Johann Sebastian Bach by Wolff, Christoph -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Cover ALSO BY CHRISTOPH WOLFF Title Page Copyright Dedication Contents General Abbreviations Acknowledgments List of Illustrations Preface to the Updated Edition Preface Prologue: Bach and the Notion of “Musical Science” 1. Springs of Musical Talent and Lifelong Influences

Ambrosius Bach and His Family In the Ambience of Home, Town, Court, School, and Church

2. Laying the Foundations

In the Care of His Older Brother Sebastian’s Musical Beginnings

3. Bypassing a Musical Apprenticeship

Choral Scholar at St. Michael’s in Lüneburg Böhm, Reinken, and the Celle Court Capelle The Interim: Thuringian Opportunities Early Musical Achievements

4. Building a Reputation

At the New Church in Arnstadt “First Fruits” and the Buxtehude Experience At the Blasius Church in Mühlhausen

5. Exploring “Every Possible Artistry”

The First Six Years at the Ducal Court Clavier Virtuoso and Organ Expert

6. Expanding Musical Horizons

A Career Choice Mostly Music for “The Heaven’s Castle” “Musical Thinking”: The Making of a Composer High and Low Points

7. Pursuing “the Musical Contest for Superiority”

Princely Patronage Travels and Trials A Canon of Principles, and Pushing the Limits

8. Redefining a Venerable Office

A Capellmeister at St. Thomas’s Mostly Cantatas “The Great Passion” and Its Context

9. Musician and Scholar

Performer, Composer, Teacher, Scholar Music Director at the University Professorial Colleagues and University Students Materials and Metaphysics

10. Traversing Conventional Boundaries

At a Crossroads Director of the Collegium Musicum and Royal Court Composer The Clavier-Übung Project At the Composer’s Desk

11. A Singing Bird and Carnations for the Lady of the House

Family and Home Balancing Official Duties and Private Business

12. Contemplating Past, Present, and Future

Retreat but No Rest The Art of Fugue, the B-Minor Mass, and a Place in History The End Estate and Musical Legacy

Epilogue: Bach and the Idea of “Musical Perfection” Notes Music Examples Appendix 1. Chronology Appendix 2. Places of Bach’s Activities Appendix 3. Money and Living Costs in Bach’s Time Appendix 4. The Lutheran Church Calendar Bibliography