ProgLibSMP2

To those who have the slightest acquaintance with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, particularly his sacred choral repertoire, one fact stands out above all others: the man had a supernatural ability to make symbols. Such was the intellect of the great contrapuntalist as it hovered over notes and numbers � he was an amateur mathematician � that cryptic messages tumbled forth, like whispered secrets between composer and God, to occupy the imagination of scholars and musicians for the next three centuries and beyond. Numbers have unquestionably played a significant part in the thinking of the human race since the beginning of time. It took God six days to create the world and he rested on the seventh. Seven is therefore a number, which signifies completion and wholeness. Another significant number for Christians is, of course, three, which represents the Trinity, as well as the three days from Crucifixion to Resurrection.

Let us ease into the thorny subject of Bachian symbolism by looking at an obvious example: the short chorus in the St. Matthew Passion (SMP) in which the disciples ask Jesus, at the Last Supper, if it is one of them who will betray him. Herr, bin ichs? (Lord, is it I?). How many entries of Herr, bin ichs are there? Surely it should be twelve, not eleven? No, for the twelfth disciple, Judas, is the last to ask Jesus, Bin ichs, Rabbi? (Master, is it I?) a few bars further on.
Dr. Carl Geiringer (Symbolism in the Music of Bach) pointed out that alphabetic numerology has played a significant part in music through the ages. This is particularly true of Bach. When each letter of the alphabet is given a number: A=1, B=2, C=3, etc., (I and J, being the same letter, are 9, and similarly U and V are 20), the letters B+A+C+H, (2+1+3+8) come to 14. The first coincidence is that J+S+B+A+C+H, (9+18+2+1+3+8) comes to 41 � which is appropriate for a composer who sometimes wrote retrograde music. Perhaps we may not be surprised to find that, when Bach wished to identify himself with the Christian message of his compositions, 14 and 41 appear in some of his music.

An interesting set of 14 notes appears in the short chorus of the SMP when the centurion makes his supreme statement of Christian commitment, �Truly, this was the Son of God�. The vocal bass part has 14 notes. Was Bach thus identifying himself with the Centurion�s confession of faith?

The first chorus of the second half is 123 bars long. Another notable use of this number appears in his Motet, Der Geist hilft, (the Spirit also helpeth us), where the opening section is 123 bars long. 123 is, of course, an attractive number in its own right, and appropriate also for the third Person of the Trinity. But its factors are equally interesting: 3 x 41. Was Bach saying that the Spirit was also helping him?

St. Matthew wrote his Gospel specifically for the Jews � frequently he refers to incidents in Jesus� life as fulfilling Old Testament prophecy. Bach seems to have wanted to echo these references to the Old Testament in his music; but how could he do it? There is only one book in the Old Testament to which numbers may recognizably be applied (apart, of course, from the book of Numbers!) and that is the book of Psalms.

Geiringer has pointed out that the numbers of bass notes in some recitatives refer to psalms that parallel the sentiments of those parts of the Passion narrative. One example given is the second half of the recitative concerning the Last Supper, when Jesus said, �Drink ye all of this.� There are 116 bass notes in this part of the recitative, and in Psalm 116:12 we read, �I will receive the cup of salvation.� John Bertalot (Spirituality and Symbolism in the music of J.S. Bach) posed himself the question: if Bach did this on purpose in the second part of a recitative, did he also do it in the first part? Yes, of course he did. The first half of that recitative tells of Jesus breaking the bread � �Take, eat, this is my body�, which has 24 sounding bass notes. In psalm 24:8 we find, �O taste and see how gracious the Lord is�.

There are similar examples throughout the St. Matthew Passion. One of the most dramatic is the recitative where Jesus makes no answer when questioned by the High Priest: �He holds his peace�. This has 39 bass notes within 10 bars of music. Psalm 39:10 reads: �I became dumb and opened not my mouth.� There are 22 bass notes in the narrative telling of Christ�s death, where he says, �My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?� Psalm 22 begins, �My God, my God�. why hast thou forsaken me?� The second part of this recitative tells us that �Jesus�. yielded up the Ghost.� with 31 bass notes. In psalm 31:6 we read, �Into thy hands I commend my spirit.�

Readers may wish to do further musical arch�ology in this fruitful field.

At this point one should ask the question; why did Bach seem to take so much trouble with unseen details? There are two possible answers. Bach welcomed musical challenges, for his skill with notes knew no bounds! But also, as the architects of great cathedrals were assiduous in perfecting their creative structures built to the glory of God, even though much of their work was out of sight, so Bach may have offered his hidden structures to God which only He could see.

Programme Notes compiled by Graham Anstey, Copyright March 2001