This anthology of 55 keyboard works provides an instructive picture of the music of the young J. S. Bach within the context of a spectrum of works by his elder contemporaries.
The Andreas Bach Book and the so-called Möller Manuscript, the most important sources for the young Bach’s keyboard music, were compiled in the early eighteenth century by Bach’s eldest brother and only keyboard teacher, Johann Christoph Bach of Ohrdruf, himself a pupil of Johann Pachelbel. The significance of the two manuscripts lies not only in their close connection to J. S. Bach (as evidenced by Bach autographs in both books), but equally in the fact that they contain some of the most outstanding keyboard music by Bach’s North German colleagues: Georg Böhm, Dietrich Buxtehude, and Johann Adam Reincken. While some of these compositions have been published in modern editions, others have been entirely overlooked.
This anthology presents keyboard works by the young J. S. Bach which are either little known or are earlier versions of better known works (for example, the Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582). Also included are all the unpublished keyboard works in the two manuscripts, as well as works by lesser known composers for which modern editions are not easily accessible. Rounding out the picture are works by well-known contemporaries for which the transmission in the young Bach’s circle proves particularly significant.
Intended for both player and scholar, this edition offers the texts of the two manuscripts in an easy to read layout that emphasizes the clarity of the counterpoint. Of particular interest to organists is the presentation of the organ works in the appropriate notion of the time, on two staves with the pedal voice integrated in the bass staff.
Born 130 years ago in the heart of Mississippi, Charlie Patton (c. 1891–1934) is considered by many to be a father of the Delta blues. With his bullish baritone voice and his fluid slide guitar touch, Patton established songs like “Pony Blues,” “A Spoonful Blues,” and “High Water Everywhere” in the blues lexicon and, through his imitators, in American music. But over the decades, his contributions to blues music have been overshadowed in popularity by those of Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, and other mid-century bluesmen and women who’ve experienced a resurgence in their music. King of the Delta Blues Singers, originally published in 1988, began a small renaissance in blues and Patton research and set a new scholarly precedent touching even the spelling his name—which, to Patton himself, was "Charlie," not the "Charley" of the early records. And now, with the wide availability of Patton’s complete discography in multiple formats, this revised second edition brings the legend of Charlie Patton into a clarity of detail that was previously impossible.
Gayle Dean Wardlow and the late Stephen Calt (1946–2010) originally probed Patton’s career in the Mississippi Delta, his early performances and recordings, and his musical legacy that continues to influence today’s guitarists and performers, including such musicians as Jack White and Larkin Poe. For this second edition, Wardlow and Edward Komara refined the text and rewrote major sections, updating them with new scholarship on Patton and Delta blues. And finally, Komara has added a new afterword bringing Patton into the contemporary blues conversation and introducing numerous musical examples for the modern researcher and musician.
The second edition of King of the Delta Blues Singers will further cement Patton’s legacy among important blues musicians, and it will be of interest to anyone absorbed in the beginnings of the Delta blues and music biographies.
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