Companion through Bach's organ world
Jean-Claude Zehnder brings his readers closer to both the scientific and practical aspects of this work with unwavering enthusiasm.
"To experience passion, happiness and emotion when playing Bach, that's where this book wants to point the way." - This is Jean-Claude Zehnder's conclusion at the end of his text. As a knowledgeable Bach researcher and equally experienced "practitioner", he presents a fascinating tour through the most diverse aspects of Bach's organ works in this little book (which can also be read as a supplement to the ten-volume new edition of Bach's organ works published by the same publisher). Observations on Bach's instrumentation, fingering and articulation, tempo, rhythm and declamation are included, as well as thoughts on Bach's stylistic development, symbolic language and the background to his composing, and reflections on selected works from all creative periods. In a compact presentation, the book provides an overview of the current state of research and does not fail to mention contradictions and differences of opinion. A relatively concise bibliography with the most important publications and a wealth of references to individual treatises on specific topics in the footnotes invite further reading.
Zehnder succeeds masterfully in encouraging his readers to reflect on important questions and to share his extensive experience as a musicologist and interpreter with them in a subtle way, without showing even the slightest hint of dogmatism or presenting "patent remedies" to solve them. On the contrary: Zehnder emphasizes how it is precisely the diversity of approaches that constitutes the richness of Bach's composing (and "great art" in general) and how important it is to him to take a personal view of the composer and his work.
In its combination of scholarly ambition, practical experience and unbroken enthusiasm for the cosmos of Bach's organ works, this book is a highly stimulating reading experience and can only be recommended as a "travel companion".
Jean-Claude Zehnder: Playing Bach on the organ - a passion, 128 p., € 24.90, Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden 2019, ISBN 978-3-7651-0482-4
