Customer Reviews

The Cantatas of J. S. Bach: With Their Librettos in German-English Parallel Text

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There are a few books on J.S. Bach's cantatas for the general readership.(*) However, none rivals Alfred Dürr's in its comprehensive coverage, its scholarly information, its lucid writing, and its user-friendly layout. For those who are familiar with Bach scholarship, Dürr needs no introduction. He led the editing work of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, the new complete edition of Bach's works, and his credential on Bach scholarship is never a question. What one wants to know is whether he succeeded in producing a useful book. In my opinion, he more than did it! This massive volume, nearly 1000 pages in length, has added tremendously to my listening pleasure and deepen my understanding of Bach's cantatas. In a word, indispensable for me and, I think, for anyone enjoying Bach's cantatas. This is especially true with the recent releases of Bach box-sets which contain almost no information about the works.

This book is organized in 3 parts. Part 1, Introduction to Bach's Cantatas, includes a history of the genre before Bach, a chronological survey of the cantatas, and a 6-page discussion on performance practice. This covers the first 71 pages of the book. Part 2, Church Cantatas, and Part 3, Secular Cantatas, cover all Bach's cantatas. For each cantata, Dürr includes libretto in German-English parallel text (translated by Jones), estimated time,(**) instrumentation, a history of the work, and descriptions of each movement. The time signatures and keys are indicated on the upper-right corner of the texts. Many descriptions receive music examples integrated in the text.

There are 3 way to find a cantata. Dürr chose to organize the works according to the practical purposes for which they are written. The church cantatas, which constitute the majority, are ordered by their place in the liturgical calendar, and the secular cantatas by the types of occasion or venues for which they were written. The other 2 ways to find a cantatas is by the alphabetical order (of the beginning text) and by BWV numbers, which form 2 indexes at the end of the book.

Also included are: a table of abbreviation in the beginning, an extensive bibliography and a glossary of term at the end of the book.

This book is not meant to be at the cutting-edge of the Bach scholarship. There are other more specialized, more scholarly updated books on Bach's cantatas, notably Eric Chafe's Analyzing Bach Cantatas. However, for the general readership, nothing approaches this book in its comprehensiveness, depth, lucidity, and usefulness. It is a bargain even at the current price.(***)

Most highly recommended.

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(*) 1. Gillies Whittaker: The Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach (Oxford, 1959).
2. Richard Stokes: J. S. Bach: The Complete Cantatas.
[1 & 2 both treat every Bach's cantata then known.]
3. Alec Robertson: The Church Cantatas of J. S. Bach (New York, 1972).
4. Charles Terry: J. S. Bach Cantata Texts, Sacred and Secular (London, 1926).
5. Melvin Unger: Handbook to Bach's Sacred Cantata Texts: An Interlinear Translation with Reference Guide to Biblical Quotations and Allusions (Lanham, Md., 1996).
6. Murray Young: The Cantatas of J. S. Bach: An Analytical Guide (London, 1989)

(**) Estimate time is usually on the slow side. My conjecture is that this was the performance practice at the time of publication of the first (German) edition (1971).

(***) Buying tips: Oxford University Press' monographs on music tend to be more expensive in the U.S.. For this book, as well as Chafe's, the budget-conscious readers are advised to check out book vendors in the UK, e.g. Amazon's UK site.

Alfred Durr, co-editor of the Neue Bach Ausgabe, shares his wealth of knowledge of this vastly varied and enormously rich repertoire in this large, expensive, but excellent book.

The first section of the book traces the development of the sacred cantata as a genre through 1750. Durr here defines important terms and places Bach's works in historical context.

The bulk of the text is a presentation of the cantatas in the order of the liturgical calendar. For each cantata Durr provides the text, its English translation, and the circumstances surrounding the piece's composition. He also offers analyses/descriptions which vary from half a page for some of the briefer, simpler works, to ten pages for works of particular depth (BWV 106 comes to mind).

This book is an invaluable resource to Bach scholars, singers, and conductors. Also consider Melvin Unger's book on Bach's Cantata Texts for an intertextual look at Bach as theologian.

BMN

This is a very expensive, but wonderfully useful book. It gives the libretto to every single cantata plus information on the liturgical occasion for the cantata and a good, albeit brief discussion of the meaning of the piecel I quailed when I first bought it, because it is expensive. But it is my vade mecum. I use it constantly.

Alfred Dürr's _The Cantatas of J. S. Bach_ is the top choice in research materials for work in Bach's cantata masterpieces. This text was the first choice of all my professors when I asked about resources for my doctoral research project. I have now used it to work on several significant papers as well as to prepare program notes for concerts that I have conducted of Bach's cantatas. The information contained is scholarly sound and also is beautifully expressive of the human response to these vocal works. Each cantata entry contains information on text translation, instrumentation, movement keys, source origin and general analysis of the most significant musical and textual features of the works. Introductory essays articulately describe the context of these compositions' creations. This text is a must-have for scholars, students, conductors, singers, teachers and all those love Bach's works.

...such as myself. Yes, yes, I know, it's bloomin' expensive for a paperback, but what a paperback! An essential companion to one of the greatest bodies of music ever written. Professor Dürr describes the cantatas in church year order, so first up is Advent cantata BWV61 "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" for the first Sunday in Advent. In addition to the church cantatas, you also get the secular cantatas and the Christmas Oratorio, not to mention detailed historical and musical descriptions. In short, a treasure trove of a book.

Alfred Durr's The Cantatas of J.S. Bach is the "bible" for any conductor, artistic director, church musician or music performer and listener that is interested in performing or understanding Bach's canon. Hi give it my highest recomendation.

This is a dense and rewarding book for classical music fans as well as those interested in the German language. Worth the price.