Thematisch-systematisches Verzeichnis der musikalischen Werke von Johann Sebastian Bach ed. by Christine Blanken, Christoph Wolff, and Peter Wollny (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Thematisch-systematisches Verzeichnis der musikalischen Werke von Johann Sebastian Bached. by Christine Blanken, Christoph Wolff, and Peter Wollny Daniel F. Boomhower Thematisch-systematisches Verzeichnis der musikalischen Werke von Johann Sebastian Bach. 3rded. Edited by Christine Blanken, Christoph Wolff, and Peter Wollny. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 2022. [xliv, 835 p. ISBN 9783765104008 (hardback), €410.] Music examples, bibliography, index. The systematic enumeration of the musical output of individual, primarily European, composers has proven captivating and confounding for generations. While the utility of a logically arranged presentation of any repertory seems to make immediate sense, the method of organization itself has often proven a complication. The chronological presentation of compositions often does not offer space for new discoveries, as seen with Ludwig von Köchel's catalog of the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ( Chronologisch-thematisches Verzeichnis sämtlicher Tonwerke Wolf-gang Amadé Mozarts[Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel, 1862]), a reliable new edition of which has endured a protracted gestation. A more schematic approach, such as by genre, tends to yield rather opaque numbering schemes, as seen with Anthony van Hoboken's Joseph Haydn: Thematisch-bibliographisches Werkverzeichnis(Mainz: B. Schott's Söhne, 1957) and the Bach Compendium: Analytisch-bibliographisches Repertorium der Werke Johann Sebastian Bachsby Hans-Joachim Schulze and Christoph Wolff (Frankfurt: C. F. Peters, 1985; hereafter BC). The definition and operability of the concept of a musical work represents an equally significant challenge with consequences for scholars, performers, and audiences interested in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. The compilers of this new third edition of the Bach Werke Verzeichnis(hereafter BWV 3) admirably address the challenges of concisely integrating vast expanses of knowledge about the corpus of Bach compositions while deftly navigating the pitfalls of this enterprise. The well-known and now firmly entrenched BWV numbering scheme, which originated with Wolfgang Schmieder's catalog of Bach's works, Thematisch-systematisches Verzeichnis der musikalischen Werke von Johann Sebastian Bach: Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (BWV)(Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1950; hereafter BWV 1), represents the first significant challenge of BWV 3. This ordering reflects the sequence in which the composer's music appeared in the edition prepared by the Bach Gesellschaft and published by Breitkopf & Härtel ( J. S. Bach Werke[Leipzig, 1851–99]; hereafter BG). In the BG, the ten sacred cantatas published in the first volume of the edition bear the designations "Cantata 1," Cantata 2," and so forth. Hence, "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" from March 1725 for the Feast of the Annunciation (Cantata 1) preceded "Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein" from June 1724 for the [End Page 602]second Sunday after Trinity (Canata 2) and "Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid" from January 1725 for the second Sunday after Epiphany (Cantata 3). As seen in these examples, the BGordering relies neither on the chronology of the compositions nor their place in the liturgical calendar. BWV 1also applies numbers to instrumental works based on the order in which they appeared in BG. Moreover, the BGcreates a static, even monolithic, identity to compositions, informed in no small part by nineteenth-century interpretations of the religious and artistic conception of Bach's compositions, that remains at odds with the reality documented in the sources containing Bach's output. Attempts have arisen to develop more intuitive numerical references to the cantatas, including alphabetical order based on text (e.g., Carl Tamme, Thematisches Verzeichniss der Vokalwerke Joh. Seb. Bachs[Leipzig: C. F. Peters, 1889]) and the Lutheran liturgical calendar (e.g., J. S. Bach: Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke (Neue Bach-Ausgabe), ed. Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Institut, Göttingen, and Bach-Archiv, Leipzig [Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1954–]; hereafter NBA). To their credit, the compilers of BWV 3have embraced the firmly entrenched numbering scheme and adapted it as gracefully as possible, differentiating the distinct compositional phases of, for instance, BWV 36 as: Weltliche Fassungen (Glückwunschkantate): 36.1 Schwingt freudig euch empor (1725) 36.2 Steigt freudig in die Luft (um 1725–26) 36.3 Die Freude reget sich (um 1737–1738) Geistliche Fassungen (Adventskantate): 36.4 Schwingt freudig euch empor (um 1726–1730) 36.5 Schwingt freudig euch empor (1731) Subsequent entries for...