Scores of Bach's Vocal Works
Discussions - Part 4

Continue from Part 3

Capella Scores of Bach's Vocal Works

Aryeh Oron wrote (September 24, 2006):
Tobias Schölkopf, webmaster of Tobi's Notenarchiv: http://www.tobis-notenarchiv.de/ approved presenting the Capella scores of Bach's vocal works from his website at the Bach Cantatas Website (BCW).

In the absence of the full BGA scores (due to copyright of the PDF files) and the NBA scores (still protected by copyright) I hope that the Capella scores will do. The main problem is that these scores are not complete yet. For many works only several mvts. are presented. I hope that in time more and more files would be added.

You can find them all through the Index to Scores pages of the BCW, starting at: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/index.htm
To view or print the Capella scores you need Capella Reader, which can be freely download according to the simple instructions at the page: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/Cap.htm
[you can find a link to this page near the link to every Capella score presented at the BCW]

In the Index to Scores pages you have also links to the reduced Vocal & Piano Scores of the Sacred Cantatas BWV 1-199, and the Scores of the Chorales. Please notice that the pages of the Cantatas and the Other Vocal Works pages (the orange area at the header of each page) have not yet been updated to include links to the new Capella scores. I need some time to accomplish this task, but eventually it will be done.

BGA Scores on the BCW

Aryeh Oron wrote (February 4, 2009):
I have good news for you.
After a long delay I have received at last an official permission to present on the BCW the BGA scores, which had been digitalized by the late Fred Steltner.
All the BGA scores of Bach's vocal works are now available on the BCW, linked from the Index to Scores pages and the Cantata main pages. Links to the BGA scores of the other vocal works would be added soon.

Paul T. McCain wrote (February 4, 2009):
[To Aryeh Oron] Many thanks Aryeh for this good news.

Douglas Cowling wrote (February 4, 2009):
[To Aryeh Oron] Wir danken dir!

Drew (BWV846-893) wrote (February 5, 2009):
[To Aryeh Oron] Many, many thanks -- this is such a gift. And a big improvement from the vocal & piano reductions.

Although BGA links to all the cantatas are available on the "Scores" page, I noticed that a number of links are missing from the individual cantata pages. For instance, the following cantatas have the title "Score BGA" but no live link:
81, 14, 144, 84, 181, 126, 125, 157

Again, many thanks for your hard work,

Julian Mincham wrote (February 5, 2009):
[To Aryeh Oron] This is excellent. Well done for your persistance and work in downloaing the scores. I have been looking through some and comparing them with my Barenreiter volumes.

One question: is it possible to download sections of these scores to copy for use in srticles or general teaching puroses? In other words what is precisely the copyright situation?

Paul Farseth wrote (February 5, 2009):
[To Aryeh Oron] You are wonderful, Aryeh!

Aryeh Oron wrote (February 5, 2009):
Drew wrote:
Although BGA links to all the cantatas are available on the "Scores" page, I noticed that a number of links are missing from the individual cantata pages. For instance, the following cantatas have the title "Score BGA" but no live link: 81, 14, 144, 84, 181, 126, 125, 157"
I am in a process of updating the main cantata pages. So the links to the BGA Scores in these pages are being added gradually.

Julian Mincham wrote:
"One question: is it possible to download sections of these scores to copy for use in articles or general teaching purposes? In other words what is precisely the copyright situation?"
The copyright of these files is described at the page: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/IndexScoresSources.htm

If you want to use the files fur purposes beyond that, please contact me off-list.

Julian Mincham wrote (February 5, 2009):
[To Aryeh Oron] many thanks.

Drew (BWV846-893) wrote (February 6, 2009):
[To Aryeh Oron] Thanks for the clarification. I misunderstand your original message, I think -- I was under the impression that you had already completed posting the links on the main cantatas pages, and thought that the missing links might be an anomaly.

Thank you, again, for your assiduous work in getting these scores on the BCW. It's wonderful to see the individual lines -- they help elucidate Bach's contrapuntal genius.

