1 of 1

• Andrew Wilson-Dickson, The Story of Christian Music (Fortress Press; originally pub. by Lion, 1992)
• Patrick Kavanaugh, Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers (Zondervan, 1996)

• Luther's hymns and prefaces to hymnbooks can be found in Luther's Works, vol. 53: Liturgy and Hymns, ed. Ulrich S. Leupold (American Edition, Fortress, 1965).
• Robin Leaver, Luther's Liturgical Music (Eerdmans, 2007)
• Carl Schalk, Music in Early Lutheranism (Concordia, 2001)
• Kerala J. Snyder, Dietrich Buxtehude, Organist in Luebeck (Schirmer Books, 1987)

The definitive biography is Christoph Wolff's Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician (Norton, 2000). The best shorter "life and works" book is Malcolm Boyd's Bach (Master Musicians Series, Oxford, 3rd ed., 2006). The New Bach Reader, edited by Hans T. David and Arthur Mendel and revised by Christoph Wolff (Norton, 1998) is a superb collection of letters and other documents. Another unique and captivating biography is James R. Gaines's Evening in the Palace of Reason (Fourth Estate, 2005), which interweaves the lives of Bach and Frederick the Great leading up to their meeting in 1747—a clash between the Age of Faith and the Age of Reason.

The starting point for understanding the theology of Bach's music is Jaroslav Pelikan's Bach Among the Theologians (Wipf and Stock, 2003), as well as his book From Luther to Kierkegaard: A Study in the History of Theology (Concordia, 1950). Calvin R. Stapert's My Only Comfort: Death, Deliverance, and Discipleship in the Music of Bach (Eerdmans, 2000) is a listener's guide organized according to theological themes. Another listener's guide, though less explicitly theological, is Melvin Ungar's J. S. Bach's Major Works for Voices and Instruments (Scarecrow, 2005).

Here are some other helpful books on Bach's life and music:

• Oxford Composer Companions: J. S. Bach , edited by Malcolm Boyd (Oxford, 1999)
• The Cambridge Companion to Bach , edited by John Butt (Cambridge, 1997)
• Robin A. Leaver, Music as Preaching: Bach, Passions and Music in Worship (Latimer House, 1982; Concordia, 1984) and J. S. Bach and Scripture: Glosses from the Calov Bible Commentary (Concordia, 1985)
• Hans Conrad Fischer, Johann Sebastian Bach: His Life in Pictures and Documents, with CD (Augsburg Fortress, 2005)
• Martin Geck, Johann Sebastian Bach: Life and Work, trans. John Hargraves (Harcourt, Inc., 2006)
• Albert Schweitzer, J. S. Bach, trans. Ernest Newman (Bruce Humphries Publishers, 1911)

There is no better way to learn about Bach than to listen to his music, and you will have no trouble finding good recordings of just about everything Bach wrote. The best are by the Bach Collegium Japan under the direction of Masaaki Suzuki. So far they have recorded the St. John Passion, the St. Matthew Passion, and the Christmas Oratorio and are about halfway through the complete sacred cantatas. Take special note of Cantata 147 (which includes "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring) in Vol. 12 and Cantata 80 (based on Luther's "A Mighty Fortress") in Vol. 27. The cantata recordings of John Eliot Gardiner, Tom Koopman, Philippe Herreweghe, and Helmuth Rilling are also very good. Here are some other noteworthy recordings:

• The Hänssler edition of Bach's complete works on 172 CDs, released in 2000 for the 250th anniversary of Bach's death, is excellent for "reference listening."
• Epiphany Mass by Paul McCreesh and the Gabrieli Consort & Players
• B Minor Mass by Robert Shaw
• Goldberg Variations: The Glenn Gould Edition (1955 version)
• St. John Passion in English translation by Benjamin Britten

• J. S. Bach Home Page (www.jsbach.org)
• Bach Cantatas Website (www.bach-cantatas.com)
• American Bach Society (www.americanbachsociety.org)

—Compiled by the authors in this issue and the editors

Copyright © 2007 by the author or Christianity Today International/Christian History & Biography magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Christian History & Biography.

 1 of 1

share this page

FREE E-Newsletter Sign up for the ChristianHistory.net e-mail newsletter. Discover more about your Christian heritage with this weekly e-newsletter that features key people, topics, and events from the history of Christianity.      RSS Feed   RSS Help