A Counterpoint Example

Bach's Cantata 80 Training More than Music Notes & Rhythms

A Music Literacy Experiment

I live and work in northeast Louisiana, the birthplace of Delta Airlines and the home of the Duck Commander and Duck Dynasty folks. It’s not a cosmopolitan centerpiece of arts and music culture like that of large cities. Yet, for the past sixteen years, I have been able to slowly work within the area of music literacy and take on a bit of an experiment in music literacy here in our area.

For a while, I was the only music teacher teaching all grades several times a week here at Geneva Academy. Then, in 2018, we hired another music teacher to teach the younger grades. She, too, was trained in the Kodály (CODE-eye) method of music literacy instruction. She’s been diligently teaching the elementary grades, and I’ve been working with junior high and high school students. Each student in the school has musicianship classes around three days per week, where they are taught to read, sing, and do a little bit of music composition. By the time they get to me in seventh grade, after having had music for six or seven years, then we can broaden the scope of our classes. We can sightread through a hymn or a music piece by Byrd or Palestrina. We can do a little bit of music dictation or music composition of a short melody or theme. We also read through older recorder pieces on the alto, tenor, and bass recorders as a way to build beyond just reading and singing music.

Additionally, this is the third time I have taken the first eight weeks and turned them into a performing arts unit where we work on learning and performing a specific piece of music. That’s what you see advertised in the video at the top of this post. We’ve done Johann Sebastian Bach’s Magnificat and John Rutter’s Gloria. Now we are preparing the great cantata by J. S. Bach based on Martin Luther’s German Ein Feste Burg ist unser Gott hymn, where we get “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.”

Below is a rehearsal excerpt from the first movement. These eighth through twelfth graders have been rehearsing in separate classes with me. Then, this past Friday, some of them sang with portions of the other grades for the first time. The cantata starts with a grand bit of polyphonic music, where Bach takes the themes of Luther’s hymn and weaves them against each other in a complex and rewarding way for the listener. This clip below is them rehearsing a cappella—yes, without music! Please take a listen for yourself at their tremendous progress.

As you can see and hear in the video, it is possible to take average-looking and sounding kids and get them to experience great works of music such as this if you just gradually work towards that end. The great thing about this experiment is that I do not need to play this music for them and give them witty anecdotal examples of Bach’s life in an attempt to get them to love it. Instead, I have to lead them to the trough and let them drink for themselves. These students may be unable to fully articulate what is happening in the music (Some of them will be able to because they have caught the ‘Bach Bug’). However, these students will experience excellent and highly artistic music paired with robust theology in a meaningful way. This will communicate more effectively than any lecture or discussion that I or others might prepare for them.

The “experiment” continues on October 29, 2024, at 7pm, when they will sing the entirety of this cantata here for the community. They will experience this great work within the context of serving others. All of their preparation is for the blessing of others and, ultimately, for the glory of God. Still, this is a community service activity, in a sense. So, if you are in the area, please join us in celebrating the great work of preparation they have made for the enjoyment of those who gather to hear it. I trust you won’t be disappointed.

Conclusion

I post this out of a continued desire to dispel any mythic ideas that dismiss this as only happening to a gifted set of students who were born with a baton or stringed bow in their hand, proverbially speaking. These kids are not prodigies living in some utopian music environment. They are average, and they are not auditioned. They are participating in this ensemble because they were enrolled in my 8th through 12th-grade musicianship classes at Geneva Academy. Therefore, they stand as a testament and example for others who want to see oases of artistry pop up in places that otherwise might seem unlikely or impossible on paper. Our little experiment is quirky and clunky, but it is a counterpoint example and encouragement for you as much as it is for me. Whether you are a musician, patron, parent, teacher, or pastor reading this, you should be encouraged that this little experiment can be replicated—and may it be so!