Johann Sebastian: A Tercentenary Celebration

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

This collection of essays, the outgrowth of a conference held at Hofstra University, celebrates the tercentenary of Bach's birth. The contributors contend that Bach's influence extends far beyond his own life time and art form. They explore the often unanticipated impact of his works in such diverse areas as literature, film, religion, and psychology. The wide-ranging articles offer theoretical analysis, biographical-musical interpretation, literary and religious explorations. and analyses of performance practice. They range from Howard Adam's discussion of how Bach contemporised scripture in his cantatas to Richard Spurgeon Hall's consideration of how Bach and Edwards viewed religious affections. Stephen Gottlieb assesses Bach's "Musical Offering" as an autobiographical work. Fritz Sammern-Frankenegg explores the expression of Bach's messages in the film work of Ingmar Bergman while the unlikely coupling of Bach and English author Aldous Huxley is reviewed by Sister Ann Edward Bennis. Charles M. Joseph suggests that the structure and pacing of selected Bach praeludia reflect previously unseen architectural influences. The convergence of musical expression and musical rhetoric in Bach's keyboard works are the subject of David Schulenberg while Don L. Smithers reconstructs the circumstances surrounding a performance of Bach's "Leipzig Church Cantatas". The volume aims to present a wide range of new and provocative scholarship. The exploration of new aspects of the genius of Johann Sebastian Bach is certain to concern anyone interested in his life, work, and influence.

Author Bio

SEYMOUR L. BENSTOCK is Professor of Music at Hofstra University and directed the conference upon which this volume is based. He is the author of Workbook in Elements of Theory and of a monograph, The Venetian Violin School, prepared for the Journal of the Violin Society of America. He was Music Editor and critic for the Sentinel-Tribune in Wood County, Ohio.