Motive and Motif in the Church Music of Johann Sebastian Bach

Abstract

Johann Sebastian Bach stands in a long line of Lutheran composers who used musical forms to convey theological concepts that reaches back to Luther himself. Lutheran theologians and musicians used the Latin formula viva vox evangelii to define their understanding of music as the living voice of the gospel. Here is presented first an overview of this Lutheran tradition, and then an examination of specific examples from Bach's musical works that expound specific theological concepts such as the doctrine of the Trinity, the distinction between law and gospel, the nature of discipleship, and christological hermeneutics in general.