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.and#160;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
PRAISE FROM GERMANY FOR
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH"It's often said that you can't learn to love music by reading books. This book isand#160;the exception."--Die Welt
"Fascinating from beginning to end."--Berliner Zeitung
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 Worksand#160;PART ONE
THE STATIONS OF BACHand#8217;S LIFE
From Matins Singer to Hofkapellmeister
Eisenach
Ohrdruf
Land#252;neburg
Arnstadt
Mand#252;hlhausen
Weimar
Cand#246;then
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: and#147;Court Composerand#8221;
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 Cand#246;then 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
Bachand#8217;s Art
Bach as a Christian
Rhetoric and Symbolism
Proportion and Numerical Relations in Bachand#8217;s Music
Theological Bach Research: Between Scholarship
and Faith-Inspired Learning
AcknowledgmentsNotes
Bibliography
Index