LDV302

The result of this superposition is striking. Over and above its concrete force in evoking the liturgy, it presents what, in the absence of articulation with the text, could be passed over unheeded in a superficial listening: as in other circumstances, ‘emanating poetry like a light perfume’ 5 throughout the discourse, Schweitzer noted that ‘ Bach harmonises the words rather than pure melody’. 6 So, very often - beyond the juxtaposition of the organ and the choir - the instrumental version is also fully justified in its own right. As the music is written to follow a ‘plot’, ‘its specific ideas can be conveyed by the themes alone’ 7 , without having recourse to the text. As in the Vater unser for four voices, BWV 737, presented here, which also uses the same severe structures as the Te Deum , with its cantus firmus in long note values for the soprano, which Geiringer likened to ‘awordless motet’ 8 , while ‘it is nevertheless obvious that its essential idea is Luther’s forceful prayer’ 9 , the third hymn in the new catechism. ANDRÉ ISOIR 31 5.A. Schweitzer, J.S Bach le musicien-poète , Leipzig, 1905. M. et P. Foetisch, 1967, p. 23 6. Id. 7. Ibid., p. 217 8. K. Geiringer, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Culmination of an Era, Oxford, 1966. 9. Id.