Bach's Symbolic Language
Author(s): Walter Emery
Source: Music & Letters , Oct., 1949, Vol. 30, No. 4 (Oct., 1949), pp. 345-354
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/730676
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms
Oxford University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
Music & Letters
This content downloaded from
170.76.211.30 on Thu, 19 Jan 2023 15:22:45 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
BACH'S SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE
BY WALTER EMERY
IT has for a long time been generally accepted that Bach used
symbolism in his music: used it deliberately and consistently, so
that he may be said to have employed a symbolic musical language
as one of his means of expression.
The facts Are clear. Fully half Bach's output-the chorale
preludes and programmatic works as well as the vocal music-has
words associated with it in dte way or another; and when the words
refer to a rise, a fall, or the Old Serpent, the music often rises, falls,
or moves snakewise. Other motions and objects are similarly
represented. Further, certain rhythmical or melodic "motives"
are often associated with certain emotions; for instance, the rhythm
nJ I J n J with joy; the rhythm 1m 7J" , or something like
it, with beatific peace; and slow 'chromatic scales with grief.
At least some of these facts were known to Spitta; but they were
first brought into prominence by Pirro and Schweitzer, who not
only published them in some detail, but provided an explanation.
Unfortunately they did not make it easy for their readers to dis-
tinguish between the representational figuration and the " motives "
that seem to be connected with grief, joy and other abstractions;
and Schweitzer' presented his explanation in such a confusing and
self-contradictory way that it is difficult to discover what he meant.
The general outline, however, is clear enough. Prunieres gives it
thus2:
Andre Pirro and Albert Schweitzer have carefully analysed
Bach's symbolic vocabulary, showing how every idea in the text of
the cantatas is illustrated by an appropriate musical image.
To understand the music of Bach one must first of all realize that
never did this great man conceive music as a thing in itself. The
idea of pure music was foreign to him.
In his mind [in the clavier works] are the thousands of musical
symbols created in the course of the ages.
1 I shall here refer to Schweitzer and his arguments almost exclusively. This is
simply because Schweitzer's work, through being available in a trustworthy translation,
has had much more influence than Pirro's on English ideas of Bach's symbolism. For
the same reason all my references to Schweitzer are to the English translation.
2 H. Prunieres, 'New History of Music', trans. E. Lockspeiser. (London, 1943),
PP. 343, 358.
345
This content downloaded from
170.76.211.30 on Thu, 19 Jan 2023 15:22:45 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
346 MUSIC AND LETTERS
Stated thus, in general terms-and it is hard
more precise out of Schweitzer-the explanation
unacceptable, and it has become an article of f
surprising; it is only when we look into details
cations that we begin to wonder whether Sc
of making an important contribution to our unde
did not do both us and Bach a signal disservice.
For further discussion we need a clear an
summary of what we may call the Symbolic Hy
find one in Schweitzer, so that the following,
words, must serve.
According to the Symbolic Hypothesis, Bach expressed himself
not only by ordinary musical means (through the sound of his music,
with everything that that implies, and through the associated words,
if any), but also by using a symbolic language. He was not content
to write joyful music for Easter; he also symbolized the Resurrection
by making his music rise. He was not content to write sorrowful
music for Good Friday; he also symbolized sorrow by slow chromatic
scales. This he did deliberately, " to force his audiences to under-
stand him " (Pirro), and consistently enough for a knowledge of his
symbols to be " a necessity for the practical musician ", since " It
is often impossible to play a work of his in the right tempo, and with
the right accent and the right phrasing, unless we know the meaning
of the motive. The simple 'feeling' does not always suffice "'
(Schweitzer, II, 5I).3
The Hypothesis applies not only to the cantatas, chorale preludes
and programmatic works, but also to what I shall call wordless works.
The understanding of Bach's musical language is also valuable
3 I give two relevant quotations:
Pirro, ' L'Esth6tique de Jean-Sdbastien Bach', p. 1: " Le trait essentiel de Bach
est, en effet, paralllement a son aviditd de tout connaitre des ressources de son art, la.
resolution entetee d'en faire, en quelque manire, un outil de domination sur les esprits.
