Description
Book SynopsisThis book a offers a multitude of provocative new perspectives on one of the most iconic composers in the Western classical tradition. Its collective rethinking of some of our most cherished narratives and deeply held beliefs about Johann Sebastian Bach will allow readers to see the man in a new light and to hear his music with new ears.
Trade Review...sums up our fascination with Bach's music as the 'symbol of the desire to strive beyond our own limitations towards a sublime and immutable "truth" ' * Susan Pierotti, AUSTA National Journal Reviews *
Fourteen essays in all, and each one of them provocative and carefully argued. * Howard Dyck, Music Times *
When you get this book, as I hope you will, start reading early in the evening, because once you start, you won't be able to put it down. * Howard Dyck, The Music Times *
You can never think about Bach too often. This excellent book inspires the reader to do just that, and in some new and interesting ways. It is rich in historical, scholarly and analytical details and offers different approaches to, or total reevaluations of, long-held beliefs. * Mark Kroll, Early Music America *
There is nothing quite like this book in the vast ocean of Bach studies. This collection of exciting, pathbreaking essays will be widely read and highly influential, and it is sure to stir up much productive dialogue. * Stephen A. Crist, Emory University *
The perceptive authors of these essays challenge current thinking about Bach. They do so by reviewing what we think we know about Bach, or by raising issues that have been neglected until now. Some confute the over-thinking of ideas whose intricacies reveal more about the proponents than about Bach. Others question the unthinking acceptance of the status quo of a standard image of Bach. The topics of each chapter are remarkably broad, but taken together they significantly expand the parameters of our thinking about Bach. * Robin A. Leaver, retired visiting professor at the Julliard School, Yale Institute of Sacred Music, and Queen's University, Belfast, NI; author of Bach Studies (2021) *
Rethinking Bach does indeed show new paths for the study of Bach and his music. Despite the different approaches and methodologies used by the fourteen authors, the consensus among most of them is that a study of Bach's works should not focus exclusively on his compositions as intellectual, even mathematical artifacts. Instead, it is the emotional side of Bach the authors want to emphasize: the significance of affect, the human body, and the ear of the listener. It is not Bach the Learned Musician (to cite Christoph Wolff's fundamental biography from twenty years ago) but Bach the Emotional Musician. * BACH: Journal of the Riemenschneider Bach Institute of Rethinking Bach *
The book largely lives up to its billing, requiring readers to think about Bach in new ways. The main readership will be scholars, but others interested in Bach will also find much of value. * Joseph Herl, Lutheran Quarterly *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Contributors Abbreviations Introduction: (Still) Talking about Bach Bettina Varwig I. Histories Chapter 1 Bach and Material Culture Stephen Rose Chapter 2 Rethinking 1829 Ellen Exner Chapter 3 Post/Colonial Bach Yvonne Liao II. Bodies Chapter 4 Bach and the Soprano Voice Wendy Heller Chapter 5 Embodied Invention: Bach at the Keyboard Bettina Varwig Chapter 6 Rethinking Affect Isabella van Elferen III. Meanings Chapter 7 Bach and Theology Jeremy Begbie Chapter 8 Bach the Humorist David Yearsley Chapter 9 Rethinking Bach Codes Daniel R. Melamed Chapter 10 Bach's Works and the Listener's Viewpoint John Butt IV. Currents Chapter 11 Bach's Chorale Pedagogy Derek Reme%s Chapter 12 Rethinking Editions: Mass, Missa, and Monument Culture Joshua Rifkin Chapter 13 Bach Against Modernity Michael Marissen Chapter 14 Bach Anxiety: A Meditation on the Future of the Past Michael Markham Works Cited Index
