{"id":462,"date":"2016-12-06T08:15:20","date_gmt":"2016-12-06T14:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/musicandreligion\/?p=462"},"modified":"2016-12-06T08:15:20","modified_gmt":"2016-12-06T14:15:20","slug":"bach-elferen-and-coakly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/musicandreligion\/2016\/12\/06\/bach-elferen-and-coakly\/","title":{"rendered":"Bach, Elferen and Coakly"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am writing about mysticism in a Bach cantata.\u00a0 While researching for my last paper I came across Isabella van Elferen\u2019s book Mystical Love in the German Baroque: Theology, Poetry, Music<\/em> where she categorizes mystic experiences and descriptions.\u00a0 I think Elferen\u2019s discussion of passion mysticism, communion mysticism, and mystical desire for death are especially interesting and I would like to incorporate her ideas into my next paper.<\/p>\n

While an analysis of Elferen\u2019s idea\u2019s in Bach\u2019s cantatas could suffice, I started thinking about Baroque mysticism in relation to modern theologies of sexuality.\u00a0 More specifically, I have been thinking about the possible relationship between Bach\u2019s mysticism and Sarah Coakly\u2019s theology of sexuality.\u00a0 I recently read Coakly\u2019s article \u201cLiving into the Mystery of the Holy Trinity: Trinity, Prayer, and Sexuality\u201d where I encountered the idea that human desire for God is necessarily related to human sexual desire.\u00a0 I suspect that Coakly\u2019s explanation of sexuality and faith might shed light on Baroque (and Bach\u2019s) mysticism for modern readers\/listeners who are uncomfortable with relating God and sex.<\/p>\n

Elferen and Coakly\u2019s ideas intrigue me and I would like to provide a modern theological explanation for mysticism, but I am not sure if this a wise choice.\u00a0 I might disproportionately focus on theological analysis instead of musical analysis and I would need to quickly familiarize myself with Coakly\u2019s essay \u201cGod, Sexuality, and the Self\u201d which I have not been able to find on Catalyst.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am writing about mysticism in a Bach cantata.\u00a0 While researching for my last paper I came across Isabella van Elferen\u2019s book Mystical Love in the German Baroque: Theology, Poetry, Music where she categorizes mystic experiences and descriptions.\u00a0 I think … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1903,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/musicandreligion\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":[],"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/musicandreligion\/feed\/podcast\/st-olaf-podcasts-music-and-religion","embedCode":"

Bach, Elferen and Coakly<\/a><\/blockquote>