A Flute solo with Piano Accompaniment composed by Johann Sebastian Bach.

As the official publication of the American Bach Society, Bach Perspectives has pioneered new areas of research in the life, times, and music of Bach since its first appearance in 1995. In a series long known for its major essays by leading Bach scholars and performers, Bach Perspectives, Volume 6 is no exception. This volume opens with Joshua Rifkin's seminal study of the early source history of the B-minor orchestral suite. It not only elaborates on Rifkin's discovery that the work in its present form for solo flute goes back to an earlier version in A minor, ostensibly for solo violin, but also takes this discovery as the point of departure for a wide-ranging discussion of the origins and extent of Bach's output in the area of concerted ensemble music. Jeanne Swack presents an enlightening comparison of Georg Phillip Telemann's and Bach's approach to the French overture as concerted movements in their church cantatas, and Steven Zohn views the B-minor orchestral suite from the standpoint of the "concert en ouverture," responding to Rifkin by suggesting that the early version of the B-minor orchestral suite may also have been scored for flute.

The 16 essays collected here of two kinds: stylistic and historical inquiries, and studies of the original sources. The articles deal with the music and shed new light on the composer's life. Part 1 reconsiders Bach's historical position and assesses the cultural significance of his achievement; Parts 2, 3 and 4 draw upon the original sources to explore the compositional process, questions of authenticity and chronology, and controversial issues of performance practice.

This first full-length study of Telemann's concertos, sonatas, and suites focuses on his imaginative mixing of styles and genres. Special attention is also devoted to the extra musical meanings and humor of his programmatic overture-suites, his unprecedented self-publishing enterprise, and the social resonances of his Polish-style works.

Offering comprehensive coverage of classical music, this guide surveys more than eleven thousand albums and presents biographies of five hundred composers and eight hundred performers, as well as twenty-three essays on forms, eras, and genres of classical music. Original.