Customer Reviews

The New Bach Reader: A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents

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This is a wonderfully well arranged collection of letters, testimonials, court records and other contemporary documents by and relating to Johann Sebastian Bach. The editors have selected items which paint a picture of a man who knew his own worth, (he argues for, and gets, a higher salary than his predecessors in most of his jobs)didn't tolerate fools gladly, and who had exactly the same problems church musicians today face.

Incidentally, it made me laugh frequently. Some of his testimonials for former students show him damning with faint praise. His argument over who should appoint school prefects leaves you wondering who was lying. And his begging letters to his employers are masterpieces of not-very-obsequious charm.

A great book to dip in and out of, and a resource every musician should own.

This book is essential for anyone wanting to understand the life and work of J. S. Bach. It provides wonderful insights about the man through his own documents and writings by those who knew and worked with him. He comes across as an amazingly hard working genius with a quick temper and absolute focus.

The book is organized according to the various aspects of Bach's life. We get a portrait of him "in outline" using various anecdotes. Then we get a section about his life from his own writings. The next section contains biographical and genealogical information about Bach and his family. The sections on Bach as viewed by his contemporaries, in Forkel's biography, in the second half of the 18th century, and in the Romantic era are all quite interesting. Given how much Bach has meant to the world (more than in life!), it is not surprising that we cannot understand him without understanding his changing reputation over the past centuries.

This new edition has more than two hundred pages of additional information than the earlier editions and makes the book that much richer an experience.

I repeat, this is a must have and a must read for any lover of music. Why be limited to what other people tell you about this composer when you can find out for yourself from contemporary documents?

A wonderful collection of letters by and articles about Bach, both from his own era and afterwards.

Some of his letters have even been set to music! Amazon also has available Peter Schickele's [a k a PDQ Bach] "1712 Overture and other Musical Assaults" which includes his parody on Copland's Lincoln Portrait, in which, instead of reciting The Gettysburg Address, he reads 2 of Bach's many letters complaining about his lack of money.

These are among the best known of Bach's letters, and are a fairly good indication of the general tone of many of his letters.

In one letter he complains to a relative that the cask of wine he had sent was half empty by the time it arrived, and that he had had to pay so many taxes as it passed through various districts of Germany that receiving it was rather expensive!

He concludes by saying something like "Please don't send me any more gifts ... I can't afford it!"

In the second letter, he writes warmly of his very musical family, but also whinges about his pay being less than he expected. He says that he had been promised a certain amount of money per funeral, but unfortunately the winter was so mild very few people died!

Highly recommended for lovers of Bach.

I have been studying this book for the last 2 months. The amount of information that is in this book, and not many others, is incredible. Actual letters from JS Bach showing how he feels. Descriptions of performances that were only available from PhD's in the past are available to you in this publication.

On the subject of J.S. Bach, this is one of the best resources I have found.

All worshippers of JS Bach need to acquire this informative and satisfying journal dedicated to the absolutely most profoundly sublime genious in all of music. If having all of Bach's masterworks in your CD collection wasn't enough...you need to add this book for further intellectual stimulation because here Bach is presented in his OWN WORDS! Every example of written coorespondence by Bach and his contemporaries concerning him has been preserved and translated from the hand of Bach's penmanship and presented to the reader. As a result, we can glimpse into another facet of the mind behind the music. Although most of the letters were written to either one offical or another (and therefore embellished with the standard nomenclatures of the time), I was able to detect exasperation, sarcasm, fearlessness, austerity, humor, ridicule and sorrow in much of them. In the vast majority of the wordy, complex style of his coorespondence we begin to see that Bach composed his complaints in much the same vein he composed fugues; lavish phrases, requests and expostulations are intertwined in the most respectful manner to his superiors...and simultaneuosly he projects an attitude that if his needs are not met he will resort to higher means...usually meaning petitioning the King himself (which on one occasion he ultimately did!) His complaints ranged from objectional wages, unruly choirboys, the relegations of authority, and his delinquent son (in which the debtors were now pestoring Bach to compensate). It is true that not many personal references by Bach have come down to us, but there are a few morsels for us to dwell on; his declining a gift from a cousin stating that the tax required was much to high for the parcel itself, he mentions with regret a flask of wine that broke open (accidentally?) while on route in the mail and spilled out, and how not too many people were dying...so unfortunately he wasnt making out too well on funeral music composition. We begin to see that apart from his unsurpassable genious and intellect, he was very much a normal person...even a bit dull. He certainly had a dry sense of humor and had absolutely zero tolerance for people he thought were using him...and for those he thought were not taking him seriously. The is one instance where he got into a street fight at the marketplace, another instance where he was reprimanded for introducing "strange sounds and alterations in the harmonic structure" during mass at the organ (the buddings of his genious). He was interrogated for bringing a "strange maiden" up to the organ loft with him. He even spent some time in jail for being too stubborn when his leave was denied (he was looking for better work and his employers refused to let him go). He was reprimanded for overstaying leave time on another occasion (by like 2 months!) hanging out in Lubeck to see Buxtehude play. He had no qualms whatsoever in disqualifying students from his instruction if they showed any from of recalcitrance or inept musical talent. Buy this book! You can read all about these things and more from the REAL letters! There is plenty of praise and accolades to go along with it, both by his contemporaries and posthumurous composers. Read about Mendelsohn's debut of the St Matthew's Passion (100 years after Bach performed it last) written by the tenor who sang Christ's lines in the score during that performance! Look at the replicated facsimilies of Bach's letters in his own hand! The book is full of paintings of Bach...in all stages of his career. Read his letters and get some insight into the turmoil and altercations, of the humor and sarcasm of the greatest genious of music this world has ever known. His music is immortal and nothing can even come close; not even the greatest works of Mozart or Beethoven can overshadow the universal sublimity and unsurpassed ecstasy the world can find the the music of the Almighty Johann Sebastian Bach.

Though I've only had time to skim through portions of this book, as a Bach descendent, I find it fascinating! The information provided in this book is from actual historical sources, so it not only gives the reader an appreciation for life in Bach's time, but it actually allows one to learn about Bach on a personal level. It reveals often little known facts, such as that Bach kept his own record of his family roots. In fact, I was able to find information about my own direct ancestors in his own words. Fascinating! I've ordered copies for my relatives, as well. I was very pleased with the fact that, though this book was to arrive in "4 to 6 weeks," it arrived in half that time, and in time for the holidays. Great book for a Bach or for a music lover!

First of all before I get attacked by JS Bach music lovers, I consider myself one as well. But, I didn't like this book. From the reviews I read I had high expectations, but I was extremely disappointed. I found possibly 5 quotations that were interesting or amusing. The majority of this book deals with musical terms and definition that can only be understood by musical composers or students, not for an average reader. Letters are written by Bach providing recommendations for his students, receipts for goods received, and his acceptance of a position for organist. How this is interesting to anyone, I failed to grasp.