BGA and NBA Bach notation practices

Jean Laaninen wrote (February 6, 2009):
I recently encounted in my reading the matter that when the BGA was compiled there were instances where slurs were placed across barlines that were not in the original Bach scores. This led me to become curious about what other types of notation adjustments the Romantic period compilers might have added to scores for publication or performances.

Thanks in advanced if anyone has commentary on this matter.

Neil Halliday wrote (February 7, 2009):
Jean Laaninen wrote:
>I recently encounted in my reading the matter that when the BGA was compiled there were instances where slurs were placed across barlines that were not in the original Bach scores.<
Are you referring to slurs or ties? Slurs indicate phrasing, and may or may not carry across bar lines, regardless of any later editorial additions [I can't see why Bach would have omitted a slur across a bar line if his phrasing required it]. OTOH, the ties across bar lines typically connecting continuo notes in secco recitatives are a separate matter; obviously Bach would have inserted these ties (regardless of any convention that such a note should only be briefly sounded).

Jean Laaninen wrote (February 7, 2009):
[To Neil Halliday]
Well, it could be either, and you make sense with what you say above. I have never compared NBA and BGA scores, say of a single cantata to see what differences might exist. That's something I hope to do before long over at ASU...they do have the NBA, but I had not looked at it because I was laboring under the impressing only the BGA was there. But someone I know told me where to look since the card catalog online had not turned up the full information. Anyway, my idea here was to find someone or several people who might have had experience with both scores and have them tell me in advance what differences I might find so that I would be more aware.

Perhaps there would be a difference on things such as staccato markings, but I don't really know...just as a possible example.

Thanks for your comments.

Kim Patrick Clow wrote (February 7, 2009):
Jean Laaninen wrote:
< Perhaps there would be a difference on things such as staccato markings, but I don't really know...just as a possible example. >
Typically for any Urtext edition, there is a listing of changes made in the introductory notes, especially if things are added to the final edition that were not present in the surviving sources. If you see ties/slurs that weren't in a particular source, maybe there were in another one that has turned up since the BGA was compiled. But usually editorial additions are notated with hashed/dashed slurs/lines and or brackets around new accidentals or footnotes at the bottom of the page will have some explanations too.

Good luck

Jean Laaninen wrote (February 7, 2009):
[To Kim Patrick Clow] Thanks Kim. I have some Urtext editions of piano Bach works that give information on ornamentation practices.

I'll have fun better understanding some of these details as I go along.

Bach Digital?

Kim Patrick Clow wrote (August 22, 2009):
Are there any Bach manuscripts online yet at the Bach Digitial website? Hasn't this project been underway for almost ten years? I've looked around today and I couldn't find a single manuscript reproduction there, but it's not a very intuitive website either, so it could have been me.

Douglas Cowling wr(August 22, 2009):
[To Kim Patrick Clow] What's the URL of the site?

Evan Cortens wrote (August 22, 2009):
[To Douglas Cowling] The URL is: http://www.bach-digital.de/

Kim, I have it on good authority that all the manuscripts have been digitized and are sitting on a computer waiting to be hooked up to the internet. At this point, the only hold up is the website itself, and that's supposed to be ready "any day now."

That preview button did just appear recently, but it seems that though the catalogue is up, images aren't yet available.

Kim Patrick Clow wrote (August 22, 2009):
[To Douglas Cowling] http://bachdigital.uni-leipzig.de

Cantata Scores in Finale Format

Aryeh Oron wrote (June 17, 2011):
Mark Ellis has prepared a number of cantata scores in .mus format (readable by Finale). As well as providing a useful version of the score, the cantatas can be 'performed' by the computer, helping to answer questions about tempo and ornamentation, and also for conducting/choir training purposes. Mark has also prepared analytical and historical notes.

