J. S. Bach

"It is probably the best and, without much doubt the most constructive and fascinating book of this length on J.S. Bach..."--London Times.

Published in its first edition in 1983, Boyd's treatment of this canonical composer is essential reading for students, scholars, and everyone interested in Baroque music. In this third edition, biographical chapters alternate with commentary on the works, to demonstrate how the circumstances of Bach's life helped to shape the music he wrote at various periods. We follow Bach as he travels from Arnstadt and Muhlhausen to Weimar, Cöthen, and finally Leipzig, these journeys alternating with insightful discussions of the great composer's organ and orchestral compositions. As well as presenting a rounded picture of Bach, his music, and his posthumous reputation and influence, Malcolm Boyd considers the sometimes controversial topics of "parody" and arrangement, number symbolism, and the style and meaning of Bach's late works. Recent theories on the constitution of Bach's performing forces at Leipzig are also present. The text and the appendixes (which include a chronology, personalia, bibliography, and a complete catalogue of Bach's works) were thoroughly revised in this edition to take account of more recent research undertaken by Bach scholars, including the gold mine of new information uncovered in the former USSR.

Library Journal

Forty pages longer than its predecessor, this edition of a standard work on J.S. Bach, first published in England in 1983, includes information obtained from Eastern European sources inaccessible to scholars a decade ago. In some cases, whole chapters have been recast, and Bach scholar Boyd (The Oxford Composer's Companion: Johann Sebastian Bach) embraces the current emphasis in Bach scholarship on the interplay between Bach's social setting and his music. This 250th-anniversary year of Bach's death is producing many Bach works, including Christoph Wolff"s singular Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician (LJ 3/15/00). Boyd's work is authoritative and provides commentary on a wide body of Bach scholarship. This edition supersedes the other editions, though libraries owning the 1997 American second edition may cringe at having to replace it so soon.--Bonnie Jo Dopp, Univ. of Maryland Libs. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\

Malcolm Boyd was a leading authority on the works of Bach, the author of several volumes on Bachs music, and editor of The Oxford Composers Companion: Johann Sebastian Bach. He taught at the University of Wales, Cardiff from 1973-1992. He died in 2001.