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"My soul, drink deep of understanding
and eat your fill of wisdom!
Without your consent you came here, and against your will you
depart; only a brief span of life is given you."
Getting to know J. S. Bach and his works can be a lifelong devotion, such are the complexities of the issues involved. I hope that this guide will help you. I have deliberately restricted myself to books in English (except where that restriction seems perverse), eschewing the opportunity to dive into the learned journals. Messrs. Melamed & Marissen have done an infinitely better job of that than I could hope to offer (see below). Except where indicated, I have read all the books mentioned, so my reviews are personal and prejudiced. Please let me know if you think I'm talking nonsense or if you spot any books that I've missed that really should be in here. If you want a different guide, try the J.S. Bach FAQ. Typically, books come into and go out of print so I've also restricted myself to books that are either in print or are relatively easy to come by in libraries or on the second hand market. Have a look at the Advanced Book Exchange or Bibliocity for example, if you're stuck.
As you can see, this is work in progress. If I haven't filled in a review it's because I've spent my spare time playing with my three year old instead of doing this!
Concerning Bach's art there are many fine books available dating back many years (and don't write off the older stuff if you're purely concerned with aesthetics) but getting to know Bach himself is far more difficult. At the root, this problem is caused by the lack of writing from Bach's pen other than his music: comparison is often made with the copious amount of personal material left to us by Mozart. For example, pretty much the only thing left to us concerning Bach's aesthetic outlook comes to us indirectly as a result of the "Scheibe" controversy, in which Bach's point of view was argued by Birnbaum.
Consequently, until recently, there had been no truly satisfying comprehensive biography of J. S. Bach. The reason for this, other than the dearth of direct evidence, was that a picture of Bach was laid down in the late ninteenth century that has remained entrenched ever since, despite modern research steadily picking holes in it. That process started in the 1950's when a radical redating of Bach's vocal output at Leipzig shook the old picture of steady and lifelong devotion to the Leipzig liturgy. Over the following five decades, many fashions in Bach biography have waxed and wained and scholars have worked away in the background challenging some old assumptions here and reinforcing others there. It seems to me that detailed examination of the context in which Bach lived and worked is the way forward for understanding more about Bach himself. The basic Bach documents have been known for many years but often they have presented as many new puzzles as they have solved, because so little was know about that context. Writers in the nineteenth century and during most of this century have too quickly jumped to dubious conclusions because of the lack of this contextual information. Why, for example, was Bach so far down the list of candidates for the Leipzig cantorate? Were the good burghers of Leipzig half-witted cloth-ears? Or was there a more complex social and political answer? Recent work suggest strongly the latter. What was Bach's Entwurff about? Was it, as has been presented by most writers of the old school, regretting the decline in music in Leipzig or was it a bold new plan set forward to change the whole status of Bach's office? So there is much that has been found out in the past half century but, in English, no-one had provided a summa of this work and synthesised it into a cogent biography until Christoph Wolff's outstanding new biography (see below) appeared.
Still, I am sure that there is still much work to be done understanding everything-not-Bach in the picture of Bach and his surroundings. Q: How do you carve an elephant? A: Remove all that is not elephant.
Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician, Christoph Wolff, Oxford University Press (UK) Norton (US), 2000. This superbly written and eminently readable new book, from one of today's leading Bach scholars, is almost certain to become the standard English language biography. The great strength of this work in comparison with so many previous biographies is that Wolff takes all the well known direct evidence about Bach and weaves it into a credible tapestry taking into account all the more recent scholarly research that has been gradually illuminating the context in which Bach lived and worked. Gone are so many of the entrenched myths, reasonable in their time, that originated in the nineteenth century. Wolff has still had to face up to the fact that there is precious little direct evidence about Bach's personality, outlook or aesthetics but, using his extensive and intimate knowledge of what is known and maybe just a little intuition, he has succeeded in making Bach a living, breathing human being instead of a zealous fugue machine. Since this book will come to be regarded as such a standard, I'm sure that there will be controversy over some of the places whereWolff takes a concrete position, perhaps sometimes going against the tide of current scholarly opinion or blurring over where there is still disagreement. For example, Wolff's Bach choir is most definitely not one-to-a part; his keyboard temperament is Werkmeister's "well-temperament" and not equal temperament. Still, the book would have been less of an easy read had Wolff taken the time to enumerate all positions, so with that slight proviso (easily catered for by reference to other publications referred to here) this book gets a top recommendation.
