Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the most unfathomable composers in the history of music. How can such sublime work have been produced by a man who seems so ordinary, so opaque - and occasionally so intemperate? In this remarkable book, John Eliot Gardiner distils the fruits of a lifetime's immersion as one of Bach's greatest living interpreters. Explaining in wonderful detail how Bach worked and how his music achieves its effects, he also takes us as deeply into Bach's works and mind as perhaps words can. The result is a unique book about one of the greatest of all creative artists.

This new investigation of the Brandenburg Concertos explores musical, social, and religious implications of Bach's treatment of eighteenth-century musical hierarchies. By reference to contemporary music theory, to alternate notions of the meaning of "concerto," and to various eighteenth-century conventions of form and instrumentation, the book argues that the Brandenburg Concertos are better understood not as an arbitrary collection of unrelated examples of "pure" instrumental music, but rather as a carefully compiled and meaningfully organized set. It shows how Bach's concertos challenge (as opposed to reflect) existing musical and social hierarchies.

Careful consideration of Lutheran theology and Bach's documented understanding of it reveals, however, that his music should not be understood to call for progressive political action. One important message of Lutheranism, and, in this interpretation, of Bach's concertos, is that in the next world, the heavenly one, the hierarchies of the present world will no longer be necessary. Bach's music more likely instructs its listeners how to think about and spiritually cope with contemporary hierarchies than how to act upon them. In this sense, contrary to currently accepted views, Bach's concertos share with his extensive output of vocal music for the Lutheran liturgy an essentially religious character.

The universally acclaimed and award-winning Oxford History of Western Music is a magisterial five-volume survey of the traditions of Western music by one of the most prominent and provocative musicologists of our time, Richard Taruskin.
Now this renowned work is available in paperback--both as a set and (for the first time) individually. This volume examines the music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, examining the music of such classical giants as Vivaldi, Handel, Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. Taking a critical perspective, Taruskin sets the details of music, the chronological sweep of figures, works, and musical ideas, within the larger context of world affairs and cultural history. He combines an emphasis on structure and form with a discussion of relevant theoretical concepts in each age, to illustrate how the music itself works, and how contemporaries heard and understood it. He also describes how the context of each stylistic period--key cultural, historical, social, economic, and scientific events--influenced and directed compositional choices.
Attractively illustrated and laced with brilliant observations, memorable musical analysis, and a panoramic sense of the interactions between history, culture, politics, art, literature, religion, and music, this volume is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand classical music.

The music of J.S.Bach has a unique power and attraction some 300 years after it was written. From annual performances of the great Passions and BBC Radio 3's hugely successful Bach Christmas, to its use in adverts, films and popular arrangements, the imaginative strength of Bach's music continues to draw listeners to explore its mysteries. This new Pocket Guide looks at all Bach's music, sacred and secular, and explores why he speaks so profoundly to our age about both the spiritual and the sensual in life. Among the features of this easy-to-use book: The Bach Top Ten Bach: The music work by work Performing Bach today Bach: The life year by year What people said about Bach

Over the past 30 years, musicologists have produced a remarkable new body of research literature focusing on the lives and careers of women composers in their socio-historical contexts. But detailed analysis and discussion of the works created by these composers are still extremely rare. This is particularly true in the domain of music theory, where scholarly work continues to focus almost exclusively on male composers. Moreover, while the number of performances, broadcasts, and recordings of music by women has unquestionably grown, these works remain significantly underrepresented in comparison to music by male composers. Addressing these deficits is not simply a matter of rectifying a scholarly gender imbalance: the lack of knowledge surrounding the music of female composers means that scholars, performers, and the general public remain unfamiliar with a large body of exciting repertoire. Analytical Essays on Music by Women Composers: Concert Music, 1960-2000 is the first to appear in a groundbreaking four-volume series devoted to compositions by women across Western art music history. Each chapter opens with a brief biographical sketch of the composer before presenting an in-depth critical-analytic exploration of a single representative composition, linking analytical observations with questions of meaning and sociohistorical context. Chapters are grouped thematically by analytical approach into three sections, each of which places the analytical methods used in the essays that follow into the context of late twentieth-century ideas and trends. Featuring rich analyses and critical discussions, many by leading music theorists in the field, this collection brings to the fore repertoire from a range of important composers, thereby enabling further exploration by scholars, teachers, performers, and listeners.

