Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period, born on March 31, 1685 (O.S. March 21), in Eisenach, Thuringia, Ernestine Saxon Duchies (now Germany). He passed away on July 28, 1750, in Leipzig.
Bach is now generally regarded as one of the greatest and most prolific composers of all time and is celebrated as the creator of the Brandenburg Concertos, The Well-Tempered Clavier, the Mass in B Minor, the St John and St Matthew Passions, the Christmas Oratorio and more than 300 cantatas (although only around 200 are extant. He numerous other masterpieces of church and instrumental music.
Bach’s abilities as an organist were highly respected throughout his lifetime, although he was not widely recognized as a great composer until after his death. Today, he is considered to be the master of fugue, the inventor of the solo keyboard concerto, and the greatest composer of the Baroque era.
His compositions include a wide variety of music such as orchestral music (e.g., the Brandenburg Concertos), solo instrumental works (e.g., the Cello Suites and Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin), keyboard works (e.g., the Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier), organ works (e.g., the Schübler Chorales and the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor), and choral works (e.g., the St. Matthew Passion and the Mass in B Minor).
Bach came from a highly musical family and was the last child of a city musician, Johann Ambrosius. After being orphaned at the age of 10, he lived with his eldest brother, Johann Christoph, and continued his musical education in Lüneburg. His career included working as a musician for Protestant churches in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen and at courts in Weimar and Köthen before becoming Thomaskantor (cantor at St. Thomas’s) in Leipzig.
In Leipzig, he composed music for the principal Lutheran churches of the city and for its university’s student ensemble Collegium Musicum. Despite difficult relations with his employer, Bach’s music flourished, and he enriched established German styles through his mastery of counterpoint, harmonic, and motivic organization, and his adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France.
Bach’s legacy is immense, having enriched the German musical tradition and set a precedent in composition that would influence subsequent generations of composers.
The Complete Chorales are an Urtext edition of all four-part chorales by Johann Sebastian Bach and the new standard in editing for this genre. Musicologist Thomas Daniel,…
The Complete Chorales are an Urtext edition of all four-part chorales by Johann Sebastian Bach and the new standard in editing for this genre. Musicologist Thomas Daniel, a well-known specialist for the topic of Bach chorales, divided the chorales in two parts of about equal length: Chorales from cantatas, motets, and passions that were confirmedly written by Bach are found in the first part, while the second part includes chorales from later sources and printings, e.g. the four-volume edition published by Breitkopf in 1784 to 1787. Thereby, the authentic chorales are clearly separated from the chorales of partly dubious authorship for the first time. Drawing on new sources, e.g. from the archive of the Berliner Sing-Akademie, some settings can even be attributed to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach – contrary to his claim in the preface of the Breitkopf edition that all “songs” were “created by my dear late father”.
The volume includes an informative preface and a separate introduction on the edition for both parts while giving editorial remarks for each chorale for the first time, directly below the score. Additionally, it provides helpful indices that allow searches for text incipits, BWV numbers, melody composers, and lyricists.
In the Download section, you can also find a concordance to the previous edition.
“This is a treasure trove of fine music, beautifully presented and intelligently edited. […] It will become my reference for Bach chorales.“ (Jeremy Summerly, Choir & Organ)
Digital Download – PDF
Shipping costs: No shipping
Please Note: This product is not fulfilled by The Music Realm Ltd. Breitkopf and Hartel have requested that all purchases are referred to them for watermarking before downloading. This usually takes 1-3 days.We regret that this means you will not be able to download your purchase immediately.
R.R.P £26.00
Our Price: £22.10
Please create and forward a copy of this publication to the customer
