Hendrik Slegtenhorst
In his more than 200 cantatas Bach interprets the human condition through musical assertion and examination of the relevance of the gospels and epistles of the Christian Bible. Every cantata is discussed in my six book series On the Cantatas of J.S. Bach. The epistle, which is essentially didactic, is from the Apostolic letters retained in Scripture. The gospel, which is concerned with the life and teachings of Christ, is effectively an exposition of His adherence to principles and the application of action. Guided by this context, Bach consistently propounds surpassing interpretations of the nature and spirit of life. Though the over-reaching principles are philosophical and ethical, how they apply is determined, ultimately, by the individual. Book Six of this series examines the 40 surviving cantatas for the Sundays and feast days from Easter to Pentecost. They are grouped into the period for Easter proper (including the Easter Oratorio), the five Sundays after Easter, Ascension (including the Ascension Oratorio), Exaudi, Pentecost, and Trinity Sunday. Bach, in these, affirms and explains such fundamental aspects as Easter proper, which begins after the Passion, with Christ dead in the tomb, through to His resurrection and the events that proceed from it. Ascension concerns Christ’s departure from the world. Exaudi centres on the promise of the arrival of the Holy Ghost to the church of Christ, and Pentecost is its realization. Trinity Sunday is then the feast of the Trinitarian actuality, and completes the liturgical, and Bach’s, cycles. It is a personal exploration, both his and mine.