I1 est violemment expansif, et veut contraindre ses auditeurs a le comprendre et a le
suivre.
Schweitzer, II, 52: " Two objections may-be raised to the assumption of a complete
musical language in Bach-that he occasionally parodied his own works in a really
thoughtless way, and that so far as we know he never said anything, either to his pupils
or to his sons, with reference to his pictorial purposes. ... They only make us ask to
what degree Bach was conscious of his musical language being a means of expression
peculiar to himself, and the result of profound artistic reflection. But to this question,
again, no definite answer is possible, for it is even more difficult to fix upon the border-
line between the conscious and the unconscious in the case of Bach than in that of any
other genius. His musical language is so clear, and makes so deep an impression, that
we cannot but regard it as deliberate."
This passage contains one of the self-contradictions that make Schweitzer so difficult
to summarize; but it is clear enough that in the end he comes down on the side of
" profound artistic reflection ". And so his followers have understood him. Stainton
Taylor (' Chorale Preludes ', p. 34) refers to Schweitzer's" exposition of Bach's deliberate
and significant use of' motives' ".
This content downloaded from
170.76.211.30 on Thu, 19 Jan 2023 15:22:45 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
BACH'S SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE 347
for the interpretation of the purely instrumental wor
pieces in the ' Well-tempered Clavichord ', in the violin
in the Brandenburg concertos speak quite definitely to us,
when the meaning of their themes is explained by the
accompanies similar themes in the cantatas [Schweitzer
However, the commentators have made very little
aspect of the Hypothesis. Practically all their examples
the cantatas and chorale preludes.
The Symbolic Hypothesis is open to attack in sev
Some people consider the whole idea so improbable
unworthy of discussion; and although they are clearly in
it does not follow that they are wrong. Some may arg
composer dare work on so dangerous a principle; for,
composer who accepted the Hypothesis might come
symbolism rather than on musical means of expre
listener who accepted it would be unable to give full a
the music; and, according to current notions, neither
results would be desirable. Some, again, may quote
support of an argument that Bach could not have expe
elaborate system of symbolism to work. (Kuhnau rem
when a composer imitates birds or bells, or writes tru
drum-like passages for a keyboard instrument, his int
clear to everyone; but that more elaborate symbolism
explanation. Kuhnau provided an explanation; Bach in
less works did not.4) Again, it is certainly significant
not known to have mentioned his " pictorial purposes "
and that he did " parody " his own symbolism. But ar
this kind do not take us very far5; for although it is doubt
the symbolists can counter them effectively, their oppon
bring forward anything that can be called proof. There i
another line of approach. If Bach took symbolism
regarding it as an important means of expression, there a
things that he ought to have done; and we can examin
and see whether he did them.
II
The three organ chorale preludes on ' Dies sind' (' These are
the holy ten commandments') show that Bach did not take sym-
bolism as seriously as his commentators do. Where they would have
4Pirro quotes from Mattheson's ' Ehrenpforte' (p. 287) to this effect: in 1710
Christoph Raupach of Stralsund played some voluntaries that he called Musical
Allusions. They were based on chorales, and his aim was to show that he could express
the words, besides simply harmonizing the melody. He distributed the words of the
chorales to his audiences.
5 Nevertheless, see Gordon Sutherland's article 'The Schweitzerian Heresy' and
A. B. Ashby's defence of Schweitzer in' Music & Letters', October 1942 and April 1945.
This content downloaded from
170.76.211.30 on Thu, 19 Jan 2023 15:22:45 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
348 MUSIC AND LETTERS
symbolized the ten commandments by ten entries of
would even have distinguished between the first four
and the remainder, Bach was much less systematic.
Of the 'Orgelbuchlein' prelude Schweitzer sa
bolism . . . is rather primitive. It consists in the tenf
in the pedal of the first melodic period " (i.e. of a
of the first line of the chorale). But, as Harvey
long ago, " The number is more than ten, counting
Without them it is less, so there is something wrong
metic ".
