The Thirty Years War; Europe’s Coronavirus?
We are currently subject to a pandemic that continues to spread across the globe and now in a second wave. It is causing us to put our normal lives on hold for the present, to distance ourselves socially and stay/work from home, just as I am doing now while updating this article, which I wrote in 2018.
Re-visiting the Thirty Years War, Europe’s “coronavirus” of the 17th century, a very visible war, we are reminded of the influential characters who were the ‘creators’ of the period and who must at some time have been profoundly affected by the fall-out of the war. Regardless of any perceptible hardships, they continued to create, use their imaginations, cope, …. and their music has lived long into the present day. It was their vocation as well as their job. We can learn from this.
As and when recovery is complete here in the UK, in Europe and across the world, we can be inspired by those creators who ‘carried on’ in a hostile era even when all around them was affected by the spread of a war. In peacetime post 1648, they also helped to build a new world, to innovate, and soften the fall-out. Here is a list (not comprehensive) of influential composers who lived and worked through the Thirty Years War: –
Cavalli (1602-76), Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672), Carissimi (1605-1674), Matthias Weckmann (c.1616-1667), Johann Rosenmüller (1619-1684), Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677), Dietrich Buxtehude (c.1637-1707), Johann Jacob Froberger (1616-1667). Johann Herrmann Schein (1586-1630).
The devastating effects of this European war were felt long after its end, especially in German States, just as the consequences of our present pandemic will affect not just Europe, but countries across the globe….and for some years too.
In this brief survey which I originally wrote to mark the 400th anniversary of the European war, we examine what happened and how the economic and cultural consequences influenced what could be achieved in 17th and 18th century Germany in every particular for the decades following.
The causes of the Thirty Years War were religious differences; the source was not possibly a live animal market (to be confirmed), but a ruler, Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia. The King was a catholic whose wish to bring about religious uniformity engendered a rigorous dissent by the Protestant community and ultimately led to the outbreak of what turned out to be a protracted and vicious conflict. As the years past, more States were drawn in and the war became Europe-wide….spreading rather like this present virus!
To set the Thirty Years’ War in context with what was happening here at the time, the most notable event that coincided with the war’s outbreak in 1618 was the execution of Sir Walter Raleigh, one of Elizabeth’s I heroes who was ultimately to fall from grace.
Her successor James I regarded the conflict emerging on the continent as essentially a European War about religion and he was reluctant to get involved. However, the pressure to do so led to his sending a troop of just 1,200 men to assist Frederick of Prussia and King Christian of Denmark in 1624 at a time when King James himself was far from well. The English contingent he authorised was so under-resourced that its presence dissipated not long after arrival, the King himself dying in March the following year. He was succeeded by his son Charles I, whose own turbulent reign, preoccupied almost entirely with its survival, ended with his execution in 1649. England became emmeshed in its own Civil War between King Charles I’s Cavaliers (Royalists) and Oliver Cromwell’s Roundheads (Republicans). As the Peace of Westphalia was being signed in 1648 ending the European conflict, Cromwell was near to achieving his objective of establishing his republic (Commonwealth). So English life was in a fair measure of turmoil too. However English musical life was enriched by the superb consort music of William Lawes (1602-1645), who was appointed to the Court by Charles I as ** “Musician in Ordinary for the King’s Lutes, Viols and Voices in 1635″, and John Jenkins (1592-1678) who by contrast preferred a less sophisticated life in the country.
** from a Programme Note by Laurence Dreyfus, Wigmore Hall 14 May 2018)
Devastating Effects
With the war eventually drawing in most if not all European states, the effects of such a conflict on this scale were very considerable. Famine and disease amidst huge loss of life brought about economic hardship on a ‘Wagnerian’ scale. The cost bankrupted participating states and reduced the population in some areas of Germany by as much as 40%. Typhus and dysentery were also rife. After two years’ drafting the Treaty, the Peace of Westphalia was signed in 1648, effectively ending the wars between all the states. However this signalled the beginning of a massive ‘clean-up and repair’ operation, economically, socially, and culturally, that took decades to accomplish in Germany, just as it will for us today when the coronavirus is finally conquered. Music to help heal wounds was a powerful vehicle on the road to recovery, just as it will be in the future for us too (we hope!).
Bach Family members born towards the war’s end will certainly have been affected by the consequences: They were:-
- Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703) 1st cousin once removed
- Johann Michael Bach (1648-1694) 1st Cousin once removed & father-in-law to Joh. Sebastian Bach. He was the father of Bach’s first wife, Maria Barbara.
