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Publisher Description
(Amadeus). The Worlds of J.S. Bach offers both traditional and new perspectives on the life and work of the man who is arguably the central figure in the Western musical tradition. It appears at a time when, because of the fall of the Iron Curtain, extraordinary new discoveries are being made about Bach and his family at an increasing rate thus this book is able to incorporate important information and images not available even in the recent anniversary year of 2000. After making the case for the universality of Bach's art as an epitome of Western civilization, The Worlds of J.S. Bach considers in broad terms the composer's social, political, and artistic environment, its influence on him, and his interaction with it. Renowned specialists in history, religion, architecture, literature, theater, and dance offer the perspectives of these disciplines as they relate to Bach's milieu, while leading Bach specialists from both the U.S. and Germany focus on the man himself. The book is an outgrowth of the "celebrated" ( Boston Globe ) multidisciplinary Academies sponsored by the Aston Magna Foundation for Music and the Humanities with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
When it was originally published in 1967, this study of J.S. Bach was the first important work on the composer in nearly a generation. The many discoveries about Bach’s life and music that occurred in the postwar years created the need for a new interpretative study incorporating this research and this was the only book which incorporated the vast amount of material uncovered since 1950, the bicentennial of Bach’s death. The volume begins with a brief biography and is followed by an analysis of each major type of composition: vocal, organ, keyboard and instrumental music. In each section the author examines thoroughly many Bach compositions and evaluates them in relation to the rest of the composer’s work, as well as in relation to the music of his contemporaries. More than 70 music examples enable the reader to understand how Bach worked, the manner in which his genius developed and grew, and to see outstanding excerpts from his music in various stages of completion. An interesting aspect of research methods is revealed through an explanation of the detective work which has been done regarding handwriting, paper and watermarks in the original sources.
Now available in paperback, this landmark biography was first published in 2000 to mark the 250th anniversary of J. S. Bach's death. Written by a leading Bach scholar, this book presents a new picture of the composer. Christoph Wolff demonstrates the intimate connection between Bach's life and his music, showing how the composer's superb inventiveness pervaded his career as a musician, composer, performer, scholar, and teacher.
This first of a two-volume study deals with the earlier part of Bach's career, and examines the output of his youth and its many external influences, before moving on to study the first great masterpieces in which Bach's own personal voice begins to emerge.
The author's monumental study of Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the great classics of musicology. The author provides in chronological sequence practically everything that is known of the life of J. S. Bach: his ancestors as far back as they can be traced, the musical family of the Bachs, his immediate family, the incidents of his life, his associations, his employers, and the countless occasions when his musical genius emerged. Spitta provides this biographical material in full, with innumerable quotations from primary sources (most of which are nowhere else available): correspondence, family papers and traditions, memoires, diaries, ephemeral publications, periodicals, church records, court and other official records, and so many other sources that this is the richest collection ever made. If one wishes to learn about Bach's life, this is the best coverage. Along with biographical data the author also gives extremely full information about Bach's musical production, with analyses of more than five hundred pieces.
Finalist for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize in Biography, this landmark book was revised in 2013 to include new knowledge discovered after its initial publication. Although we have heard the music of J. S. Bach in countless performances and recordings, the composer himself still comes across only as an enigmatic figure in a single familiar portrait. As we mark the 250th anniversary of Bach's death, author Christoph Wolff presents a new picture that brings to life this towering figure of the Baroque era. This engaging new biography portrays Bach as the living, breathing, and sometimes imperfect human being that he was, while bringing to bear all the advances of the last half-century of Bach scholarship. Wolff demonstrates the intimate connection between the composer's life and his music, showing how Bach's superb inventiveness pervaded his career as musician, composer, performer, scholar, and teacher. And throughout, we see Bach in the broader context of his time: its institutions, traditions, and influences. With this highly readable book, Wolff sets a new standard for Bach biography.
Two-and-a-half centuries after his death, the complex life of composer Johann Sebastian Bach continues to fascinate. Bach's colorful life was anchored in his belief that "music has been ordered by God's Spirit"?so much so that he began each composition by scrawling Jesu, juva (Jesus, help me) at the top of a blank page and concluded each with S.D.G. (short for Soli Deo Gloria, to God alone be the glory). Through the eyes of noted music and culture writer Rick Marschall, the intensely personal yet boldly public faith that earned Bach the nickname "The Fifth Evangelist" takes on fresh meaning. From a survey of Bach's family and its deep Christian roots to a behind-the-scenes look at how he crafted his masterpieces, this book paints a picture of an astonishing figure and his relationship with his God. Marschall brings Bach's enduring music and influence to the postmodern world and to all who would draw inspiration from his relentless pursuit of divinely ordained creativity.