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Although we are acquainted with the music of J. S. Bach through countless performances and recordings, the composer himself continues to come across as the somewhat enigmatic figure depicted in a single, familiar portrait. Published in 2000 to mark the 250th anniversary of Bach's death, author and leading Bach scholar Christoph Wolff presents a new picture that brings to life this towering figure of the Baroque era.

Now available in paperback, this engaging biography portrays Bach as the living, breathing-and sometimes imperfect-human being that he was, while bringing to bear all the advances gained in the last half-century of Bach scholarship. Wolff demonstrates the intimate connection between the composer's life and his music, showing how Bach's superb inventiveness pervaded his career as a musician, composer, performer, scholar, and teacher. And throughout, we see Bach in the broader context of his
time: its institutions, traditions, and influences. With this highly readable book, Wolff sets a new standard in Bach biography. eminently readable, at times even colloquial. Wolff is one of the foremost Bach scholars today, and his comprehensive knowledge of the source materials equips him admirably to write such a book ... all sorts of interesting details emerge. * John Kitchen, Early Music Today, Oct.-Nov. 2000 * Drawing on a lifetime's involvement with Bach's music, Professor Wolff has written what is undoubtedly the most authorative and up-to-date survey of the composer's life and works in English, and probably in any language. * Malcolm Boyd, The Gramophone * Musical biographies don't come much better than this ... no-one seriously interested in Bach should pass it by. * Bettina Neumann, Piano, July-Aug 2000 * this is a learned and satisfying account of Bach's work, temperament and milieu which will disappoint neither specialist nor general music lover. * Nicholas Anderson, BBC Music Magazine *

Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS; PREFACE; PROLOGUE: BACH AND THE NOTION OF "MUSICAL SCIENCE"; EPILOGUE: BACH AND THE IDEA OF "MUSICAL PERFECTION"; NOTES; MUSIC EXAMPLES; 1. CHRONOLOGY; BIBLIOGRAPHY; GENRE INDEX OF BACH'S WORKS; TITLE INDEX OF BACH'S WORKS; GENERAL INDEX