The Music of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach 9781580463591, 1580463592

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The Music of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach

David Schulenberg

he first-born of the four composer sons of Johann Sebastian Bach. Wilhelm Friedemann was often considered the most brilliant. Yet he left relatively few works and died in obscurity. This monograph, the first on the composer in English, identifies the unique features of Friedemann’s music that make it worth studying and performing. It considers how Friedemann’s training and upbringing differed from those of his brothers, leading to a style that diverged from that of his contemporaries. Central to the book are detailed discussions of all Friedemann’s extant works: the virtuoso sonatas and concertos for keyboard instru¬ ments, the extraordinary chamber compositions (especially for flute), and the hitherto-neglected vocal music, including sacred cantatas and a remarkable work in honor of King Frederick the Great of Prussia. Special sections consider performance questions unique to Friedemann’s music and provide a handy list of his works and their sources. Numerous musical examples provide glimpses of many little-known compo¬ sitions, including a concerto ignored by previous students of Friedemann’s music, here restored to his list of works.

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The Music of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach

Eastman Studies in Music Ralph P. Locke, Senior Editor Eastman School of Music Additional Titles of Interest

The Art of Musical Phrasing in the Eighteenth Century: Punctuating the Classical “Period” Stephanie D. Vial Aspects of Unity in J. S. Bach’s Partitas and Suites: An Analytical Study David W. Beach Bach and the Pedal Clavichord: An Organist’s Guide Joel Speerstra Bach’s Changing World: Voices in the Community Edited by Carol K. Baron Dieterich Buxtehude: Organist in Liibeck Kerala J. Snyder

Marianna Martines: A Woman Composer in the Vienna of Mozart and Haydn Irving Godt, edited byjohn A. Rice Mendelssohn, Goethe, and the Walpurgis Night: The Heathen Muse in European Culture, 1700-1850 John Michael Cooper Music and the Occult: French Musical Philosophies, 1750-1950 Joscelyn Godwin Music of the Moravian Church in America Edited by Nola Reed Knouse Pentatonicism from the Eighteenth Century to Debussy Jeremy Day-O’Connell

Explaining Tonality: Schenkerian Theory and Beyond Matthew Brown

The Substance of Things Heard: Writings about Music Paul Griffiths

French Organ Music: From the Revolution to Franck and Widor Edited by Lawrence Archbold and William J. Peterson

Theories of Fugue from the Age of fosquin to the Age of Bach Paul Mark Walker

Historical Musicology: Sources, Methods, Interpretations Edited by Stephen A. Crist and Roberta Montemorra Marvin

Variations on the Canon: Essays on Music from Bach to Boulez in Honor of Charles Rosen on His Eightieth Birthday Edited by Robert Curry, David Gable, and Robert L. Marshall

A complete list of titles in the Eastman Studies in Music series may be found on the University of Rochester Press website, www.urpress.com

The Music of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach David Schulenberg