Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Two hundred and fifty years after his death, Johann Sebastian Bach remains one of the most compelling figures in the history of classical music. In this major study of the composer's life and work, Martin Geck follows the course of Bach's career in rich detail--from his humble beginnings as an organ tuner and self-taught court musician to his role as Kapellmeister and cantor of St. Thomas's Church in Leipzig. Geck explores Bach's relations with the German aristocracy, his position with regard to the Church and contemporary theological debates, his perfectionism, and his role as the devoted head of a large family.

The focus in this comprehensive, thoroughly researched book is on the extraordinary work that came of the composer's life. From the Goldberg Variations to the Brandenburg Concertos to the Art of the Fugue, Geck carefully analyzes Bach's innovations in harmony and counterpoint, placing them in the context of European musical and social history. Always fresh and stimulating, this definitive work reintroduces Bach's enormous oeuvre in all its splendor.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Foreword (p. ix)
• Preface: Approaching Bach
• What Do We Know about Bach? (p. 3)
• The Grand Old Men of Bach Biography: Forkel, Spitta, Schweitzer (p. 9)
• Transmission of the Works (p. 23)
• Part 1 The Stations of Bach's Life
• From Matins Singer to Hofkapellmeister (p. 35)
• Eisenach (p. 37)
• Ohrdruf (p. 39)
• Luneburg (p. 42)
• Arnstadt (p. 47)
• Muhlhausen (p. 62)
• Weimar (p. 75)
• Cothen (p. 96)
• Cantor at St. Thomas and City Music Director in Leipzig (p. 115)
• The Position and Its New Incumbent (p. 115)
• The Early Years in Leipzig (p. 141)
• The Middle Leipzig Period: "Court Composer" (p. 166)
• Director of the Collegium Musicum and Composer of Secular Music (p. 189)
• Aesthetic Controversies, Private Initiatives (p. 205)
• The Later Leipzig Years: The Universalist (p. 219)
• The Bach Household (p. 259)
• Part 2 The Vocal Music
• The Early and Weimar Cantatas (p. 277)
• The Leipzig Cantatas (p. 326)
• The Passions (p. 385)
• Secular Cantatas and the Christmas Oratorio (p. 415)
• The Magnificat and the Masses (p. 436)
• The Motets (p. 453)
• Part 3 The Instrumental Works
• The Art of the Toccata (p. 471)
• The Organ Chorales (p. 498)
• The Cothen Demonstration Cycles: Inventions and Sinfonias, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Six Solos for Violin (p. 525)
• The Concertos (p. 550)
• The Sonatas and Suites (p. 579)
• The Late Cycles (p. 608)
• The Goldberg Variations (p. 611)
• The Art of Fugue (p. 620)
• The Musical Offering (p. 633)
• Part 4 Horizons
• Bach's Art (p. 643)
• Bach as a Christian (p. 653)
• Rhetoric and Symbolism (p. 660)
• Proportion and Numerical Relations in Bach's Music (p. 670)
• Theological Bach Research: Between Scholarship and Faith-Inspired Learning (p. 675)
• Acknowledgments (p. 677)
• Notes (p. 679)
• Bibliography (p. 697)
• Index (p. 721)

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

THE GRAND OLD MEN OF BACH BIOGRAPHY: FORKEL, SPITTA, SCHWEITZERJohann Nikolaus Forkel publishes the first book on Johann Sebastian Bach in 1802, an eighty-two-page work entitled On Johann Sebastian Bachs Life, Art, and Work: For Patriotic Admirers of True Musical Art. The author was born in 1749, while Bach was still alive, in a village near Coburg, and in 1779 became Gttingen Universitys director of music. For years he maintained lively contact with Bachs sons and benefited from their direct, though far from complete, knowledge of their father. On one occasion, Forkel sends Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, presumably his most generous informant, several mettwursts to show his gratitude for notes the younger Bach turned over to him.1 Yet his sketch of Bachs life is supplemented with all sorts of anecdotal material. Although Forkel made a name for himself with a General History of Music, he seems less interested in determining Bachs place in music history than in paying tribute to him as a national hero.Forkel writes his book at a time when the Germans are resisting the ideas of the French Enlightenment and Napoleons push for political hegemony, striving instead to establish the concept of a German nation. They find a guiding principle in the notion of cultural unityGermany as the nation of poets and thinkers. They assert that what distinguishes the Germans from other peoples is their penchant for thoroughness, profundity of thought, moral earnestness, and passion for ideals. Thus Bach is the right man to become a musical national hero in this period.When Forkel characterizes his hero as the greatest master of musical expressiveness who ever existed, as a composer whose works are full of character and feeling in spite of all their complexity and intricacy, he is drawing on his understanding of music as a rhetorical art form, yet at the same time he is introducing the possibility of viewing Bach from other perspectives: not exclusively as the great organ virtuoso, teacher, and master of the fugue, the splendid contrapuntalist and powerful harmonist but also as an artist whose musical poetic spirit never lacked for adequate expressive means for portraying his emotions.2According to Forkel, Bachs genius and originality tower over the artistic spirit of the present. Because of its exemplary nature, Forkel calls the music of the first classic composer a priceless national heritage, the equal of which no other people can claim. Bachs works are intended not merely to delight for the moment; they are directed toward all that is great and noble and constitute, one and all, true ideals and immortal exemplars of art. The incomparable wealth of ideas gathered therein will allow future generations to continue discovering something new, even after thousands of encounters.3 Forkel does not confine himself to general observations, however; he also provides concrete information. He reports respectfully on six generations of musical Bachs; sketches Johann Sebastians Excerpted from Johann Sebastian Bach: Life and Work by Martin Geck All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Geck (musicology, Univ. of Dortmund, Germany; Ludwig van Beethoven) adds to the voluminous literature on Baroque master Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) with this monumental tome intended for musical scholars and informed lay readers. He first highlights the composer's personal development, conflicts with authorities, relations with patrons and family, and reasons for moving several times before finally settling in Leipzig. He then thoroughly examines Bach's music (and texts for vocal works), offering an accomplished analysis and a plethora of musical examples. Geck includes quotes from the earliest sources through modern philosophers and literary giants, and his scholarship appears well grounded if somewhat cautious (he is hesitant to make judgments where documentation is lacking a good thing). The book is expertly translated by Hargraves and contains an exhaustive bibliography and black-and-white illustrations throughout. This title complements and brings some newer ideas to bear on Christoph Wolff's excellent Johann Sebastian Bach, which admirably integrates the musical discussions into the life chronology. Highly recommended for academic and music collections and also suitable for public libraries with a knowledgeable clientele. (Index and list of works not seen.) [See Prepub Alert, LJ 8/06.] Barry Zaslow, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

