Bach’s colossal output makes it difficult for anyone to characterize his music. Wolff knows the master’s work both broadly and deeply, so he sets out to find the larger themes and organizing principles to help modern listeners understand what Bach accomplished during his career ... Wolff’s work speaks to the musically adept, and his scholarly perspective requires more than passing familiarity with reading musical notation.
For readers wishing to explore the universe that is the music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), there’s no better guide than scholar Wolff ... Helpfully, the volume also offers a chronology, extensive notes, and a concise bibliography ... Students, musicians, and serious aficionados of Bach will be the most appreciative audience for this artfully composed work.
A close investigation of Bach’s works reveals remarkable transformations ... For a musically sophisticated reader familiar with Bach’s works, as well as musical terminology and technique, Wolff’s analyses have the potential of enriching the listening experience ... An authoritative, lucid chronicle of Bach’s multifaceted musical context.
The book is quite technical and often bone dry as it delves into the details of compositional dating; issues of tuning, counterpoint, and instrumentation; the selection of texts for choral writing; and the revisions Bach made in pieces over the years. It’s full of music theory, tabularized data on the structures of compositions, and photos of Bach’s manuscript scores that convey little impression beyond how bewilderingly complicated they are. Readers with a serious musicological background will appreciate Wolff’s deep dive into Bach’s craft, but casual Bach-lovers will find it a heavy and not very tuneful slog.
