florida state university college of music performance practice

portrayals of Bach, not only since 2000, but also in the past quarter-of-a-century is
symptomatic of a devaluing of the score or Werktrueue, often associated with modernist
values, and more about the postmodern attraction to humanistic and restorative aspects of
art such as composer biographies. 203
Scholar Christoph Wolff added to his already rich Bach résumé with a celebrated
biographical portrait Bach: the Learned Musician. In a review, David Ledbetter suggests
that Wolff‟s contribution that intensely focuses on the objective and scientific realm of
Bach‟s life accomplishments, is a celebrated conclusion to the objective twentieth century
Sachlichkeit. 204 For Wolff, Bach is examined in the context of the scientific revolution
sweeping Europe in the seventeenth century, and provides supporting evidence that he
deserves recognition as one of the leading intellects of the world. Wolff‟s discourse is
prompted by the quote of German poet and writer Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart,
“Was Newton als Weltweiser war, war Sebastian Bach als Tonkünstler” (what Newton
was as philosopher, Sebastian Bach was as composer). 205
Originally published in 2000 and then translated into English six years later,
Martin Geck provides readers with a responsible, albeit less-celebrated, inquiry than the
Wolff biography. Furthermore, in the year 2000 Andrew Parrott published The Essential
Bach Choir, which served to answer critics‟ requests for a thorough encapsulation of the
thesis first proposed by Rifkin and defended by Parrott and others of one-voice-per-part
(commonly known as OVPP) singing of Bach‟s concerted works. Two years later, Rifkin
responded himself with a shorter book, Bach’s Choral Ideal, which reexamines the
legendary Entwurff. Since the disturbance that ensued over a quarter-of-a-century ago
concerning Rifkin‟s revolutionary idea of Bach‟s choir, many people have been
persuaded by his case. No one to date has presented compelling evidence to dismiss
203 John Butt, “The Postmodern Mindset, Musicology and the Future of Bach Scholarship,” Understanding
Bach 1 (2006) 12. (Accessed 8 January 2008),
204 David Ledbetter, “Wolff‟s Bach,” Early Music 29.1 (February 2001): 128.
205 Christoph Wolff, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician, (New York: W.W. Norton and
Company, 2000),1. Wolff has used this quote to develop additional studies concerning Bach‟s self-image as
well as his thoughts concerning music of the seventeenth century. See Christoph Wolff, “Bach‟s Music and
Newtonian Science: A Composer in Search of the Foundations of His Art,” Understanding Bach 2 95-106,
Christoph Wolff, “Defining Genius: Early Reflections of J.S. Bach‟s Self-Image,” Proceedings of the
American Philosophical Society 145.4 (December 2001) 474, Christoph Wolff, “Images of Bach in the
Perspective of Basic Research and Interpretative Scholarship,” The Journal of Musicology 22.4 (Fall 2005),
511, Christoph Wolff, “J.S.Bach and the legacy of the seventeenth century,” in Bach Studies 2, Daniel R.
Melamed, editor (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 200.
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