THE
AMERICAN BACH SOCIETY
N E W S L E T T E R
Spring
2001
News · CD Review · Performer's view · Book review · Select bibliography
On January 19, 2001, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and German
Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder signed an agreement according to which the
collection of the Berlin Sing-Akademie with its significant Bach family holdings
should be returned to its original home. In
a symbolic gesture, Kuchma handed over to Schroeder an important manuscript with
organ works by J. S. Bach. The
inter-government agreement specifies that the return is to take place within
three months. The repatriation of the Sing-Akademie collection would represent
the first major restitution of trophy materials from World War II.
After its arrival in Germany, the materials will be placed in the Berlin
Staatsbibliothek on permanent loan from the Sing-Akademie.
In
the meantime, a major portion of the collection has been microfilmed in Kyiv,
but the filming project, involving nearly one million pages of music, will in
all likelihood now be completed in Berlin.
Cataloguing has begun in a joint undertaking involving the RISM offices
in Frankfurt and at Harvard, the Leipzig Bach Archive, and the Packard
Humanities Institute in Cambridge. The
complete catalogue of the extensive Bach family materials (Die Bach-Quellen
der Sing-Akademie zu Berlin) will be published as part of the
Bach-Repertorium series. Once the
cataloguing is completed, the collection will be accessible to scholars, both on
microfilm (at the Bach Archive, the Berlin Staatsbibliothek, the Academy of
Sciences in Kyiv, and the Isham Memorial Library at Harvard), and in the
original in Berlin.
The first modern performances of a significant repertory piece from the newly discovered archive, C.P.E. Bachís Dank-Hymne der Freundschaft, were given in March by The Handel & Haydn Society of Boston, under Christopher Hogwood. Hogwood chairs the Editorial Board of C.P.E.Bach: The Collected Works, published under the auspices of The Packard Humanities Institute, and the materials for these performances were prepared in conjunction with the edition in-progress.
Christoph Wolff
Christoph Wolff has succeeded Hans-Joachim Schulze as Director of the
Leipzig Bach Archive, effective January 1, 2001.
Dr. Schulze reached mandatory retirement age last year, but stayed on so
as to oversee official celebrations for the Bach Year 2000.
Professor Wolff is currently on sabbatical leave from Harvard University,
and will divide his time between Leipzig and Berlin, where he is a Senior Fellow
at the American Academy. Upon
returning in his full-time capacity at Harvard, he will continue the
directorship of the Bach Archive on an external basis.
This is made possible owing to the prior appointment of Bernhard Hess as
managing director with full-time responsibility for administrative, personnel,
and financial operations.
The Leipzig Bach Archive presently comprises three divisions--research
institute, events department, and Bach Museum.
It is the research institute that plays the key role in such projects as
the Bach-Jahrbuch, the Leipziger Beitr‰ge zur Bach-Forschung, the Neue
Bach-Ausgabe, the Bach Compendium, and the Bach-Repertorium.
Wolff will serve as project director for the Neue Bach-Ausgabe (to be
completed within the next five years), and two deputies, Dr. Peter Wollny and
Dr. Ulrich Leisinger, will assist in keeping the work of the Bach-Repertorium
and Bach-Dokumente on track, and in developing new short-term and long-term
projects.
The events department is responsible for the concert and lecture series,
as well as the Leipzig Bach Festival and International Bach Competitions.
With the appointment of Robert Levin as President of the International
Bach Competitions, the competitions will include performances on historical, as
well as modern instruments.
See the notice here.
Information here.
Listed here.
J.S.
Bach: The Six Cello Suites,
performed on the Viola by Patricia McCarty.
Ashmont Music (No. 6100).
When I recently took count of the editions of the Bach Cello Suites--a
total of 93 since the first one by Louis Norblin in 1824--I had not included all
the transcriptions for lute, viola, violin, piano, bassoon, and trombone that
Patricia McCarty enumerates in her brief booklet accompanying this two-CD set.
In addition, there are the various editions with piano accompaniment,
such as the one by Robert Schumann. These
masterpieces continue to fascinate, and have had more editions--four in the year
2000 alone--than even the Violin Sonatas. And
the same goes for recordings. (When
the thirteen-year-old Pablo Casals first discovered these works in 1889,
incidentally, that was the 1866 Gr¸tzmacher edition, not the 1879
Bach-Gesellschaft Edition, as McCarty notes.)
This resilient music can, of course, be played to good effect on almost
any instrument, but what is more important is the musicianship, the conceptual
grasp, the interpretation. I
recently heard them played, beautifully, on the double bass, by Edgar Meyer, and
I feel that the exchange between players of different instruments can be very
fruitful. As violists have no Bach
solo works specifically written for them, they might well borrow repertory from
either or both the violin or cello works. About
twenty-five years ago, when William Primrose visited me at the Institute for
Advanced Musical Studies in Switzerland, I played for him my then newly
completed transcription of the Chaconne, and he, a violist, was full of
the most wonderful ideas and insights. So
it is with great interest that I listen now to another violist and what it is
she does with a repertory that has been my mainstay for well over sixty years.
