Christoph Wolff [CANCELED]

Update

This event has been canceled. We apologize for any inconvenience, and we hope to reschedule. 

Harvard Book Store welcomes CHRISTOPH WOLFF—Adams University Research Professor at Harvard University and author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician—for a discussion of his latest book, Bach's Musical Universe: The Composer and His Work.

About Bach's Musical Universe

Throughout his life, renowned and prolific composer Johann Sebastian Bach articulated his views as a composer in purely musical terms; he was notoriously reluctant to write about his life and work. Instead, he methodically organized certain pieces into carefully designed collections. These benchmark works, all of them without parallel or equivalent, produced a steady stream of transformative ideas that stand as paradigms of Bach’s musical art.

In this companion volume to his Pulitzer Prize–finalist biography, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician, leading Bach scholar Christoph Wolff takes his cue from his famous subject. Wolff delves deeply into the composer’s own rich selection of collected music, cutting across conventional boundaries of era, genre, and instrument. Emerging from a 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, Bach’s Musical Universe details Bach’s creative process across the various instrumental and vocal genres. This array of compositions illustrates the depth and variety at the essence of the composer’s musical art, as well as his unique approach to composition as a process of imaginative research into the innate potential of his chosen material. 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.

Praise for Bach's Musical Universe

“Bach’s Musical Universe is an exhilarating tour de force of erudition. The product of a lifetime of reflection, it is imaginatively conceived: comprehensive and abundantly detailed yet admirably coherent and clear, permeated throughout by keen, illuminating insights―a splendid achievement, indispensable for anyone fascinated by Bach.” —Robert L. Marshall, Sachar Professor of Music Emeritus, Brandeis University

“Bach’s portrait, painted by Haussmann in 1748 and aptly described by Christoph Wolff as ‘the composer’s business card,’ is the subject of the vivid and visual prologue of Wolff’s newest oeuvre, Bach’s Musical Universe. Wolff, with his customary erudition, thoughtfully colored with deep affection, writes of the benchmark works that Bach himself chose for his musical legacy—a brilliant summing-up!” —William Christie, founding director of Les Arts Florissants

“Nobody writes about Bach with more authority, knowledge, and passion than does Christoph Wolff. This book—a great gift to all music lovers—is remarkable for showing how the largely self-taught composer set himself on a clear path to attain musical perfection.” —Angela Hewitt, concert pianist