Bach, Malcolm Boyd, J. M. Dent, 2nd Edition, 1990. This fine little book contains a concise biography and a good look at the most important of Bach's works. If Wolff's book is too much for you to digest then you should probably still turn to this one, as currently this is still the best introductory biography about Bach. Do bear in mind, though, that some of the biographical analysis will probably be considered out-of-date in the light of Wolff's presentation.
Oxford Composer Companions: Bach, ed. Malcolm Boyd, Oxford UP, 1999. This recently published encyclopaedic dictionary will answer most questions that may arise as you wander round Bach-World. For example, it has surely has become the premier reference work in English for the cantatas by dint of it's comprehensive coverage of each individual work. It should be in the library of every Bach lover.
The New Bach Reader, Hans T. David & Arthur Mendel, updated by Christoph Wolff , Norton, 1998. The "Bach Reader" (see below) was the classic English language collection of documents and source materials by and about Bach. Christoph Wolff has taken this classic and has brought it up to date in the light of recent Bach scholarship. Main changes are: A thorough-going reorganisation of the material; the addition of roughly a hundred new documents; a new section of facsimiles of some of Bach's works; new sections on the transmission of the works; revision of some of the essays and introductory notes; the tidying up of some of the translations; replacement of most of the illustrations and the inclusion of references. A slight note of sadness that the canon solutions and the "Precepts and principles....for playing a thorough bass" from the original edition are omitted but as Wolff points out, these are now available in good separate editions (see below). The "Bach Reader" has always been one of the first works that should be included in a Bach library but with Wolff's revisions it becomes an even finer work. Very strongly recommended. Note that other reviewers are of the opinion that the facsimiles are reproduced better in the paperback edition.
Alfred Dürr, Yoshitake Kobayashi & Kirsten Beisswenger, BWV Kleine Ausgabe, Breitkopf und Härtel, 1998. It may seem perverse to include a works catalogue amongst a "basic books" list but since Bach's output was so vaste, one really needs such a guide if one is to do more than simply tour the classics. The works lists given in some of the other books tend to be too terse to be useful unless you already know the material. Wolfgang Smieder's BWV has, since its appearance in 1950, always been regarded as one of the primary references for Bach research. A full revision appeared in 1990, bringing the work up to date in the light of discoveries since the first edition. It is, however, a major tome more suitable for libraries than for home use (and costs well over three hundred DM). The editors of this new BWV "little edition" have now addressed the "non-professional" market by taking the full 1990 BWV and cutting it down to an edition suitable for the enthusiastic (obsessed?) amateur. The main pruning seems to be of the cross references and source details (but enough is left in to maintain its practicality). They've also updated the BWV in the light of discoveries and developments since 1990 and they've dropped the cumbersome BWV abc/Anhang II xyz-> notation for the shifted works. The editors have also bitten the bullet by making the appendices consistent (Anhang I is for lost or fragmentary works, Anhang II for dubious works and Anhang III for works known to be spurious) by moving works to where they really should be. Best of all, the edition is roughly one quarter the cost of the "real thing"! The main body of the text is in (easy) German and the introducton is provided in English translation as well as the original German. This really is an extremely valuable guide, but but be aware that details of works in the BWV Appendices (Anhang I-III) are very sketchy if you are chasing the really esoteric. For those, you need one of the bigger guides - see below.
The New Grove Bach Family, Christoph Wolff et al., from ed. Stanley Sadie, New Grove, Macmillan, 1980. Articles on J.S. Bach and his family are invaluable sources of reference. The extensive work list is especially useful in summarising the current state of knowledge on questions of authenticity. The New Grove Bach Family (Christoph Wolff et al.) is extracted from the big New Grove and is more up to date (especially the German language version).
J. S. Bach: Essays On His Life and Music, Christoph Wolff, Harvard UP, 1991. A modern classic, collecting together thirty-two essays by one of the most prominent of recent Bach scholars. Essays fall under the subheadings of "Outlines of a Musical Portrait" covering biographical interpretation and musical influences; "New Sources, Broadened Perspectives" covering source analyses; "Concepts, Style, and Chronology", dealing with various structural questions and "Early Reception and Artistic Legacy", which speaks for itself. Some of the essays are quite technical and make non-trivial demands of the reader but all are fascinating. This is a book to which I return time and time again.
