Bach's Choral Music
Unlocking the Masters Series, No. 20
Sheet Music

SKU: HL.332767

Unlocking the Masters Series, No. 20. Unlocking the Masters. Composers, Music Appreciation, Classical Reference, Vocal Reference, Opera Reference. Softcover with CD. 224 pages. Published by Amadeus Press (HL.332767).

ISBN 1574671804. UPC: 884088271169. 6x9 inches. Gordon Jones Unlocking the Masters Series No. 20.

Includes full-length CD from the Bach Collegium Japan.

J.S. Bach – A Listener's Guide to His Choral Music introduces the general listener to a genre of music that is mistakenly supposed to be “difficult.” A vivid biographical sketch of Bach's life and times provides the necessary background. The book then takes on the question “What is a cantata?” and guides the listener systematically through fugue, recitative, and aria. The author chooses 30 of Bach's 200 church cantatas that are especially likely to be performed live, and explores them in detail. Studies of the two great oratorios, the “St John Passion” and the “St. Matthew Passion,” follow, together with a detailed analysis of what Bach himself probably thought to be his finest work, the “Mass in B Minor.”

The book is accompanied by a 75-minute CD featuring complete tracks from five of the finest cantatas, as well as several tracks from the two Passions, the Mass, and “Magnifcat.&rdquo.

About Unlocking the Masters

Ideal for music lovers, beginners and beyond. Each book comes with a CD (or CDs) to enhance the reader's appreciation for the music and its composer. Unlocking the Masters defines and clarifies the "greatness" of the so-called great composers, examines the work and impact of individual composers, and deepens knowledge of composers for music lovers. Accompanying CDs creatively link the music and text.