This was the first attempt at a full length biography of Bach and a critical apreciation of his work as composer and performer. Translated by Walter Emery in 1941-1942 with introductory notes and two appendices, but not published in his lifetime. Walter Emery, musicologist, specialised in the works J.S. Bach.

Agricola published Introduction to the Art of Singing in Germany in 1757, consisting of the 1723 treatise of the Italian singing teacher and castrato, Tosi, to which Agricola added his own running commentary. The Introduction was recognized as invaluable not only for teachers and their pupils but also for advanced singers and professionals. This present edition, translated with introduction and annotations by the celebrated singer Julianne Baird, makes Agricola's work available for the first time in English. Tosi's work was the first basic treatise on singing; Agricola, a pupil of J.S. Bach at the court of Frederick the Great, brought Tosi's work "up-to-date." His commentaries are so extensive that the Introduction stands on its own as an important document in the history of performance practice.

Agricola published Introduction to the Art of Singing in Germany, in 1757, consisting of the 1723 treatise of the Italian singing teacher and castrato, Tosi, to which Agricola added his own running commentary. The Introduction was recognized as invaluable not only for teachers and their pupils but also for advanced singers and professionals. This present edition, translated with introduction and annotations by the celebrated singer Julianne Baird, makes Agricola's work available in English. Tosi's work was the first basic treatise on singing; Agricola, a pupil of J. S. Bach at the court of Frederick the Great, brought Tosi's work 'up to date'. His commentaries are so extensive that the Introduction stands on its own as an important document in the history of performance practice.

This manuscript is Walter Emery's own English translation of Bach's obituary notice, written jointly by C.P.E. Bach and J.F. Agricola, originally published in Mizler's Neu Eroffnete Musikalischer Bibliothek, volume 4, part 1 in Leipzig 1754. Also included are two short biographical excerpts on Bach: J.G. Walther's Musikalisches Lexicon (1732) and the Genealogy which Bach himself compiled in c.1735.

"Anleitung zur Singkunst. Aus dem Itali nischen des Herrn Peter Franz Tosi, Mitglieds der philarmonischen Akademie mit Erl uterungen und Zus tzen von Johann Friedrich Agricola, K nigl Preu . Hofcomponisten." Faksimile 1757. [Translation into German of the Art of Singing "Opinioni de' Cantori Antichi, e Moderni" of Pier Francesco Tosi].