The Music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Robert Marshall, Schirmer, 1989. Another modern classic, collecting together essays by another of the most prominent of recent Bach scholars. Sixteen essays divided into the categories of "Introduction", a revised version of his Encyclopaedia Brittanica article; "The Historical Significance", re-examining Bach in his times and in ours; "On the Compositional Process", deatiled source studies; "Questions of Authenticity and Chronology", dealing with problems associated with BWV 906 and with the flute works and "Aspects of Performance Practice". As with Wolff's collection of essays, some of these are easy reading, some make considerable demands of the reader. As with Wolff's collection, frequently taken down from my bookshelf for reference.
The Cambridge Companion to Bach, ed. John Butt, Cambridge UP, 1997. An excellent and valuable source of current thinking about the context and background of Bach's works. This collection is mixed in a number of ways: some of the articles are based on solid positivistic research, others are speculative; some come off better than others. The collection is divided into three parts: Part I is devoted to "The Historical Context: Society, Beliefs and World-View", Part II to "Profiles of the Music" and Part II to " Influence and Reception". If I may pick out one single essay that, for me, justifies the price of the book, it's Ulrich Siegele's "Bach and the domestic politics of Electoral Saxony", a fascinating look at the power politics that may explain some of the puzzling events that seemed to befall Bach at Leipzig
An Introduction to Bach Studies, Daniel R. Melamed & Michael Marissen, Oxford UP, 1998. If you're really interested in getting serious about Bach studies and want a simple handbook guiding you through the source and research materials then this is the book for you. If you want to find references to liturgical practices in Leipzig during Bach's time or where to look to find information about the lost fifth cantata cycle, look here. Also contains a complete table of the church year with lectionary and indices into both the NBA and the BG complete editions. Melamed and Marissen provide an excellent introduction to how to guide yourself around the explosively expanding Bach literature, giving helpful annotation and commentary. Reading literature guides and bibliographies can lead to an early death by soporification. Not in this case however: This is well written and entertaining guide. Highly recommended.
Bach and the Patterns of Invention, Laurence Dreyfus, Harvard UP, 1996. This is an absolutely fascinating look at Bach's compositional process, tracing the development of a piece of music from invention through to completion. I'm not sure I can summarise the book any better than the dust cover blurb, so: "By reading Bach's music 'against the grain' of contemporaries such as Vivaldi and Telemann, Laurence Dreyfus explains how Bach's approach to musical invention in a variety of genres posed a fundamental challenge to Baroque aesthetics." I'm not sure that I fully agreed with (or even understood!) all the arguments in the book, but I really enjoyed reading it!
Johann Sebastian Bach, Philipp Spitta, 3 Vols, Dover, 1979 (original 1881). The classic nineteenth century biography of Bach. Spitta was the first to make exhaustive search of the archives to build up this comprehensive picture of Bach. As well as the biographical material, there is comprehensive commentary on the music. Way out of date in some respects, this is still essential reading. Be aware that the Dover edition is of the original English translation and the German edition contains more material. Some caution about the translation is also required. To quote W. G. Whittaker "A turgid, uncouthly written, indifferently indexed, and poorly translated book, but a magnificent example of patient accurate research and an exhaustive compilation" (Fugitive Notes).
J. S. Bach, Albert Schweitzer, 2 Vols, Dover, 1966 (original 1911). A classic book about Bach's life and works. Extensive discussion of Bach's works and, taken with the caution that factual material is based on Spitta, compulsory reading for the Bach enthusiast.
Johann Sebastian Bach, A Biography, Charles Stanford Terry, Oxford UP, 1933. This was one of the few attempts made before the 1950's to add to the astonishing source studies performed by Philipp Spitta (see above). As a pure biography it has the advantage that it doesn't attempt any evaluation of the works (the reason that Spitta is so voluminous) but concentrates on the life. Taken with a little bit of caution, this is an outstanding work that still is a useful reference and, from a biographical point of view, should be used in preference to Spitta.
The Music of J. S. Bach, An Introduction, Charles Stanford Terry, Dover, 1963. A companion volume to Terry's excellent Bach biography, this slim volume provides a summary overview of the oevre.
Johann Sebastian Bach, The Story of the Development of a Great Personality, C. Hubert H. Parry, Putnam 1927.
Bach, Eva Mary & Sydney Grew, Dent, 1947. Predecessor to Malcolm Boyd's Master Musician series Bach biography (see above) this is of historical interest in tracing the developing image of Bach over time.