The diminution occurs in the inner parts as well, more than
twenty times in all (not exactly twenty); and Jansen's determination
to see the number ten somewhere in this prelude6 would be amusing
if it did not waste other people's time. He concludes that inversions
do not count, and of the other entries only those that exactly
reproduce the intervals of the first pedal entry. Thus, of the
sequential entries in the following example only the first counts:
Ex i
He then finds that he has only nine entries, and has to make
tenth by including the first line of the canto fermo, which, apart f
not being a diminution, has one G too many:
Ex 2
J I J 1 J IIJJ lr
Of the larger of the two ' Clavierubung' preludes Jansen
(p. 97) that by canonic treatment Bach makes ten entries out of
five lines of the chorale. But here, as elsewhere, Bach treats the
chorale as if it had six lines; there are therefore twelve entries.
In the comic Fughetta Bach did use ten entries of the subject,
of which Nos. 5 to 8 are inverted. Grace remarks (p. 214) that
"the Commandments from No. 5 onwards [are] concerned specially
with human relationships ". But Nos. 9 and io are represented by
two final entries of the direct subject.
Again, in the prelude on ' Erstanden ist' (' Arisen is the holy
Christ') Bach is said to have symbolized the Resurrection. It is
true that the inner parts begin with rising scales and the pedal with
rising skips, but towards the end the inner parts have a good deal of
' BachJahrbuch ', 1937, p. 98.
This content downloaded from
170.76.211.30 on Thu, 19 Jan 2023 15:22:45 UTCTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
BACH'S SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE 349
downward movement7, and of the eight pedal entries
half of the prelude six skip downwards. There is a mus
for this: the top part, which has the chorale, ends an oc
than it begins and forces the under parts down as it de
even so, Bach could have constructed the under parts in a m
symbolic way, and no doubt would have done so had he
mattered whether the parts went up or down.
III
Bach's symbolic language is alleged to be the outcome o
"profound artistic reflection ". Therefore, there ought not to
any doubt about the meaning of any one piece of symbolism, tak
in its context. In fact, the commentators do not agree.
In the ' Orgelbuchlein ' prelude on ' Christ lag' (' Christ lay
the bonds of death', an Easter hymn), according to Schweitz
" the bonds of death are symbolized by heavy basses ". Accord
to Terry " The Pedal, its jubilant rhythm notwithstanding, interpr
the sinister word ' Todesbanden ' (Death's dark prison). The se
quaver Pedal phrases may symbolize the rolling away of t
sepulchral stone ". According to Stainton Taylor "Tune in
soprano, accompanied consistently by 'triumph-motives' in all
other parts ".
The tenor part of the prelude on 'Herr Gott, nun schleuss',
according to Riemenschneider, is " descriptive of the turmoil and
weariness in the life of man and [presents] a picture of an erring
mortal who cannot through his own efforts find complete
satisfaction ". According to Taylor "A ceaseless semiquaver
accompaniment suggests at the same time both the floating move-
ments of angels (or perhaps the travel of cloud-masses) and joyful
anticipation of the bliss to come "
IV
Had Bach taken symbolism seriously, he would surely have used
it in all his work. But the commentators have had very little to say
of the symbolism in the wordless works-the very works for whose
interpretation we most need guidance and about which we might
have expected the commentators to be most explicit. In some of
his most expressive movements Bach used the recognized motives
either not at all or only here and there. Of the Passiontide prelude
on ' Christe, du Lamm Gottes' Taylor says: "The meaning of
Bach's handling is not very apparent ... why did not Bach use one
7 Particularly in the last bar. What does this symbolize ?
This content downloaded from
170.76.211.30 on Thu, 19 Jan 2023 15:22:45 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
350 MUSIC AND LETTERS
of his usual grief, anger, or pain-motives here ?"
motive of grief or sin appears only towards the end
bewein ', and it is the same with the "sighing " mot
grief in the coloratura prelude on 'Nun komm'.
