Exploring the World of J. S. Bach

Exploring the World of J. S. Bach PDF Author: Robert L. Marshall
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252098579
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
A singular resource, Exploring the World of J. S. Bach puts Bach aficionados and classical music lovers in the shoes of the master composer. Bach scholar Robert L. Marshall and veteran writer-translator Traute M. Marshall lead readers on a Baroque Era odyssey through fifty towns where Bach resided, visited, and of course created his works. Drawing on established sources as well as newly available East German archives, the authors describe each site in Bach's time and the present, linking the sites to the biographical information, artistic and historic landmarks, and musical activities associated with each. A wealth of historical illustrations, color photographs, and maps supplement the text, whetting the appetite of the visitor and the armchair traveler alike.

Exploring the World of J. S. Bach

Exploring the World of J. S. Bach PDF Author: Robert L. Marshall
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252098579
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
A singular resource, Exploring the World of J. S. Bach puts Bach aficionados and classical music lovers in the shoes of the master composer. Bach scholar Robert L. Marshall and veteran writer-translator Traute M. Marshall lead readers on a Baroque Era odyssey through fifty towns where Bach resided, visited, and of course created his works. Drawing on established sources as well as newly available East German archives, the authors describe each site in Bach's time and the present, linking the sites to the biographical information, artistic and historic landmarks, and musical activities associated with each. A wealth of historical illustrations, color photographs, and maps supplement the text, whetting the appetite of the visitor and the armchair traveler alike.

Sebastian

Sebastian PDF Author: Jeanette Winter
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780152006297
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
Describes how Johann Sebastian Bach survived the sorrows of his childhood and composed the music the world has come to love.

Bach

Bach PDF Author: Christoph Wolff
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674059269
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 484

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Book Description
More than two centuries after his lifetime, J. S. Bach's work continues to set musical standards. Noted Bach scholar Christoph Wolff offers new perspectives on the composer's life and remarkable career.

J. S. Bach

J. S. Bach PDF Author: George B. Stauffer
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197661203
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 649

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Book Description
In the obituary that appeared soon after his death, Johann Sebastian Bach was described as "the world-famous organist" and "the greatest organist...we have ever had." In Hamburg, Dresden, and other big cities, Bach dazzled audiences with his organ playing, performing passages with his feet that many thought impossible for the hands. One eyewitness declared that he had never seen anything like it. His extant organ works--more than 250 chorale settings and free pieces--are filled with bold, dramatic passages and fully independent pedal parts. They represent the most important body of music in the organ repertoire and the only genre that Bach turned to continuously throughout his life, from his earliest efforts as a teenager in Ohrdruf to his final deathbed revisions as a cantor in Leipzig. In this new survey, leading musicologist George B. Stauffer traces the evolution of Bach's organ works within the broad spectrum of his development as a composer. With detailed discussions of the individual pieces, the book shows how Bach initially drew on contemporary models from Germany and France before evolving a personal idiom based on the concertos of Antonio Vivaldi. In Leipzig, he went still further, synthesizing national and historical styles to produce cosmopolitan masterpieces that exude sophistication and elegance. Serving as a backdrop to this growth was the emergence of the Central German pre-Romantic organ, which inspired Bach to write pieces with unique chamber-music, choral, and orchestral qualities. Stauffer follows these developments step-by-step, showing how Bach's unending quest for novelty, innovation, and refinement resulted in organ works that continue to reward and awe listeners today.

The Routledge Research Companion to Johann Sebastian Bach

The Routledge Research Companion to Johann Sebastian Bach PDF Author: Robin Leaver
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1315452804
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 593

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Book Description
The Ashgate Research Companion to Johann Sebastian Bach provides an indispensable introduction to the Bach research of the past thirty-fifty years. It is not a lexicon providing information on all the major aspects of Bach's life and work, such as the Oxford Composer Companion: J. S. Bach. Nor is it an entry-level research tool aimed at those making a beginning of such studies. The valuable essays presented here are designed for the next level of Bach research and are aimed at masters and doctoral students, as well as others interested in coming to terms with the current state of Bach research. Each author covers three aspects within their specific subject area; firstly, to describe the results of research over the past thirty-fifty years, concentrating on the most significant and controversial, such as: the debate over Smend's NBA edition of the B minor Mass; Blume's conclusions with regard to Bach's religion in the wake of the 'new' chronology; Rifkin's one-to-a-vocal-part interpretation; the rediscovery of the Berlin Singakademie manuscripts in Kiev; the discovery of hitherto unknown manuscripts and documents and the re-evaluation of previously known sources. Secondly, each author provides a critical analysis of current research being undertaken that is exploring new aspects, reinterpreting earlier assumptions, and/or opening-up new methodologies. For example, Martin W. B. Jarvis has suggested that Anna Magdalena Bach composed the cello suites and contributed to other works of her husband - another controversial hypothesis, whose newly proposed forensic methodology requires investigation. On the other hand, research into Bach's knowledge of the Lutheran chorale tradition is currently underway, which is likely to shed more light on the composer's choices and usage of this tradition. Thirdly, each author identifies areas that are still in need of investigation and research.

