Publisher's Synopsis
For more than three decades Bach scholarship has been dominated by source and editing questions, stimulated by work on the New Bach Edition (Neue Bach-Ausgabe). Here, Chafe hopes to encourage a move toward more interpretive studies, based on a combination of Baroque music theory, historical theology, and the documents of Bach's time. His work provides a secure basis for an analysis of the development of Bach's sacred music and thus a beginning for a comprehensive reassessment of one of our greatest musical geniuses.