preludes are all so highly expressive that no one can ev
in doubt about Bach's intentions, even before a sym
had been invented for him; whereas some of the move
full of alleged symbolism leave us wondering how Bach
to be played. For instance, Grace says (p. 117) of t
'Alle Menschen ' that " lento e tranquillo is quite i
The piece is no less effective played with fair pace
When a sympathetic critic cannot tell whether a mo
be played lento e tranquillo or " with fair pace and pow
something wrong with the movement. In 'Alle Me
did not make his intentions clear; and since its acc
consists entirely of the "motive of beatific peace "
exactly how far symbolism is useful as a means of exp
A symbolic musical language cannot be effective
symbol has always the same meaning. This is so obv
could not have failed to see it if, as Schweitzer sup
devoted " profound artistic reflection " to this subject
Schweitzer has to admit (II, 120) that
the foregoing analysis indicates only the meanings th
commonly bear. In the " Kreuzige " of the St. John
example, the rhythm Jf3 J J J n has nothing to
motive of joy, but serves here, as in other cases, onl
motion more animated. .. . Bach's musical language is simply
based on the fact that for the representation of certain feelings he
prefers certain definite rhythms, and that this association is so
natural that it at once tells its own story to anyone with a musical
mind.
According to this Bach used the same rhythm sometimes to
symbolize joy and sometimes simply to animate the musical motion
associated with the shouts of a bloodthirsty mob. Clearly, that
rhythm does not tell its own story to anyone and cannot have any
such expressive value or practical use as the Symbolic Hypothesis
attributes to it.
But Schweitzer immediately continues (II, I21): "Many
rhythms that look the same on paper were conceived by Bach in
wholly different ways.. . . We can therefore maintain with some
confidence that the same rhythm in Bach's music does not represent
two distinct feelings ". According to this the rhythms Bach used
This content downloaded from
170.76.211.30 on Thu, 19 Jan 2023 15:22:45 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
BACH'S SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE 35i
to symbolize joy and to animate the motion may not ha
same. They look the same on paper; but Bach may have
them in wholly different ways, and (no doubt) distingu
in his own performances by differences of phrasing. Unfo
he seldom wrote the phrasing in. Thus, if there is in
difference between the two rhythms, we nowadays can
only from the associated words and the general look of
from the "simple feeling" that Schweitzer considers le
than symbolism as a guide to correct interpretation (II,
on p. 346 above).
The "Kreuzige" chorus is not the only movement
this motive occurs inappropriately. Schweitzer himsel
draws attention to its appearance as a mere animator
" So loschet " of Cantata 9o; and it is more or less prom
number of works that are certainly not usually conside
such as the Fugue of the Chromatic Fantasy (countersu
organ Passacaglia (bar 33), the chorale prelude on '
will ich nicht lassen' and the following movements
"Forty-Eight ": Book i, Prelude in Bb minor, Fugues in
F minor, G minor and G# minor; Book ii, Fugue in D#
"It would be equally false ", says Schweitzer (II, I20)
the 'sighing motive' in every theme composed of succ
two tied notes " (for tied read slurred). He is right; see
ye hosts of hell; you do not frighten me " (Cantata 5):
Cantata 5
Ex 3 ver-stum - me, ver stum me, du
machst mich nicht ver zagt
_-P _ .^ J,
the tenor aria in Cantata i (bar 5), the alto aria in Cantata
(bar I6) and the first movement of the Italian Concerto (bar 3
It follows that successions of two slurred notes have as little symbol
value as the so-called joy-motive.
The so-called motive of beatific peace is another that appears
strange contexts. It takes many forms. Here are three orthodo
specimens, quoted from Schweitzer (II, 99, Ioo):
This content downloaded from
170.76.211.30 on Thu, 19 Jan 2023 15:22:45 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
352 MUSIC AND LETTERS
Ex.4 Cantata 172
Cantata 12 Ex.5
d la _
9' Iu it7I= z
Ex.6 Cantata 143
"Wf_.
