Bach Perspectives, Volume 13

Scholars and performers have long noted J.S. Bach’s abundant use of parody procedures: that is, the recycling and reworking of pre-existing material from his own compositions or from other sources. Laura Buch edits essays exploring how the composer parodied the work of others and how other composers did the same with him. The contributors delve into the works of Baroque-era composers from Bach himself to C. P. E. Bach, Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer, and Ferruccio Busoni. But they also cast a wider net, investigating the ways Bach’s music cross-pollinates with contemporary composer-performers John Lewis and the Modern Jazz Quartet, and keyboardist Bernie Worrell and Parliament-Funkadelic. The diverse contexts illuminate a broad range of parody techniques, from structural scaffolding and contrapuntal elaboration to integration with stylistic languages far removed from the Baroque.

An insightful look at how composers build on each other’s work, Bach Reworked reveals how nuanced understandings of parody procedures can fuel both musical innovation and historically informed performance.

Contributors: Stephen A. Crist, Ellen Exner, Moira Leanne Hill, Erinn E. Knyt, and Markus Zepf