{"id":274,"date":"2010-01-07T08:40:29","date_gmt":"2010-01-07T14:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/?p=274"},"modified":"2010-01-07T08:42:05","modified_gmt":"2010-01-07T14:42:05","slug":"bach-and-the-enemies-of-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/bach-and-the-enemies-of-christ-274.htm","title":{"rendered":"Bach and the Enemies of Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I heard Bach\u2019s cantata, Wenn die stolze Feinde schnauben<\/em>, at Christ Lutheran Church in Baltimore. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It is the last part of the Christmas oratorio, and was sung on Epiphany.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While the recitative recounts the narrative of the Three Kings, the meditative parts focus on the evil that already desires to destroy the Child.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben,<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

So gib, da\u00df wir im festen Glauben <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Nach deiner Macht und H\u00fclfe sehn! <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Wir wollen dir allein vertrauen,<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

So k\u00f6nnen wir den scharfen Klauen<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Des Feindes unversehrt entgehn.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Lord, when the proud enemies snarl, grant that we in steadfast faith may look to your strength and help! We will trust you alone, and so are able to escape unharmed the sharp claws of the enemy.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Soprano addresses Herod as Du Falscher<\/em>, You false one, who tries to use his List<\/em>, his cunning, to destroy the child. A fox is listig<\/em>, cunning, and Jesus later called another Herod \u201cthat fox.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The chorus sings the tender hymn<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ich steh an deiner Krippen hier,<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

O Jesulein, mein Leben;<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Ich komme, bring und schenke dir, <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Was du mir hast gegeben. <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Nimm hin! Es ist mein Geist und Sinn, \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Herz, Seel und Mut, nimm alles hin,<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Und la\u00df dirs wohlgefallen.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I stand here at your crib, o little Jesus, my life. I come and bring and give to you what you have given to me. Take it, it is my spirit and soul and mind and heat and strength, take it all, and let it be pleasing to you.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Child escapes to Egypt. The tenor sings<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Was will der H\u00f6llen Schrecken nun, <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Was will uns Welt und S\u00fcnde tun, <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Da wir in Jesu H\u00e4nden ruhn?<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What will the horrors of Hell now do, what will the world and sin do to us, who rest in Jesus\u2019 hands.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The choir concludes with the Passion chorale (O Sacred Head Surrounded<\/em>)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Tod, Teufel, S\u00fcnd und H\u00f6lle<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Sind ganz und gar geschw\u00e4cht;<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Bei Gott hat seine Stelle<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Das menschliche Geschlecht.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Death, devil, sin and hell are absolutely weakened. The human race has its place with God.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Bach modulates from the Christmas season to Lent in this cantata, and connects the two. The sweetness and tenderness of Christmas are not sentimentalized by being isolated. Already the proud enemy seeks the blood of the Child, but already God\u2019s wisdom and strength triumphs. He laughs to scorn the proud, and already the Child is Victor. The extraordinary note of universalism in the last line of the cantata looks forward to the final triumph, because already humanity is forever united to God in Christ, and that union contains a promise for the whole human race.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As I listen again and again to Bach\u2019s cantatas, I marvel both at the music, which has never been surpassed, and at the depth of the theology and religious feeling.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Italian musicians periodically have asked the Vatican to canonize Bach, which demurs because he was a Lutheran, but I think that he would be a worthier object of veneration and imitation than a lot of the saints that clutter the calendar.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 I heard Bach\u2019s cantata, Wenn die stolze Feinde schnauben, at Christ Lutheran Church in Baltimore. \u00a0 It is the last part of the Christmas oratorio, and was sung on Epiphany. \u00a0 While the recitative recounts the narrative of the Three Kings, the meditative parts focus on the evil that already desires to destroy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}