Leipzig, Germany, 1722, where Johann Kuhnau, revered organist of the Thomaskirche, suddenly dies, leaving his post vacant. The town council invites musicians from across to audition for the coveted position, among them young Johann Sebastian Bach. In an age where musicians depend on patronage from the nobility or the church to pursue their craft, the post at a prominent church in a cultured city is a near guarantee of fame and fortune - which is why some of the candidates are willing to resort to any lengths to secure it. --

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the cantors of the St. Thomas School and Church in Leipzig could be counted among the most significant German composers of their times. But what attracted these artists - from Seth Calvisius to J.S. Bach to Johann Adam Hiller - to the music school and choir and inspired them to explore new repertoire of the highest standing? And how did the cantors influence the musical profile of the school - a profile that often became a bone of contention between school and city hall? The success of the St. Thomas School was not a foregone conclusion; its history is replete with challenges and setbacks as well as triumphs. The school was caught between the conflicting interests of enthusiastic mayors and townspeople, who wanted to showcase the city's musical culture, and opposing parties, including jealous rectors and elitist sponsors, who argued for the traditional subordination of the cantorate to the school system. Drawing on many new, recently discovered sources, Michael Maul explores the phenomenon of the St Thomas School. He shows how cantors, local luminaries and municipal politicians overcame the School's detractors to make it a remarkable success, with a world-famous choir. Illuminating the social and political history of the cantorate and the musical life of an important German city, the book will be of interest to scholars of Baroque music and J.S. Bach, cultural historians, choral directors, and musicologists and performers studying historical performance practice. MICHAEL MAUL is Senior Scholar at the Bach-Archiv Leipzig and lecturer in musicology at the universities of Leipzig/Halle. He is also the artistic director of the annual Leipzig Bach Festival.

In 2007, the great Bach scholar Anne Leahy died at the age of 46. She was a leading light in Bach studies and lecturer at the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) Conservatory of Music and Drama. Posthumously edited by renowned Bach scholar Robin A. Leaver, Leahy's dissertation research forms the basis for this original study of the preludes to Bach's Leipzig chorales. Originally composed in Weimar and later revised in Leipzig, Bach's compositions have been a source of some puzzlement. As Leahy notes, "the original intentions of Bach and the possible purpose of this collection might be regarded as speculative." Working from available sources, however, she argues that through the careful examination of the links among the music, hymn texts, and theological sources some answers may be had. From Bach's personal and deep interest in Lutheran theology to his enormous musical passion, Leahy considers closely a series of critical questions: does the original manuscript for the chorales simply reflect a randomgathering of compositions or is there a common theme in setting? How critical is the order of the chorales and what is the theological significance of that order? Were the chorales a unified collection, and if so, which parts were to be included and whichnot? Indeed, were the chorales themselves part of a possibly larger corpus? As Leahy makes evident, there are no simple answers, which is why she considers critical the relationship the texts of the hymns to the chorales and to one another, outlining atheological pattern that is vital to fully grasping the guiding philosophy of these compositions. J. S. Bach's "Leipzig" Chorale Preludes: Music, Text, Theology is ideally suited for Bach scholars and those with a general interest in the intricateconnections between text and music in the composition of religious music.

Publisher Description

The central subject of this richly illustrated book is the life and career of J. S. Bach, but nearly half the pages are devoted to engaging and detailed descriptions of the everyday world that surrounded him in the early 1700s. Both elements contain the unexpected. Written by a master storyteller and renowned performer of Bach's music.

A concentrated study of Johann Sebastian Bach’s creative output and greatest pieces, capturing the essence of his art. Throughout his life, renowned and prolific composer Johann Sebastian Bach articulated his views as a composer in purely musical terms; he was notoriously reluctant to write about his life and work. Instead, he methodically organized certain pieces into carefully designed collections. These benchmark works, all of them without parallel or equivalent, produced a steady stream of transformative ideas that stand as paradigms of Bach’s musical art. In this companion volume to his Pulitzer Prize–finalist biography, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician, leading Bach scholar Christoph Wolff takes his cue from his famous subject. Wolff delves deeply into the composer’s own rich selection of collected music, cutting across conventional boundaries of era, genre, and instrument. Emerging from a complex and massive oeuvre, Bach’s Musical Universe is a focused discussion of a meaningful selection of compositions—from the famous Well-Tempered Clavier, violin and cello solos, and Brandenburg Concertos to the St. Matthew Passion, Art of Fugue, and B-minor Mass. Unlike any study undertaken before, this book details Bach’s creative process across the various instrumental and vocal genres. This array of compositions illustrates the depth and variety at the essence of the composer’s musical art, as well as his unique approach to composition as a process of imaginative research into the innate potential of his chosen material. Tracing Bach’s evolution as a composer, Wolff compellingly illuminates the ideals and legacy of this giant of classical music in a new, refreshing light for everyone, from the amateur to the virtuoso.