It appears, from the catalogs, that at least four other violists have
undertaken similar projects for the Bach Year.
McCarty says that she consulted the existing manuscripts as well as
current editions. But with respect to sources, we are faced with the critical
fact that Bachís original manuscript is lost.
Perhaps it will surface one day, as did the violin holograph in 1909.
But meanwhile, we performers and editors have to rely on what exists,
i.e., the Johann Peter Kellner copy from 1726, the Anna Magdalena Bach
copy from c.1730, two anonymous later-18th century manuscripts, and the Norblin
first edition. For the Fifth Suite
we also have Bachís own autograph transcription for the lute.
In text-critical matters, there is still a good deal of personal choice
to be made, e.g., with regard to slurring, where it is very difficult to find an
ideal solution, and where one must rely upon selection and taste. In
contradistinction to many editors, I consider the Kellner copy (which I
rediscovered in 1962, after its disappearance in 1938) to be the most
interesting source, and that of Anna Magdalena Bach to be the least reliable.
In his recent edition for Schott/Universal (Wiener Urtext Edition 50
133), Ulrich Leisinger has completely disregarded the AMB text, and I am happy
to have had the opportunity to correspond with him on this subject.
The English musicologist Matthew Head (JAMS 52/2) makes a comparison
between the music books that J.S. Bach prepared for Anna Magdalena, and the
keyboard book he made for Wilhelm Friedemann, and urges us to keep in mind that
the former were created for within the female-amateur sphere, and the latter,
for within the male-professional sphere of music making. Head is mostly
concerned with the kinds of pieces in the books, and their organization, but in
my view we should take into account the different purposes of musical sources in
evaluating their readings. Anna Magdalena was totally inexperienced as a string
player, and in her copy of the Cello Suites, I count no fewer than 117 errors,
not including slurs. For these and
other reasons, I rely upon her readings only in concordance with the others, but
unfortunately, McCarty perpetuates some of Anna Magdalenaís blatant errors.
Still, listening as a cellist, one finds much to admire.
Everything sounds so easy, and it is obvious that a performance on the
viola vitiates many of the problems one has on the cello.
McCartyís playing is superb, her technique faultless.
The CDs were produced over a two-year period, in six widely spaced
sessions, one Suite at a time. I wonder, though, if that is the best way.
As far as comfort and stress management is concerned, it is ideal, but
for total involvement, I have my doubts. It is impossible to recreate, six
times, an atmosphere that is often difficult enough to reproduce in the first
instance, and the production can become urbane and “gutless.”
In the present instance, the Gigues and BourreÈs, especially, could have
been more earthy, and slower. The
way McCarty ornaments and varies the repeats is extremely satisfying for its
taste and elegance--in particular, in the Sarabande of the Fourth Suite.
But she could just as soon have added more of the ornaments found in the
two later-18th century sources. For
the Fifth Suite,
with its scordatura tuning (A lowered to G), McCarty chooses to perform with normal
tuning, and it sounds fine, since the altered tuning is really more germane to
the cello. Since the viola is tuned
an octave higher than the cello, violists logically play the Suites up an
octave. This works well until they
take on the Sixth Suite, and it is then that problems arise.
The Sixth Suite, composed for a five-string cello with added upper
E-string, presents most of the writing in alto clef, which naturally appeals to
violists. The pitfall, however, is
that Bach also uses bass clef in the lower range, much of which lies below the
range of the viola. Already, at the
very beginning of the Prelude (which is in the bass clef), the violist has to
play an octave higher, and when one reaches the ninth measure and meets with
viola clef, one has the frustration of not being able to proceed sensibly. One can really only read viola clef at m. 19, after an
ungainly octave leap, and even then, not for long.
This, then, is a source of great frustration, in that the viola range is
so different from that of the five-string cello, and one simply cannot read the
viola clef consistently. The text,
which can certainly be performed without problems on the four-string cello,
requires a certain adaptation for the viola.
Bachís composition covers three-and-a-half octaves, and paradoxically,
this Suite, though, written largely in alto clef, has to be confined on the
viola to two-and-a-half octaves only. The
first half of the Allemande perhaps works best, since only a few of the bottom
notes have to be dropped.
Throughout the Suites, the characteristic idiom is that of the
“melodizing of harmony,” wherein Bach succeeds, miraculously, in creating
the impression of several voices within one-and-the-same melodic line.
McCarty could have underlined this aspect a little more. Her playing is
often too linear, a shortcoming, unfortunately, of many performers.
The recording itself is very good, without too much reverberation, which
so often distorts the sound of instruments.
