The Historical Context of Martin Petzoldt's Paper on Bach's Cantorate in Leipzig

Martin Petzoldt (1946-2015), German Lutheran pastor (ordained in 1973), theology professor, liturgical scholar, university dean, historian and passionate promoter of the music of J.S. Bach, is briefly profiled. He wrote a paper, "Bach as Cantor of St. Thomas in Leipzig, 1723-1750," which was originally the keynote address delivered in September 1997 in Chicago, of the Internationale Arbeitsgemeinschaft für theologische Bachforschung. The socio-political-religious mindsets of the 1960s and 1970s in Germany are discussed, and it is noted that the eastern and western portions of the country espoused secularist versus a largely religious Bach respectively. Petzoldt's research revealed that Bach was inticately involved with church life - more than Marxist musicology would admit. His political activism while on faculty at Leipzig University is also briefly explored.