Dissertation - World Federation of Music Therapy

dynamics as well as phrasing: expressive effects are obtained by the use of subito
piano, crescendi and decrescendi, accelerandi, ritardandi, allargandi and not the least a
bowing technique linking all phrases together and (in most cases) not leaving a
natural space for breathing between phrases.
In the GIM music selections database the two pieces are characterized in the
following way: “Stokowski instrumental transcriptions add a patina to Bach through
orchestral colour and tone”. “The arrangement of Komm, süsser Tod gives the
opening section most affectingly to divided strings, and reserves the entry of winds,
brass and harp to the melody's reprise.” “The fervour and emotional depth of Mein
Jesu show that Bach was not only a master of fugue, polyphony, and all technical
resources of his time, but was a supreme poet of impulsive rhapsodic feeling, in
whom heart and mind were equally powerful.” (GIM Music Selections Database
2004).
Bach’s arrangements of melody and accompaniment were closely related to the
Protestant/Pietistic dichotomy between the sufferings of earthly mortal life and the
eternal blessings of the heavenly life, as expressed in the texts. In this Pietistic
tradition death was not an enemy, but a friend, as such welcomed and embraced by
the dying subject of the Komm, süsser Tod text. A compassionate subject in Mein
Jesu expresses the experience of Jesus in Gethsemane. It is almost like an eyewitness
describing and identifying with the suffering and anguish of the Christ. Bach’s music
is expressive of these experiences, and follows the principles of the baroque
Affektenlehre. Musical affects were meant to be objective renderings of basic and
composite emotions, and this was achieved through the systematic use of specific
rhythmic and melodic patterns plus harmonic setting. It is possible to see how Bach
correlates the text with the music in the finest details, both melodically and
harmonically. Typical examples can be found in the second half of Mein Jesu! The
extreme anguish of the Christ is expressed in the tense sequence of eight semi-tone
quavers (bars 8-9), first descending then ascending, and the whole sequence is
transposed one tone up, and accompanied by a fierce modulation from F major in the
beginning of the section, over g minor to a minor (variant). This is followed by a
stable d minor phrase (bars 12-13), where the ascending melodic line illustrates the
text line “And lift in misery to heaven your hands”. These musical intentions are
amplified almost extremely in the Stokowski arrangements. (App. 8.8 and 8.9 include
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