Other Publications

In addition to Bach Perspectives and Bach Notes, the American Bach Society has sponsored several other publications.

Hans-Joachim Schulze, Commentaries on the Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach: A Selective Guide, trans. James Brokaw (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2024)

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Internationally recognized Bach authority Hans-Joachim Schulze authored a 225-part series on the cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach. In this collection, James A. Brokaw II translates a selection of the essays, illuminating a wide range of biographical and cultural features of Bach’s life and creative milieu. Schulze’s lively and engaging discussions provide a wealth of rewarding insights and perspectives focusing on individual cantatas, their texts, and the questions of chronology and context that attend them.

The University of Illinois Press has paired the volume with a special web-based companion overseen by the translator and hosted by the Illinois Open Publishing Network. This online resource includes Brokaw’s translations of all 225 of Schulze’s essays alongside digital tools for searching, sorting, and bundling the commentaries according to date of composition, position within the liturgical church year sequence, and librettist.

Sponsored by the Ruth and Noel Monte Fund of the American Bach Society Ruth and Noel Monte were deeply devoted to Bach and his music, sensing its great impact on the human brain and culture throughout the world. To them, Bach represents a bright planet appearing in the sky only once, requiring centuries for the human mind to observe and fully comprehend. The Monte Fund has the goal of supporting and promoting this living musical treasure for present and future generations.

Robert L. Marshall & Traute M. Marshall, Exploring the World of J. S. Bach: A Traveler’s Guide (University of Illinois Press, 2016)

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A singular resource, Exploring the World of J. S. Bach puts Bach aficionados and classical music lovers in the shoes of the master composer. Bach scholar Robert L. Marshall and veteran writer-translator Traute M. Marshall lead readers on a Baroque Era odyssey through more than fifty towns where Bach resided, visited, and of course created his works. Drawing on established sources as well as newly available East German archives, the authors describe each site in Bach's time and the present, linking the sites to the biographical information, artistic and historic landmarks, and musical activities associated with each. A wealth of historical illustrations, color photographs, and maps supplement the text, whetting the appetite of the visitor and the armchair traveler alike.

Christoph Wolff & Markus Zepf, The Organs of J. S. Bach: A Handbook, trans. Lynn Edwards Butler (University of Illinois Press, 2012)

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The Organs of J. S. Bach is a comprehensive and fascinating guide to the organs encountered by Bach throughout Germany in his roles as organist, concert artist, examiner, teacher, and visitor. Newly revised and updated, the book’s entries are listed alphabetically by geographical location, from Arnstadt to Zschortau, providing an easy-to-reference overview.

Includes detailed organ-specific information:

  • High-quality color photographs
  • Each instrument's history, its connection to Bach, and its disposition as Bach would have known it
  • Architectural histories of the churches housing the instruments
  • Identification of church organists