Full Description
In this wide-ranging set of original essays, musicologist and organist Russell Stinson investigates Johann Sebastian Bach's compositions for the organ, opening up a wealth of perspectives on the stylistic orientation and historical context of these timeless masterpieces.
With a sweeping hand, Stinson sheds light on the entire corpus of Bach's organ chorales, and considers the reception of particular pieces not only by various luminaries in the classical music world, but also those within such disparate contexts as film, literature, politics, and rock music. Stinson's investigations include a revealing focus on a previously unpublished fugue by Bach pupil J. G. Schübler, unexplored techniques found in over twenty of Bach's chorale preludes, and the diverse ways in which Bach's organ works have been received from the composer's own lifetime to the present day. Individual essays are also devoted to Felix Mendelssohn as a performer; to Robert Schumann as an editor and critic; to César Franck as a performer, pedagogue, and composer; and to Edward Elgar as a performer, critic, and transcriber.
Rich in archival data and filled with fascinating anecdotes, J. S. Bach at His Royal Instrument is entirely up-to-date, meticulously annotated and indexed, and eminently readable. This book is essential reading for anyone at all interested in Bach and "the king of instruments."
Contents
INTRODUCTION
ONE
Studies and Discoveries
TWO
Bach and the Varied Stollen
THREE
Some Observations on Mendelssohn's Reception of Bach's Organ Works
FOUR
Bach's Organ Works and Schumann's Neue Zeitschrift
FIVE
César Franck as a Receptor of Bach's Organ Works
Franck's Performances of Bach's Organ Works
Matters of Pedagogy
Franck's Compositional Responses to Bach's Organ Works
SIX
Edward Elgar as a Receptor of Bach's Organ Works
Elgar as Bach Interpreter
Elgar as Bach Devotee and Bach Critic
Elgar's Bach Transcriptions
SEVEN
Aspects of Reception from Bach's Day to the Present
The Six Trio Sonatas, BWV 525-30
The Prelude and Fugue in D Major, BWV 532
The Prelude and Fugue in E Minor, BWV 533
The Toccata and Fugue in F Major, BWV 540
The Fantasy and Fugue in G Minor, BWV 542
The Six Great Preludes and Fugues, BWV 543-48
The Prelude and Fugue in E-flat Major, BWV 552
The Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue in C Major, BWV 564
The Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565
The Fantasy in G Major (Pièce d'Orgue), BWV 572
The Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582
"Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ," BWV 639
"Herzlich tut mich verlangen," BWV 727
APPENDIX 1
APPENDIX 2
LITERATURE CITED
