welt (The Three Worst Arrant Fools in The Entire World), one of the author’s so-called “political” works, through which he taught young men appropriate behavior for working, primarily, in government positions in the electoral states. Weise's works were particularly influential in Thuringia and Saxony. (Chapter 1 cites Weise's works and discusses his contributions to the success of Saxon absolutism and the middle classes.) The protagonist in Kuhnau's adaptation is a clever braggart who pretends to be a musician and is ultimately unmasked, thereby evoking the derision and disdain whose underlying purpose is instructive. The penultimate chapter includes a list of sixty-four items of remonstrances and advice, under the heading “Der wahre Virtuose und glückselige Musicus” (“The True Virtuoso and Blessed Composer”), which summarizes the lessons to be learned.
Kuhnau's “Treatise on Liturgical Text Settings,” presented here in English translation, originally prefaced a set of cantatas composed for use at the Thomaskirche during the 1709–10 church year. It is an explanation of the process Kuhnau engaged in his work. Like his novel, it too models itself after a literary form, one that was developed, in this instance, by Christian Thomasius, Weise's most prominent student. Thomasius's significance in Leipzig, his difficulties at the university, and his later influence in the German territories were discussed in chapter 2. Although Thomasius was forced to leave Leipzig, the influence of his publications grew even there and is clearly found in Kuhnau’s literary style and intellectual conception.