What we have, in sum, is an excellent example of how these great works
can sound in a suitable transcription for the very instrument which, according
to Forkel, was one of Bachís favorites.
Dimitry Markevitch
What
is Bachís Well-Tempered Clavier?
A Performer's View of WTC II
My first piano lessons began at age five, and it was not long thereafter
that I began to study individual preludes and fugues from the ë48í.
In the 1950s, the Kalmus reprint of Hans Bischoffís Steingr‰ber
edition seemed to be the most reliable text.
Bischoffís voluminous footnotes with variants from the extant sources
provided a delightful excuse not to practice too intensely:
it was at least as enlightening to try out the alternatives as to deal
with the insidious challenges that lurked at every moment in Bachís
astonishing preludes and fugues. The
title Kalmus gave to the collection was The Well-Tempered Clavichord--indeed,
the word clavier was once synonymous with “clavichord” in the
German-speaking world. This usage,
however, postdates the Baroque era, when clavier denoted, in German as in
the original French, a keyboard, or, in the case of the organ, a manual, e.g.,
Bachís designation of some of his organ works “‡ deux claviers et pÈdale”.
Subsequently, its initial consonant modernized from C to K, and clavier
designated the pianoforte, as it does in Germany to the present day.
In calling the ë48í The Well-Tempered Clavier, we dodge the question
of identity, for “clavier” is an archaic, vague term whose primary advantage
to today's performers is that it confers equal validity upon performance on
harpsichord, or on piano. This
ecumenical fact sheds no light upon Bachís intention in choosing that title in
1722.
Viewed in this light, Bachís title promulgates his advocacy of a system
of tuning keyboard instruments--the generic word clavier being
equally applicable to any member of the family.
Contemplating the music of Part I, it is clear that, whereas most of the
collection is eminently playable on the harpsichord, the A-minor fugue can not
be executed without a pedal board, and the final A in the bass, sustained over 4Ω
measures, requires the organ if the pedal tone is to have more than a
theoretical existence. If the
A-minor fugue is almost certainly for organ--and its scale exceeds that of all
the other fugues in the collection--it is not likely to be the only work so
conceived. Pedal tones and other organistic devices are to be found in
the fugues in C major, C-sharp minor, F minor, B-flat minor, and B minor, for
instance. Preludes and fugues well
suited to the intimate character of the clavichord likewise can be readily
found; and if one is willing to consider the possibility of one- vs. two-manual
harpsichord, a total of four instruments emerge as possible vehicles for
Bachís work. (The lute clavier, a
tempting addition, seems precluded, as its range is unlikely to have exceeded
that of the lute, i.e., f”--an
upper limit exceeded by every movement in both volumes of the WTC.)
If Bach himself did not personally entitle the second part of the
collection, Altnickolís designation as "Des Wohltemperirten Claviers
Zweyter Teil" surely reflects the content, and perhaps the explicit intention, of the
composer. Musical style had evolved considerably since the assembling
of Part I, and instruments were evolving as well.
Bach had come into contact with Silbermannís pianos; if he criticized
them, he subsequently endorsed them, and it is far from inconceivable that
certain pieces from WTC II might indeed be intended for the piano (a possibility
to which Wolff also admits), enlarging the choice of instruments from four to
five.
To see The Well-Tempered Clavier in this light is to propose that
performance of the collection on a single instrument--whatever that instrument
might be--or in equal temperament, will damage the breadth and character of
Bachís concept. In recording the two parts of the WTC for H‰nsslerís
Edition Bachakademie, I decided to put this theory to the test.
The temperament and pitch we used were dictated by the organ we chose (A
415, Werckmeister III). Although
the verities of Chor- and Cammerton would have meant that moving
from instrument to instrument would change the pitch, listeners at home would
surely prefer two pieces in E-flat and two in F rather than none in E-flat and
four in F.
In choosing specific instruments for a given prelude and fugue, each
musician will be guided by a necessarily personal impression of its texture and
character. Some choices may seem
more evident, others more obscure. At
times one is tempted to prescribe one instrument for the prelude, another for
the fugue; but this ultimately challenges the essence of the structure, in which
the one prepares the other. What
follows is an enumeration of the choices made in my recording of WTC II--choices
that, in my mind are volatile, and infinitely mutable.
The issue is not to arrive at a decision for all time, but to be
astonished anew by the breathtaking invention and variety of Bachís topoi so
as to imagine in each case an instrument most ideally suited to their character.
C
Major. I chose the organ because of the omnipresent suspensions in
the prelude, which are a hallmark of the polyphonic style and should be palpable
to the ear. The pedal tone at the
end also suggests use of the organ. The
fugue works on all of the potential instruments, but performance on the organ
provides a necessary reminder that the instrument is as effective for witty
energy as it is for sustained utterance.
C
Minor. As
often proves to be the case in this collection, the choice of instrument is
mandated less by the fugue, which works well on all of the proposed instruments,
than by the prelude. This is the
first of many dance movements--a binary piece with repeats.
