Gerda Henkel Stiftung: Postdoc-Forschungsstipendien (Mai 2023–Januar 2024):
 

J. S. Bach and Sustainability: The History of the Intercultural Reception of J. S. Bach's Church Vocal Music – Adaptation of Lyrics into Japanese 

 
This research project aims to reconsider J.S. Bach's church vocal music from a performativity perspective of global cultural history, emphasizing his chorales translated into Japanese lyrics. Generally, chorales represent the cultural aspects of German Protestant church music most prominently. Therefore, I would like to discuss the musical sustainability of these chorales through their adaptation in Japan, where Christianity is not widely practiced. To this end, the focus of this research will be the Japanese lyrics of Bach's best-known chorale "Jesus bleibet meine Freude" and a Japanese collection of his other chorales; this way, the meaning of J.S. Bach's sacred vocal music is examined through its global reception. However, the project will also return to the question of defining the borderless universality of J.S. Bach's sacred vocal music from a musical aesthetic point of view. This question further expands the perspective of the flexibility and diversity of Bach's music.  (approved, March 2023  

https://www.gerda-henkel-stiftung.de/projekte?bw=1&page=241)