Bach, Faith, and the Future of Classical Music
Last August, the Tanglewood Learning Institute hosted the first live-filmed conversations for BACH 52. The first of these features Chad Smith, President & CEO of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, in a wide-ranging conversation about Bach, classical music’s evolving place in contemporary culture, and the role of major artistic institutions as civic and cultural stewards.
Bach, Spirituality, and the Concert Hall as Civic Space
Our conversation began, quite naturally, with biography. Chad spoke about discovering Bach through singing — first in the church, then in college — and through the cantatas that filled his Sundays at Emmanuel Music in Boston. Listening to him describe those formative experiences — and recalling my earlier BACH 52 conversations with Emmanuel musicians and clergy in Episodes 8, 10, and 11 — I am continually struck by the ripple effects of Emmanuel’s influence on our musical world.That world of devotion, community, and routine artistry left an imprint on him, and it informed the way he now thinks about ritual, faith, and the spaces where we gather to listen. From there, the discussion widened to touch on the concert hall as a kind of secular cathedral, the persistence of spiritual longing in an increasingly secular age, and the ways art can function as a public good.
Because this episode was filmed live at Tanglewood, its structure mirrors the event itself, which contained more music than the pre-filmed webisodes normally do. The first aria comes from BWV 7, Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, a cantata written for the Feast of St. John the Baptist. Scored for tenor and two violins, it paints the scene of Christ’s baptism at the River Jordan with striking clarity. Its numerological symmetry and Trinitarian imagery evoke purification and renewal — both liturgical and human. This aria first appeared in Episode 1 of BACH 52, and makes a reprise here as the aria featured in my conversation with Chad.
The episode concludes with an aria from BWV 119, Preise, Jerusalem, den Herrn, written for the inauguration of the Leipzig town council. BWV 119 looks outward as a blessing for the city and its inhabitants, imagining civic life as something worthy of ceremony, festivity, and song. After a conversation about institutions, public ritual, and the artist as citizen, it felt fitting to close with a work that collapses the distance between sacred space and civic space, reminding us that Bach lived not only in the church but also in the life of a city.
CREDITS:
BWV 119
Les Délices | Debra Nagy, director
Oboes da caccia: Debra Nagy, Meg Owens
Viola da gamba: Rebecca Landell
Organ: Mark Edwards
BWV 7
Ruckus Early Music
Violins: Katie Hyun, Owen Dalby
Viola da gamba: Doug Balliett
Bassoon: Clay Zeller-Townson
Theorbo: Joshua Stauffer
Harpsichord: Elliot Figg
VIDEO (arias only): Clubsoda Productions
SOUND (BWV 119 only): Joel Negus
SOUND (BWV 7 only): Lolly Lewis
Episode 14 is produced in partnership with Les Délices, Noe Music, and the Tanglewood Learning Institute.
BACH 52 is made possible in part by grants from the American Bach Society, the Center for Cultural Innovation, the Bettina Baruch Foundation, and Intermusic SF.
BACH 52 is a production of Nicholas Phan Recording Projects, which is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.
Charitable contributions in support of Nicholas Phan Recording Projects and the BACH 52 project must be made payable to “Fractured Atlas” only and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law..