Bach Gesellschaft
The Bach-Gesellschaft was a society formed in 1850 for the express purpose of publishing the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach without editorial additions. Their collected works are known as the Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausgabe.
Origins of the Bach-Gesellschaft
The founders of the society were Moritz Hauptmann, cantor of the St. Thomas Church, Leipzig, (and thus a successor of Bach); Otto Jahn, author of a noted biography of Mozart; Carl Ferdinand Becker, teacher at the Leipzig Conservatory; and the composer Robert Schumann.[1]
Publication history
The Bach-Gesellschaft began publishing Bach's works in 1851 with a volume that started with BWV 1, the cantata Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1.[2] It completed publication in 1900 with its forty-sixth volume.[3] However, the edition of The Art of Fugue by Wolfgang Graeser, published in 1926, is sometimes counted as "Volume 47"[4] and was issued as a supplement to the Bach-Gesellschaft publication by Breitkopf & Härtel, publishers of the original series.[5] Additionally, Vol. 45, part 1 includes a revised edition ("Neue berichtige Ausgabe")[6] of the English Suites and French Suites that had previously been published in Vol. 13.
Quality of the edition
The volumes varied somewhat in editorial quality and accuracy; Bach scholar Hans T. David particularly criticized Vol. 31's presentation of The Musical Offering for numerous incorrect readings,[7] and the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica calls the edition as a whole "of very unequal merit." Britannica both lauds the editing of Wilhelm Rust for the edition and notes a deterioration of standards after his death, including a volume in which "the bass and violin are a bar apart for a whole line" (apparently a reference to sloppy editing).[8] In his edition of the Goldberg Variations, Ralph Kirkpatrick also calls attention to several "mistakes of the Bachgesellschaft edition" that he has corrected, particularly with regard to the presentation of ornaments.[9] (It is worth noting that the Bach-Gesellschaft volume containing the Goldbergs was one of the first to be published—Vol. 3, which appeared in 1853.)
Nevertheless, the Bach-Gesellschaft's volumes were a groundbreaking achievement and contributed greatly to the study and appreciation of Bach's music. They remained the standard edition of Bach's complete works until the publication of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, begun in 1954 and published by Bärenreiter.[10]
References
- ^ Hans T. David & Arthur Mendel, eds. (1998). The New Bach Reader: A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents ((Revised and expanded by Christoph Wolff) ed.). NY: Norton. pp. 503–4. ISBN 0-393-31956-3.
{{cite book}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^ Christoph Wolff (1983). The New Grove Bach Family. NY: Norton. p. 178. ISBN 0-393-30088-9.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) (Worklist for J.S. Bach). - ^ Hans T. David & Arthur Mendel, eds. (1998). The New Bach Reader: A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents ((Revised and expanded by Christoph Wolff) ed.). NY: Norton. p. 504. ISBN 0-393-31956-3.
{{cite book}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^ Johann Sebastian Bach (1992). The Art of the Fugue and A Musical Offering. NY: Dover. title page verso and "Publisher's Note" on unnumbered page. ISBN 0-486-27006-8.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|nopp=ignored (|no-pp=suggested) (help) - ^ Tunnicliffe, Stephen (Spring 2000). "Wolfgang Graeser (1906-28): A forgotten genius". The Musical Times. Retrieved 2007-04-27.
- ^ Ernst Naumann, ed. (1895). Joh. Seb. Bach's Clavierwerke (Zweiter Band. Neue berichtige Ausgabe. ed.). Leipzig: Herausgegeben von der Bach-Gesellschaft. title page.
{{cite book}}:|author=has generic name (help); Unknown parameter|nopp=ignored (|no-pp=suggested) (help) - ^ Hans T. David (1972) [1945]. J.S. Bach's Musical Offering. History, Interpretation, and Analysis ((reprint of orig. ed. by G. Schirmer) ed.). NY: Dover Publications. p. 102. ISBN 0-486-22768-5.
- ^ "Johann Sebastian Bach". 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.
- ^ Ralph Kirkpatrick, ed. (1938). J.S. Bach, The "Goldberg" Variations, Piano or Harpsichord. NY: G. Schirmer Inc. p. 82. ISBN 0-7935-2245-5.
{{cite book}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^ Christoph Wolff (1983). The New Grove Bach Family. p. 172.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) (section of J.S. Bach article re: "Bach Revival").
External links
- Bach Gesellschaft Download Page - the BGA volumes available for download in DJVU format.
- Bach-Gesellschaft Edition - A complete list of volumes with German titles and publication dates.
- Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe at IMSLP - completely sorted, indexed and split in PDF according to BWV index.
- BGA Edition - The Bach-Gesellschaft Edition reproduced in paperback. 23 vols. Tarnhelm Ed.