J. S. Bach: A Life in Music (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780521870740)

Peter Williams approaches afresh the life and music of arguably the most studied of all composers, interpreting both Bach's life by deconstructing his original obituary in the light of more recent information and his music by evaluating his priorities and irrepressible creative energy. How, even though belonging to musical families on both his parents' sides, did he come to possess so bewitching a sense of rhythm and melody and a mastery of harmony that established nothing less than a norm in Western culture? In considering that the works of a composer are his biography, the book's title A Life in Music means both a life spent making music and one revealed in the music as we know it. A distinguished scholar and performer, Williams re-examines Bach's life as an orphan and family man, as an extraordinarily gifted composer and player and as an ambitious artist who never suffered fools gladly.

Author: Peter Williams
ISBN-10: 0521870747
ISBN-13: 9780521870740
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 02/15/2007
Pages: 418
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.79lbs
Size: 9.18h x 6.40w x 1.22d

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 12/01/2006 pg. 127