Musicology Commons^™

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: A Composer On The Fault Line Of Ideological Change, Stephen J. White

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While there has been a renewed interest in recent years on Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and his place as a transitional figure in Western music history, little academic thought is given to his musical philosophy. Emanuel’s father, Johann Sebastian Bach, taught him the German-Protestant view that the primary purpose of music was to highlight scripture. Through his education, Emanuel gained an appreciation for the secular philosophies of humanism and the Enlightenment. In contrast to J. S. Bach’s Protestant views, the philosophies of the Enlightenment asserted that the primary purpose of music was to highlight the essence of humanity through emotions …