Linked from the main page of Cantata BWV 1 on the BCW: http://bach-cantatas.com/BWV1.htm
you can find:
- Score in .mus format & in PDF format (next to sub-title Finale in the box Scoring, sub-title Finale)
- Notes in PDF format (in the box Commentary, "Ellis")
Explanation is given at the page: http://bach-cantatas.com/Scores/Finale.htm

I hope to have more soon.

Kim Patrick Clow wrote (June 17, 2011):
[To Aryeh Oron] Absolutely fantastic ;)

That's such a great thing to have on the website. Thanks very much Mark! ;)

Douglas Cowling wrote (June 17, 2011):
[To Aryeh Oron] Thank you Mark. This is hugely valuable.

Evan Cortens wrote (June 26, 2011):
[To Douglas Cowling] When I view the PDF generated from Finale, it reports that it doesn't have the music font, and everything looks very strange... Is this just a problem on my end?

I've viewed this PDF: http://bach-cantatas.com/Finale/BWV1-Score.pdf in both Adobe Acrobat, and Chrome's built-in reader...

Thanks!

Anne (Nessie Russel) wrote (June 26, 2011):
Evan Cortens wrote:
< When I view the PDF generated from Finale, it reports that it doesn't have the music font, and everything looks very strange... Is this just a problem on my end? >
Works fine for me. The cover page is in a fancy font. The rest is clear.

Evan Cortens wrote (June 26, 2011):
[To Anne (Nessie) Russell] I wonder, if I might ask, do you have Finale installed? The cover page for me is in a blocky font that I wouldn't describe as fancy, so perhaps font substitution happened there too... The notes all look sort of ghostly, and the clefs, time signatures, and key signatures don't show up at all (just as black dots).

Glad to hear it's only my problem!

Uri Golomb wrote (June 26, 2011):
[To Evan Cortens] I have the same problem. I don't have Finale installed on my computer, but the whole point of PDFs is to make the file available to anyone!

Aryeh Oron wrote (June 26, 2011):
[To Evan Cortens] Please take a look at the Explanation page: http://bach-cantatas.com/Scores/Finale.htm
and follow the installation instructions.
The page is linked from the main page of Cantata BWV 1 Finale:... [Explanation]

Evan Cortens wrote (June 26, 2011):
[To Aryeh Oron] The instructions on the explanation page appear to apply only to the opening of the .MUS files within Finale itself; I don't have Finale, so this isn't something I've tried to do. Rather, I've just tried viewing the .PDF files, in two separate readers. Also, the only files the explanation page says you need are the figured bass font, and the alto clef. In fact, the alto clef is the only clef that is appearing correctly! (In the margin to the left of the staff, indicating the original clef.)

I think the issue here is that the Finale music font (and, it seems, the blackletter font used for the title page) has not been embedded within the PDF itself. This means that the file appears fine if you already have those fonts installed (which is my guess for Anne), but appears incorrectly if you don't (the case for Uri and myself).

Since I don't have Finale, I downloaded Finale Reader, the free application that allows you to view .MUS files. In this, the music looks exactly right, and when I print to PDF, the resulting file appears correct. The difference is that, when I go into Document Properties, and select "Fonts" (in Acrobat), the EngraverFontSet (Finale's music font) says "Embedded Subset" next to it... i.e., the font itself has been included in the PDF.

All this to say: the PDF's need to be generated to embed the fonts used in them, as most people do not have the Finale music font installed. (The Finale .MUS files themselves are just fine.)

Best, (and my thanks to Mark for his great work!)

Anne (Nessie Russel) wrote (June 26, 2011):
Yes, I have a Finale program installed on my computer, but as Uri mentioned the whole point of PDF is to make the file readable to everyone.