Bach, C. F. Abdy Williams, Dent, 1900. Predecessor to the Grews' Master Musician series Bach biography (see above). Trace the image even further back.
J. S. Bach, The Culmination of an Era, Karl Geiringer, Oxford UP, 1966. A straight down the middle life-and-works biography in the tradition of Spitta and Schweitzer. Perhaps it doesn't add too much to biographical facts but it's certainly worth reading for the appreciation of the works.
The Bach Reader, Hans T. David & Arthur Mendel, Norton, 1945,1966. Despite being superceded by Christoph Wolff's revision (see above) the original (more specifically the 1966 revision) is still worth finding if you don't fancy shelling out for the new one.
Two Centuries of Bach, Friedrich Blume, Oxford UP, 1950.
Bach in Köthen, Friedrich Smend, Concordia Publishing House, 1985.
Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach, Alfred Dürr, dtv/Bärenreiter, 1995 (original 1971). German language standard reference. Easily available, cheap and has all the sacred and secular cantata texts. Highly recommended, if you can read German. Oxford University Press's USA web site suggests that an English language translation is on it's way!
The Church Cantatas of J. S. Bach, Alec Robertson, Praeger, 1972. Provides a commentary on most of the sacred cantatas together with a lectionary. This is long out of print but is widely available in libraries and does turn up second hand.
Bach Cantatas, J. A. Westrup, BBC, 1966. A small but valuable guide to the best in the cantatas. Very cheap.
The Cantatas of J. S. Bach, W. G. Whittaker, 2 Vols, Oxford UP, 1959. Long out of print but for many years one of the standard references in the English language. Whittaker was the first person to conduct all of the cantatas in public and his love and understanding shine through on every page. Whittaker died in 1945, leaving the book in draft form, but luckily for us it was prepared for publication by Harold Thomson and finally appeared in 1959. However, this means that it was written well before the chronological discoveries of the 1950's that so altered our perception of the cantatas, so you should be wary about any of the historical contents, but if you're able to find a copy of the 1978 paperback reprint, you'll find an appendix containing the new chronology. This is definitely a book worth reading if you find modern musicological writing rather lacking in aesthetic content.
Fugitive Notes on Certain Cantatas and the Motets of J.S. Bach, W. G Whitaker, Oxford UP, 1924. Even longer out of print but worth looking up for historical interest. Whittaker discusses cantatas 2, 4, 10, 12, 38, 56, 61, 68, 70, 104, 115, 116 and 140 as well as the motets. A lot of the discussion is taken up with berating the translators of English editions of the cantatas, but the material on performance practice is fascinating historical reading.
Analyzing Bach Cantatas, Eric Chafe, Oxford UP, 2000. A book whose first chapter is entitled "The Hermeneutic Matrix" announces itself as a serious read and, indeed, you're going to have to know a fair amount of music theory (including a fair dose of modal theory) as well as smattering of Lutheran theology just to be able to follow the thread. However, if you do, then you're in for a thoroughly thought provoking read. I'm sure that I've only just started to extract all the value from this book - on a first read through I was captivated by the discussion of Bach's use of modal chorales - so, highly recommended given the caveat on required background.
The World of the Bach Cantatas, ed. Christoph Wolff, Norton, 1995-. Koopman's complete cantata cycle is being accompanied by the publication of three volumes about the cantatas: As of November 1999 the first volume has been released in English and the second is available in German and Dutch. Somewhat dry but contains valuable background information. Norton have told me that they're unlikely to release the second and third volumes in English translation.
Cantata No. 4, Cantata No. 140, ed. Gerhard Herz, Norton Critical Scores, 1967 & 1972. Critical scores of two of the best known of the cantatas from a well known Bach scholar. The edition of BWV 4 is that of Arnold Schering for Eulenberg and this volume contains a background essay on the cantatas as well as the critical commentary. The edition of BWV 140 is by Alfred Dürr for the NBA and is supplemented by a detailed chronology of the cantatas based on that by Dürr and von Dadelson.
J. S. Bach, The Complete Cantatas, In German English Translation by Richard Stokes, Boydell Press, 2000. Gathered in one convenient handbook are Richard Stokes' complete texts and translations of the cantata texts. The focus is on clear translation into an English that takes the Authorised Version as its model.
