Presuming, of course, the requisite amount of MUSICAL BACKGROUND and hands-on experience in the music that Bach himself had and expected of his pupils. Manuscripts, not merely reducing everything to words as both BD and BR do. My questions are the following:ġ) Are both essentially the same, except for the appendixes? Or is it worth buying both? Is one 'better' or completer than the other?>2) Is there a same or similar book with the original texts in German?>.it shows many photographic reproductions of I know there is the Bach Reader and the New Bach Reader. >I am considering buying my own copy of the Bach Reader.

It's handy that NBR includes all the BD numbers where available BR didn't, for the reason that not all of BD existed yet.Īll three of these collections are monumental achievements, and all worth studying. The texts there are (obviously) not colored by translation, and they're often quite a bit longer than the selective bits in NBR and BR.īut, on the other hand, NBR has some recent documents that didn't make it into BD and it shows many photographic reproductions of manuscripts, not merely reducing everything to words as both BD and BR do. Yes, the three volumes of Bach-Dokumente started in the early 1960s. Somewhere a few years ago, probably on BachRecordings, I wrote up a sample of some of these check the archives. It's also instructive and interesting to compare the way the translations have changed between the two. Some of the omissions are noted/explained in the preface of NBR.) (For example, the thoroughbass lessons and the resolutions of canons, and the section of texts about Marpurg/Kirnberger. NBR is supposed to replace BR (2nd ed), but there are enough things that are only in BR that NBR doesn't give the whole picture. My questions are the following:ġ) Are both essentially the same, except for the appendixes? Or is it worth buying both? Is one 'better' or completer than the other?Ģ) Is there a same or similar book with the original texts in German? I am considering buying my own copy of the Bach Reader. Language: English ASIN: B000GHC0E6, B000GP07NE The Bach Reader - A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents Language: English ASIN: B000GWNAXG, B000GWZXVSīuy this book at: | Ī Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents The Bach Reader - A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in letters and Documents The New Bach Reader: A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and DocumentsĮditors: Hans T. David, Arthur Mendel & Christph WolffĮditors: Hans T.

The Bach Reader by Hans T. David