Aryeh Oron wrote (June 29, 2011):
[To Evan Cortens] The problems were reported to Mark Ellis and I am glad to inform you that the PDF of Cantata BWV 1 has just been replaced:
http://bach-cantatas.com/Finale/BWV1-Score.pdf
Linked from: http://bach-cantatas.com/BWV1.htm

Mark Ellis wrote to me:
"Yes, that's spot on, I'd forgotten to embed the required fonts. I have now done this for the attached PDF file - could you replace the original? Thanks. I've checked it on a spare computer (which did not have Finale installed) and it also opens fine on my Kindle - although the full page view is rather small. I have taken the opportunity to increase the resolution to 600dpi, which just sharpens the print up a bit, while not creating a vastly larger file.
Thanks for your support here (and to the readers who commented)."

Evan Cortens wrote (June 29, 2011):
[To Aryeh Oron & Mark Ellis] This is excellent news! Again, thanks to Mark for all his great work on this, and it's great that the PDFs now work even if you don't have Finale installed.

OT: new editions of Bach works on the way?

Bruce Simonson wrote (January 16, 2012):
Forgive me if this has been discussed elsewhere.

Over the years, I have considered purchasing the Barenreiter study score set (https://www.baerenreiter.com/en/sheetmusic/product/?artNo=TP2004), but have dithered.

I use the scanned version of Bach Gesellschafft and vocal piano reductions (here on the cantata website, and elsewhere), and (typcially) Hannsler for performances. Turns out our libraries here don't have the hardbound Barenreither on the shelf.

Naturally, I am interested in more recent scholarship, if it exists. I think I've heard that there is new work being done on the works of Bach.

Here are my questions:

1) Are there new editions of Bach's works in the pipeline? If so, what are the details (schedule, availability, cost, etc)?

2) Anyone seen a good resource or deals on the above-mentioned study scores from Barenreiter?

Kim Patrick Clow wrote (January 16, 2012):
Bruce Simonson wrote:
< Naturally, I am interested in more recent scholarship, if it exists. I think I've heard that there is new work being done on the works of Bach. >
I know John Gardiner commissioned new editions of the Bach cantatas. I forget who was in charge of that project. And I don't know if they were ever published.

Evan Cortens wrote (January 16, 2012):
Bruce Simonson wrote:
< Naturally, I am interested in more recent scholarship, if it exists. I think I've heard that there is new work being done on the works of Bach.
Here are my questions:
1) Are there new editions of Bach's works in the pipeline? If so, what are the details (schedule, availability, cost, etc)? >
While the Neue Bach Ausgabe (NBA, the series published by Bärenreiter) is technically complete, I believe they are planning to issue revised versions of a couple of the older volumes. (When a series takes 50+ years, standards and practices inevitably change over time, and a few of the older volumes don't match up with the newer ones.) That said, these volumes will continue to be quite expensive. In their original form, an individual volume plus critical report can run as high as EUR 200. The study score set is dramatically cheaper, of course.

I'm unaware myself of any entirely new edition of all of Bach's works underway. However, if history can be our guide, we should be due to start a new one c. 2050.

Henner Schwerk wrote (January 16, 2012):
[To Evan Cortens] yes, for example the h-moll mass has been made as a new version by Bärenreiter.

Douglas Cowling wrote (January 16, 2012):
Evan Cortens wrote:
< While the Neue Bach Ausgabe (NBA, the series published by Bärenreiter) is technically complete, I believe they are planning to issue revised versions of a couple of the older volumes. >
I wonder if they'll ever follow the example of the Mozart Edition and make the volumes accessible online for free.

Evan Cortens wrote (January 16, 2012):
Douglas Cowling wrote:
< I wonder if they'll ever follow the example of the Mozart Edition and make the volumes accessible online for free. >
Agreed, that would be wonderful! It was due to the generosity of the Packard Humanities Institute (which also funds the C. P. E. Bach: Complete Works edition) that the NMA, via the Mozarteum, was able to make all of their volumes available for free, online. Unless PHI is planning to do this for Bach, I don't know of another philanthropic organization that would be willing to fund it.

The difficult thing for the NBA is that a lot of the older volumes are out of print, so unless you're lucky enough to live close to a major university library that has the volumes from the 50s and 60s, they're impossible to get a hold of. More reason to make them available online, I say, since I'd guess any possible profit on the older volumes has long been made.

William Hoffman wrote (January 16, 2012):
IMHO there is still a ways to go. The separate organ chorales are being compiled (NBA IV/10), there are other NBA Kritische Berichte (Critical Commentaries) due and if the Bach performers and scholars could agree on alternate versions of organ chorales, outlined in the unfinished Bach Compendium K series, as well as works associated with Bach performance. Then there will be new editions of the St. Mark Passion (BWV 247), based on new text discoveries, realizations that, like the "Double (Oboe-Violin) Concerto, BWV 1060," are source-critically-based. Then, we need editions not only of the Stoezel cantata cycles but also the Johann Ludwig Bach and Telemann works Bach performed as well as new editions of other works Bach performed.

Kim Patrick Clow wrote (January 16, 2012):
William Hoffman wrote:
< Then, we need editions not only of the Stoezel cantata cycles but also the Johann Ludwig Bach and Telemann works Bach performed as well as new editions of other works Bach performed. >
Working on it (well the Stölzel) Just saying. ;)

Douglas Cowling wrote (January 16, 2012):
William Hoffman wrote:
< Then, we need editions not only of the Stölzel cantata cycles but also the Johann Ludwig Bach and Telemann works Bach performed as well as new editions of other works Bach performed. >
Is anyone working on a modern edition of Bach's hymn book, the "Neue Leipziger Gesangbuch"? It was constantly used by Bach's choir for chorales and Latin polyphony.

I'm presently researching a concert which will reconstruct a Lutheran mass for Christmas Day in St. Thomas, Leipzig, from the early 17^th century. The music will include works by Bach's predecessors Johann Hermann Schein and Seth Calvisius.

The early baroque repertoire is literally fantastic -- polychoral perversity everywhere! I was interested to run across a double-choir (SSAT/ATTB) setting of the Latin Lutheran mass by Michael Praetorius in his "Musarum Sioniarum"of 1607. I was intrigued that Praetorius sets not just the Kyrie and Gloria of the so-called "Lutheran Missa Brevis", but the Credo, Sanctus (in its shortened Lutheran format without Benedictus) and Agnus Dei.

Although there is no specific connection to Bach a century later, it does show that the full Latin "Catholic" mass was part of the Lutheran tradition in which Bach was formed.

The scores can be downloaded at: http://www3.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Missa_a_8_%28Michael_Praetorius%29

Kim Patrick Clow wrote (January 16, 2012):
Douglas Cowling wrote:
< Is anyone working on a modern edition of Bach's hymn book, the "Neue Leipziger Gesangbuch"? It was constantly used by Bach's choir for chorales and Latin polyphony. >
If there is a source somewhere, I'd consider it. But lord. I have such a full plate already ;)

Douglas Cowling wrote (January 16, 2012):
Kim Patrick Clow wrote:
< If there is a source somewhere, I'd consider it. But lord. I have such a full plate already ;) >

There must be a facsimile or scan of it somewhere. I'd love to see it.

William Hoffman wrote (January 16, 2012):
[To Kim Patrick Clow] There is a microfilm at the Sibley Library, Eastman School of Music. Also, there was a special facsimile edition but I can find nothing more about it. The best current source are the recent NBA KB Cantatas that provide a modern version of the specific chorale source.

Ed Myskowski wrote (January 18, 2012):
Douglas Cowling wrote:
< I'm presently researching a concert which will reconstruct a Lutheran mass for Christmas Day in St. Thomas, Leipzig, from the early 17^th century. The music will include works by Bach's predecessors Johann Hermann Schein and Seth Calvisius. >
Why is this thread labelled Off Topic? Clearly not so.

I guess we are familiar by now with folks like Schein, as well as Schütz and Scheidt (did they all go to the same school?), but who is Seth Calvisius?

