Johann Sebastian Bach: his work and influence on the music of Germany, 1685-1750, Vol. 1

This monumental study of Johann Sebastian Bach ranks among the great classics of musicology. Since its first publication in 1873–80, it has remained the basic work on Bach and the foundation of later research and study. The three-part treatment describes in chronological sequence practically everything that is known of the composer's life: his ancestry, his immediate family, his associations, his employers, and the countless occasions on which his musical genius emerged. Author Philipp Spitta accompanies this biographical material with quotations from primary sources: correspondence, family records, diaries, official documents, and more. In addition to biographical data, Spitta reviews Bach's musical production, with analyses of more than 500 pieces, covering all the important works. More than 450 musical excerpts are included in the main text, and a 43-page musical supplement illustrates longer passages. Despite the scholarly nature of this work, it also has the rare distinction of being a study that can be read with considerable enjoyment and great profit by every serious music lover, with or without a substantial background in the history of music or musical theory. Frontmatter PREFACE (page i) TRANSLATORS' POSTSCRIPT (page xv) BOOK I. BACH'S ANCESTORS I. THE BACH FAMILY FROM 1550-1626 (page 1) II. THE BACHS OF ERFURT (page 14) III. HEINRICH BACH AND HIS SONS (page 27) IV. JOHANN CHRISTOPH BACH AND JOHANN MICHAEL BACH (page 40) V. INSTRUMENTAL WORKS OF CHRISTOPH AND MICHAEL BACH (page 96) VI. JOHANN CHRISTOPH BACH'S SONS (page 131) VII. CHRISTOPH BACH AND HIS SONS (page 142) BOOK II. THE CHILDHOOD AND EARLY YEARS OF JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, 1685 TO 1707 I. EARLY DAYS. EDUCATION. OHRDRUF AND LUNEBERG, 1685 TO 1703 (page 181) II. LIFE AT WEIMAR AND ARNSTADT, 1703-4. INFLUENCE OF KUHNAU. WORKS FOR CLAVIER AND ORGAN (page 220) III. VISIT TO LÜBECK. BUXTEHUDE AND HIS STYLE. INFLUENCE ON BACH, 1704-5 (page 256) IV. BACH'S RETURN TO ARNSTADT, AND DISPUTE WITH THE CONSISTORY. HIS MARRIAGE WITH HIS COUSIN (page 311) BOOK III. THE FIRST TEN YEARS OF BACH'S "MASTERSHIP" I. BACH AT MÜHLHAUSEN. HIS RELIGIOUS OPINIONS (page 335) II. BACH AT WEIMAR. HIS FRIENDS AND COMPANIONS (page 375) III. THE WEIMAR PERIOD. ORGAN MUSIC, CONCERTOS, CANTATAS, &C. (page 392) IV. CHURCH MUSIC. ANALYSIS OF THE CANTATA FORM (page 466) V. BACH'S VISITS TO VARIOUS TOWNS. SOME OF HIS PUPILS (page 513) VI. CANTATAS WRITTEN AT WEIMAR TO TEXTS BY FRANCK (page 526) VII. AT MEININGEN: JOHANN LUDWIG BACH. AT DRESDEN: ORGAN WORKS OF THE LATER WEIMAR PERIOD (page 574) APPENDIX (A, TO VOL. I.) (page 621) Philipp Spitta ; Translated From The German By Clara Bell And J.a. Fuller-maitland. An Unabridged Republication (in Three Volumes) Of The Two-volume 1952 Dover Reprint Of The Bell And Fuller-maitland Translation Originally Published In Three Volumes By Novello & Company, Ltd., In 1889--t.p. Verso. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.