Theology in Music

A blog considering theology as illustrated by Western Art Music

Cantata

  • A Call that pierces the night

    So closely do I, an organist, associate the first Schübler Chorale (BWV 645) with Advent, that I always find myself surprised to remember – even though I know I have known it for a long time – that the cantata on which it is based (BWV 140) was written not for Advent Sunday, but for the Read more

  • The sweet song of the healing Word

    The 20th of August 1724 was a Sunday, and as was his wont the cantor of the Thomaskirche in Leipzig – someone you may well have heard of, J Sebastian Bach – had composed a cantata based on an existing chorale which had resonances with the readings of the day, in this case the parable Read more

  • How wretched am I really, and what do I need to do about it?

    Another composer who is likely to have been awaited by readers of a blog with this title is the great J Sebastian Bach, mountain of the North German musical landscape and foundation stone of much teaching of music theory. Ash Wednesday gives me an excuse to return to a set work from my A Level Read more