Johann Sebastian Bach zwischen Deutschland und Frankreich. Konstruktion und Zurückweisung einer nationalen Identifikationsfigur

Abstract

Johann Sebastian Bach between Germany and France: The Construction and Demarcation of a National Hero

In spite of a long lasting legend, Johann Sebastian Bach was never completely forgotten after his death. Nevertheless he was not publicly discovered as a composer of «great» music until the Berlin performance of the Matthäus-Passion in 1829. The reception of his music was shaped by the fact that his OEuvre did not include socalled universal works which dominated the musical life of the period (Symphonies, Operas). Like the instrumental works of Beethoven, Bach's great vocal compositions became in the German States a focal point of semi-religious and nationalistic musical reception. Emphasising Bach's «Germanness» in the public debates turned out to hinder his reception in various European countries. An assessment of Bach's music without anti-German prejudices was nearly impossible especially in Italy until the end of the 19th century. The reception of his music in France was characterised by the sophisticated construction of a French Catholic image of Bach to mark the differences to the exclusive German and Protestant constructions of Bach.