Notes on Bach: 20 Crucial Works

The "Notes on ..." series by distinguished music critic Conrad Wilson illuminates the music of some of history's greatest composers in relation to their private lives. In each volume Wilson selects twenty crucial works of a given composer, discusses these masterpieces with insight and verve, and tells why these particular works are fundamental to understanding the composer.

Wilson's vast musical expertise and succinct, polished prose style permeate these pages. Meant for any general reader interested in music, these guidebooks are ideal for dipping into as well as reading straight through.

For many music lovers, Bach is a perpetually sober and serious composer, frowning out of pictures on book and CD covers. Wilson reminds listeners that one who only heard Bach's music might imagine him as vivacious, even romantic, and shows why Bach continues to intrigue and influence the music scene.

Conrad Wilson is a respected music critic, the author of several books, the editor of the revised "Collins Encyclopedia of Music," and a contributor to the authoritative, multivolume "New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians." His lifetime of listening to and writing about music includes sixteen years as program editor of the Edinburgh International Festival.