J. S. Bach and the German Motet, Daniel R. Melamed, Cambridge UP, 1995. This is a really well written detailed study devoted to the background to Bach's motets; the study of the motets themselves and to Bach's use of motet style in his other works. There is a fascinating study of the Altbachisches Archiv (the collection of Bach family works that Sebastian himself probably assembled). This is especially relevant at the moment in the light of the recent discovery, in the former Soviet Union, of the Berlin Sing-Akademie's library (in which most of the Altbachisches Archiv resided). My favourite part of the book is Melamed's demolition of the attribution of Ich lasse dich nicht, BWV Anh 159 to Johann Christoph Bach and his arguments in favour of Sebastian's authorship. Highly recommended.
Lutheranism, Anti-Judaism and Bach's St. John Passion, Michael Marissen, Oxford UP, 1998. In recent years performances of the St. John Passion have occasioned protest in some, unease in others, due to the perception that the work contains antisemitic elements (inherited from St. John's Gospel and the traditions associated with it). Dr. Marissen does great service in providing a careful and fully annotated translation of the libretto of the St. John Passion together with a detailed (but not too highbrow!) analysis of various aspects of St. John's Gospel, of Martin Luther's interpretation of it and of Bach's musical setting of the text. The author identifies that Bach (and/or his librettist) removed some of the more unpleasant elements in those parts of the libretto inherited from Brockes' Passion setting and that Bach consistently emphasised the guilt of all mankind (as opposed to that of "the jews" of St. John's Gospel). Dr. Marissen also gives some very sane advice on how to stage performances of the St. John Passion, providing supporting material for education and interpretation. A valuable book that treats a very grave subject in a humane and serious manner. The only fault that I could find with the book is that, although the author very considerately provides detailed cues to many current CD recordings for his musical examples, there are no actual written musical examples in the book. This means that the book cannot be self contained and you have to scrabble around either with a CD player or with a score! Nonetheless, highly recommended.
Bach: Mass in B-Minor, John Butt, Cambridge UP, 1991. The b-minor mass, although an icon to the artistic achievement of western civilisation, is still in many ways a mysterious work. Assembled as a missa tota very late in Bach's life, possibly his very last completed work, argument still rages about its nature and function. Was the work intended for the Lutheran liturgy or was it a commission from a Catholic for the Catholic liturgy? Does Gottlob Harrer's (J. S. Bach's successor as cantor) performance of a missa tota in Leipzig in 1751 suggest anything about the liturgical context of the b-minor mass? Did Bach intend it (in its final form) for performance at all, or was it an abstract work? Was the missa (that is, just the Kyrie & Gloria) performed in Dresden in 1733? Unfortunately much of the popular debate seems very poorly informed and anyone really interested in serious answers to these questions should persuse this excellent little volume. As well as historical and contextual background there's a short but thorough analysis of the techniques and structure of the work. Highly recommended.
Bach: The Mass in B-Minor, George Stauffer, Schirmer, 1997. A considerably longer book that John Butt's, Stauffer's monograph follows a similar format. Apart from length, the major difference between these two is that Stauffer investigates the developmental influences upon the mass from the Dresden court in considerable depth. Also, if Butt is agnostic on whether the mass (or its components) was a Catholic or Lutheran work, Stauffer leans very definitely towards the Catholic. I don't wish to be controversial here but I think that it's fair to say that Stauffer demonstrates a reasonably convincing argument that musical practices at Dresden had a considerable influence on the B-Minor mass but that I was less convinced that he had established that it was a Catholic work as opposed to a catholic work. To have established this beyond reasonable doubt would have required a greater in-depth analysis of alternative positions. Nevertheless, a highly enjoyable book which I heartily recommend.
The Background of Passion Music, Basil Smallman, Dover, 1970. A slim volume that offers precisely what its title suggests: a history and context of passion settings before J. S. Bach.
The Sacred Dramas of J. S. Bach, W. Murray Young, McFarland, 1994.
Johann Sebastian Bach's St. John Passion, Alfred Dürr, Oxford UP, 2000. An English translation, at last, of this well respected monograph. Set for release in the year 2000, you can take a look at the blurb here.
Bach: St Matthew Passion, Joshua Rifkin, Cambridge UP, 2000. Apparently set for release early next year. No web page but it's appearing on the books-in-print CD that's doing the rounds at the moment.
Bach: St. John Passion, Slowik, Cambridge UP, 2000. Ditto.