.*h' ^
They diffe
way illegit
I.Y 7 Cantata s K
L Al e-t^
inner parts omitted
from the first chorus of Cantata
from which Ex. 3 is taken, th
Magnificat (continuo part), th
Fugue in the " Forty-Eight ", B
Organ Fugue i
rTh 1 r
The last is from an organ Fugue in G major, a work of imm
rhythmical vitality, not contemplative in the least. The p
figure in the last bar of Ex. 8 is obviously derived from the typi
8 Can Bach have expected his audiences to recognize Exx. 4-6 as the same motiv
According to Pirro Exx. 4 and 5 are wind-motives. Ex. 4 symbolizes a tempest, Ex
gentle breeze. Another orthodox specimen of this motive (Schweitzer, II, 63) is ta
from a chorale prelude that has two authentic titles, Schweitzer uses the title
Gott, nun sei gepreiset'; thereby, as Terry pointed out, associating beatific peace
a Grace after Meat.
This content downloaded from
170.76.211.30 on Thu, 19 Jan 2023 15:22:45 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
BACH'S SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE 353
"motive of beatific peace" in the earlier bars; it is
legitimate to say that this motive occurs at bar 73 of
Passacaglia, as it certainly does at bar I I4, and at bar
elegiac organ Fugue in B minor.
Another form of this motive occurs in the ' Orgelb
prelude on 'Jesu, meine Freude '. Its rhythm is that of
part in Ex. 7, and (according to Schweitzer, II, 64) it
" mystic adoration ". With this compare bar 7 of the first
in Cantata 35 (an adaptation of a secular concerto), bar
C minor Fugue in the "Forty-Eight ", Book i, and t
countersubject of the " great" organ Fugue in G minor. See
figured chorale that ends Part I of the Christmas Oratorio.
are "beatifically peaceful ": "Dearest Jesu, make Thyself a
my heart, that I may never forget Thee "; but the m
not accompany the words. It occurs as the bass of the inst
introduction, interludes and conclusion, where three tru
drums ensure that its message of beatific peace shall pa
VI
I do not know whether such inconsistencies are unusual, or very
common, in Bach's works as a whole. It would be a waste of time
to attempt a count. But from these glaring examples, found in a
few accessible works, it is clear both that Bach did not take symbolism
as seriously as he is supposed to have done and that symbolism
cannot serve as a guide to correct interpretation. Furthermore,
any musician who is honest with himself must admit that his know-
ledge of Bach's alleged symbolism has not contributed, and is not
likely to contribute, anything appreciable to his enjoyment of the
music. The study of Bach's symbolism, as it has been carried out
hitherto, has in fact very little to do with music. It is a subject for
people who, instead of listening to the ' Orgelbiichlein ' prelude on
'Dies sind' (see Section II above), sit counting the entries of a
motive and are in some way edified when, having counted wrong,
they make the total ten: a subject to which anyone can make a
seemingly valuable contribution simply by letting his imagination
run riot. Jansen9 regards the following in the St. Matthew Passion:
Ex. 9
gin-gen sie hinaus an den l0-berg.
9' Bach-Jahrbuch ', 1937, p. Io9.
This content downloaded from
170.76.211.30 on Thu, 19 Jan 2023 15:22:45 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
354 MUSIC AND LETTERS
as an example of Bach's number-symbolism.
he says (that is, the thirteen bracketed notes),
and twelve semiquavers, which symbolize Ch
According to St. John xiii, 30, Judas withdrew
So, in the ascent of the Mount one goes ahead;
Saviour, followed by the faithful eleven ".
In its present form, the Symbolic Hypothes
explanation of the facts stated at the begin
explains too much, leading us to expect more s
consistent use of individual symbols than ca
Bach's works. It also lends itself to ridiculo
serve only to distract attention from the mus
effect. It should be dropped before it does a
This content downloaded from
170.76.211.30 on Thu, 19 Jan 2023 15:22:45 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
