This Sunday 19 February, Tom Hammond-Davies directs the Oxford Bach Soloists in SPIRITS OF THE EARTH with a performance of three of JS Bach’s great cantatas inspired by the Parable of the Sower…
The Parable of the Sower – also sometimes referred to as the Parable of the Soils – comes from Matthew 8:23-27 and sets the scene for three of Bach’s most fascinating cantatas. The story is one of Jesus’s parables in which some of the seed falls on the path, some on rocky ground and some amongst thorns and it all fails. But when it falls on good earth it grows, yielding thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.
The Parable of the Sower as illustrated in Hortus Deliciarum compiled by Herrad of Landsberg at the Hohenburg Abbey, Alsace (12th century)
There are other variations of this story. In one, some of the seed which falls on the road is consequently eaten by birds and walked over by travellers. In others, the seed falls on rock and is unable to take root due to the shallow soil. But it is only the seed that falls on good soil that germinate. The rich symbolism of this story can be read on many levels. One of these tells us that despite failures, we should never give up and that eventually, through perseverance, we can take ‘root’ and grow forth with abundance.
And he said unto them,..
‘Whoever that hath ears to hear, let him hear.’
Pieter Bruegal the Elder: Landscape with the Parable of the Sower, 1557
JS Bach
Cantata: Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort BWV 126
(Sustain us, Lord with your word)
Cantata: Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt BWV 18
(Just as the rain and snow fall from heaven)
Cantata: Leichtgesinnte Flattergeister BWV 181
(Light-minded frivolous spirits)
An icon depicting the Sower (Biserica Ortodoxă din Deal, Cluj-Napoca), Romania
