Synopsis
What type of choir did Bach have in mind as he created his "Cantatas", "Passions" and "Masses"? How many singers were at his disposal in Leipzig, and in what ways did he deploy them in his own music? Seeking to understand the very medium of Bach's incomparable choral output, Andrew Parrott investigates a wide range of sources: Bach's own writings, and the scores and parts he used in performance, but also a variety of theoretical, pictorial and archival documents, together with the musical testimony of the composer's forerunners and contemporaries. Many of the findings shed a surprising, even disturbing, light on conventions we have long taken for granted. A whole world away from, say, the typical oratorio choir of Handel's London with which we are reasonably familiar, the essential Bach choir was in fact an expert vocal quartet (or quintet), whose members were also responsible for all solos and duets. (In a mere handful of Bach's works, this solo team was selectively supported by a second rank of singers - also one per part - whose contribution was all but optional).
Parrott shows that this use of a one-per-part choir was mainstream practice in the Lutheran Germany of Bach's time: Bach chose to use single voices not because a larger group was unavailable, but because they were the natural vehicle of elaborate concerted music. As one of several valuable appendices, this book includes the text of Joshua Rifkin's explosive 1981 lecture, never before published, which first set out this line of thinking and launched a controversy that is long overdue for resolution. Andrew Parrott has made a close study of historical performing practices in the music of six centuries, and for over twenty-five years he has been putting research into practice with his own professional ensembles, the "Taverner Consort", "Taverner Players" and "Taverner Choir".
From the Publisher
Rave reviews greet timely study of Bach's worksReviews for Andrew Parrott's book:
"I was gripped by this book; it is compulsive reading. If you profess the faith of Bach you simply cannot afford to be without it." CLASSICAL MUSIC
"This utterly fascinating and ultimately convincing book." INTERNATIONAL RECORD REVIEW [Simon Heighes]
"As restated here (...with additional material and with admirable clarity), the arguments are utterly convincing... The book is a pleasure to read, fluently written and clearly set out with many illustrations and musical examples." EARLY MUSIC REVIEW
"Highly recommended for anyone interested in Bach's vocal works." MUSICAL TIMES [Yo Tomita]
"A brilliant piece of research...a superb book - and it is going to lead us all to think more carefully about how we approach the performance of Bach." DAVID HILL, WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL
