Bach Gesellschaft

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A page from the Bach-Gesellschaft edition of J. S. Bach's St Matthew Passion, BWV 244, as published in 1856 Bachgesell.gif
A page from the Bach-Gesellschaft edition of J. S. Bach's St Matthew Passion , BWV 244, as published in 1856

The German Bach-Gesellschaft (Bach Society) was a society formed in 1850 for the express purpose of publishing the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach without editorial additions. The collected works are known as the Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausgabe. On completion of the project, the Society dissolved itself.

Contents

The nineteenth-century society should be distinguished from its successor, the Neue Bachgesellschaft (New Bach Society), founded in 1900.

Origins of the Bach-Gesellschaft

The founders of the society were Moritz Hauptmann, cantor of the St. Thomas Church, Leipzig, (and thus a successor of Bach); Otto Jahn, author of a noted biography of Mozart; Carl Ferdinand Becker, teacher at the Leipzig Conservatory; and the composer Robert Schumann. [1]

Publication history

The Bach-Gesellschaft began publishing Bach's works in 1851 with a volume that started with BWV 1, the cantata Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1 . [2] It completed publication in 1900 with its forty-sixth volume. [3] However, the edition of The Art of Fugue by Wolfgang Graeser, published in 1926, is sometimes counted as "Volume 47" [4] and was issued as a supplement to the Bach-Gesellschaft publication by Breitkopf & Härtel, publishers of the original series. [5] Additionally, Vol. 45, part 1 includes a revised edition ("Neue berichtige Ausgabe") [6] of the English Suites and French Suites that had previously been published in Vol. 13.

Among the editors was Alfred Dörffel. Johannes Brahms was one of the subscribers to the project and also served on the editorial board. A list of subscribers was printed in each volume. [7]

Quality of the edition

The volumes varied somewhat in editorial quality and accuracy; Bach scholar Hans T. David particularly criticized Vol. 31's presentation of The Musical Offering for numerous incorrect readings, [8] and the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica calls the edition as a whole "of very unequal merit." [9] Britannica both lauds the editing of Wilhelm Rust for the edition and notes a deterioration of standards after his death, including a volume in which "the bass and violin are a bar apart for a whole line" (apparently a reference to sloppy editing). [9] In his edition of the Goldberg Variations, Ralph Kirkpatrick also calls attention to several "mistakes of the Bachgesellschaft edition" that he has corrected, particularly with regard to the presentation of ornaments. [10] (It is worth noting that the Bach-Gesellschaft volume containing the Goldbergs was one of the first to be published—Vol. 3, which appeared in 1853.)

Nevertheless, the Bach-Gesellschaft's volumes were a groundbreaking achievement and contributed greatly to the study and appreciation of Bach's music. They remained the standard edition of Bach's complete works until the publication of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe by Bärenreiter and the Deutscher Verlag für Musik (1954–2007). [11]

Related Research Articles

<i>Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern</i>, BWV 1 Church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach

Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1, is a church cantata for Annunciation by Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1725, when the cantata was composed, the feast of the Annunciation coincided with Palm Sunday. Based on Philipp Nicolai's hymn "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (1599), it is one of Bach's chorale cantatas. Bach composed it in his second year as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, where the Marian feast was the only occasion during Lent when music of this kind was permitted. The theme of the hymn suits both the Annunciation and Palm Sunday occasions, in a spirit of longing expectation of an arrival. As usual for Bach's chorale cantata cycle, the hymn was paraphrased by a contemporary poet who retained the hymn's first and last stanzas unchanged, but transformed the themes of the inner stanzas into a sequence of alternating recitatives and arias.

<i>Meine Seel erhebt den Herren</i>, BWV 10 Church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach

In 1724 Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Meine Seel erhebt den Herren, BWV 10, as part of his second cantata cycle. Taken from Martin Luther's German translation of the Magnificat canticle, the title translates as "My soul magnifies the Lord". Also known as Bach's German Magnificat, the work follows his chorale cantata format.

"Bist du bei mir, geh ich mit Freuden" is an aria from Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel's opera Diomedes, which was first staged on 16 November 1718. The aria is best known as "Bist du bei mir," BWV 508, a version for voice and continuo found as No. 25 in the 1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prelude in C minor, BWV 999</span>

The Prelude in C Minor, BWV 999, is, according to its only extant 18th-century manuscript, a composition for lute by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the manuscript, conserved as Fascicle 19 of Mus.ms. Bach P 804 at the Berlin State Library, Johann Peter Kellner wrote the piece down in keyboard notation. The time of origin of the work is not known: possibly Bach composed it in his Köthen period, that is, between 1717 and 1723, or the early years of his ensuing Leipzig period. Kellner's copy was produced after 1727, but before Bach's death in 1750.

