The course will focus on three works based, at least in part, on religious texts. Bach’s Passions – including the Matthäus Passion (1727-1736), which will serve as the Bachian focal point for this course – were conceived for liturgical use, but today function primarily as concert works. The other two works discussed in this course – Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem (1962) and Mordecai Seter’s oratorio Midnight Vigil (1959-1961) – were conceived as concert works, but draw on liturgical texts. Britten’s Requiem combines the standard text of the Roman-Catholic Mass for the Dead with anti-war protest poetry by World War I officer Wilfred Owen; and Seter’s oratorio is inspired by a private, mystical Jewish ritual and by Jewish (predominantly Yemenite) religious and musical traditions.

 

All three works are characterized by a dialogic, multi-layered approach, which is manifest in text and music alike. They all combine texts of different origins, written in different eras; they all combine different genres, distinct in their historical provenance and musical style alike; and all employ multiple ensembles, which engage in dialogue with each other. In Bach’s work, all these layers were intended were meant to support each other in the liturgical expression of unquestioning faith; but later generations seized on the work’s multi-layered complexity in their quest for more subversive interpretations. The other two works – written in the 20^th century and intended for concert performance – embody more complex, ambiguous relationships (sometimes complementary, sometimes confrontational) between their liturgical inspirations and the more modern elements, which reflect the secular age in which they were conceived.

 

The course will examine each of the three works against the backdrop of the traditions which gave rise to it – including broad cultural and social background which inform it, and the specifically musical traditions which inspired it. Among other things, we will discuss Bach’s music in general – and his Passions in particular – as sources of inspiration for Britten and Seter.