The Wayback Machine - http://web.archive.org/web/20040523223221/http://www.bachfaq.org:80/

Contents of these pages, except as noted in them, written by and Copyright © Bernard S. Greenberg, 1996-2002, to whom please direct all comments, corrections, and criticism. Credit for major text contributions is due Tom Parsons, Simon Crouch, Jim Michmerhuizen, and Harvey Spiro. Others who have contributed substantive ideas, criticism, and more are listed at the end.

This site honors the memory of the late Gabe Wiener (1970-1997), founder of PGM Recordings ("Pro gloria musicae") and founder of the alt.music.j-s-bach newsgroup.

If you wish to link to this site, what follows is the correct form of its URL. Please copy this link or text:

J. S. Bach FAQ Site          http://www.bachfaq.org/

This site has recently (6 April 2000) moved to its present location (its own domain). At the same time, all .htm pages were renamed to .html. If you link to this site or its internal pages, please update your links. Thanks!


(4/25/2001)! A newly-discovered, certain-authentic oil painting of J. S. Bach has been discovered and analyzed. Please see Teri Towe's fascinating article (with many copies and studies of the image) on his site at http://www.npj.com/thefaceofbach/.


        Anyone unaware of Dr. Christoph Wolff's terrific 2000 biography, Bach -- The Learned Musician, should not hesitate to click on the image at left for Amazon's page and purchase and read and study it. This wonderful volume, the definitive Bach biography of our time, at once makes Bach seem a real man and fills out his life with a profusion of not only facts, but copious insights and discoveries reaped from Dr. Wolff's lifelong dedication to him. Anyone interested in, or interested in learning about, Bach should hasten to devour it.

Q. What is this FAQ? What's in it?

A. This is the J. S. Bach Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) resource. It has served as the de facto FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page for the newsgroup alt.music.j-s-bach.

This site endeavors to answer oft-asked and oft-heard questions about Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) and his work, explain basic facts and concepts about his music, its forms, techniques, context, etc., shed light on common misunderstandings, and provide pointers to further information on and off the web. This FAQ is directed largely at those unfamiliar or only somewhat familiar with Bach and his work, whether otherwise knowledgeable about so-called "classical music" or not; it is not intended to be a comprehensive, encyclopaedic, or scholarly resource (although we provide pointers to more complete Bach resources).

This project remains ever in progress!


What is this?
What's in this FAQ?
What is alt.music.j-s-bach? 
How do I subscribe to alt.music.j-s-bach?
J. S. Bach, his music, his place in history, his legacy
J. S. Who? Why J. S. Bach? What's so great about Bach?
I've heard of a lot of Bachs with different initials... 
Bach was a Baroque composer, wasn't he? 
What sorts of music did Bach write? 
I'd like to know about Bach's life and career. (off-site link)
I've heard that Bach's music is highly mathematical... 
What do Gödel and Escher have to do with Bach? (D. R. Hofstadter's GEB) 
What's all this about numerology in Bach? 
What do you mean "it might not be by Bach"? Didn't he sign his work? 
What's the point of trying to "explain" Bach? His music is to be listened to! 
Bach and the keyboard instruments
Did Bach write for the piano or the harpsichord?
What's the difference between a piano, harpsichord, clavier, etc. 
What does "Well-Tempered" mean? 
What exactly is an organ? How are organs organized? What are they about?
What are the Goldberg Variations? Who was Goldberg? 
What's that organ piece that Captain Nemo and various fiends play? 
What? Is the Toccata and Fugue in D minor really not by Bach? 
Bach, Christianity, and Sacred Music
I don't go in for church music: Christianity turns me off / I'm an atheist...
What is a chorale? Why do organ pieces have German religious titles?
What is a cantata?
What's the text to Cantata #...? (Original German) (off-site link)
What's the text to Cantata #...? (English translations) (off-site link)
What is a Passion? What is St. Matthew's Passion [sic]?
How many Passion settings did Bach write?
I've heard of Jesus, but Who are Jesu and Jesum?
What are the initials SDG and JJ found on some Bach Scores?
I don't know any German .... (Bach German Vocabulary List)
Is there antisemitism in the Bach Passions? Was Bach an antisemite?
You said that Bach wrote 300 cantatas, yet I can only find 200...
"Technical stuff" you might want to know
What does "BWV" stand for?
I saw a CD of a "sonata for violin and continuo." What's a continuo ? 
Just what is counterpoint? 
What is a fugue? 
What is a canon? 
What does "Well-Tempered" mean? 
Do I have to understand all this hairy stuff to appreciate Bach? 
Bach and novel instruments
I've heard Walter/Wendy Carlos' Switched On Bach (or other synth performances)
Are these synthesizer performances any good? Are they authentic? 
What is a lituus? (O Jesu Christ, mein's Lebens Licht) 
Guest appearances by J. S. Bach and his music
What is the story behind Air for the G String? What's this name mean? 
What Bach piece is Procol Harum's A Whiter Shade of Pale?... 
Jethro Tull, Lovers' Concerto, etc. More Bach in rock & pop ... 
What's the Bach orchestral piece in Disney's Fantasia? 
I love Bach's Ode to Joy...[no, it's Beethoven's!]
And perhaps most important of all...
I'd like to hear some Bach masterpieces. What should I buy and listen to?
Where can I read more about Bach and his works? (Including J. S. Bach Links) 
And not to forget...
Where can I see the famous picture of Bach?
What's the piece of music in Bach's hand in it?

Take our Bach quiz to test your understanding (Recommended for novices.)

Please mail comments, corrections, and flames to Bernard S. Greenberg, the maintainer and major author of this FAQ.

This site is listed in the directory of J. S. Bach resources on the Internet.

Thanks to the following for typos, cleanups, substantive suggestions, etc:
John Herring (especially for eagle-eyed editing), Randy Foster, Simon Crouch, (the late) Gabe Wiener, Tom Parsons, Dan Weinreb.
Major text contributors are listed above.

email the author/maintainer