Johann Sebastian Bach's chorale settings have been vital to the teaching of music ever since they were composed. His four-voiced harmonisations represent a Baroque composer's approach to melodies that are often centuries older. As musical styles continued to evolve, each succeeding generation of teachers and students brought their own viewpoint to bear on this small corpus of music. Consequently, during the three centuries since their composition and a quarter of a millennium since their first publication, a range of contrasting ideas and approaches has tended to obscure the fundamental nature of these short yet complex musical works. This Course provides a thorough re-appraisal of this inspiring music. Each Chapter builds on the work of previous ones, so that the student is taken from the simplest harmonisations of single phrases right through to the most complex settings of complete chorale melodies employing the full range of Bach's harmonic resources. All the exercises are based directly on Bach's own music. The two final Chapters take the most advanced student into more specialised areas of four-part harmony.

One autumn evening, not long after ending a stint as a pop music critic, Eric Siblin attended a recital of Johann Sebastian Bach's Cello Suites - and fell deeply in love. So began a quest that would unravel three centuries of mystery, intrigue, history, politics, and passion. The Cello Suites weaves together three dramatic narratives: the first features Bach and the missing manuscript of the suites; the next, the legendary Spanish Catalan cellist Pablo Casals and his historic discovery of the music; and finally, Eric Siblin's own infatuation. From the back streets of Barcelona to archives, festivals, and conferences, and even to cello lessons, Siblin attempts to unravel the enigmas that continue to haunt this mesmerisingly beautiful music.

Musical Creativity in Restoration England is the first comprehensive investigation of approaches to creating music in late seventeenth-century England. Understanding creativity during this period is particularly challenging because many of our basic assumptions about composition - such as concepts of originality, inspiration and genius - were not yet fully developed. In adopting a new methodology that takes into account the historical contexts in which sources were produced, Rebecca Herissone challenges current assumptions about compositional processes and offers new interpretations of the relationships between notation, performance, improvisation and musical memory. She uncovers a creative culture that was predominantly communal, and reveals several distinct approaches to composition, determined not by individuals, but by the practical function of the music. Herissone's new and original interpretations pose a fundamental challenge to our preconceptions about what it meant to be a composer in the seventeenth century and raise broader questions about the interpretation of early modern notation.

Revised and expanded, A Performer's Guide to Seventeenth Century Music is a comprehensive reference guide for students and professional musicians. The book contains useful material on vocal and choral music and style; instrumentation; performance practice; ornamentation, tuning, temperament; meter and tempo; basso continuo; dance; theatrical production; and much more. The volume includes new chapters on the violin, the violoncello and violone, and the trombone-as well as updated and expanded reference materials, internet resources, and other newly available material. This highly accessible handbook will prove a welcome reference for any musician or singer interested in historically informed performance. -- Indiana University Press

Simple songs or airs, in which a male poetic voice either seduces or excoriates a female object, were an influential vocal genre of the French Baroque era. In this comprehensive and interdisciplinary study, Catherine Gordon-Seifert analyzes the style of airs, which was based on rhetorical devices of lyric poetry, and explores the function and meaning of airs in French society, particularly the salons. She shows how airs deployed in both text and music an encoded language that was in sensuous contrast to polite society s cultivation of chaste love, strict gender roles, and restrained discourse."

'He was the greatest composer that ever lived,' said Beethoven of Handel. 'He is the father of us all,' wrote Haydn. This short, vivid biography of Handel reminds us of the composer's greatness. Separate chapters are devoted to the Messiah, the Harmonious Blacksmith, Handel's organ at Cannons, and his will and codicils. A few notes and an index have been added to this revised and reset edition. William Hayman Cummings (1831-1915) was a singer and music historian. He taught singing at the Royal Normal School and the School for the Blind before being appointed a professor at the Royal Academy of Music in 1879. In 1896 he was appointed principal of the Guildhall School of Music. His historical studies of music and musicians led to him being made a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1884.

This title includes a book and 4 CDs. A century in words, pictures and music - lucid, informative and entertaining. The earBOOKS "Masterpieces" series provides a compact overview of music and painting through the centuries. The "1600-1700" volume presents the most important artworks and musical compositions of the 17th century. Background detail and points of interest in relation to each painting or piece of music are conveyed through concise and illuminating commentaries. A comprehensive introduction sets the scene, expanding on the century's historical connection to the art of the period. Music CDs: A wealth of musical highlights from the 17th century can be enjoyed on the four CDs accompanying the book. Performers like Britta Schwarz, Christoph Genz, Ludwig Guttler, the Dresdner Kreuzchor, The Harp Consort with Andrew Lawrence King and the Schutz Akademie, directed by Howard Arman guarantee top-class performances.

