The Organ Music of J. S. Bach


Book Description

This is a completely revised 2003 edition of volumes I and II of The Organ Music of J. S. Bach (1980), a bestselling title, which has subsequently become a classic text. This edition takes account of Bach scholarship of the 25 years prior to publication. Peter Williams's piece-by-piece commentary puts the musical sources of the organ works in context, describing the form and content of each work and relating them to other music, German and non-German. He summarises the questions about the history, authenticity, chronology, function and performance of each piece, and points out important details of style and musical quality. The study follows the order of the Bach catalogue (BWV), beginning with the sonatas, then the 'free works', followed by chorales and ending with the doubtful works, including the 'newly discovered chorales' of 1985.




The Organs of J.S. Bach


Book Description

"Published in cooperation with the American Bach Society."




J. S. Bach as Organist


Book Description

" . . . a valuable book of scholarly yet highly readable studies . . . every organist and anyone interested in the music of J. S. Bach should have it." —Early Keyboard Journal " . . . a very perceptive and informative guide . . . " —Early Music " . . . this book is a must." —The American Organist " . . . invaluable and entertaining . . . " —American Music Teacher " . . . among the most important and accomplished studies on eighteenth-century performance. Its comprehensiveness, clarity, and scholarship make it indispensable." —Performance Practice Review In J. S. Bach as Organist, specialists from six countries explore Bach's relationship to his favorite instrument during all periods of his career. J. S. Bach as Organist is a book for scholars, performers, and students. Authoritative and wide-ranging.




J. S. Bach


Book Description

Peter Williams approaches afresh the life and music of arguably the most studied of all composers, interpreting both Bach's life by deconstructing his original obituary in the light of more recent information and his music by evaluating his priorities and irrepressible creative energy. How, even though belonging to musical families on both his parents' sides, did he come to possess so bewitching a sense of rhythm and melody and a mastery of harmony that established nothing less than a norm in Western culture? In considering that the works of a composer are his biography, the book's title A Life in Music means both a life spent making music and one revealed in the music as we know it. A distinguished scholar and performer, Williams re-examines Bach's life as an orphan and family man, as an extraordinarily gifted composer and player and as an ambitious artist who never suffered fools gladly.




Bach for Beginners


Book Description




The Biggs Book of Organ Music


Book Description

A top-selling organ music book. Edited and arranged by E. Power Biggs (1906-1977). Includes a biographical sketch of the very influential Mr. Biggs. Titles: Adagio (for the Glass Harmonica or Musical Glasses) (W. A. Mozart) * All Glory Be to God on High (Festival Prelude for Organ) (J. S. Bach) * Andante (from Concerto No. 3 in B-flat) (W. Felton) * Prelude on Ave Verum Corpus (W. A. Mozart) * A Christmas Pastorale (from The Christmas Concerto) (G. Valentini) * The Cuckoo (L. C. d'Aquin) * The Emperor's Fanfare (from Sixth Double Concerto) (A. Soler) * The Faithful Shepherd (Pastorale) (G. F. Handel) * The Fifers (F. Dandrieu) * Firework Music (Suite from the Music for the Royal Fireworks) (G. F. Handel) * Fugue in C Major (The "Fanfare" Fugue) (J. S. Bach) * God's Time Is the Best (Sinfonia to Cantata No. 106) (J. S. Bach) * I Stand at the Threshold (Sinfonia to Cantata No. 156) (J. S. Bach) * Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (from Cantata No. 147) (J. S. Bach) * The Musical Clocks (from a Suite of Twelve Pieces) (F. J. Haydn) * Offertoire for Easter (On the Melody "O Filii et Filiae") (F. Dandrieu) * Sheep May Safely Graze (In G) (from Cantata No. 208 -- The "Birthday Cantata") (J. S. Bach) * The Shepherds at the Manger (from the Piano Suite "The Christmas Tree") (F. Liszt) * Sinfonia, Chorale and Variation (from the Easter Cantata -- No. 4 -- "Christ Lay in Death's Dark Prison") (J. S. Bach) * Slow Movement (from Concerto in D Minor) (A. Vivaldi/J. S. Bach) * A Solemn Prelude (from Cantata No. 21 -- "Sighing, Weeping, Sorrow, Need") (J. S. Bach) * The Trophy (F. Couperin). "Minuet Finale from Firework Music," "Overture from Firework Music," and "Rejoicing from Firework Music" are Federation Festivals 2016-2020 selections.




The Organ Music of J. S. Bach: Volume 2


Book Description

Bach's organ works--the best-known of all music ever written for the instrument--have been the subject of a great variety of interpretations, all too often based on subjective opinion and conjecture. What the author does in this piece-by-piece commentary is to combine a performer's insight and experience with the fruits of scholarly research. He is concerned throughout to reconstruct for the modern performer and listener the original context of the work: its sources and history; its place in the composer's development; the implications of contemporary instruments and performing practice, and of the musical and aesthetic theories of the time; and the background which shaped Bach's view of the original chorale melodies. Each of the collections of organ chorales is examined as an entity in a preliminary essay. Then for each piece the author discusses the important sources and their relationship; quotes the underlying chorale melody and one or more verses of the text (with a literal translation) and describes its importance in the life of Bach's church; and analyses the form and style of the organ setting, with many musical examples and frequent allusions to the views of other commentators.







The Keyboard Music of J.S. Bach


Book Description

The Keyboard Music of J.S. Bach provides an introduction to and comprehensive discussion of all the music for harpsichord and other stringed keyboard instruments by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Often played today on the modern piano, these works are central not only to the Western concert repertory but to musical pedagogy and study throughout the world. Intended as both a practical guide and an interpretive study, the book consists of three introductory chapters on general matters of historical context, style, and performance practice, followed by fifteen chapters on the individual works, treated in roughly chronological order. The works discussed include all of Bach's individual keyboard compositions as well as those comprising his famous collections, such as the Well-Tempered Clavier, the English and French Suites, and the Art of Fugue.




The Organ Works of Bach


Book Description