Dance and the Music of J. S. Bach

An enlarged edition of a favorite Bach book!

The original edition of this book addressed Bach´s stylized dance pieces that actually bear the names of dances—a considerable corpus. In this expanded version of their practical and insightful study, Meredith Little and Natalie Jenne apply the same principles to the study of a great number of Bach´s works that exhibit identifiable dance rhythms but do not bear dance-specific titles.

Dance and the Music of J. S. Bach first surveys French dance practices in the cities and courts most familiar to Bach. The authors then present the individual dance forms that Bach used, annotating all of his named dances. The discussion draws on choreographies, theorists´ writings, and the music of other 17th- and 18th-century composers in order to arrive at a model for each dance type. New chapters add more information on the giga and on dance rhythms in larger works.

Meredith Little has taught at Stanford University and Aston Magna Academy and is author of numerous articles on Baroque music and dance.

Natalie Jenne, Emerita Professor of Music at Concordia University, has published widely. She conducts workshops on aspects of Baroque performance practice, in particular, the music of Bach.