The Music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Stephen Daw, Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 1982.
The Organ Music of J. S. Bach (3 Volumes) , Peter Williams, Cambridge UP, 1980 et seq. Williams' treatise is easily the best and most comprehensive treatment of the organ works in the English language. Each work receives its own entry detailing everything from source issues through to musical analysis. The first volume deals with the preludes, toccatas, fugues, fantasias, sonatas, concertos and miscellaneous works; volume 2 covers the chorale based works and volume 3 provide a historical background to all aspects of the works. The only fault that I could find with it is that in such a comprehensive work it's a shame that there's little coverage of the more dubious works on the fringes of the Bach canon. Very highly recommended, but out of print for years and years. Volumes 2 and 3 seem to turn up on the second hand market reasonably frequently but volume 1 is a rarity. Cambridge University Press must be out of their minds for not keeping this in print - for goodness sake, they haven't even reprinted it for Bach year 2000!
The Organ Music of J. S. Bach, Peter Williams, BBC Publications. If the full 3 volumes is too much then this nice little book may provide a suitable introduction.
Bach's Clavier-Übung III, The Making of a Print. Gregory Butler, Duke UP, 1990.
Bach: The Orgelbüchlein, Russell Stinson, Schirmer,1996.
J. S. Bach as Organist, Ernest May & George Stauffer (eds.), Indiana UP, 1986. This collection of essays has just been reprinted in paperback and my copy should arrive in the next few weeks. Stay posted!
The Keyboard Music of J. S. Bach, David Schulenberg, Gollantz, 1993. An absolutely outstanding comprehensive handbook covering all the non-organ keyboard music of J. S. Bach, including much that lies on the fringe of authenticity. You might like to see this as a companion book to Williams' three volume study of the organ works. It seems to be out of print at the moment but it does turn up on the second hand market fairly frequently. If you find a copy, snap it up without a thought - it will repay you with years of delight!
The Forty-Eight Preludes and Fugues of J. S. Bach, Cecil Gray, Oxford UP, 1938.
The Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach, Hermann Keller, George Allen & Unwin, 1976.
The Social and Religious Designs of J. S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, Michael Marissen, Princeton UP, 1995.
Bach: The Brandenberg Concertos, Malcolm Boyd, Cambridge UP, 1993.
J. S. Bach's Musical Offering, Hans T. David, Dover, 1972.
Bach's Works for Solo Violin, Joel Lester, Oxford UP, 1999. Lester provides a detailed study of the unaccompanied violin sonatas and partitas with an especially detailed look at the g-minor sonata BWV 1001. Especially interesting and persuasive is his contention that one must analyze works like this from the perspective of the music theory of the time, rather than from that of later eras. His contention is that anachronistic analysis leads to mis-reading of the structure and thence to anachronistic playing style. The nicest part of this argument, for me, is his comparison between Bach's own arrangement of the preludio from the E-major sonata as the sinfonia of the cantata BWV 29 and that of Robert Schumann in his piano accompaniment to the sonatas and partitas. This book is not light reading; to get the most out of it you probably need to lock yourself away with a copy of the score and with a musical instrument to hand. However, it certainly repays close attention and should probably be in the library of every violinist preparing these wonderful works for performance.
Thematisch-systematisches Verzeichnis der musikalischen Werke von Johann Sebastian Bach: Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis [BWV], Wolfgang Schmieder, Breitkopf und Härtel, 1990. The standard catalogue of Bach's works. The story of how Schmieder prepared the BWV before and during the second world war, only to have the manuscript destroyed, has entered the annals of legend. Thankfully he persevered and his numbering system became ubiquitous, despite it's drawbacks. This 1990 dates is the revision that appeared shortly before his death. 1998 saw the little edition (see above) appear, so Schmieder's work is being continued.
Bach Compendium: Analytisch-bibliographisches Repertorium der Werke Johann Sebastian Bachs [BC], Hans-Joachim Schulze and Christoph Wolff, Peters, 1985-. If the BWV isn't enough for you then this should satisfy. This multi volume catalogue of Bach's works aims to complement the BWV by providing greater emphasis on sources and documentable facts, classifies the works in a far more systematic manner and also gives separate entries to each "instance" of a Bach work, thus untying the muddle that the BWV seems to get in over multi-versioned works. The catalogue has only covered the vocal works so far but there are rumours that the next volume will appear soon. Perhaps it's unlikely that its numbers will catch on in the same way as the BWV, given the entrenchement of Schmieder's classification, but I've given the BC number in each cantata entry along with the BWV.
Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke [Neue Bach-Ausgabe, NBA], Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Institut Göttingen and Bach-Archiv Leipzig, Bärenreiter, 1954-. The complete works. This is where you go if you want to find the music and the reconstructions. Painfully expensive but Bärenreiter also bring out various more affordable editions based on the NBA. The critical commentaries of each volume (the Kritischer Bericht) are invaluable sources, but will only be in major libraries. The cantatas are all in Series I of the NBA. Both the Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Institut Göttingen and the Bach-Archiv Leipzig have web sites. Especially worth watching on the Bärenreiter site is the appearance of collected study editions. Two are out so far (the big vocal works and the orchestral works) and a third (the keyboard works) is promised in April 2000.
Johann Sebastian Bachs Werke [BG], Bach-Gesellschaft, 1850-1900. The original complete edition. A lot of this is available cheaply via, for example, Dover or Kalmus reprints.
The Bach Manuscripts of Johann Peter Kellner and his Circle, Russell Stinson, Duke UP, 1989. Around J. P. Kellner of Gräfenroda grew a significant circle of Bach copyists in the early to middle part of the eighteenth century. It's due to copyists like these that much of Bach's early keyboard music survives, so Stinson's fascinating and detailed study of Kellner's circle provides a welcome insight into this aspect of how Bach's music has come down to us. Kellner himself, previously thought of as a reliable scribe, is put under the microscope and is found wanting: many of his manuscripts show that he was adapting Bach's music for his needs (often transcription of non-keyboard pieces for keyboard performance) and show considerable amendation. A particularly fascinating part of this book is Stinson's description and analysis of some of the pieces on the fringe of the Bach canon.
Bach the Borrower, Norman Carrell, George Allen & Unwin, 1967. This lovely little volume provides a cross reference to all the borrowing, from self and from others, used by Bach in his parody and arrangement procedures that the author has been able to identify. Very useful if your stuck for knowing where you've heard that tune before!
Bach Cantatas Requiring Limited Resources, William J. Bullock, University Press of America, 1984. This is a slim handbook detailing the resources needed to perform the less taxing cantatas of J. S. Bach. Useful if you're running an amateur choral society.
A Conductor's Guide to the Choral-Orchestral Works of J. S. Bach, Jonathan D. Green, Scarecrow Press, 2000. This handbook, which has just dropped into my letterbox, might be seen as a massively expanded version of Bullock's "Bach Cantatas Requiring Limited Resources". In this volume the author gives detailed resource and performance information about all the works from BWV 1 through to BWV 249. For each work there are subheadings covering Duration; Text; Performing Forces; First Performance; Editions (though the author does not provide a critical comparison of editions); Manuscript Sources; Miscellaneous Notes; Performance Issues (including an assessment of the difficulty of each work); Discography and a Selected Bibliography. A first skim through suggests to me that this will be a very useful resource for anybody with an amateur or semi-pro musical society planning performances of Bach's choral works. The author has the excellent good taste to reference my "Listeners Guide to The Bach Cantatas" web site in the bibliography, so how can I say anything other than highly recommended?
Bach Sources in America, Gerhard Herz, Bärenreiter, 1984. A source critical compendium of all the original and early Bach sources that were in America at the time of writing. Expecting this to be a rather dry read, I found that Herz has produced a really fascinating and beautiful book detailing more than just the simple facts. He traces the stories of many of the manuscripts so well that they seem to become like old friends! There are copius high quality photographs of many of the manuscripts and if, like I, you appreciate seeing the originals, this book is worth the price for these alone. Incidentally, although this volume seems hard to find in many on-line search engines, it's still available direct from Boydell and Brewer.
Bach's Continuo Group, Laurence Dreyfus, Harvard UP, 1987.
Interpreting Bach at the Keyboard, Paul Badera-Skoda, Oxford UP, 1993.
Bach Interpretation, John Butt, Cambridge UP, 1990.
Bach's Ornaments, Walter Emery, Novello, 1953.
Interpreting Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Ralph Kirkpatrick, Yale UP, 1984.
Bach and the Baroque, Anthony Newman, Pendragon, 1995.
Performing Bach's Vocal Music, Paul Steinitz, Addington Press, 1980. A nice little performer's handbook for Bach's vocal music. Covers repertoire, performing materials, interpretation and practical matters of rehearsal.
