Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician

Although we have heard of the music of J.S. Bach in countless performances and recordings, the composer himself still comes across only as an enigmatic figure in a single familiar portrait. Written to mark the 250th anniversary of Bach´s death, author and Bach scholar, Christoph Wolff presents a picture that brings to life this towering figure of the Baroque era.This biography portrays Bach as the living, breathing, and sometimes imperfect human being that he was, while bringing to bear all the advances of the last half-century of Bach scholarship. Wolff demonstrates the intimate connection between the composer´s life and his music, showing how Bach´s superb inventiveness pervaded his career as a musician, composer, performer, scholar, and teacher. And throughout, we see Bach in the broader context of his time: its institutions, traditions, and influences.
Contents: Springs of musical talent and lifelong influences - Eisenach, 1685 - 1695; laying the foundation - Ohrdruff, 1695-1700; bypassing a musical apprenticeship - from Luneberg to Weimar, 1700-1703; building a reputation - organist in Arnstadt and Muhlhausen, 1703-1708; exploring "every possible artistry" - court organist and Cammer Musicus in Weimar, 1708-1714; expanding musical horizons - concertmaster in Weimar, 1714-1717; pursuing "the Musical contest for superiority" - Capellmeister in Cothen, 1717-1723; redefining a venerable office - Cantor and Music Director in Leipzig - the 1720s; musician and scholar - counterpoint of practice and theory; traversing conventional boundaries - special engagements highlight the 1730s; a singing bird and carnations for the lady of the house - domestic and professional life; contemplating past, present, and future - the final decade - the 1740s; epilogue - Bach and the idea of "musical perfection". Appendices: chronology; money and living costs in Bach´s time; movable and fixed feasts in the Lutheran Church calendar.