Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician - Hardcover

Wolff, Christoph

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 039304825X ISBN 13: 9780393048254

Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc, 2000

Synopsis

Published on the 250th anniversary of the composer's death, a landmark biography by a noted Bach scholar, provides a dramatic new study of the life and music of this key composer and musician of the Baroque era, exploring the intimate links between Bach's life and music and his innovations in musical composition, performance, and education.

About this title

Review:

The Learned Musician is an apt subtitle for this intellectual biography, which assesses the career of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) with the scholarly rigor one would expect from a Harvard professor. Opening with a 1737 attack by a critic who labeled Bach a pedant who spoiled the natural beauty of his creations with "an excess of art," Christoph Wolff cogently compares the German composer to English scientist Isaac Newton. Both men "brought about fundamental changes and established new principles" in their chosen fields, he argues; both sought to reveal God's harmonious ordering of their world. While Wolff conscientiously covers the basics of Bach's life, including his two marriages and the musical achievements of his gifted family, the author's primary focus is on his performing (Bach was an unrivaled organist) and composing. From the Goldberg Variations through the Brandenburg Concertos to Art of the Fugue, Wolff carefully analyzes Bach's innovations in harmony and counterpoint, placing them in the context of European musical and social history rendered in nicely atmospheric detail. Casual readers may find this dense tome a bit daunting, but serious music lovers will relish the deeper understanding it conveys of a genius who transformed Western music. --Wendy Smith

About the Author:

Christoph Wolff is William Powell Mason Professor of Music and dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. He is the author of Bach: Essays on His Life and Music.

About this edition

• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 039304825X
• ISBN 13: 9780393048254
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 599