Bachtober: Celebrating a Master of Sacred Music

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) isn’t just a name from your old piano books—he’s the superstar of Lutheran church music. For centuries, the Lutheran Church has challenged musicians to write pieces that truly glorify God. Giants like Bach, Handel, and Heinrich Schütz took that challenge and ran with it, leaving us music that still makes hearts race and souls lift today.

Bach was especially prolific. Drawing on the rich Lutheran tradition of hymnody, he wrote more than two hundred cantatas for the Sundays and festivals of his day. That’s basically a fresh soundtrack for every weekend service—talk about a weekly deadline! Handel, though more of an opera man, gave us the timeless Messiah, and Schütz set scripture to music with a poetic sensitivity that still stuns choirs. No wonder churches of many stripes pause on July 28—the anniversary of Bach’s death—to celebrate these composers’ enduring gifts.

From Arnstadt to Leipzig—A Career in Crescendo

Bach spent his professional life in a series of church and court gigs: Arnstadt, Mühlhausen, Weimar, Köthen, and finally Leipzig, where he held the prestigious title of Cantor of St. Thomas Church. It’s here that he composed much of the music that cemented his legacy.

Master of the Chorale

Two centuries after Martin Luther, Bach inherited a treasure trove of Lutheran chorales—four-part hymns for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. Rather than writing brand-new hymns, he re-imagined the classics, weaving harmonies so intricate and beautiful they still give musicians goosebumps.

Take “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” (ELW 351). Bach transformed Hans Leo Hassler’s 16th-century tune into a piece of breathtaking depth. Or “Songs of Thankfulness and Praise” (ELW 310), where his arrangement turns a familiar melody into a little slice of heaven. In all, Bach crafted over 400 chorale settings—many using texts by Luther and poet Paul Gerhardt.

This October, listen closely during communion: the liturgy we’ll sing borrows from several of Bach’s own harmonizations, full of that rich, Baroque complexity that makes musicians grin and congregations sigh.

A Legacy Set in Stone—and Sound

Bach now rests beneath the altar of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, but his music still lives and breathes every time a choir raises their voices.

And here at Grace, we mark the season with what we lovingly call Bachtober. Why? Because it sounds cool—and because no one gave the church more beautiful music to celebrate.

So when the organ swells and those harmonies wrap around you this month, remember: you’re not just hearing notes. You’re hearing history, faith, and the heartbeat of a composer who believed every measure could be an offering to God.

Burton Bumgarner

Director of Music Ministry