Bach’s Musical Universe: The Composer and His Work

In this companion volume to his Pulitzer Prize-finalist biography, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician, leading Bach scholar Christoph Wolff contextualizes his famous subject by delving deeply into the composer’s rich collection of music. Emerging from this complex and massive oeuvre, Bach’s Musical Universe is a focused discussion of a meaningful selection of compositions- from the famous Well-Tempered Clavier, violin and cello solos, and Brandenburg Concertos to the St. Matthew Passion, Art of Fugue, and B- Minor Mass.

Unlike any study undertaken before, this book details Bach’s creative process across the various instrumental and vocal genres, and centers on what the composer himself judiciously presented in carefully designed benchmark collections and individual works- all consequential to Bach’s musical art. Tracing Bach’s evolution as a composer, Wolff compellingly illuminates the ideals and legacy of this giant of classical music in a new, refreshing light for everyone, from the amateur to the virtuoso.