A descendant of Bachís two-part inventions, it is an ideal candidate
for the double-manual harpsichord, because one can change registration in the
repeats.
C-sharp
Major. The
prelude harkens back to WTC I; its succession of decorated chords, leading
unexpectedly to a joyous fugato, gives less of a mandate to a specific
instrument than does the fugue--a playful, expressive piece without any
austerity, and therefore eminently suitable for the clavichord.
C-sharp
Minor. For
recreating the vicissitudes of both component movements--resigned and
contemplative on the one hand, passionate or vigorous on the other--the dynamic
nuances of the fortepiano seem ideal.
D
Minor. The
two-part texture mandates hand crossings, which are easy to play on a
double-manual harpsichord, but which can be just as successfully performed on a
the fortepiano, where contrast of coloration easily keeps the voices
well-defined. The fugue theme has
two contrasting motives--rising triplets and a descending chromatic lament.
I find the colors of the fortepiano ideal for this purpose.
E-flat
Major. The
prelude is composed in lute style; there is an obvious connection with the
Prelude, Fugue, and Allegro, BWV 998, both in content and key. Even if Alfred D¸rr
quite rightly terms the fugue theme a “catchy street tune,” I consider it an
organ fugue.
D-sharp
Minor. With
the prelude, we return to the realm of two-part inventions in binary dance form.
On balance, I think it suits the harpsichord, especially because, by
performing the prelude on two manuals, the two voices can maintain their
independence, and exchanging the manuals means that, as in the C-minor prelude,
the repeats may be performed with coloristic variety.
E
Major. The
prelude is a three-part invention, again a binary piece with repeats.
In contrast, the fugue is a masterpiece of the style antico, with
stretti, diminution, and the other accoutrements of this style.
I recall that, as a student in Louis Martinís solfËge class at the
Chatham Square Music School in New York, we sang this piece as a choir--which
worked wonderfully. The pedal
points in the prelude confirm the pieceís suitability for the organ.
E
minor. The
mood of the prelude, a two-part invention, recalls the Third Partita, BWV 827.
As for the fugue, Bach may never have written a more spirited piece.
Because the drive gathers force as the tension builds up, I opted for the
dynamic possibilities of the fortepiano.
F
major. If
the prelude, with its chain of flowing pseudo-chords, would be wonderful on the
organ, the shower of thirty-seconds at the end might be less fortuitous there.
The clavichord, with its guitar-like sound, offers the same particular
enjoyment of the flowing eighths as the merry fugue that seems to whiz by.
F
Minor. The prelude is a harbinger of the empfindsamer Stil.
The “una corda” stop, found on the Silbermann piano, is ideal for its
delicate pathos. The drama of the
kinetic fugue is above all a performance experience rather than a contemplative
one. Here, as in the fugue in
A-flat major, the fortepiano seems to offer better possibilities than the
harpsichord.
F-sharp
Major. Because
the prelude owes its character less to color and more to the pomp and drive of
its dotted figures, the single-manual harpsichord is an appropriate instrument.
The large-scale fugue is equally well accommodated by a single register.
F-sharp
Major. Because
the prelude owes its character less to color and more to the pomp and drive of
its dotted figures, the single-manual harpsichord is an appropriate instrument.
The large-scale fugue is equally well accommodated by a single register.
F-sharp
Minor. Whereas
the prelude has an expressive, improvised character, the triple fugue covers a
wide spectrum of emotions, from the syncopations of the main theme and the
filigree second theme, to the flow of the third.
Along with the fortepiano, the clavichord has the ideal sensitivity and
flexibility for this purpose.
G
Major. It is the flamboyant prelude, whose binary form offers the
usual exchange of registration, which points to the choice of two-manual
harpsichord. If the fugues loose
counterpoint and banter are well served by the harpsichord, other choices are
scarcely precluded.
G
Minor. The
fugue, like the prelude (in the frame of a French overture), is austere,
majestic, immense, with an uncompromising theme that consists of a sequence
interrupted by rests and followed by an insistent repeated note.
The unvarying, uncompromising character of both pieces is well served by
eschewing coloristic distractions: I
prefer single-manual harpsichord.
A-flat
Major. The prelude is one of the towering masterpieces of the set.
It provides an ideal demonstration of Bachís exploration of the
structural ramifications of the tonal system, visiting virtually all the related
keys (E-flat, F minor, B-flat minor, D-flat major--only C minor is missing) in a
contemplative, speculative approach that elevates musical architecture to a
depiction of the cosmos itself. The
fugue, transposed by Bach from F major to A-flat major to fit into the
collection, displays a parallel construction.
The choice of fortepiano enables inflection not only of the various keys
according to their character and differing sound (in non-equal temperament), but
of the transitions that connect them.