The Sacred Choral Music of J. S. Bach: A Handbook, John Butt (ed.), Paraclete Press, 1997. A straightforward and elementary handbook for performers of Bach's vocal music. Most detail is contained in Craig Timberlake's essay about vocal exercises. A nice compliment to Steinitz's book.
The Essential Bach Choir, Andrew Parrott, Boydell Press, 2000. Nearly twenty years ago Joshua Rifkin advanced the proposal (backed up with formidable scholarship) that the choir that Bach would have known would have sung mostly one-to-a-part. As one might have expected, controversy has raged in the learned journals and in more popular publications ever since on this subject. To this impartial observer it has seemed that the debate has often generated much more heat than light, with arguments going off at cross purposes and with personalities dominating the facts. So, Andrew Parrott is especially to be thanked for assembling the pro one-per-part arguments handily in book form to allow us a more convenient assessment of the evidence. If I may maintain the mask of the unbiased observer, I might observe that the case is very convincingly put and it looks like the the burden of proof now lies with those who deny the one-to-a-part hypothesis. For those of us who listen as happily to their Richter as to their Rifkin, this may seem all seem like a storm in a teacup but the result of this argument may determine how we get to listen to future performances and recordings! Highly Recommended.
Johann Sebastian Bach and Liturgical Life in Leipzig, Günther Stiller, St. Louis, 1984.
The Calov Bible of J. S. Bach, ed. Howard H. Cox, Ann Arbor, 1985.
J. S. Bach's Precepts and Principles for Playing the Thorough-Bass or Accompanying in Four Parts, Pamela L. Poulin, Clarendon Press, 1994. The "Precepts and Principles" are believed to have been dictated by J. S. Bach to one of his students at the Thomas-Schule in Leipzig and provided a pretty much unique insight into the master's teaching methods. This was reproduced in the old "Bach Reader" (see above) but with little in the way of explanation. It no longer appears in the "New Bach Reader" but is now available in this fine translation with full annotation and commentary. Incidentally, it seems that much of this manual was derived from F. E. Niedt's Musicalische Handleitung, which is itself available in a translation by Ms. Poulin from Oxford UP.
Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, Tercentenary Essays, ed. Peter Williams, Cambridge UP, 1985.
Dance and the Music of J. S. Bach, Meredith Little & Natalie Jenne, Indiana UP, 1991.
Tonal Allegory in the Vocal Music of J. S. Bach, Eric Chafe, University of California Press, 1991.
Bach and the Riddle of the Number Alphabet, Ruth Tatlow, Cambridge UP, 1991.
Bach Perspectives: Volume 1, Russell Stinson & Don O. Franklin (eds.), 1995. Volume II - J. S. Bach, the Breitkopf's and the Eighteenth Century Music Trade, George B. Stauffer (ed.), 1996. Volume III - Creative Responses to Bach from Mozart to Hindemith, Michael Marissen (ed.), 1998. Volume IV - The Music of J. S. Bach: Analysis and Interpretation, David Schulenberg (ed.), 1999. All from the University of Nebraska Press.
Bach Studies, Don O. Franklin, Cambridge UP.
Bach Studies 2, Daniel R. Melamed, Cambridge UP, 1996.
Frau Musika: Vita e le opere di J. S. Bach, Alberto Basso, Torino, 1983.
Bach as Musical Icon, Dirst, Cambridge UP, 2000. Apparently set for release early next year. No web page but it's appearing on the books-in-print CD that's doing the rounds at the moment. Haven't got a clue what it's going to be about but the title sounds fascinating.
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, Douglas R. Hofstadter, Currently Penguin, 1999. I dissent from the common opinion of this book as a classic. There's a fine introduction to undecidability, recursion, and Gödel's theorem but the connection with Escher though self-reference seems weak and the connection to Bach seems even more tenuous. As far as Bach is concerned, it seem to me that the most important processes going on in his (fugal) works are combinatorial and that self-reference and recursion are of secondary importance (and really only enter through the musical processes of diminution and augmentation). Still, many like the book, so who am I to suggest you should avoid it?
The Glass Bead Game, Hermann Hesse, Currently Vintage, 2000. So if GEB isn't the book, this is!
Copyright © Simon Crouch, 1999, 2000.
You may freely distribute this work provided that it is unaltered and that no charge is made and this copyright notice is retained
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