Most of Johann Sebastian Bach's extant church music in Latin—settings of the Mass ordinary and of the Magnificat canticle—dates from his Leipzig period (1723–50). Bach started to assimilate and expand compositions on a Latin text by other composers before his tenure as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, and he continued to do so after he had taken up that post. The text of some of these examples by other composers was a mixture of German and Latin: also Bach contributed a few works employing both languages in the same composition, for example his early Kyrie "Christe, du Lamm Gottes".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bach Archive</span> Music archive in Leipzig

The Bach-Archiv Leipzig or Bach-Archiv is an institution for the documentation and research of the life and work of Johann Sebastian Bach. The Bach-Archiv also researches the Bach family, especially their music. Based in Leipzig, the city where Bach lived from 1723 until his death, the Archiv is recognised by the German government as a "cultural beacon" of national importance. Since 2008 the Bach-Archiv has been part of the University of Leipzig.

<i>Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde</i>, BWV 53 Aria from a church cantata formerly attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach

Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde, BWV 53, is an aria for alto, bells, strings and continuo. It was likely composed in the early 18th century, although its date of first performance is unknown. From the second half of the 18th century until the early 1950s the aria was attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1955, it was suggested by the Bach scholar Karl Anton that the aria's composer was more likely to be a member of Melchior Hoffmann's circle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BWV Anh.</span> Abbreviation for contentious attributions to Bach

BWV Anh., abbreviation of Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis Anhang, is a list of lost, doubtful, and spurious compositions by, or once attributed to, Johann Sebastian Bach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyrie–Gloria Mass for double choir, BWV Anh. 167</span> Sacral composition of uncertain authorship

The Kyrie–Gloria Mass for double choir, BWV Anh. 167, is a mass composition in G major by an unknown composer. The work was likely composed in the last quarter of the 17th century. The composition has two sections, a Kyrie and a Gloria, each subdivided in three movements. It has twenty-two parts for performers: twelve parts for singers, and ten for instrumentalists, including strings, wind instruments and organ. Johann Sebastian Bach may have encountered the work around 1710, when he was employed in Weimar. In the 1730s he produced a manuscript copy of the Mass.

The Concerto, BWV 525a, is a trio sonata in C major for violin, cello and basso continuo, based on material otherwise found in Johann Sebastian Bach's first Organ Sonata, BWV 525, and Flute Sonata in A major, BWV 1032. The oldest extant manuscript containing the BWV 525a arrangement, D-B Mus.ms. Bach St 345, is dated to the middle of the 18th century. Although this version of Bach's sonata movements may have originated during his lifetime in the circle around him, it seems unlikely that the composer supervised, or even ordered, the manufacture of the string trio adaptation, thus the arrangement has been listed in BWV Anh. II, that is the Anhang (Anh.) of doubtful works, in the 1998 edition of the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (BWV). Breitkopf & Härtel published BWV 525a in 1965. Digital facsimiles of 18th- and 19th-century manuscript copies of the arrangement, in which the sonata is titled "Concerto", became available in the 21st century.

The Dietel manuscript, D-LEb Peters Ms. R 18, also known as the Dietel Collection and, in German, Choralsammlung Dietel, is the oldest extant manuscript with a large collection of four-part chorales by Johann Sebastian Bach. It contains 149 of Bach's chorale harmonisations and originated around 1735. The music in the manuscript was copied by Johann Ludwig Dietel, one of Bach's pupils from the Thomasschule.

Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben, BWV 248VI, is a church cantata for Epiphany, which Johann Sebastian Bach composed as the sixth part of his Christmas Oratorio, written for the Christmas season of 1734–35 in Leipzig. The cantata was first performed on 6 January 1735.

<i>Missa Providentiae</i>

Missa Providentiae is a Kyrie–Gloria Mass in D minor composed by Antonio Caldara, which around 1728 was expanded into a Missa tota by Jan Dismas Zelenka: this composer derived a Sanctus and Agnus Dei from Caldara's Kyrie and Gloria, and added a Credo, ZWV 31, of his own hand. Around 1738–1741, Johann Sebastian Bach made a copy of a Sanctus, BWV 239, which was based on the first section of the Gloria of Caldara's Kyrie–Gloria Mass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnificat (Torri)</span> Pietro Torris Magnificat in C major for double choir and orchestra likely dates from the 1690s

Pietro Torri's Magnificat in C major for double choir and orchestra likely dates from the 1690s. The work is scored for two SATB choirs, two trumpets, bassoon, strings and basso continuo. Its music opens with an instrumental introduction (sinfonia). Most of the composition's movements are either choral movements, in which all singers and instruments participate, or duets for two singers and a more limited instrumental accompaniment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">18th-century prints of Bach's four-part chorales</span>

In the period following Johann Sebastian Bach's death in 1750, apart from the publication of The Art of Fugue in the early 1750s, the only further publications prior to the 1790s were the settings of Bach's four-part chorales. In 1758 Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg was the first to start preparing a published edition of Bach's four-part chorales, but in 1763 was prevented by royal duties. C. P. E. Bach, who owned the original manuscripts, then set about the same task, producing two volumes in 1765 and 1769. Dissatisfied with his publisher Friedrich Wilhelm Birnstiel, he surrendered the manuscript rights in 1771 to Johann Kirnberger and his patron Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia. From 1777 onwards, Kirnberger unsuccessfully made requests to Birnstiel and a new publisher, Johann Gottlob Immanuel Breitkopf, to publish the chorales. Following Kirnberger's death in 1783, C.P.E. Bach approached Breitkopf, who published them in four volumes between 1784 and 1787.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Vetter</span> German organist and composer (1657–1721)

Daniel Vetter was an organist and composer of the German Baroque era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnificat in A minor (Hoffmann)</span> Vocal composition by Melchior Hoffmann of the Song of Mary from the Gospel of Luke

The Magnificat in A minor, BWV Anh. 21, TWV 1:1748, is Melchior Hoffmann's musical setting of a German version of the Song of Mary from the Gospel of Luke. The composition originated around 1707, when the composer was director musices and organist of the Neue Kirche in Leipzig. Composed in A minor, the Magnificat is scored for soprano and small orchestra. The work was first published in the 1950s, and it was recorded by Magda László, by Joshua Rifkin, by Wolfgang Helbich, and by Deborah York, among others.

References

  1. ↑ David, Hans T.; Mendel, Arthur, eds. (1998). The New Bach Reader: A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents ((Revised and expanded by Christoph Wolff) ed.). New York: Norton. pp. 503–4. ISBN   0-393-31956-3.
  2. ↑ Christoph Wolff; et al. (1983). The New Grove Bach Family . New York: Norton. p.  178. ISBN   0-393-30088-9. (Worklist for J.S. Bach).
  3. ↑ David, Hans T.; Mendel, Arthur, eds. (1998). The New Bach Reader: A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents ((Revised and expanded by Christoph Wolff) ed.). New York: Norton. p. 504. ISBN   0-393-31956-3.
  4. ↑ Johann Sebastian Bach (1992). The Art of the Fugue and A Musical Offering . New York: Dover. title page verso and "Publisher's Note" on unnumbered page. ISBN   0-486-27006-8.
  5. ↑ Tunnicliffe, Stephen (Spring 2000). "Wolfgang Graeser (1906–28): A forgotten genius". The Musical Times. Retrieved 2007-04-27.
  6. ↑ Naumann, Ernst, ed. (1895). Joh. Seb. Bach's Clavierwerke (Zweiter Band. Neue berichtige Ausgabe. ed.). Leipzig: Herausgegeben von der Bach-Gesellschaft. title page.
  7. ↑ Melamed, Daniel (1998). "Joahann Sebastian Bach: Ratswahlkantaten, II.(Review)". Notes . Music Library Association. Archived from the original on 2014-02-13. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
  8. ↑ Hans T. David (1972) [1945]. J. S. Bach's Musical Offering. History, Interpretation, and Analysis ((reprint of orig. ed. by G. Schirmer) ed.). New York: Dover Publications. p. 102. ISBN   0-486-22768-5.
  9. 1 2 Tovey, Donald Francis (1911). "Bach, Johann Sebastian"  . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 130.
  10. ↑ Kirkpatrick, Ralph, ed. (1938). J. S. Bach, The "Goldberg" Variations, Piano or Harpsichord. New York: G. Schirmer Inc. p. 82. ISBN   0-7935-2245-5.
  11. ↑ Christoph Wolff; et al. (1983). The New Grove Bach Family . W. W. Norton & Company. p.  172. (section of J.S. Bach article re: "Bach Revival").
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