Living Bach

Time and time again, I have experienced the unifying power of Bach’s music. Music that shakes people up, that gives them faith even when they have long since lost it. Music that spreads hope and brings joy.

But it is not only professional musicians who are moved by Bach. People all over the world listen to Bach, sing Bach, play Bach in their free time  – more or less well. But all with great enthusiasm. No matter what profession they pursue, no matter what faith they are. I experienced this during the filming of LIVING BACH.

When I heard that the renowned Leipzig Bach Festival had invited over 300 Bach ensembles from all over the world to perform at Bach’s original places of activity, I was hooked. I didn’t realize that there were so many Bach choirs and ensembles and that people on every continent sing or play Bach with great dedication.

And so, I travelled around the world for a year, visiting Paraguay, Switzerland, South Africa, the USA, Japan, Australia, Malaysia and of course the Bach Festival in Leipzig, spending a lot of time with my protagonists, the choir or ensemble members, and immersing myself in the culture of the respective countries. I was surprised to see that many young people sing, play, and listen to Bach. I was fascinated by how alive this old German composer is for them and was amazed to hear how different the meaning of his music is for each individual. For Thabang Modise, who lives in the South African township of Soweto and shares a ten square meter room with his cousin, Bach is clearly political. He says that if everyone listened to Bach or sang or played Bach, there would be no more racial discrimination, and he explains it with the way the voices in Bach’s music are handled. Although people of Muslim faith in Malaysia can be imprisoned for playing Bach’s sacred works, Lee Hai Lin continues playing them with her “Wicked Music People”. Because she feels the music is so beautiful that she needs to share it with others. They perform it in warehouses in Penang harbour or in their café. I was amazed that the Aborigines in the Red Centre of Australia know Bach or that the choirmaster of the “Sociedad Bach del Paraguay” is determined to establish a Bach festival because – as he says – the continent needs Bach’s message of hope, solidarity, and faith. In 2023, he succeeded and organized the first Bach Festival in South America. Bianca Porcheddu experienced for herself that Bach teaches resilience and shows ways out of loneliness after devastating forest fires in Australia.

Time and again I heard sentences like: “For me, there is nothing comparable to Bach. He is a glimmer of hope in a troubled world. We need him. Everyone needs him.” David Chin from Malaysia told me: “I love Bach. He is my friend. I really feel like his music speaks directly to me, a Chinese Malaysian living in the 21st century.”

The meeting of the protagonists at the 2022 Bach Festival in Leipzig was moving. From the very first note, they all had a special connection to each other and a common language, which was Bach. We experienced an exciting, moving week together, during which we learnt a lot from each other. Everyone will be back at the Bachfest 2024, because as Lin said so beautifully at the final concert in St Thomas’ Church: “I think it doesn’t end here. This is just the beginning.”

My film is an emotional film. Not a film that educates or informs. It is a film that speaks to the heart, that radiates a positive, life-affirming energy, that carries people along and shows that there is more that connects people around the world than divides them.

I wanted it to be a film that gives hope, because it shows that many people in the world have something in common: their love of music, which unites them. And we all need hope in these times.

Anna Schmidt