Grace Notes

Upcoming Panel Discussion: “Bach, the St. John Passion, and Anti-Judaism”

ALLAN WIEMAN

J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion contains some of the most glorious choral music ever composed. If you attend, you will hear the joyful Soprano Aria “Ich folge dir gleichfalls mit freudigan Schritten” (I will follow you likewise with joyful steps), the deeply moving Alto Aria “Es ist vollbracht” (It is accomplished), the gorgeous Bass Aria with chorus, “Mein teurer Heiland” (My precious Savior), many moving Bach chorales, and the loving and compassionate final chorus “Ruht wohl” (Be fully at peace).

Yet, we must also acknowledge that there are disturbing scenes in the St. John Passion, where the angry Jewish mob shouts and screams for the crucifixion of Jesus. Bach’s frenetic and violent musical settings of the biblical verses from Luther’s translation of the Gospel of John, referred to as turba, can be deeply problematic to individuals who understand how these verses have been used and misused for millennia to justify horrific antisemitic violence against Jews throughout Europe and beyond. How can we perform the St. John Passion when it includes these troubling texts set by Bach to noisy, violent, frenetic music? Some might argue that we should cancel Bach’s St. John Passion, or at least skip or modify these movements. Others suggest we ignore the text and history and just focus on the beauty and power of the music.

Upper Valley Baroque believes that we should continue to hear and appreciate this glorious music, and that we not sweep these issues under the rug. We intend to discuss the troubling aspects of the St. John Passion head on, perhaps doing some good, in the words of Professor Michael Marissen, by “promoting further discussion of the various issues raised by Bach’s music.”

To that end, Upper Valley Baroque is sponsoring a panel discussion by three outstanding scholars who have thought deeply about these issues. The panel will be moderated by Professor Susannah Heschel, Chair of the Jewish Studies Program at Dartmouth. She will be joined by three experts on the subject:

• Michael Marissen, Professor Emeritus of Music, Swarthmore College and author of several books, including Lutheranism, Anti-Judaism, and Bach’s St. John Passion, Bach and God and Bach Against Modernity

• Ruth HaCohen, Professor of Musicology at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and author of The Music Libel Against the Jews.

• Rebecca Cypess, Musicology Professor at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. She is the author of several books, and co-editor of and contributor to Sara Levy’s World: Gender, Judaism, and the Bach Tradition in Enlightenment Berlin

The panel discussion will be on Sunday, May 5 at 12 noon, via Zoom. Free event, registration required.

Register by clicking this link or pasting it into your browser: https://dartmouth.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_QJW-j8Y4Qdel-5OOp3i4pQ

We will also share the link via email.