Books & Music
Our Bach Bookshelf updated on 22 January 2013
Our Bach Bookshelf updated on 22 January 2013
During his lifetime Bach assembled a large library of books. Writings on Lutheran theology and the literary work of the day provided a rich source of reference material and thought for the composer. Some are well annotated by him and, in the absence of substantial personal letters and papers having survived, they provide us with some precious insight into the composer’s character.
Our Bach bookshelf is by contemporary scholars and writers, and their differing approaches will make fascinating reading. Our selection includes those that will enlighten the reader about the composer’s life, the fashion and taste of the age too, with one that is an absorbing series of chapters on the dissemination of Bach’s music in 19th century England, complete with detailed footnotes and references. Another welcome addition is by Bettina Varwig on Heinrich Schütz, a composer much admired by Bach as revealed in his own Passions.
NEW: J S Bach at His Royal Instrument: Essays on his Organ Works by Russell Stinson published by Oxford University Press. Publication Date 17 January 2013. ISBN 978-0-19-991723-5 Price £32.50 Hardback
Book List: 2000-2012
Bach edited by Yo Tomita, Queen’s University Belfast, published by Ashgate Publishing (2011) ISBN 978-0-7546-2891-0 Hardback Price £140 (Website Price £126)
The Histories of Heinrich Schütz by Bettina Varwig published by Cambridge University Press (2011) ISBN 9780521197656
Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician by Christoph Wolff
published by Oxford University Press (2002) ISBN 0199248842
The New Bach Reader Ed. H.T.David & A. Mendel, rev. Christoph Wolff, published by W.W. Norton (New York, 1998) ISBN 0393319563
The Oxford Composer Companion: J.S. Bach Ed. Malcolm Boyd
published by Oxford University Press (2003) ISBN 0198606206
The Life of Bach by Peter Williams, published by Cambridge University Press (2004) ISBN 0 521 53374 0 (pbk) also by the same author J S Bach: A Life in Music published by Cambridge University Press (2007) ISBN 13: 9780521870740
The English Bach Awakening Ed. Michael Kassler published by Ashgate (2004) ISBN 1840146664
The Cantatas of J.S. Bach Ed. Alfred Dürr, Trans. Richard Jones
published by Oxford University Press (2006) ISBN 0198167075
Bach’s Oratorios by Michael Marissen, published by Oxford University Press (2008) ISBN 978-0-19-536717-1 The Parallel German-English Texts with annotations.
The Music of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach by David Schulenberg, published by Boydell & Brewer (2010) ISBN 978 58046 359 1
Bach’s Dialogue with Modernity Perspectives on the Passions by John Butt, published by Cambridge University Press (2010) Hardback ISBN:9780521883566 Price £68
The Faber Pocket Guide to Bach by Nicholas Kenyon, published by Faber (2011) ISBN 978-0-571-23327-4 rrp £8.99. Reviewed in Bach Notes, Spring 2011 edition
A new performing edition from Bärenreiter
Mass in B minor BWV 232 published in the New Bach Edition Revised (2010) and edited by Uwe Wolf. BA 5935 www.baerenreiter.com . The full score contains a comprehensive preface in German and English, with chapters that include The Genesis of the B minor Mass, Parody Models, Reception and Publication History.
