From learning to teaching
What models did Johann Sebastian Bach use to learn to compose and how did he pass on his knowledge? Ingo Bredenbach's book provides the answers.
Ingo Bredenbach, the organist at Tübingen's Stiftskirche, makes it possible to Johann Sebastian Bach's piano lessons deep insights into his compositional development. The focus is on the works for keyboard instruments that accompanied the entire development of Bach's creativity, from his self-study to his main activity as the most important organ teacher of his era. Bredenbach's starting point are the copies of two organ works by Jan Adam Reincken and Dieterich Buxtehude, which he studied to acquire knowledge of harmony and some contrapuntal licenses. During the first half of his life, Bach enriched this basic knowledge of North German music by studying Italian music, especially the Italian concerto, in order to later pass on his experiences to his numerous apprentices. Bredenbach's study traces Bach's musical career in detail as a lifelong lesson, from learning to teaching.
The strengths of this practice-based study lie in the analytical details that an organist who wants to improvise in Bach's style must "grasp". More problematic is the sometimes selective consideration of existing literature. Sometimes insights are proclaimed that have long since been published elsewhere. The author lacked the organizing hand of a master like Bach, which would have helped him to consistently implement a clear concept from the wealth of complex information in the book in such a way that the fundamental is separated from the details and the important from the trivial. Nevertheless, if you want to learn something essential about Bach's music, you would be well advised to take Bredenbach's book, which is well worth reading, and the sheet music of all the works discussed.
Ingo Bredenbach: Johann Sebastian Bach's piano lessons. Bach as a learner and teacher, 519 p., € 59.00, Bärenreiter, Kassel 2024, ISBN 978- 3-7618- 2617-1