G-sharp
Minor. Another
binary prelude, with dynamics prescribed by Bach.
These can be well executed on the double-manual harpsichord; indeed, the
changes of manual may be carried out in greater detail here than in the other
binary preludes. This allows
Bachís notation to be realized with great variety, in coordination with his
musical ideas. The two-manual
harpsichord likewise allows the use of registration changes to underline the
fugueís tripartite structure--first subject, second subject, and the
triumphant combination of the two.
A
Major. The character of the prelude unmistakably recalls that of the
First English Suite. In contrast,
the fugue shows Bachís modern side. The
texture of the fugue seems effortless, as if Bach thought it unnecessary to
prove himself, again, the master of counterpoint--the genius of this music is
concealed by a light touch and understatement, a perfect vehicle for the
clavichord!
A
Minor. The prelude stretches chromaticism to and beyond the confines
of tonality within a rhythmically jaunty, and therefore all the more unsettling
frame. The fugue is one of Bachís
most audacious and intense pieces, its coiled, bull-headed energy anticipating
the Romantic character piece. Here,
the choice of the fortepiano seems obvious.
B-flat
Major. Frequent hand-crossings--with sequences where the roles of
the hands are reversed midway--show that Bach wanted to teach this skill to his
pupils. However, I do not opt for
the double-manual harpsichord to express the change of hands in these sequences
by changing registration (I believe that Bach wanted to encourage the player to
simulate such a change of position with skill), but rather, only to liven up the
repeats. The calm, somewhat galant
fugue is less clearly intended for a specific instrument, but works well on
harpsichord.
B-flat
Minor. The choice of the organ emerges from the majestic fugue,
though the prelude seems well served by that instrument. Even if an alternative might seem possible for the prelude
alone, I do not believe that one should challenge the integrity of prelude and
fugue by changing instrument in between.
B
Major. The prelude is pleasant and conversational.
The melody of the middle section would be easier to play with one hand,
but Bach probably composed it for two to develop coordination in his pupils.
Though the fugue alludes to the stile antico, the pair of
movements is unsuitable for organ because of the low B in the final chord of the
prelude. The single-manual harpsichord proves a successful vessel for the set.
B
Minor. The fugue is a gigue, which provides an ending to WTC II that
is as joyful as that to the first part is somber and dramatic.
Here, a variety of potential choices beckons.
On the other hand, the constant motivic interchange between the hands in
the prelude suggests performance on two-manual harpsichord, in which the
individual character of the two ideas can be reinforced.
Robert
Levin
Quotations from CD liner notes (revised by the author) are used with permission, ” H‰nssler Classic, 2000.
Die
Quellen Johann Sebastian Bachs. Bachs
Musik im Gottesdienst, ed. Renate Steiger (Heidelberg: Mantius Verlag, 1998),
463 pp.
This book contains twenty-nine papers which were initially presented at
the 1995 Symposium of the Internationale Arbeitsgemeinschaft f¸r theologische
Bachforschung, an organization devoted to the dual disciplines of theology and
musicology in Bach research. In an
introductory article, editor Renate Steiger lays out some methodological
presuppositions in the work of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft: that Bach recognized and
understood the metaphors and theological content of the texts he set; that his
librettists took for granted a broad learning on the part of readers
(familiarity with languages, scripture, catechesis, and hymnody); and that these
texts, however remote to modern sensibility, furnish a compositional starting
point in Bachís vocal music. Her
consideration of the theological sources in Cantata 172, Erschallet, ihr
Lieder, serves well as a backdrop to the entire Symposium.
Central to the discussion of the cantata are its textual allusions to
various biblical expressions concerning the gracious “dwelling within” of
God--a concept that is particularly noteworthy because it was articulated by
Bach himself, in his Calov Bible marginal annotations
A number of articles deal with the influences of antiquity.
Andreas Funke provides an overview of the role that the study of
classical authors played in preaching. Using
as a prime example J. M. Meyfartís early application of classical rhetorical
principles to the German language, Johann Anselm Steiger shows how the
revitalization of preaching in the Reformation era led to the biblicization of
classical rhetoric, and raised the study of speech to a new level within
education, and within the society-at-large.
In an English article, Willem Elders traces rhetorical structures and
figures back to Lasso, Josquin, and Dufay; particularly interesting is his
discussion of a Dufay motet in which the musical-rhetorical formulation
corresponds to one of the earliest rhetorical applications--the arguing of a
legal case.
Two articles address the reception history of mysticism.
Ann Matter contends that the love duets in Cantata 140 (with texts from
the Song of Songs) are given an “anagogical-apocalyptical” interpretation by
Bach and his librettist, thereby departing from the more traditional,
sentimentalized view. In a somewhat
inconclusive study, Werner Braun compares Bachís “Echo” aria in the
Christmas Oratorio with counterparts by Mattheson, and Keiser, and with a
libretto possibly penned by Johann Kuhnau, and Braun notes the individual and
paradoxical qualities in Bachís setting.