- Johann Ambrosius Bach (1645-1695) Father of JSB and twin brother of
- Johann Christoph Bach (1645-1693) Uncle
“Burg”, as in Weimar’s “Himmelsburg” (Heaven’s Castle) where Bach was employed from 1708-1717, held a special significance for the people in 17th and 18th century Lutheran Germany. Martin Luther’s famous hymn “Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott” (A safe stronghold is our God, c.1520 ) is inextricably linked with his Reformation and its essential meaning.
However “Burg” was also applied to the titles of regal buildings. This helped to radiate strength, security, and protection from Heaven at all times for the people. Its 17th century use helped to assuage war-time suffering both during and in the long and drawn-out aftermath. By 1685, forty years on, the country was still recovering when Bach was born at Eisenach in Thuringia and given the loss of life, the cost, and the amenities still to be restored, much had to be imported to fill the voids.
Dance and its influences in Bach’s Germany & Louis XIV of France (1643-1715)
He was the embodiment of the fashion, taste, and style of his age. Aristocrats copied his style of dress and wore elaborate wigs, as did the people, much of which was imported by German States in the War recovery period of the late 17th, early 18th centuries.
Dance was an integral part of daily life, from the grandeur of the local courts to the more humble surroundings of the coffee houses and private dwellings. So in recovering from the Thirty Years’ War, German states looked to France and Italy for cultural provision… and were not disappointed.
Dancing masters were brought from France to teach the nobility the latest steps, deportment, and graces that comprised French court dancing. The young Bach, whose circle included the local ducal courts, would have at least observed them at work and might have even participated. At Court, the various gestures (graces) that complemented the dance steps were actually elegant ways of conducting diplomacy, radiating the affluence of the State to a visiting nobleman for example or, in lesser circles, for the expression of emotion, even flirtation. These were useful tools in building or nurturing relationships as the war recovery process continued.
Bach counted dancing masters born post war, Pantaleon Hebenstreit (1667-1750) and Jean-Baptiste Volumier (1670-1728), among his friends. However a significant opportunity to soak up French compositional style and taste presented itself when Bach, aged 15, arrived at Lüneburg in 1700 to become a choral scholar at the Michaelisschule, in the midst of school studies and very eager to learn.
Duke Georg Wilhelm of the ducal court at Celle (pictured – note the elaborate wig) had built a second castle in Lüneburg, and, as a dedicated Francophile, had engaged mostly French musicians. It was also at Lüneburg that the composer Georg Böhm (1661-1733) worked as organist at the Johanniskirche.
Böhm became a major musical influence in Bach’s formative years, introducing the fledgling composer to keyboard suites of dances, as well as organ chorales and chorale partitas. It is the style of French court dancing that is most reflected in Bach’s music, and he retained the structure of the dance movements so that they were still recognisable, while creating imaginative elaborations of the French dance forms. The works that best demonstrate these are the orchestral suites, the violin partitas, and the keyboard partitas. In the Orchestral Suites the dances used are the Bourrée, Gavotte, Passepied, Lentement, Rondeau, Bourrée, Polonaise and much-loved Badinerie, but the one that best reflects the elegance, grace and regality of the French court was the Minuet. Another dance form he used, the loure, is a slow gigue, magisterial and rather serious, an example of which appears in the Fifth French Keyboard Suite. Dance forms also feature prominently in his Brandenburg Concertos, enabling his young student to study French-style and ornamentation.
Major or minor military conflicts were never far away during Bach’s lifetime and their effects will undoubtedly have been felt. The composer did not work in isolation, but for 27 years at Leipzig for example was head of a bustling household. Leipzig was a city fast emerging from the rigours of the Thirty Years’ War, using its annual Fairs to foster and build prosperity. However, this was briefly interrupted in December 1745 with the occupation for one month by Frederick the Great’s Prussian army. Such an occupation would have caused rancour among the city fathers, however short the duration. However in 1747, there came an opportunity for Bach to engage in a little post-war diplomacy himself….but that’s another story.
Our Coronavirus recovery. What will emerge from it in Society?
What will emerge when we recover from our current pandemic? Will we resume our life of social contact in pubs, clubs and the like or come to prefer to remain in quasi lock-down in our homes? Will we prefer working from home to travelling to an external location? Will it signal the end of the High Street in preference to online shopping more exclusively? How will the ‘virus’ experiences and fall-out impact upon and influence contemporary artists, writers, creators, and promoters for example? Will we want to hear music ‘live’ in the company of audiences or be content to hear great music, new works, operas that are ‘live-streamed’ from empty concert halls? More importantly of all, will we quickly regain the ability to relate to one another person to person, face to face…and not electronically? 12 weeks’ isolation is time enough for habits to become embedded.
The key difference between the Thirty Years’ War and the Coronavirus War is that in 17th century there was no lock-down, so illness spread quickly…. but there was a shortage of food and provisions…. and no NHS. Copyright Margaret Steinitz 2020