The Organs of J. S. Bach: A Handbook.
Proksch, Bryan
The Organs of J. S. Bach: A Handbook.
By Christoph Wolff and Markus Zepf. Urbana:
University of Illinois Press, 2012. [xxv, 208 p.
ISBN: 978-0-25-20784-5. $30.00]
Christoph Wolff and Markus Zepf here present a compendium of
material on every organ even remotely associated with J. S. Bach. While
their study is not designed to be definitive in the depth of treatment
of each instrument it covers, it succeeds in providing key historical
and technical information on instruments that were extant during
Bach's lifetime, located in some fifty cities spread throughout
Germany. The book covers all of the organs played by Bach as well as a
number of extant "reference organs" similar in concept to
those Bach would have played. The present edition of the book updates
and translates for the first time the same authors' volume Die
Orgeln J.S. Bachs: Ein Handbuch (Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt,
2006; 2nd ed. 2008). That precursor volume was itself designed as a
reworking of Werner David's Johann Sebastian Bach's Orgeln
(Berlin: Bruder Hartmann, 1951).
This is a well-conceived book that will prove useful to organists
of every level and even to tourists. Scholars will appreciate using the
book as a quick and reliable reference with high-quality citations.
Wolff and Zepf manage artfully to write in a way that speaks to the
broadest spectrum of readers. Some organists will appreciate the
relentless technical details provided: lists of stops, couplers,
tunings, refurbishments, pitch, temperament, and even wind supply. Ample
appendices address key tangential issues, including discussion of
Bach's opinions as expressed in his organ examinations and
information on the organ builders mentioned in the text. The
implications of this wealth of information for performance practice are
endless: one will be left with few questions as to what was possible or
impossible on any given instrument associated with Bach.
The non-specialist reader will appreciate the historical details
presented throughout. These include the date Bach would have encountered
the instrument, data on its construction, its condition during
Bach's lifetime and at present, and relevant primary source
material. This latter point is particularly interesting given the wealth
of included descriptions from the period, even if all too often the
instruments are described in generic terms. The current disposition of
many of these instruments proves to be quite depressing, given the
numerous instruments destroyed ca. 1942-45. The inclusion of various
"reference organs" works to make amends for these lost
instruments by offering information on organs that have survived to the
present with minimal alterations. That the book is printed in color with
innumerable images is helpful in getting a better sense of the
architecture and visual art of early eighteenth-century organ
construction.
One potentially questionable choice made by the authors was
formatting their discussion alphabetically by city. For those traveling
in Germany or focused on purely local issues, this is a nice
convenience. On the other hand, it makes it more difficult to discern
the organs that were most important to Bach. That is, there is no
obvious differentiation between an organ that Bach played weekly in
Weimar or Leipzig and one elsewhere that he may have played only once or
twice. The prose elucidates these facts, but one cannot simply open the
book to the section on "very important" instruments. The depth
of the authors' discussion is not affected by the prominence of the
instrument in Bach's life either--for the most part each organ
receives the same amount of the authors' attention. This is perhaps
a good thing, considering that information on the more obscure
instruments is far more difficult to obtain from other sources.
I have only one real criticism for the authors, one which is
probably unduly harsh in expectations for a book that already presents
an abundance of knowledge: there is no accompanying CD of recordings. It
would have been entirely appropriate to offer an opportunity to hear at
least a few of these instruments. Reading stop lists may offer a vague
notion of an organ's sound or an organ builder's conception,
but stop lists hardly scratch the surface insofar as actual sound is
concerned. Hearing those organs that have remained relatively unaltered
since the eighteenth century would have really rounded off the book into
a comprehensive package. Perhaps the authors or their successors will
consider this addition for a future edition.
In sum, this English translation and expansion of Wolff and
Zepf's earlier research will be welcomed by all, but especially by
performers, organ lovers, and those whose ability to glean technical
details from German is less than ideal.
Bryan Proksch
Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas
