The “Wonderful Play” of Music

Abstract

AbstractThe epilogue summarizes the different themes of the book by highlighting how Bach’s cantatas resonate with numerous aspects of his world: the power structures of the political systems of his time, the gender relationships in public and domestic life, and the interactions between music, literature, and visual art, and their communicative function in public celebrations. These multimodal references not only provide a framework for a better understanding of Bach’s vocal works, but they can also serve as an inspiration for modern performances of these compositions. Performance can recreate some of the multimodal connections by including visual elements (such as projections).