Six articles deal with historical Lutheran perceptions of music.
Martin Petzoldt discusses the historical and theological background in
Cantata 194, Hˆchsterw¸nschtes Freudenfest, written for an organ
dedication at Stˆrmthal, noting that its principal textual theme--Godís
“dwelling within”--was actually more commonly employed in services and
sermons related to the dedication of church buildings.
Kazuhiro Fujiwara argues that Werckmeister temperament theory rests upon
the Augustinian concept of the unitas and upon the idea of a tempered
(Platonic), as opposed to an imperfect (Christian) universe.
Helmut Lauterwasser lists categories of sources for the formulation of a
“conception of music” in the German Baroque--theology books, published
sermons, prefaces to musical publications, etc.--and provides examples within
each category. Thomas Schlage
discusses a 1623 sermon by Johann Saubert called “SeelenMusic,” which
proposes an allegorization of the four voice parts, subsequently adopted by
other writers: the Holy Spirit
(represented by the altissimus [alto]) leads true faith (the bass),
through prayer (discant) to a God-pleasing life (tenor).
The author stresses that while Saubert was strongly influenced by Johann
Arndtís writings (with their emphasis on heartfelt faith and moral living),
and published this sermon to encourage individual piety and to preserve pure
teaching, his (Saubertís) work must not be regarded as an anticipation of
pietistic preaching, despite apparent similarities.
(It is significant that other authors, including Renata Steiger and Elke
Axmacher, also take pains to disassociate the devotional and mystical themes in
Bachís texts from Pietism and from pietistic influence.) Werner Braun looks at contemporary musical responses to
Saubertís theologically determinate hierarchy of the voice parts.
He recounts that one Johann Beer, a 17th century court alto, defended
Saubertís observations on purely musical grounds, and he reproduces and
discusses two musical settings of a sixteen-line poem that appeared on
Saubertís title-page (of which a facsimile can be found in Renate Steigerís
opening article).
On the basis of a statistical study of Bachís cantatas, Ludwig
Prautzsch suggests
symbolic meanings
for the Visitation after the
German Reformation, showing how Lutherís shift to a Christological focus--in
making the feast a celebration of the Magnificat--is reflected in several Bach
works. In a concise, but
fact-filled English study, Robin Leaver
surveys liturgical chant forms in Bach, and of special interest is Leaverës
observation regarding Bachís creative use of an aural uncertainty between the
identity of “Tone 1” (used in both the Kyrie and Agnus Dei), and tonus
peregrinus (used in the Magnificat and in the benediction response).
In an article of more national interest, Knud Svendsen writes briefly
about the reception of Bachís sacred music in Denmark and recounts efforts to
integrate Bachís music into Danish church services.
In the closing section of the book, …dith Weber introduces a
little-known repertory--16th and 17th century academic music drama originating
from East of the Rhine. The author
shows that these dramas with musical insertions grew out of a humanistic
interest in the classics on the one hand, and Reformation-era aspiration toward
edification on the other. Albert
Clementís article is a short prelude, only, to his full-length work on the
structure and sources of Clavier¸bung III, which has since been published by
Edita Almares Verlag (1999) under the title Der Dritte Teil Der Clavier¸bung
von Johann Sebastian Bach: Musik-Text-Theologie.
Greta Konradtís contribution is also short--an abbreviated version
of a paper describing some “historia,” located, since 1989, in East Germany,
which, with Schelleís Christmastime Actus Musicus, suggest a bridge
between Sch¸tz and Bach.
As the reader may infer, many of the articles in this volume represent
“works in progress,” and it is unfortunate that the book includes no index
to the Bach works cited. Though
many of the articles may leave the reader wishing for more definite conclusions,
or more direct connections with Bach, the collection as a whole amply
demonstates one of the guiding premises of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft, and indeed,
of Bach research itself: that it is
never enough to study only the notes.
Mel Unger
This
selection of new Bach publications is compiled by Yo Tomita, whose
exhaustive online Bach Bibliography of over 16,500 items can be accessed at www.qub.ac.uk/music/tomita/bachbib/
(Note: new publications
already cited in the ABS Newsletter for Spring 2000 have not been included here.)
The
Neue Bach-Ausgabe
Bach,
Johann Sebastian. Kantaten zum 2. und 3.Weihnachtstag (BWV 40, 121, 57, 64,
133, 151). Edited by Alfred D¸rr, Andreas Glˆckner, Klaus Hofmann, Uwe
Wolf and Peter Wollny. Serie I, Band 3.1, Neue Ausgabe s‰mtlicher
Werke. Cassel and New York: B‰renreiter,
2000.
________.
Kantaten zum Sonntag nach Weihnachten (BWV 152, 122, 28). Edited by Klaus
Hofmann. Serie I, Band 3.2.
