The Essential Bach Choir - A Discussion of Original Performance Conventions of Bach's Sacred Works

What type of choir did Bach have in mind as he created his cantatas, Passions and Masses? How many singers were at his disposal in Leipzig? And in what ways did he deploy them in his music? Seeking to understand Bach's incomparable choral output, musician & director of Taverner choir Andre Parrott, investigates a wide range of sources - Bach's own writings, the scores & parts he used in performance, but also a variety theoretical, pictorial and archival documents, together with the musical testimony of Bach's forerunners & contemporaries. The books also includes the text of Joshua Rifkin's explosive 1981 lecture, published for the first time - 240pp, 28 b/w illustrations