Bachanalia : the essential listener's guide to Bach's Well-tempered clavier / Eric Lewin Altschuler ; preface by Stephen Jay Gould.
| Author/creator |
Altschuler, Eric Lewin |
| Other author/creator | Gould, Stephen Jay, writer of preface. |
| Format | Book and Print |
| Edition | First edition. |
| Publication Info | Boston : Little, Brown, 1994. |
| Description | xv, 254 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm |
| Subject(s) |
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| Contents | Preface / by Stephen Jay Gould -- Part one. Prelude. Introduction -- Guide to recordings -- What a life I -- Basic Bach chronology -- What a life II -- What is the Well-Tempered Clavier? -- What is a fugue? -- Not so special -- Bach's big secret -- Guide to the listener's guides -- Tempo markings in the Well-Tempered Clavier -- Part two. The Well-Tempered Clavier: Book One. C major. Stretto fugues and fugues that use stretto -- C minor. Sequential canonic episodes -- C-sharp major. The just-looking method -- C-sharp minor. About time -- D major -- D minor -- E-flat major. Real and tonal answers -- D-sharp minor -- E major. Preludes I -- E minor -- F major. Point, counterexposition -- F minor. Double fugues -- F-sharp major. The superstar four -- F-sharp minor. 14 + 41 = 141 -- G major -- G minor -- A-flat major. Codettas -- G-sharp minor -- A major -- A minor. Thanksgiving at the Well-Tempered's -- B-flat major -- B-flat minor -- B major -- B minor -- Part three. The Well-Tempered Clavier: Book Two. Introduction -- C major -- C minor -- C-sharp major -- C-sharp minor -- D major -- D minor -- E-flat major -- D-sharp minor -- E major -- E minor. Row, row, row your boat -- F major -- F minor. Name that fugue ; Fingerprints -- F-sharp major. Preludes II -- G-sharp minor -- G major. Listener's guide to BWV 902 -- G minor -- A-flat major. Should Bach have quit while he was ahead? -- G-sharp minor. Monothematic subjects -- A major -- A minor -- B-flat major. What a life III -- B-flat minor. Fugues after Bach -- B major -- B minor. The Well-Tempered in review -- Part four. Appendixes. More on stretto -- Upside down and change of pace -- Other fugues -- Organ fugues -- The C major two-part invention -- The Bach of lists -- Top tens -- The top ten fugues. |
| Abstract | What can a young man who calls himself "a disk jockey for Bach"--who questions, when turning to Bach's Prelude and Fugue in F-sharp Major, what "such a short, fast, lively prelude is doing with such a long, slow, ponderous fugue," and who closes his explanation of tuning systems in eighteenth-century Germany by concluding that "an untempered tuning system is like homemade chocolate chip cookies"--possibly have to teach us about one of the greatest musical masterpieces of all time? If the young man happens to be the author, and the masterpiece happens to be Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, the answer is--just about everything. Joyously conceived and written in a spirit of true adventure, Bachanalia is at once edifying and delightfully irreverent. Altschuler's essays--one for each of the forty-eight fugues in the Well-Tempered--are full of playful, clever analogies to horror movies, human nature, football games, even sex, and a linear exposition of each fugue allows even the most unschooled listeners to follow the fugue's form in its entirety. Peppered with fascinating lore, abounding in good humor, here is a listener's guide that renders sophisticated musical concepts with simplicity and clarity and opens the door to a world of musical appreciation. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| LCCN | 93017817 |
| ISBN | 0316035297 |
| ISBN | 9780316035293 |
Available Items
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions | |
| Music | Closed Stacks - Ask at Circulation Desk | ML410.B13 A85 1994 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |