Offered here for the first time in English, The Aesthetic of Johann Sebastian Bach (L'Esthétique de Jean-Sébastien Bach), by the celebrated scholar and organist André Pirro, was originally published in 1907. Considered a masterpiece by many, it supports a uniquely engaging analysis that has informed and moved readers for more than a century. This translation introduces Pirro's work to a new audience of those who wish to have a greater understanding of the expressive import of Bach's music. Performers, in particular, will find it a valuable touchstone for instilling every figure and phrase they play with an ever-deepening range of feeling. Focusing first on the meanings of the motifs and other devices that Bach uses to depict the emotions, actions, and atmospheres of particular vocal settings, Pirro then carefully examines how Bach makes use of these devices in his instrumental accompaniments, orchestrations, pieces without a text, and even choices of compositional forms. The study concludes with an examination of the influence Bach's predecessors and contemporaries had on his work and offers Bach as an exemplar of a uniquely German spirit through the religious devotion and attitudes toward love, nature, and humor manifested his music. - Jacket flap.

We must tear ourselves away from thinking that Bach only speaks to us from resplendent palaces. He calls to us, rather, from the inner sanctuaries of temples erected with his own hands, and his utterances are never empty. He always has some message to deliver, and, like an ancient orator, he has no other intention than to convince us and move us. All his art is essentially a kind of magnificent language that he has filled with action. Yet, because this language is formed from such striking words and such beautiful phrases, some people consider it futile, if not disrespectful, to ask what meaning can be found in them. Nevertheless, we must inquire. But no matter how precise our technical analyses may be, they will never take into account the whole Bach. They may acquaint us with the methods of his craft, but not its purpose. It is not enough to admire the arabesques embroidered on the precious veils that he weaves, nor is it enough just to make out their design or point out the laws by which he groups them. We must also discover the principles by which he creates them. We must treat the elements of his music as the symbols of an unknown language and go out of our way to decipher them so that we may rise to his level of thinking. Only this approach will allow us to know if he has expressive tendencies and if he remains faithful to a system of actualizing them. - Jacket back.