________.
Varia: Kantaten, Quodlibet, Einzels‰tze, Bearbeitungen (BWV 150, 203, 209,
524, 127/1, 1088, 1083). Edited by Andreas Glˆckner. Serie I, Band 41.
________.
Lateinische Kirchenmusik, Passionen: Werke zweifelhafter Echtheit,
Bearbeitungen fremder Kompositionen. Edited by Kirsten Beiflwenger. Serie
II, Band 9.
________.
Sechs kleine Praeludien; Einzeln ¸berlieferte Klavierwerke I. Kritischer
Bericht. Edited by Uwe Wolf. Serie V, Band 9.2.
Books
Bossuyt,
Ignace. De Missae breves (BWV 233-236) van Johann Sebastian Bach. Peer:
Alamire, 2000.
Bouman,
Johan. Musik zur Ehre Gottes: Die Musik als Gabe Gottes und
Verkundigung des Evangeliums bei Johann Sebastian Bach.
Giessen: Brunnen, 2000.
Daniel,
Thomas. Der Choralsatz bei Bach und seinen Zeitgenossen: Eine historische
Satzlehre. Kˆln: Dohr, 2000.
D¸rr,
Alfred. Johann Sebastian Bachís
St John Passion: Genesis, Transmission and Meaning.
Translated by Alfred Clayton. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Emans,
Reinmar, ed. Der junge Bach: “weiln er nicht aufzuhalten.” Erfurt:
Erste Thuringer Landesausstellung, 2000.
Forkel,
Johann Nikolaus. ‹ber Johann Sebastian Bachs Leben, Kunst und
Kunstwerke. Edited by Claudia Maria Knispel. Berlin: Henschel,
2000.
Geck,
Martin. Bach: Leben und Werk. Reinbek: Verlag Rowohlt, 2000.
Heinemann,
Michael, ed. Das Bach-Lexikon. Laaber: Laaber-Verlag, 2000.
Jena,
G¸nter. Ich lebe mein Leben in wachsenden Ringen: Die Kunst der
Fuge von Johann Sebastian Bach. Gedanken und Erfahrungen eines Interpreten.
Eschbach: Verlag am Eschbach, 2000.
Jira,
Martin. Musikalische Temperaturen und musikalischer Satz in der Klaviermusik
J. S. Bachs. Tutzing: Hans Schneider, 2000.
Ludewig,
Reinhard. Johann Sebastian Bach im Spiegel der Medizin. Persˆnlichkeit,
Krankheiten, Operationen, ƒrzte, Tod, Reliquien, Denkm‰ler und Ruhest‰tten
des Thomaskantors. Eine allgemeinverst‰ndliche Pathographie. Grimma: Edition
Waechterpappel, 2000.
Moroney,
Davitt. Bach: An Extraordinary Life. London: The Associated Board of the
Royal Schools of Music, 2000.
Moser,
Dietz-Rudiger, ed. Bach in Bayern. Beitrage zu einer Geschichte der Rezeption
Johann Sebastian Bachs im oberdeutschen Raum. Munich: Humbach & Nemazal,
2000.
Nies-Berger,
Edouard. Albert Schweitzer and the Bach Edition - Memoirs of a Collaboration.
Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 2000.
Overstolz,
Christian. Ein Stilles Credo J. S. Bach: Pr‰ludium und Fuge in
A-Dur aus dem Wohltemperierten Klavier I.
Basel: Schwabe, 2000.
Petzoldt,
Martin. Bach-Almanach. Ereignisse und Kurzgeschichten f¸r Jeden Tag.
Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2000.
Petzoldt,
Martin. Bachst‰tten: Ein Reisef¸hrer zu Johann Sebastian Bach.
Frankfurt am Main and Leipzig: Insel Verlag, 2000.
Articles
Ahrens,
Christian. “Eine Registrieranweisung des Bach-Sch¸lers Doles.” Ars
organi 48/2 (2000): 76-79.
Benary,
Peter. “Die motivgepr‰gten Accompagnati in Johann Sebastian Bachs Matth‰us-Passion.”
Musiktheorie
15/2 (2000): 99-106.
Bˆhme,
Ullrich. “Die neue Bach-Orgel der Thomaskirche Leipzig.” Ars
organi 48/2 (2000): 68-71.
Brino,
Paola. “Le fughe per liuto di J. S. Bach. I: Fuga in Do minore BWV 997.” Il
Fronimo 28/111 (2000): 45-52.
Brino,
Paola. “Le fughe per liuto di J. S. Bach. II: Fuga in Mi bemolle maggiore BWV
998.” Il Fronimo 28/112 (2000): 43-47.
Charlier,
Claude. “Analyse stylistique de la partie central de la
fantaisie pour orgue en sol majeur, BWV 572/2 de J.S. Bach.” Líorganiste
32/126 (2000): 47-49.