Wilfrid Mellers Francois Couperin and die French Classical Tradition ROY PUBLISHERS - NEW YORK Frangois Couperin le Grand Copyright 1951, by Wilfrid Mellers PRINTED AND MANUFACTURED IN GREAT BRITAIN Contents PART I LIFE AND TIMES CHAPTER PAGE I The Life 17 II Values and Standards in the Grand Siecle 28 III Taste during the Grand Sicle 49 IV Music, the Court, and the Theatre 59 PART n THE WORK V The Organ Masses 83 VI The Two-violin Sonatas 97 VII The Secular Vocal Works 128 VIII The Church Music 146 IX The Clavecin Works 188 X The Concerts Royaux and Suites for Viols 234 XI Chronology, Influence, and Conclusions 272 PART in THEORY AND PRACTICE XII Couperins Theoretical Work, with Comments on Rhythm, Ornamentation, and Phrasing 291 XIII Couperins Resources and his use of them, with Comments on the Modern Performance of his Work 3 22 CONTENTS XIV Editions of Works by Couperin 337 Appendix A The Authorship of the Organ Masses 341 Appendix B The Organists of St Gervais 344 Appendix C Lord Fitzwilliam and the French Clavecin Composers 345 Appendix D On the Tempo of the Eighteenth-century Dance Movements 347 Appendix E Georg Muffat on Bowing, Phrasing and Ornamentation 350 Appendix F Notes on the titles of Couperins clavecin pieces 356 Appendix G Biographical Notes on the principal per sons mentioned in the text 363 Catalogue Raisonn 374 Gramophone Records of Works by Couperin 390 Bibliography 395 Index 401 Illustrations I Portrait of Francois Couperin le Grand by Andre Bouys, engraved by Filbert 1735 Frontispiece II The Church of St Gervais Topographia facing page Galliae Vol. I, 1655 2 4 HI Veue de la Grande et Petite Escurie et des deux Cours La Description de Versailles 48 IV Gardens ofthe Due dOrleans Topographia Galliae, 1655 74 V Dans le Gout Pastoral Cours de la Reine Mere Topographia Galliae, 1655 145 VI Dans le Gout burlesque Watteau, Portrait of Gilles Louvre 227 VII Watteau, Les Charmes de la Vie Wallace Collection 271 VIII The Organ of St Gervais 330 DC The Organ of the Chapelle Royale 330 The design on the tide page is Couperins coat-of-arms To and to the illustrious memory of Francois Couperin le Grand Preface So FAR AS I am aware, this is the first book on Couperin le Grand in English indeed it is possibly the first comprehensive study of his work in any language, for of die three French books on him known to me, that of Bouvet is purely biographical while those of Tessier and Tiersot do not claim to be more than introductory monographs. As such, they are both admirable. I have divided this study of Couperin into three sections. The first gives the facts of his life and some account of the nature, values, and standards of his community. Of the facts of his life, little is known, and I have not indulged in speculation. For most of the information contained in my introductory chapter I am indebted to the bio graphical sections of the previous books on Couperin referred to above, with the addition of some documentary evidence more recently published by M. Paul Brunold. The chapters on the values and standards of the grand siecle do not pretend to offer a revolutionary approach. My general attitude to the period is influenced by the miscellaneous writings of Mr Martin Turnell, published in Horizon, Scrutiny, and elsewhere 1 especially those on Racine, Moliere, Corneille, and La Princesse de Cleves, and by a most interesting essay by Mr R. C. Knight alsopublished in Scrutiny, which was in part a criticism of TurnelTs account of Racine. I have also found many hints worth following up, and much useful information, in Mr Arthur Tifleys two books, From Montaigne to Moliere and The Decline of the Age of Louis XIV. Most of the information in my chapter on the court theatre music is derived from the writings of the recognized authority on the period, M. Henri Prunieres. These books are listed in the bibliography...

Claudia R. Jensen presents the first unified study of musical culture in the court and church of Muscovite Russia. Spanning the period from the installation of Patriarch Iov in 1589 to the beginning of Peter the Great's reign in 1694, her book offers detailed accounts of the celebratory musical performances for Russia's first patriarch events that were important displays of Russian piety and power. Jensen emphasizes music's varied roles in Muscovite society and the equally varied opinions and influences surrounding it. In an attempt to demystify what has previously been an enigma to Western readers, she paints a clear picture of the dazzling splendor of musical performances and the ways in which 17th-century Muscovites employed music for spiritual enlightenment as well as entertainment."

