Ah, Bach! What a Lutheran
Borrowing from Pastor Surburg of Illinois, I was reminded that July 28th was the commemoration of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). He was a brilliant composer. He was the Kantor (a fancy word for music director) of St. Thomas Lutheran Church. Bach is acknowledged as one of the most famous and gifted of all composers past and present in the entire western world.
Bach was orphaned at the age of ten and was mostly self-taught in music. His professional life as conductor, performer, composer, teacher, and organ consultant began at the age of 19 in the town of Arnstadt and ended in Leipzig, where for the last 27 years of his life he was responsible for all the music in the city’s four Lutheran churches.
In addition to his being a superb keyboard artist, the genius and bulk of Bach’s vocal and instrumental compositions remain overwhelming. A devout and devoted Lutheran, he is especially honored in Christendom for his lifelong insistence that his music was written primarily for the liturgical life of the church to glorify God and edify his people.
The church is thankful for those who serve and provide the life giving food of salvation. We give thanks to God for musicians throughout the world who serve in devotion to bring God's Word to deliver Christ's gifts.
All of Christendom gives thanks for Bach's enduring musical mark that seeks only to give glory to God.
In Christ,
Pr. Mark Sell
