Why We Need More Bassoon In Worship

A reflection based on the Sonata in C Major for Bassoon and Basso Continue by Johann Friedrich Fasch

(a piece that I happen to be working on)

What should be the role of emotion in the religious arena? Should we have weepy, crying preachers blowing their nose every other line during the sermon because the message is just so darn sad and powerful? Should we have emotionally manipulative music, sweeping strings, majestic french horns, or anything resembling a John Williams soundtrack during the worship to pull at the heartstrings of the people? Or should we strive to control ourselves in the presence of the divine so that we can fully comprehend and appreciate the majesty of God and all that God does in our lives? Should we hold to reason and rationale and work to keep ourselves together and our emotions in check so that we can be aware of all of our actions in worship and in other aspects of our lives? What should be the role of emotion in religion?

I invite the reader to turn to Johann Friedric Fasch (1688-1758) who wrestled with this question in a very real way. Fasch was a composer of what the tweed jacket wearing neck-beards would describe the Baroque period(from the Portuguese barroco meaning an irregularly shaped pearl). This was a time in Western History when the notion of “affections” rose to the fore when considering the human experience. Affections are not to be confused with emotions, although there are similarities. Affections were what the 16^th century critic Lorenzo Giacomini described as “a spiritual movement or operation of the mind in which it is attracted or repelled by an object it has come to know” (from Palisca’s Baroque Music, p. 3-4). Sadness is an emotion, but the longing and desire for a connection that feeds one’s sadness is the affection. The affect is deeper and more profound than the emotion but not separate from the emotion. The Baroque era was one where many felt that music (and the arts in general) should fuel and move and feed the affects. In listening to music one should be pushed to an experience that is connected with one’s life, faith, values, etc., and be moved.

At this same time the religious scene is going nuts and experiencing multiple changes. Luther has already printed his 95 complaints and suggestions (1517) leading in part to the emergence of Protestant movements and communities. One hundred years is not enough time for things to settle and the religious landscape in Europe was rich with continued experimentation and change. Fasch was born into a Lutheran family and traveled in Lutheran communities, even married fine, upstanding daughters of Lutheran ministers. Yet he was engaged with a specific aspect of this family of faith. From 1726-1727 Fasch attended Bible studies with the Pietist (and in the minds of many the trouble-maker) Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (incidentally, Zinzendorf is a great name for a Victorian era villain). Fasch attended these studies incognito, probably wearing a rubber Richard Nixon mask which, as you could imagine, would never drew the attention of others. After attending the Bible studies Fasch continued to correspond with Zinzendorf and was a practicing Pietist. For those who are not practicing Pietists, this aspect of Lutheranism emphasized the personal relationship with Christ, stressing the experience of the “new birth” via baptism, and saw the emotional aspect of life as very important. It was an emotional/affective arm of the Lutheran community. Can you begin to see a connection?

The Baroque era was a time when the arts was seen as appropriately influencing the affections. At the same time there were religious movements lifting up the emotional experience of the believer as an important part of one’s faith. Yet I would argue that this aspect of the religious experience was more than emotional but instead focused on the affects. There can be many aspects of religion and worship that feed the emotions. We play happy music so you can feel happy and then you go back to worship the next week because you want to continue to have that happy feeling when you are worshipping God or Jesus or whatever. In essence you are yearning for the feeling that you have when you are worshipping Jesus. This is shallow emotionality and I would argue a shallow faith. Go a little deeper and think of the affect that can be connected with commitment, faith, and an awareness of the divine. This is a sense of happiness that mixed with the awe and the love and the desire and the yearning and all of those things that are a mix of a deep religious experience. This is a profound experience that goes beyond happiness and a more mature and profound faith. The affective quality of worship and faith is deeper than the emotional one.

Consider the piece of music that started this whole rant. Fasch’s Sonata for Bassoon is written in a major key – something that I usually avoid. I prefer the minor keys because they seem to capture the pathos of the human experience. Yet Fasch’s first movement (one of the two traditional slow movements in a Baroque-era sonata) has a melodic and harmonic structure that almost articulates a longing and yearning which aspires for a connection with meaning and the divine in the human experience. His third movement is in the relative minor (a minor), further accenting the affective qualities of one wrestling with an understanding of the human condition (i.e. it is more than just sad). True to the Baroque style his second and fourth movements go at a break-neck pace with a frenetic momentum. They are not movements of a surface joy, but one of energy and passion. The usual qualities of a major key are heard (happier, brighter, etc.) but I would not describe the movements as “happy.” They are more than just happy or joyful. One is led to think of someone who has just had his or her 5^th cup of coffee and is ready to take on the day. This is the picture that one may be led to embrace in the second and fourth movements of Fasch’s Sonata.

The music speaks to the affects within which emotions can be found. The Sonata for Bassoon was not written as a religious piece, but consider the implications of offering it in a religious context. It is not a boring march void of feeling or emotion, and it is not something that offers a surface emotional experience. In the context of worship this piece can draw one to an honest examination of one’s relationship with the Holy Other (to reference Rudolph Otto) speaking to the affective quality of human experience rather than only the emotions. If we are to consider the place of experience and feeling in worship this is where I believe we should look. We are not looking to be happy or sad, but to loose ourselves in the mess and wonder and diversity of the human experience. Perhaps we should look for a renaissance of the Baroque era sensibilities– or maybe I am just being romantic about it. That is so classic me (did you see what I just did there?).

If you want to learn more about Johann Fasch, check out his fan club.

One recording of this piece that I can recommend is:

The Maryland Bach Aria Group; Deborah Greitzer plays the bassoon

Or Katarzyna Zdybel on Youtube offers another good recording

Here is the second movement for your listening enjoyment: