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# Restoration
- URL: https://bachtalk.ghost.io/restoration/
- Published: 2022-10-18T12:31:46.000Z
- Updated: 2022-10-18T12:31:46.000Z
- Description: A Bach Vespers Reflection
- Author: Carlton Monroe
- Tags: BachTalk Blog, #Migrated-1789505908714, #Import 2026-09-15 20:59

*The following was a reflection from the Bach Vespers service at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Terrace Park, Ohio, on October 9, 2022.*

If the urban legends of my childhood are to be believed, the human body regenerates itself every seven years, as every cell in your body is destroyed and replaced. A question: what remains of you after seven years that is the essential "you"?

The great Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame is in the midst of restoration following the awful fire of three years ago, the flames and smoke of which were seen around the world in real-time. In the immediate aftermath, there were some calling for a new interpretation to replace the fallen trusses of ancient oak. Glass, steel, and other materials of the modern age were suggested. Eventually and thankfully, the commitment was made to return Notre Dame to its original state, as close as we could muster.

I say *we* because a place like Notre Dame belongs to all humanity. Indeed, the French, and Parisians in particular, have a special relationship to the structure, but the reality is that a building like Notre Dame has become, in the words of a recent Wall Street Journal article, "an emblematic monument, part of the world's heritage." It is no longer just a Christian symbol, but a symbol of the world, a physical expression of human aspiration.

This service of Bach Vespers is a restorative act. We perform music both new and ancient here. But focusing on the work of Bach is an art of restoration. We return to it because it is beautiful, profound, and timeless, and there is something essential in it that cannot be recreated, only restored. When we include newer music, we do so with the hope that we have chosen wisely, and that we sing and play works that may one day take their place alongside the musical trusses of the past.

Today's cantata speaks of restoration as well. We are all afflicted people, incapable of wholeness on our own. We are incomplete by the very nature of the world. You may take offense at the implication of the cantata text, which impolitely suggests that you are to be blamed for your own set of afflictions. Join me in having thicker skin and a broader interpretation. Immanuel Kant wrote that "Out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing was ever made." We are not perfect, but we seek perfection. We seek to be made whole. We seek restoration.

Immediately following this service, my colleague Jason Gunnell and I will hit the road for Rehoboth, Massachusetts. There, for the past several months, craftsmen have been at work restoring a harpsichord built by William Dowd in 1976\. Dowd was an important figure in a 20th-century movement to return to historic designs in constructing new harpsichords. His instruments are based on the designs of the 18th-century German builder Michael Mietke. Interestingly, Mietke delivered an instrument to the court at Köthen in 1719 on the recommendation of J. S. Bach. This was probably the instrument for which Bach composed Brandenburg Concerto No. 5\. Jason and I will return on Wednesday with a newly restored instrument that will be at the heart of Bach Vespers for years to come. I should add my immense gratitude to the four couples whose generosity is bringing this instrument to St. Thomas.

Back to Notre Dame. A professor of architecture at Catholic University began a project for her students titled "Joinery and Craft of Notre Dame." The purpose of the project was to build a replica truss for Notre Dame, using ancient techniques taught by master craftsmen. It caught the attention of the French architects who were actively restoring the cathedral, and they traveled to the States to see the students’ work.

The secret hope was that there might be a chance that the students’ truss be incorporated into Notre Dame's restoration. It was not to be. The wood for the trusses must all be identical, and the white oak used by the Americans would not work. Additionally, their finished product simply wasn't as good as what the French craftsmen could make.

However, when the French architects saw the student’s truss, they were elated. “I can’t believe you guys,” one of them told the professor and her students. “You’re this far away and you have our same passion.”