Charlier,
Claude. “Bien comprendre toutes les fugues de J. S. Bach.” Líorganiste
32/125 (2000): 3-8.
Charlier,
Claude. “LíinterprÈtation des fugues de J. S. Bach.” Líorganiste
31/123
(2000): 107-125.
Dirksen,
Pieter. “Het Auteurschap van Praeludium en fuga in f (BWV 534).” Het
Orgel 96/5 (2000): 5-14.
Fabian,
Dorottya. “Musicology and Performance Practice: In Search
of a Historical Style with Bach Recordings.” Studies in Musicology
(Budapest) 41/1-3 (2000): 77-106.
Graubart,
Michael. “Decoding Bach 1: Emotion or Meaning?”
The
Musical Times 141/1872 (2000): 8-12.
Heidrich,
J¸rgen. “L¸beck, 27. bis 30. April 2000: Internationales Symposion ëBach,
L¸beck und die norddeutsche Musiktradition.í” Die Musikforschung
53/4 (2000): 459-460.
Hugli,
Pierre. “Jean-Sebastien Bach, mort il y a 250 ans: Musicien
díeglise ou musicien de cafe?” Revue Musicale de Suisse Romande
3 (Sep-Nov 2000): 2-9.
Jerold,
Beverly. “Pedal Technique in Early Music.” The American Organist
34/10 (2000): 82-85.
Junod,
Philippe. “Die Farben in ein System bringen wie die Noten: Bach aus der Sicht
von Malern.” Dissonanz 63 (Feb. 2000): 18-25.
Kellner,
Herbert A. “Gˆttliche Unit‰t und mathematische Ordnung: Zahlenalphabet
und Gematria von A. Werckmeister bis J. S. Bach.” ÷sterreichsche
Musikzeitschrift 55/11-12 (2000): 8-16.
Kellner,
Herbert Anton. “Die Kunst der Fuga. J. S. Bachís Prefatory
Message and Implications.” Diapason (May 2000): 15-17.
Kellner,
Herbert Anton. “Johann Sebastian Bach and Die Kunst der Fuge.” Diapason
(March 2000): 13.
Konrad,
Ulrich. “Aspekte musikalisch-theologischen Verstehens in Mariane von Zieglers
und Johann Sebastian Bachs Kantate ëBisher habt ihr nichts gebeten in meinem
Namení BWV 87.” Archiv f¸r Musikwissenschaft 57/3 (2000): 199-221.
Krones,
Hartmut. “Das weiterleben der Kirchentonarten im Oevre Bachs.” ÷sterreichsche
Musikzeitschrift 55/4 (2000): 8-22.
Krones,
Hartmut. “Eine Passion - Gesch‰fte mit Bach.” ÷sterreichsche
Musikzeitschrift 55/6 (2000): 4-5.
Marissen,
Michael. “Perspectives on the ëSt John Passioní and the
Jews.” The New York Times, 2 April 2000.
Melamed,
Daniel R. “Bach Revived: If Wishes Were Passions.” The New York Times,
2 April 2000.
Morana,
Frank. “Bach in America, American Bach Society Biennial Meeting.” The
American Organist 34/7 (2000): 49-53.
Oleskiewicz,
Mary. “Bach, Quantz, and the Flute.” Traverso
12/4 (2000): 13-15.
Prautzsch,
Ludwig. “Der Cornettino in der Kantate Christus, der ist mein
Leben von Johann Sebastian Bach.” Musik und Kirche 70/2 (2000):
112-113.
Schleuning,
Peter. “Bach und die Natur. Beobachtungen an den Brandenburgischen
Konzerten.” ÷sterreichsche
Musikzeitschrift 55/4 (2000): 23-35.
Sherman,
Bernard D. “Bachís Notation of Tempo and Early Music Performance: Some
Reconsiderations.” Early Music 28/3 (2000): 455-466.
Stauffer,
George B. “Beyond Bach the Monument, Who Was Bach the Man?”
The
New York Times, 2 April 2000.
Tomita, Yo. “Bach Reception in Pre-Classical
Vienna: Baron van Swietenís Circle Edits the Well-Tempered Clavier II.”
Music & Letters 81/3 (2000): 364-391.
van
Pelt, William T. “New Directions in American Organ Research: Sterzing Organ in
Eisenach.” Tracker 44/1 (2000): 3-4.
Videla,
Mario. “La Biblia personal de J. S. Bach.” Musica e
investigacion 3/6 (2000): 135-42.
Williams,
Peter. “Stop Press: Some Questions About J. S. Bach and his Organ Music.” The
Musical Times 141/1870 (2000): 34-40.
Williams, Peter. “Sui generis: Some Fashionable Uses to which Bach is Put.” The Musical Times 141/1871 (2000): 8-15.
© 2001 by The American Bach Society.
All rights reserved.