"Music, that glorious gift of God and foretaste of heaven"

"Wenn wir in höchsten Nöthen seyn" (When in the hour of utmost need) - the last piece of music that Bach composed


There are probably very few thoughts that have not been expresssed by somebody else before. The other day I imagined that I had come up with an nice description of music - particularly the music of J.S. Bach - as a foretaste of heaven. However, a Google book check revealed that Johann Michael Schmidt, a German theologian, who probably studied with Bach in Leipzig, had made the same observation already in 1754 in his book Musico-Theologia.

In his book Bach and the Meanings of Counterpoint David Gaynor Yearsley cites Schmidt, who argued for the existense of music in "eternal life": "The soul will .... also receive certain pleasures through the nourishment of its transfigured body there (in heaven), including those which come through the ear".

Music was then according Schmidt to be one of the main delights of eternity.
Gaynor Yearsley describes Schmidt´s argumentation:

"Schmidt´s comments on the piece (Bach´s chorale Wenn wir in höchsten Nöthen seyn) should be understood not only as a tribute to Bach´s genius and a rebuttal of materialist tenets, but also as part of a broader defense of heavenly music, which, of course, presupposes the immortality of the soul. Without a soul there can be no appreciation or understanding of this music; but beyond that, the soul is articulated through music, that glorious gift of God and foretaste of heaven".

It is interesting to note that the great Swedish film and theatre director Ingmar Bergman saw music - particularly the music of Bach - much in the same way:

"We are all living in our prisons, in our dreadful
loneliness, surrounded by cruelty. The gift that music bequeaths us is
to understand that there is a reality of infinite harmony beyond our
earthly exile."