“Living Bach” in the cinema: Documentary shows Bach fans all over the world | MDR.DE

Whether coffee house owner, palliative care nurse or IT technician – the documentary portrays people from countries where Bach has not been present as a musician for as long as in Germany or Europe. They come from New Zealand, Australia, Paraguay or Malaysia. The director was able to make contacts at the Leipzig Bach Festival, which in 2020 invited Bach choirs and Bach ensembles from all over the world under the motto “We are family”.

All protagonists in the film are members of amateur ensembles. “It’s kind of obvious that professional musicians think Bach is good,” says the director. She knows from her own choir experience: “Singing Bach is difficult. You have to have a bit of prior knowledge or put a lot of love and energy into rehearsing these works.” It made her curious who these people are for whom the famous German composer is the center of their lives in their free time.

Each of them has a different relationship to Bach: for some the music is comforting, for others it has a political meaning or a therapeutic component. Female protagonists from Switzerland have a different connection to Bach than a black musician from South Africa.

The fact that the composer’s texts are written in German is not a problem for singers worldwide. “You understand what the music says through the notes,” says director Anna Schmidt. Bach’s texts were translated for them: “But since people come from very different cultures and religions, a lot of people don’t have that much to do with Christianity in that sense and they understand the message and the message of this music – which is very, very universal is – about the music.”

So what is it about Bach that excites people in the documentary? According to Anna Schmidt, many say that his music has something supernatural for them, “that Bach leads them into emotional states that cannot be achieved with other music.” But no one can explain it exactly. “Why there is this great fascination with Bach actually remains a mystery. And that, I think, is the magic that surrounds Bach’s music. And in the end, this simply remains magic.”

Trotz Despite all the differences in terms of culture, origin or profession, in the end all the protagonists sing together in the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. There is harmony. A South African protagonist explains it this way in the film: “If everyone sang or listened to Bach, the world would be a better place.” His reasoning, according to director Anna Schmidt: “Because when you sing Bach, you have to listen carefully to each other and all voices have equal rights […] and it is not possible for one voice to rise above the other.”

Source: MDR KULTUR, editorial processing: vp, hki