The ever-increasing number of performances of Bach's music is a sign of its enduring vitality. Yet there exists a diversity of interpretation of a magnitude that probably applies to no other composer. Assessing the varying merits of these interpretational approaches, and getting to grips with the sources and documents on which they are based, can be extremely difficult for a modern performer. Paul Badura-Skoda, who has been studying and performing Bach's keyboard music for more than forty years, here presents a host of valuable new insights drawn from his deep knowledge of the sources and of the problems of interpretation. He looks in detail at the various aspects of Bach's music, providing chapters on rhythm, tempo, articulation, and dynamics. He also examines the instruments for which Bach's music was intended, and discusses interpretational issues arising from this, as well as problems of sonority. The second part of the book is devoted to a comprehensible discussion of ornamentation with a detailed examination of the signs and symbols used by Bach. This discussion is prompted not only by its central importance to baroque music in general, but also because the author believes so much of Bach's ornamentation in current performance practice is monotonous and fails to correspond to the baroque style at all. Sometimes contentious, always stimulating, Paul Badura-Skoda's text conveys a passion for an informed interpretation of Bach's music based upon a recognition and respect for Bach's musical and intellectual intentions. Copiously illustrated throughout with music examples, Interpreting Bach at the Keyboard will take its place as a standard work for all students and performers of Bach's keyboard music.
| ISBN | 0198165765 | | Pages | 592 | | ISBN13 | 9780198165767
(What's this?) | | Volumes | 1 | | Publisher | Oxford University Press | | Weight (grammes) | 871 | | Imprint | Clarendon Press | | Published in | Oxford | | Format | Paperback | | Series title | Clarendon Paperbacks | | Publication date | 22 Jun 1995 | | Height (mm) | 234 | | Translator | Alfred Clayton | | Width (mm) | 156 | | DEWEY | 786.146092 | | Spine width (mm) | 37 | | DEWEY edition | DC21 | | Academic level | Professional / Scholarly |
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Abbreviations; A note on terminology; PART 1. GENERAL PROBLEMS OF INTERPRETATION; 1. An authentic eighteenth- century performance source: C.F. Colt's organ-barrels; 2. Studies in rhythm; 3. In search of the correct Bach tempo; 4. Bach's articulation; 5. Dynamics; 6. Problems of sonority; 7. Problems of harpsichord and piano technique, and of expressive playing; 8. The Urtext problem: An imaginary interview; 9. Rendering the structure as a whole; 10. Prelude in E flat minor and Fugue in D sharp minor, WTC I, BWV 853. An analysis for performance; PART II. STUDIES IN ORNAMENTATION; 11. Introduction; 12. The development of ornamentation in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; 13. J.S. Bach's ornaments: Some general remarks; 14. Pralltriller; 15. Appoggiaturas; 16. The loner trill; 17. Bach's mordent; 18. Arpeggios; 19. The application of ornaments that are not notated; 20. Free embellishments in Bach's keyboard works; 21. Epilogue; Appendix 1. Some recommended editions of Bach's keyboard works; Appendix 2. Some textual and interpretational problems in Bach's Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, BWV 903; Appendix 3. J.M. Gesner, 'Johann Sebastian Bach as conductor, keyboard player, and organist' (Gottingen, 1738); Appendix 4. Excerpt from the Article 'Takt' in J.G. Sulzer's Allgemeine Theorie der schonen Kunste, vol. ii (Leipzig, 1774); Appendix 5. The Dedication of Partita No. 1 (BWV 825) and the Dedicatory Poem; Appendix 6. Friedrich Blume and Hans Joachim Moser; Bibliography; Index
"The most comprehensive and authoritative treatment of its topic ever attempted....His intimate familiarity with Bach's keyboard music is evident throughout....This is an important study that deserves an international audience."--Russell Stinson, SUNY at Stony Brook
"For all musicians, not just keyboardists."--Choice
"This exceedingly comprehensive work is particularly significant not only as a revelation of the musical perceptions of one of the foremost keyboard artists of our time, but also for the sound musicological evidence it presents for the illumination of a wide range of performance problems inherent in Bach's keyboard works. The author's demonstrated ability to convey the composer's intentions to present-day performers in the interests of musical perfection undoubtedly will enrich the experience and understanding of Bach's music for audiences for many years to come."--The Diapason
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