J. S. Bach's Material and Spiritual Treasures

J. S. Bach's Material and Spiritual Treasures PDF Author: Noelle M. Heber
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
ISBN: 1783275715
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 287

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Book Description
In Johann Sebastian Bach's Lutheran church setting, various biblical ideas were communicated through sermons and songs to encourage parishioners to emulate Christian doctrine in their own lives. Such narratives are based on an understanding that one's lifetime on earth is a temporal passageway to eternity after death, where souls are sent either to heaven or hell based on one's belief or unbelief. Throughout J. S. Bach's Material and Spiritual Treasures, Bach scholar Noelle M. Heber explores theological themes related to earthly and heavenly 'treasures' in Bach's sacred music through an examination of selected texts from Bach's personal theological library. The book's storyline is organised around biblical concepts that are accented in Lutheran thought and in Bach's church compositions, such as the poverty and treasure of Christ and parables that contrast material and spiritual riches. While focused primarily on the greater theological framework, Heber presents an updated survey of Bach's own financial situation and considers his apparent attentiveness to spiritual values related to money. This multifaceted study investigates intertwining biblical ideologies and practical everyday matters in a way that features both Bach's religious context and his humanity. This book will appeal to musicologists, theologians, musicians, students, and Bach enthusiasts.

Gödel, Escher, Bach

Gödel, Escher, Bach PDF Author: Douglas R. Hofstadter
Publisher: Penguin Group(CA)
ISBN: 9780140289206
Category : Art and music
Languages : en
Pages : 832

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Book Description
'What is a self and how can a self come out of inanimate matter?' This is the riddle that drove Douglas Hofstadter to write this extraordinary book. In order to impart his original and personal view on the core mystery of human existence - our intangible sensation of 'I'-ness - Hofstadter defines the playful yet seemingly paradoxical notion of 'strange loop', and explicates this idea using analogies from many disciplines.

Bach Perspectives, Volume 12

Bach Perspectives, Volume 12 PDF Author: Robin A. Leaver
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252050711
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 167

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Book Description
Johann Sebastian Bach was a Lutheran and much of his music was for Lutheran liturgical worship. As these insightful essays in the twelfth volume of Bach Perspectives demonstrate, he was also influenced by--and in turn influenced--different expressions of religious belief. The vocal music, especially the Christmas Oratorio, owes much to medieval Catholic mysticism, and the evolution of the B minor Mass has strong Catholic connections. In Leipzig, Catholic and Lutheran congregations sang many of the same vernacular hymns. Internal squabbles were rarely missing within Lutheranism, for example Pietists' dislike of concerted church music, especially if it employed specific dance forms. Also investigated here are broader issues such as the close affinity between Bach's cantata libretti and the hymns of Charles Wesley; and Bach's music in the context of the Jewish Enlightenment as shaped by Protestant Rationalism in Berlin. Contributors: Rebecca Cypess, Joyce L. Irwin, Robin A. Leaver, Mark Noll, Markus Rathey, Derek Stauff, and Janice B. Stockigt.

Forms of Performance: From J.S. Bach to M. Alunno (1972-)

Forms of Performance: From J.S. Bach to M. Alunno (1972-) PDF Author: Michael Maul
Publisher: Vernon Press
ISBN: 1622738659
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 85

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Book Description
Today, Bach is one of the most revered and studied figures of classical music, despite there being a time in which he was almost forgotten. Divided into two sections, this volume explores research on J.S. Bach and more broadly examines the topics of music and performance studies; with the latter focusing on composers active today, such as Marco Alunno, or those from the recent past who are lesser-known and performed, such as Pietro Cimara and Leo Ornstein. Following from Nones’s (ed.) previous publication Music as Communication: Perspectives on Music, Image and Performance (ABE, 2018), this work provides a rather unique contribution as a choral attempt at exploring performance today. The intention of this book and the downloadable audio content, with live recordings of the music explored at the conference from which the volume originated, is to inspire fresh approaches to the study of a monument like Bach, while also encouraging original research of modern composition and performance. Recordings of the performances given over the two days of the conference serve either to clarify arguments made in the papers or to attest to the music explored more generally. This volume is founded on the belief that the history of music is comprised of many figures, some of whom are undeservedly forgotten, and that our understanding of and approach to music is simultaneously shaped by the past and directed by the continual evolution of sounds and attitudes of the present. Examining music styles from baroque (Bach) to contemporary (Alunno), Forms of Performance will be of particular interest to Bach and performance studies scholars, as well as advanced researchers and PhD students in this field.

Beyond Bach

Beyond Bach PDF Author: Andrew Talle
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252099346
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 339

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Book Description
Reverence for J. S. Bach's music and its towering presence in our cultural memory have long affected how people hear his works. In his own time, however, Bach stood as just another figure among a number of composers, many of them more popular with the music-loving public. Eschewing the great composer style of music history, Andrew Talle takes us on a journey that looks at how ordinary people made music in Bach's Germany. Talle focuses in particular on the culture of keyboard playing as lived in public and private. As he ranges through a wealth of documents, instruments, diaries, account ledgers, and works of art, Talle brings a fascinating cast of characters to life. These individuals--amateur and professional performers, patrons, instrument builders, and listeners--inhabited a lost world, and Talle's deft expertise teases out the diverse roles music played in their lives and in their relationships with one another. At the same time, his nuanced re-creation of keyboard playing's social milieu illuminates the era's reception of Bach's immortal works.