Leipzig Bach festival: Encouraging dialog
Key takeaways
- Talking, debating and listening are skills we can all learn, particularly in the light of current global conflicts.
- https://p.dw.com/p/5FU0DOpening concert of the Leipzig Bach Festival with the St.
- Bach's music is polyphonic; layers of distinct voices with their own melodies, all given equal importance as part of the piece as a whole.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Talking, debating and listening are skills we can all learn, particularly in the light of current global conflicts. The Leipzig Bachfest shows how Johann Sebastian Bach's music can serve as a model here.
https://p.dw.com/p/5FU0DOpening concert of the Leipzig Bach Festival with the St. Thomas Boys Choir and Gewandhaus Orchestra Image: Jens Schlüter Photography Advertisement Can the music of Johann Sebastian Bach encourage dialogue? Absolutely, says Burkhard Jung, lord mayor of Leipzig and former president of Eurocities, a network of major European cities. In his opening address at the 2026 Leipzig Bachfest, he cited the fast-paced nature of our modern lives, where so much happens simultaneously. "The world is full of voices, but they don't really talk to one another," Jung emphasized.
Bach's music is polyphonic; layers of distinct voices with their own melodies, all given equal importance as part of the piece as a whole. Sometime these voices take turns in a kind of question-and-answer interplay; sometimes they follow one another at intervals — as in a fugue — or they go their own melodic ways, only to come together again at the end. "In Bach's works, one can see how voices should interact," Jung emphasized, expressing the hope that Bach's melodic structure could serve as a model for political debates and discussions.