Musicology Commons^™

J.S. Bach As A Religious Storyteller – The Second Brandenburg Concerto, Emma Locarnini

Graduate Student Research Symposium

The sacred music of Johann Sebastian Bach, written during the composer’s employments at churches in Weimar (1708-17) and Leipzig (1724-50), clearly demonstrates his strong Lutheran faith. However, until relatively recently, Bach’s instrumental works have been considered devoid of religious inspiration, especially those published during his time at the Calvinist court of Prince Leopold in Cöthen (1717-23). With the discovery of Bach’s personal Bible and other Lutheran theological texts that contained annotations underscoring the role of music in bringing glory and praise to God, some contemporary scholars have pushed against the notion of Bach’s instrumental works being purely secular. For example, …

Theological Perspectives Of The Mass In B Minor, Bwv 232, Maria Jimena Picado Sandi

Graduate Student Research Symposium

In 1733, the great German Lutheran composer Johann Sebastian Bach presented the beginnings of what would become his only Catholic work, the Mass in B minor, to the newly elected King of Poland, August III. This first draft was a compilation of extracts from five different Lutheran Masses that he had already composed, including a Kyrie and a Gloria.

Over the years, musicologists have put forth various theories as to why such a devoted Lutheran such as Bach wrote a Catholic mass (e.g. Wolff 2001). My research clarifies how specific sections of the Mass express both Catholic and …

The Poetic Horn: Rethinking Expressive Intent In Schumann's Adagio Und Allegro, Op. 70, Samantha Duhé

Graduate Student Research Symposium

At first glance, Robert Schumann’s Adagio und Allegro for horn and piano, Op. 70 appears to be simply one showpiece out of many the composer wrote in his later years to appeal to a middle class market of amateur musicians. The piece is often dismissed as such, and as a result, scholars tend to exclude it from their discourse on Schumann’s expressive musical techniques. Adagio und Allegro is yet to have been investigated in light of this discourse. One of the composer’s musical devices, recognized by Berthold Hoeckner (1997), is to mimic the sound of a tone fading into the …