Full Description
That Johann Sebastian Bach is a pivotal figure in the history of Western music is hardly news, and the magnitude of his achievement is so immense that it can be difficult to grasp. In About Bach, fifteen scholars show that Bach's importance extends from choral to orchestral music, from sacred music to musical parodies, and also to his scribes and students, his predecessors and successors. Further, the contributors demonstrate a diversity of musicological approaches, ranging from close studies of Bach's choices of musical form and libretto to wider analyses of the historical and cultural backgrounds that impinged upon his creations and their lasting influence. This volume makes significant contributions to Bach biography, interpretation, pedagogy, and performance. Contributors are Gregory G. Butler, Jen-Yen Chen, Alexander J. Fisher, Mary Dalton Greer, Robert Hill, Ton Koopman, Daniel R. Melamed, Michael Ochs, Mark Risinger, William H. Scheide, Hans-Joachim Schulze, Douglass Seaton, George B. Stauffer, Andrew Talle, and Kathryn Welter.
Contents
Preface ix
Abbreviations xi
BEFORE BACH
A Master Teacher Revealed: Johann Pachelbel's Deutliche Anweisung 3
BY KATHRYN WELTER
From the House of Aaron to the House of Johann Sebastian: Old Testament Roots for the Bach Family Tree 15
BY MARY DALTON GREER
BACH'S VOCAL MUSIC
Combinatorial Modeling in the Chorus Movement of Cantata 24, Ein ungefarbt Gemute 35
BY ALEXANDER J. FISHER
Choral Unison in J. S. Bach's Vocal Music 53
BY DANIEL R. MELAMED
You Say Sabachthani and I Say Asabthani: A St. Matthew Passion Puzzle 61
BY MICHAEL OCHS
Sein Segen fliesst daher wie ein Strom, BWV Anh. I 14: A Source for Parodied Arias in the B-Minor Mass? 69
BY WILLIAM H. SCHEIDE
BACH CIRCLE
Johann Friedrich Schweinitz, "A Disciple of the Famous Herr Bach in Leipzig" 81
BY HANS-JOACHIM SCHULZE
Johann Christian Bach and the Church Symphony 89
BY JEN-YEN CHEN
BACH'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
Scribes, Engravers, and Notational Styles: The Final Disposition of Bach's Art of Fugue 111
BY GREGORY G. BUTLER
Notes on J. S. Bach and Basso Continuo Realization 125
BY TON KOOPMAN
Music for "Cavaliers et Dames": Bach and the Repertoire of His Collegium Musicum 135
BY GEORGE B. STAUFFER
A Print of Clavieriibung 1 from J. S. Bach's Personal Library 157
BY ANDREW TALLE
AFTER BACH
Carl Reinecke's Performance of Mozart's Larghetto and the Nineteenth-Century Practice of Quantitative Accentuation 171
BY ROBERT HILL
"Grand Miscellaneous Acts": Observations on Oratorio Performance in London after Haydn 181
BY MARK RISINGER
Back from B-A-C-H: Schumann's Symphony No. 2 in C Major 191
BY DOUGLASS SEATON
Contributors 207
Index 211