Facsimile reprint of "The Seventh edition, Corrected and Elarged. Printed by W. Godbid, for J. Playford at his Shop in the Temple near the Church. 1674."

Tonal Space in the Music of Antonio Vivaldi incorporates an analytical study of Vivaldi's style into a more general exploration of harmonic and tonal organization in the music of the late Italian Baroque. The harmonic and tonal language of Vivaldi and his contemporaries, full of curious links between traditional modal thinking and what would later be considered common-practice major-minor tonality, directly reflects the historical circumstances of the shifting attitude toward the conceptualization of tonal space so crucial to Western art music. Vivaldi is examined in a completely new context, allowing both his prosaic and idiosyncratic sides to emerge clearly. This book contributes to a better understanding of Vivaldi's individual style, while illuminating wider processes of stylistic development and the diffusion of artistic ideas in the 18th century.

Classic book originally published in 1760. After the memoirs there is a Catalogue of Works and Observations on the Works of George Frederic Handel.

Wilfrid Mellers is a composer, musician and author. Honorary Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge. This is his classic book on Bach.

Published in its first edition in 1983, Boyd's treatment of this canonical composer is essential reading for students, scholars, and everyone interested in Baroque music. In this third edition, biographical chapters alternate with commentary on the works, to demonstrate how the circumstances of Bach's life helped to shape the music he wrote at various periods. We follow Bach as he travels from Arnstadt and Muhlhausen to Weimar, Cothen, and finally Leipzig, these journeys alternating with insightful discussions of the great composer's organ and orchestral compositions. As well as presenting a rounded picture of Bach, his music, and his posthumous reputation and influence, Malcolm Boyd considers the sometimes controversial topics of "parody" and arrangement, number symbolism, and the style and meaning of Bach's late works. Recent theories on the constitution of Bach's performing forces at Leipzig are also present. The text and the appendixes (which include a chronology, personalia, bibliography, and a complete catalogue of Bach's works) were thoroughly revised in this edition to take account of more recent research undertaken by Bach scholars, including the gold mine of new information uncovered in the former USSR.

In the 17th century, harmonious sounds were thought to represent the well-ordered body of the obedient subject, and, by extension, the well-ordered state; conversely, discordant, unpleasant music represented both those who caused disorder (murderers, drunkards, witches, traitors) and those who suffered from bodily disorders (melancholics, madmen, and madwomen). While these theoretical correspondences seem straightforward, in theatrical practice the musical portrayals of disorderly characters were multivalent and often ambiguous.

O Let Us Howle Some Heavy Note focuses on the various ways that theatrical music represented disorderly subjects those who presented either a direct or metaphorical threat to the health of the English kingdom in 17th-century England. Using theater music to examine narratives of social history, Winkler demonstrates how music reinscribed and often resisted conservative, political, religious, gender, and social ideologies."

Originally published London, 1924. Contents Include: The Serenade at Caserta "Les Indes Galantes" The King and the Nightingale Biography etc. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Home Farm Books are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

A renowned scholar and musician presents a new and innovative exploration of the beginnings of Western musical art. Beginning in the time of the New Testament, when Christians began to develop an art of ritual singing with an African and Asian background, Christopher Page traces the history of music in Europe through the development of Gregorian chant--a music that has profoundly influenced the way Westerners hear--to the invention of the musical staff, regarded as the fundamental technology of Western music. Page places the history of the singers who performed this music against the social, political and economic life of a Western Europe slowly being remade after the collapse of Roman power. His book will be of interest to historians, musicologists, performing musicians, and general readers who are keen to explore the beginnings of Western musical art.

A History of Baroque Music is an exhaustive study of the music of the Baroque period, with particular focus on the 17th century. Individual chapters consider the work of significant composers, including Monteverdi, Corelli, Scarlatti, Schutz, Purcell, Handel, Bach, and Telemann, as well as specific countries and regions. Two contributed chapters examine composers and genres from Russia, the Ukraine, Slovenia, Croatia, and Latin America. The book also includes a wealth and variety of musical examples from all genres and instrumental combinations.

Contributors are Claudia Jensen, Metoda Kokole, Rui Vieira Nery, and Ennio Stipcevic."