Surprisingly little is known about the domestic and professional life of the man many consider the greatest composer who ever lived, and even this monumental study by a German musicologist has to fall back on a great deal of supposition of the kind all too familiar from some Shakespearean biographies. If it is scant on personal details, it is brilliantly all-encompassing on the music and on the place of Bach in the musical pantheon, both in his own time and in the present. Geck devotes at least two-thirds of his book to an exhaustive examination of Bach's technique and accomplishment in all his major works, and their impact on the listener. This analysis is not overwhelmingly technical and can be readily appreciated by an educated enthusiast. In a final section called "Horizons," in which Geck meditates on Bach's art, religion and philosophy as displayed in the music, he offers some remarkable insights. Bach's "overwhelming density" in places can inspire "shock and awe," as well as "laughter over the infinity of creation, and tears at one's own insignificance." For Bach, he says, "every work of music has to be conceived as a perfect likeness of divine creation." (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

CHOICE Review

For Geck (Univ. of Dortmund, German), Bach's goal as a committed Lutheran was to reflect the perfection of God's creations and "move the listeners to silent devotions." The author begins this brilliant and microscopically thorough work with material on Bach's biographers; he then considers the disposition of manuscripts and interprets Bach's life in the context of the time, examining the meaning of "facts"--e.g., titles, salaries, positions, decisions to accept or refuse a job, and circumstances surrounding specific pieces. He raises provocative questions, asking whether the works on lists really ever existed or were part of Bach's plans for a comprehensive repertory, why cantatas that do not fit the theological calendar exist, and how the musical abilities of employers might have influenced Bach. Geck devotes the major portion of the book to consideration of Bach's compositional techniques, emphasizing symbolic qualities that Bach used in his position in the enlightened city of Leipzig, leading to his late cycles such as The Musical Offering, The Art of Fugue, and The Goldberg Variations--massive works with a profound philosophy of musical order. Read slowly and with scores at hand, this volume will provide careful readers and listeners with insights not available elsewhere. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers. J. P. Ambrose emerita, University of Vermont

Booklist Review

More than a century ago, Albert Schweitzer indicted Bach biographers for a fixation on the composer's technical mastery, contending that such a focus blinded them to his poetic genius. In 2000 a perceptive German musicologist finally published a life study so perceptive and capacious that even Schweitzer would have applauded, and now a gifted translator has made that award-winning biography accessible to English-speaking readers. Writing for both the scholar and the general reader, Geck delivers a portrait of Bach--as man and as musician--more carefully nuanced and complete than those of any of his predecessors. In his portrait of the young Bach, for instance, Geck teases from a mere handful of documents clues as to how a self-taught organ-tuner won exceptional privileges from Arnstadt authorities. And in probing the repeated metamorphoses in Bach's artistic styles, Geck shows how Bach's rare creative talent fused devotion to tradition with experimental daring. The same analytical sophistication reveals how Bach's music reflects a Christian faith inspired by Lutheran mysticism and Pietist devotion. But even as he unveils the origins of Bach's sublime spirituality, Geck reminds readers of the rooted humanity of a boon companion who relished a mug of hard cider. Ordinary lovers of music will join specialists in praising this book. --Bryce Christensen Copyright 2006 Booklist

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Martin Geck is the author of numerous works on classical music, including a survey of its history from Beethoven to Mahler. He is a professor of musicology at the University of Dortmund in Germany.