Johann Sebastian Bach by Christoph Wolff

Drawing on a far broader web of information than any previous biographer, Wolff pieces together a coherent narrative through a process of inference and deduction familiar to readers of his previous publications. The new biography by Christoph Wolff takes the first course. Others have combined a survey of the life with one of the works, usually avoiding a close linkage between music and biography, such a linkage being difficult to provide in the case of any artist and particularly so in the case of Bach. Hence some scholars, focusing on biographical data, have filled in lacunae by speculating about Bach's undocumented activities and personal motivations or have diverted attention toward his family or his cultural and historical milieus. Even basic facts crucial in the life of a composer, such as the dates of his first major works or the full extent of his compositional activity, are uncertain. Focusing on the dry events of his career and a few seemingly insignificant professional controversies, they provide little that is directly relevant to his personal character or musical activities. The available sources for Johann Sebastian Bach's life are famously laconic. Many of these will have short life spans and find little use, but that will assuredly not be the case with the two books reviewed here. The year 2000 was a 'Bach year' as these things are defined by the media, and although it followed by just fifteen years the previous such commemoration, it saw an even greater flood of encyclopedias, recording projects, and biographical publications. (The Master Musicians.) Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician.

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Johann Sebastian Bach by Christoph Wolff