Bach and Mozart : essays on the enigma of genius

356 Pages·2019·8.22 MB·English

by  Marshall, Robert Lewis

Bach and Mozart
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Bach and Mozart
Essays on the Engima of Genius
Robert L. Marshall
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Copyright © 2019 by Robert L. Marshall
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation, no part of this
work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in
public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded, or reproduced in any form or
by any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
First published 2019
University of Rochester Press
668 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620, USA
www.urpress.com
and Boydell & Brewer Limited
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
www.boydellandbrewer.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-58046-962-3
ISSN: 1071-9989
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Marshall, Robert Lewis, author.
Title: Bach and Mozart : essays on the enigma of genius / Robert L. Marshall.
Other titles: Eastman studies in music ; v. 161.
Description: Rochester : University of Rochester Press, 2019. | Series: Eastman studies
in music, 1071-9989 ; vol. 161 | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2019026475 | ISBN 9781580469623 (hardcover) | ISBN
9781571138231 (pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685–1750—Criticism and interpretation. |
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756–1791—Criticism and interpretation. | Music—
18th century—History and criticism.
Classification: LCC ML410.B13 M2718 2019 | DDC 780.92/2—dc23 LC record
available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019026475
This publication is printed on acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America.
Portions of this book were previously published and are reprinted here with permission:
Prologue: “The Eighteenth Century as a Music-Historical Epoch: A Different Argument
for the Proposition,” College Music Symposium 27 (1987): 198–205.
Chapter 1: “Toward a Twenty-First-Century Bach Biography,” Musical Quarterly, 84
(2000): 497–525
Copyright page continued on page 331.
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For Traute
Wie immer
Für immer
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My final goal: to produce a regular church music to the Glory of
God.
—J. S. Bach, 1708
To express my thoughts and feelings . . . by means of tones: I am
a musician.
—W. A. Mozart, 1777
For the use and profit of the musical youth desiring to learn.
—J. S. Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier, 1722
Music . . . must please the listener, or in other words must never
cease to be music.
—W. A. Mozart, 1781
For music lovers, to refresh their spirits.
—J. S. Bach, Klavierübung, 1726–1741
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Contents
List of Figures xi
Preface xiii
List of Abbreviations xix
Prologue. The Century of Bach and Mozart as a Music-Historical
Epoch: A Different Argument for the Proposition 1
1 Young Man Bach: Toward a Twenty-First-Century Bach Biography 9
2 The Notebooks for Wilhelm Friedemann and Anna Magdalena Bach:
Some Biographical Lessons 30
3 Bach and Luther 38
4 Redeeming the St. John Passion—and J. S. Bach 56
5 Bach’s Keyboard Music 65
6 The Minimalist and Traditionalist Approaches to Performing
Bach’s Choral Music: Some Further Thoughts 114
7 Truth and Beauty: J. S. Bach at the Crossroads of Cultural History 121
8 Bach at Mid-Life: The Christmas Oratorio and the Search for New Paths 130
9 Bach at the Boundaries of Music History: Preliminary Reflections on
the B-Minor Mass and the Late-Style Paradigm 148
10 Father and Sons: Confronting a Uniquely Daunting Paternal Legacy 156
11 Johann Christian Bach and Eros 174
12 Bach and Mozart: Styles of Musical Genius 186
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