The Cambridge Companion to Bach [Paperback]

Benefiting from the research of eminent Bach scholars, this 1997 Companion examines Bach's work in the context of his age.The Cambridge Companion to Bach goes beyond a basic life-and-works study to provide a late twentieth-century perspective on J. S. Bach the man and composer. Benefiting from the insights and research of some of the most distinguished Bach scholars, this Companion covers cultural, social and religious contexts, surveys and analyses Bach's compositional style, traces his influence, and considers the performance and reception of his music through the succeeding generations.The Cambridge Companion to Bach goes beyond a basic life-and-works study to provide a late twentieth-century perspective on J. S. Bach the man and composer. Benefiting from the insights and research of some of the most distinguished Bach scholars, this Companion covers cultural, social and religious contexts, surveys and analyses Bach's compositional style, traces his influence, and considers the performance and reception of his music through the succeeding generations.The Cambridge Companion to Bach goes beyond a basic life-and-works study to provide a late-twentieth-century perspective on J. S. Bach the man and composer. Benefiting from the insights and research of some of the most distinguished Bach scholars, this Companion covers cultural, social and religious contexts, surveys and analyzes Bach's compositional style, traces his influence, and considers the performance and reception of his music through the succeeding generations.Part I. The Historical Context: Society Beliefs and World-View: 1. The Bach family Malcolm Boyd; 2. Johann Sebastian Bach in the context of domestic politics in Electoral Saxony Ulrich Siegele; 3. Music and Lutheranism Robin A. Leaver; 4. Bach's metaphysics of music John Butt; 5. 'A mind unconscious that it is calculating'? Bach and the rationalist philosophy of Wolff, Leibniz and Spinoza John Butt; Part II. Profiles of the Music: 6. The early works anlC.