J. S. Bach: The Organ Works

In the obituary that appeared soon after his death, Johann Sebastian Bach was described as "the world-famous organist" and "the greatest organist...we have ever had." In Hamburg, Dresden, and other big cities, Bach dazzled audiences with his organ playing, performing passages with his feet that many thought impossible for the hands.One eyewitness declared that he had never seen anything like it.His extant organ works--more than 250 chorale settings and free pieces--are filled with bold, dramatic passages and fully independent pedal parts.They represent the most important body of music in the organ repertoire and the only genre that Bach turned to continuously throughout his life, from his earliest efforts as a teenager in Ohrdruf to his final deathbed revisions as a cantor in Leipzig. In this new survey, leading musicologist George B.Stauffer traces the evolution of Bach's organ works within the broad spectrum of his development as a composer.With detailed discussions of the individual