With this highly readable book, Wolff sets a new standard for Bach biography. And throughout we see Bach in the broader context or his time its institutions, traditions and influences. Wolff demonstrates the intimate connection between the composers life and his music showing how Bach's superb inventiveness pervaded his career as musician composer performer scholar, and teacher. This engaging new biography portrays Bach as the living, breathing, and sometimes imperfect human being that he was while bringing to bear all the advances of the last half-century of Bach scholarship.

As we mark the 250th anniversary of Bach's death, author Christoph Wolff presents a new picture that brings to life this towering figure of the Baroque era. Bach in countless performances and recordings, the composer himself still comes across only as an enigmatic figure in a single familiar portrait. Read full overviewĪlthough we have heard the music of J. As we mark the 250th anniversary of Bach's death, author Chris. 'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title.Although we have heard the music of J. A leading Bach scholar, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard, offers a comprehensive. User Review - Not Available - Book Verdict. With this highly readable book, Wolff sets a new standard for Bach biography. Johann Sebastian Bach: the learned musician. And throughout, we see Bach in the broader context of his time: its institutions, traditions, and influences.

Wolff demonstrates the intimate connection between the composer's life and his music, showing how Bach's superb inventiveness pervaded his career as musician, composer, performer, scholar, and teacher.

This engaging new biography portrays Bach as the living, breathing, and sometimes imperfect human being that he was, while bringing to bear all the advances of the last half-century of Bach scholarship.

The result is nevertheless a massive volume, integrating matter traditionally included in Bach biographies-such well-known tales as the contest with Louis Marchand and the 1747 visit to Berlin-with recent findings generally known only to specialists. As we mark the 250th anniversary of Bach's death, author Christoph Wolff presents a new picture that brings to life this towering figure of the Baroque era. He avoids discussion of Bachs music, explicitly postponing its consideration to a later study. Finalist for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize in Biography, this landmark book was revised in 2013 to include new knowledge discovered after its initial publication.Īlthough we have heard the music of J.

Bach the learned musician