-
Essay / Religious symbolism in Johann Sebastian Bach's six violin sonatas and partitas
Bach is known to be a devout Lutheran. We often see people talking about the religious symbolism evident in his vocal works. Who is going to remove this level of instrumental music? The purpose of this article is to serve as an interpretation of what Bach may have been thinking in writing his six violin sonatas and partitas. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Johann Sebastian Bach, “the Fifth Evangelist,” is well known for writing music that reflects his beliefs as a devout Lutheran. As Bach himself wrote, "the sole aim and reason of all music should be nothing other than the glory of God and pleasant recreation." Without this, there can be no real music, but only infernal strumming and bawling.” Countless research has been done on Bach's sacred vocal music, revealing religious symbolism between the text and the music itself. But this symbolism is certainly not limited to Bach's vocal music alone. Because Bach believed that all music is intended to glorify the Lord, his instrumental music must also include religious symbols reflecting his Lutheran beliefs. Indeed, the evidence proves that this must be so since the dedication of Bach's Little Organ Book reads: "Dem Höchsten Gott allein zu Ehren/ Dem Nächsten, draus sich zu belehren" ("Inscribed in l 'honor of the Lord Most High/ And so that my neighbor may learn thus'). The aim of this article is therefore to analyze Bach's instrumental music, in particular his Sei Solo a Violino senza Basso accompaniato (Six solos for violin without bass accompaniment), and to discover the religious symbolism inherent in its structure Here is why I am led to believe that there is religious symbolism in this collection of works: he was a devout Lutheran said. that "God preached the Gospel through music" and that music is next to theology. Probably go back and find a source for why Bach became a devout Lutheran The Six Solos for violin without bass accompaniment. by Bach are a curious collection of works. To begin with, there has been much debate over the original title itself of the collection, "Sei Solo a Violino senza Basso accommodato" and whether Bach intentionally wrote it in grammatically incorrect Italian (to be grammatically correct, sei solo should be replaced by sei soli). ). It is clear that Bach was not incompetent in Italian, this is evident in his manuscripts where he uses grammatically correct plural forms in his instrumentation such as violini and voci, so a lack of understanding of the Italian language is not to be blamed. blame. So Bach must have been intentional in his wording, sei solo (correctly translated means you are alone). It also places the phrase sei solo away from the rest of the title in order to distinguish it from the rest of the title. The question is why does he do it? Some claim that Sei Solo is meant to honor the death of his first wife, Maria Barbara Bach, which occurred the same year that Sei Solo was completed. This may be plausible, but in accordance with Bach's own words, the You in "You Are Alone" could more likely refer to Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament, God is exalted for his “loneliness” or uniqueness. For He “alone made heaven and earth”, He “alone” is “Most High above all” and He “Alone is Lord”. This trend is maintained throughout the New Testament describing Christ. The “Only Son» of God, Jesus is alone in his crucifixion, abandoned by man and by God – bearing the sins of humanity as “the only mediator between God and men”. It is also worth noting that Bach often wrote “Soli Deo gloria” (to God alone be the glory) at the bottom of his scores. Here the intentional play on words of Sei solo (the number sei or six, a perfect number used to illustrate the perfection of God and His works) referring to the perfect, sinless Lamb of lambs, Jesus Christ, seems very likely. If indeed Bach titled this collection with this intention then therefore the six works (three sonatas and three partitas, perhaps alluding to the trinity) must follow the passionate story of Jesus Christ. In this way, the remainder of this article interprets the religious symbolism in the Sei Solo that follows the Christ narrative. How it all fits together If we assume that the Sei Solo follows the Gospel, then it is not surprising that the holistic structure of the collection is chiastic. The respective tones of the six solos (gbadCE) are presented chiasmatically: GB is an M3, BA is an m7, AD is a P4 (the middle), DC is an m7 and CE is an M3. At first glance, the viewer might be baffled by the complexity of the chiasm. After all, the simplest way to create a chiasmatic structure would be to simply reverse the order of the heights in the middle (eg: gbaABG). However, if plotted on a staff, one notices that the gbadCE pitches are not simply a mixed hexachord. Instead, a pattern is evident: the second half of the structure is the transposition of the retrograde reversal. This is intriguing because in its context, this form due to the inversion could be considered the backbone of the Gospel story: the Most High becomes a humble servant. to raise the humble to glory. Another remarkable feature of the overall structure is that the keys of G minor and E major are harmonic antitheses of each other (when looking at the circle of fifths). Not only that, but G and E are also the lowest and highest strings on the violin respectively. This contrast between two extremes is often used in the Bible: for example, Jesus refers to himself as "alpha and omega, the first and the last" in Revelation and Romans 8:38 uses the juxtaposition of "neither death nor life ". . . neither the present nor the future” to express the impossibility of being separated from the love of God. The juxtaposition of two antitheses is therefore used to evoke wholeness and, by using this juxtaposition, Bach may have addressed the totality of God's grace and love – following the Gospel account. The overall architecture of the Sei Solo leaves no doubt that Bach had a religious intention when composing the collection. Here, this article will turn to the individual works comprising the Sei Solo in order to better understand what that intention might have been. Ciaccona SymbolismSince the revival of the Sei Solo by Joseph Joachim, the Cicaccona has lent itself as a prime candidate for countless reinterpretations and analyses. Its complex structure has been a constant source of confusion for researchers due to its proximity to the golden ratio. Indeed, if the Ciaccona were to be divided into three parts (33 four-bar ostinato statements in D, 19 ostinato statements in D, and ending with 12 ostinato statements in D), it comes frustratingly close to the golden ratio - the second and third sections. in accordance with the ratio, but in the first section, two ostinato statements longer than necessary to match the proportion. Some believe that this is enough to explain the structure of the Ciaccona while others argue that the structure of the.