Bach and the Riddle of the Number Alphabet

Tatlow, Ruth

ISBN 10: 0521361915 / ISBN 13: 9780521361910

Published by Cambridge University Press, 1991

About this Item

Dr Tatlow's painstaking research will fascinate all those with an interest in the music of J. S. Bach and German Baroque culture, and will be of particular importance for music historians and analysts. Num Pages: 204 pages, 11 b/w illus. BIC Classification: 1DFG; 3JD; 3JF; AVA; AVGC3; AVH. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational. Dimension: 228 x 152 x 13. Weight in Grams: 470. . 1991. Illustrated. hardcover. . . . .

Seller Inventory # V9780521361910

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Bach and the Riddle of the Number Alphabet
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521361915
• ISBN 13: 9780521361910
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

In 1947 the theologian and musicologist Friedrich Smend published a study which claimed that J. S. Bach regularly employed the natural-order number alphabet (A=1 to Z=24) in his works. Smend provided historical evidence and music examples to support his theory which demonstrated that by this means Bach incorporated significant words into his music, and provided himself with a symbolic compositional scheme. Since then many people have taken up Smend's theory, interpreting numbers of bars and notes in Bach scores according to the natural-order alphabet. By presenting a thorough survey of different number alphabets and their uses in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Germany, Dr Tatlow investigates the plausibility of Smend's claims. Her new evidence fundamentally challenges Smend's conclusions and the book sounds a note of caution to all who continue to use his number-alphabet theory. Dr Tatlow's painstaking research will fascinate all those with an interest in the music of J. S. Bach and German Baroque culture, and will be of particular importance for music historians and analysts.

Book Description

In 1947 Friedrich Smend published a study claiming that J. S. Bach used a natural-order alphabet (A = 1 to Z = 24) in his works. He demonstrated that Bach incorporated significant words into his music, and provided himself with a symbolic compositional theme. Here, Dr Tatlow investigates the plausibility of Smend's claims with new evidence, challenging Smend's conclusions.