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Johann Sebastian Bach: Life and Work
by Martin Geck
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Synopses & Reviews Two hundred and fifty years after his death, Johann Sebastian Bach remains one of the most compelling figures in the history of classical music. In this major study of the composer's life and work, Martin Geck follows the course of Bach's career in rich detail--from his humble beginnings as an organ tuner and self-taught court musician to his role as Kapellmeister and cantor of St. Thomas's Church in Leipzig. Geck explores Bach's relations with the German aristocracy, his position with regard to the Church and contemporary theological debates, his perfectionism, and his role as the devoted head of a large family. The focus in this comprehensive, thoroughly researched book is on the extraordinary work that came of the composer's life. From the Goldberg Variations to the Brandenburg Concertos to the Art of the Fugue, Geck carefully analyzes Bach's innovations in harmony and counterpoint, placing them in the context of European musical and social history. Always fresh and stimulating, this definitive work reintroduces Bach's enormous oeuvre in all its splendor. Review: "Surprisingly little is known about the domestic and professional life of the man many consider the greatest composer who ever lived, and even this monumental study by a German musicologist has to fall back on a great deal of supposition of the kind all too familiar from some Shakespearean biographies. If it is scant on personal details, it is brilliantly all-encompassing on the music and on the place of Bach in the musical pantheon, both in his own time and in the present. Geck devotes at least two-thirds of his book to an exhaustive examination of Bach's technique and accomplishment in all his major works, and their impact on the listener. This analysis is not overwhelmingly technical and can be readily appreciated by an educated enthusiast. In a final section called 'Horizons,' in which Geck meditates on Bach's art, religion and philosophy as displayed in the music, he offers some remarkable insights. Bach's 'overwhelming density' in places can inspire 'shock and awe,' as well as 'laughter over the infinity of creation, and tears at one's own insignificance.' For Bach, he says, 'every work of music has to be conceived as a perfect likeness of divine creation.'" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Book News Annotation: Geck (musicology, Dortmund U., Germany) provides a study of Johann
Sebastian Bach's life and music. He traces the career path the
composer followed, from his early education to role as Kapellmeister
of the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig and director of the collegium
musicum. He then reserves half of the volume for an examination of
Bach's music by genre, analyzing individual pieces and groups of
vocal and instrumental works, and ends with brief discussions of
specific topics such as Bach as a Christian, rhetoric and symbolism,
proportion and numerical relations in his music, and theological
research. The book has been translated from the German version by
Hargraves (German language and literature, Yale U. and Connecticut
College).
Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) About the Author Martin Geck is the author of numerous works on classical music, including a survey of its history from Beethoven to Mahler. He is a professor of musicology at the University of Dortmund in Germany. Table of Contents CONTENTS Foreword by Kurt Masur PREFACE APPROACHING BACH What Do We Know about Bach? The Grand Old Men of Bach Biography: Forkel, Spitta, Schweitzer Transmission of the Works PART ONE THE STATIONS OF BACH’S LIFE From Matins Singer to Hofkapellmeister Eisenach Ohrdruf Lüneburg Arnstadt Mühlhausen Weimar Cöthen Cantor at St. Thomas and City Music Director in Leipzig The Position and Its New Incumbent The Early Years in Leipzig The Middle Leipzig Period: “Court Composer” Director of the Collegium Musicum and Composer of Secular Music Aesthetic Controversies, Private Initiatives The Later Leipzig Years: The Universalist The Bach Household PART TWO THE VOCAL MUSIC The Early and Weimar Cantatas The Leipzig Cantatas The Passions Secular Cantatas and the Christmas Oratorio The Magnificat and the Masses The Motets PART THREE THE INSTRUMENTAL WORKS The Art of the Toccata The Organ Chorales The Cöthen Demonstration Cycles: Inventions and Sinfonias, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Six Solos for Violin The Concertos The Sonatas and Suites The Late Cycles The Goldberg Variations The Art of Fugue The Musical Offering PART FOUR HORIZONS Bach’s Art Bach as a Christian Rhetoric and Symbolism Proportion and Numerical Relations in Bach’s Music Theological Bach Research: Between Scholarship and Faith-Inspired Learning Acknowledgments
Product Details
- ISBN:
- 9780151006489
- Subtitle:
- Life and Work
- Author:
- Geck, Martin
- Author:
- Geck, Martin
- Foreword:
- Masur, Kurt
- Translator:
- Hargraves, John
- Publisher:
- Harcourt
- Subject:
- History & Criticism *
- Subject:
- Historical - General
- Subject:
- Composers & Musicians
- Subject:
- Bach, Johann Sebastian
- Subject:
- History & Criticism - General
- Subject:
- Composers & Musicians - General
- Copyright:
- 2006
- Edition Description:
- Us
- Publication Date:
- October 2006
- Binding:
- Hardcover
- Language:
- English
- Illustrations:
- Y
- Pages:
- 738
- Dimensions:
- 9.24x6.08x1.51 in. 2.20 lbs.
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