OT: Bach digital

Kim Patrick Clow wrote (November 4, 2012):
On the Bach digital website, is there a way to save a file as PDF? The zoom tool is great (I think the site uses Flash in order to do this), but is there a way to save something that's easier to look at?

Thanks for any suggestions and have a great day.

Bach Cantatas Website (BCW) Hosts Bach on a Budget Scores

Gary Harney [Immanuel Bach Consort: www.immanuelbachconsort.org ] wrote via Aryeh Oron (January 17, 2015):
While it is widely accepted that the roughly 200 extant cantatas by Bach are among the greatest bodies of church music ever written, today choruses from them are performed in liturgical settings today far less often than motets by Byrd or masses by Palestrina. Why is this the case? There are many contributing factors, but high on the list is that few churches can afford the instrumentalists required to perform these works in their original form.

The Bach on a Budget series is a project of the Immanuel Bach Consort, which selects choruses that are within the technical abilities of capable (but not necessarily specialist) church choirs, that reflect theology consistent with today’s norms, and that are of suitable length for today’s church services, then reworks the accompaniment to be for either organ alone, or in some cases for organ and 1 or 2 obbligato instruments. These accompaniments are not orchestral transcriptions, but rather attempts to create serviceable accompanfor organ which retain the essence of the orchestral score while being idiomatic and within the reach of capable players.

Bach on a Budget is delighted that the BCW has agreed to post their scores, which are available in pdf format free of charge. The first offerings are choruses suitable for General Use, including such accessible works as “Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt” (BWV 68), “Herr gib, daß ich dein Ehre” (BWV 107), and “Wir danken dir” (BWV 29). A series of choruses for Seasonal Use is in progress and will be available soon.
See: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/IndexScores-IBC.htm
Linked from: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/index.htm
The scores with reduced instrumentation are also linked from the relevant cantata pages on the BCW [under Scoring, second line]
See, for example: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV68.htm

For more information, visit the BCW or the Immanuel Bach Consort website: www.immanuelbachconsort.org

BCW: Sacred Cantatas on MuseScore

Ramon Casadesus-Masanell wrote (December 13, 2021):
Over the past few years, I have coordinated the engraving of all of Bach’s Sacred Cantatas on MuseScore. While I understand that many of the cantatas and individual movements have been available for Capella and Finale for some time, I thought it would be helpful to have these works engraved on a free, open source platform, for all to enjoy. I am very thankful to Aryeh for his willingness to distribute these files on https://bach-cantatas.com

Engraving was mostly done by Javad Javadzade (https://www.javadjavadzade.com). Полина Емельяненкова (Polina Yemelianenkova) also contributed a substantial number of files. The scores used for the engraving are from the Bach-Gesellschaft collection. Most scores include Bernhard Todt’s piano reductions (published by Breitkopf und Härtel). Both collections are available on the Bach Cantatas Website.

The files can be accessed on a browser and can be played directly there. In addition, you’ll be able to download the original MuseScore files, the pdf of the full score and/or individual parts, as well as the corresponding MusicXML, MIDI, and Audio files. You’ll be able to edit the MuseScore files (e.g., correct typos, change clefs, reassign instruments for playback, change metronome marks…) on the free MuseScore software (https://musescore.org/en/download), version 3.

This is work in progress. Next steps are: (1) including piano reductions for BWV 111 to BWV 145 and BWV 200; and (2) including continuo realizations for all the cantatas. #1 will be completed relatively soon. #2 will take many years, but I think it is an important next step.

I hope you will find some of this work helpful. Happy Holidays!

Eric Basta wrote (December 13, 2021):
[To Ramon Casadesus-Masanell] This is great! Thank you for doing this!

Zachary Uram wrote (December 13, 2021):
[To Ramon Casadesus-Masanell] Great job!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

John Garside wrote (December 24, 2021):
[To Ramon Casadesus-Masanell] What an amazing amount of effort must have gone into creating this fantastic resource.

Very many thnks indeed.

Scores of Bach Cantatas: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Bach’s Manuscripts: Part 1 | Part 2