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Overview
Throughout his life, renowned and prolific composer Johann Sebastian Bach articulated his views as a composer in purely musical terms; he was notoriously reluctant to write about his life and work. Instead, he methodically organized certain pieces into carefully designed collections. These benchmark works, all of them without parallel or equivalent, produced a steady stream of transformative ideas that stand as paradigms of Bach’s musical art.
In this companion volume to his Pulitzer Prize–finalist biography, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician, leading Bach scholar Christoph Wolff takes his cue from his famous subject. Wolff delves deeply into the composer’s own rich selection of collected music, cutting across conventional boundaries of era, genre, and instrument. Emerging from a complex and massive oeuvre, Bach’s Musical Universe is a focused discussion of a meaningful selection of compositions—from the famous Well-Tempered Clavier, violin and cello solos, and Brandenburg Concertos to the St. Matthew Passion, Art of Fugue, and B-minor Mass.
Unlike any study undertaken before, this book details Bach’s creative process across the various instrumental and vocal genres. This array of compositions illustrates the depth and variety at the essence of the composer’s musical art, as well as his unique approach to composition as a process of imaginative research into the innate potential of his chosen material. Tracing Bach’s evolution as a composer, Wolff compellingly illuminates the ideals and legacy of this giant of classical music in a new, refreshing light for everyone, from the amateur to the virtuoso.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780393050714 |
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Publisher: | Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc. |
Publication date: | 03/24/2020 |
Pages: | 432 |
Sales rank: | 623,115 |
Product dimensions: | 5.90(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.10(d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
General Abbreviations x
List of Illustrations xi
Preface xv
Prologue: On the Primacy and Pervasiveness of Polyphony: The Composer's Business Card 1
Chapter 1 Revealing the Narrative of a Musical Universe: The First List of Works from 1750 13
Size of the Estate 18
Survival of Original Manuscripts 20
Benchmark Works 20
Chapter 2 Transformative Approaches to Composition and Performance: Three Unique Keyboard Workbooks 26
Revealing Afterthoughts: Three Unique Title Pages 27
Orgel-Büchleim A Collection of Short Chorale Preludes 34
Das Wohltemperierte Clavier: Preludes and Fugues in All Keys 44
Aufrichtige Anleitung: Inventions and Sinfonias 53
Chapter 3 In Search of the Autonomous Instrumental Design: Toccata, Suite, Sonata, Concerto 64
At Home on Keyboards and Other Instruments 67
The Inaugural Opus: Six Keyboard Toccatas 70
Opus Collections from Weimar and Cöthen 75
Two sets of six suites for harpsichord, with and without preludes 76
Two books of unaccompanied solos, for violin and for violoncello 85
Six concertos for several instruments 98
Early Leipzig Reverberations 105
Six sonatas for harpsichord and violin 106
Six trio sonatas for organ 110
Chapter 4 The Most Ambitious of All Projects: Chorale Cantatas throughout the Year 117
Background, Concept, and Schedule 120
A Serial Opus 127
Opening movements 133
Arias, recitatives, and final chorales 137
Incomplete and Yet Monumental 145
Chapter 5 Proclaiming the State of the Art in Keyboard Music: The Clavier-Übung Series 152
Clavier-Übung, Part I: Six Partitas 155
Clavier-Übung, Part II: Italian Concerto and French Overture 167
Clavier-Übung, Part III: A German Livre d'orgue 173
Clavier-Übung, Part IV: Goldberg Variations 183
Chapter 6 A Grand Liturgical Messiah Cycle: Three Passions and a Trilogy of Oratorios 192
St. John Passion 195
Christ the King: "Herr, unser Herrscher" 200
Man of Sorrows: "Betrachte, meine Seel" 203
Christus Victor: "Es ist vollbracht" 206
The different versions of the St. John Passion-a Note 209
St. Matthew Passion 211
Composer and librettist: A productive partnership 214
The choir loft as virtual stage 216
Human characters and emotions 221
St. Mark Passion 223
The Oratorio Trilogy 229
Christmas Oratorio 233
Easter Oratorio 240
Ascension Oratorio 243
Chapter 7 In Critical Survey and Review Mode: Revisions, Transcriptions, Reworkings 249
Disposal vs. Preservation 250
No Random Yield 253
The Great Eighteen Chorales for Organ 253
The Six "Schübler" Chorales for Organ 258
Harpsichord Concertos 261
Kyrie-Gloria Masses 269
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Part II 279
Chapter 8 Instrumental and Vocal Polyphony at Its Peak Art of Fugue and B-minor Mass 284
The Art of Fugue Completed: The Manuscript Version 290
Canonic Intermezzi 298
Fourteen Canons on the "Goldberg" Aria 299
Canonic Variations on the Christmas song "Vom Himmel hoch" 302
The canons of the Musical Offering 305
The Art of Fugue Unfinished: The Published Version 310
The Mass in B Minor 317
A wide spectrum of styles for a timeless genre 320
The parts and the whole 323
Legacy 330
Epilogue. "Praxis cum theoria": Maxim of the Learned Musician 333
Chronology 343
Notes 347
Bibliography 365
Illustration Credits 371
Genre Index of Bach's Works 373
Title Index of Bach's Works 389
General Index 403