Books about music, with the music in them.
Old books about Bach and his world, rebuilt as ebooks you can read, listen to, and play. Every musical example is engraved again and recorded, and sits beside the original page.
In the bass and in the cadences to the soprano air Et exsultavit we hear the characteristic Bach motive of joy, as though a blinding ray of sunlight suddenly vibrated through the gentle Advent twilight —
As printed in 1911
Engraved again, and played
In every edition
- The book
- The text from the original printing, read three times and checked word by word, with the notes kept. Anything uncertain is checked against the page before release. An EPUB that opens in Apple Books, Kobo, Thorium or our app.
- The examples
- Each musical example engraved from a fresh transcription and recorded on piano, shown next to the page it came from. Tap one to hear it.
- The narration
- The whole book read aloud, chapter by chapter, with the examples played where the author points to them. In our app the text follows the voice.
Listen to a chapter
The opening of Schweitzer’s chapter on the Magnificat and the St. John Passion
Read by an AI voice (Kokoro), with names and Latin and German words checked by ear. The musical examples play where the text introduces them.
The first titles
Each is being made from a scan of its first English printing.
- J. S. Bach, Volume II
Albert Schweitzer, translated by Ernest Newman, 1911
Text rebuilt from the 1911 printing and under review; musical examples being engraved.
- Johann Sebastian Bach: His Work and Influence on the Music of Germany, 1685–1750, Volume I
Philipp Spitta, translated by Clara Bell and J. A. Fuller Maitland, 1884–85
Text rebuilt from the 1899 printing; review starting.
- Johann Sebastian Bach: His Work and Influence on the Music of Germany, 1685–1750, Volume II
Philipp Spitta, translated by Clara Bell and J. A. Fuller Maitland, 1884–85
Scanned and read; rebuild next.
- Johann Sebastian Bach: His Work and Influence on the Music of Germany, 1685–1750, Volume III
Philipp Spitta, translated by Clara Bell and J. A. Fuller Maitland, 1884–85
Scanned and read; rebuild next.
- Bach’s Chorals, Part I: The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the “Passions” and Oratorios
Charles Sanford Terry, 1915
Text rebuilt from the 1915 printing and under review; 27 melodies to engrave.
- Bach’s Chorals, Part II: The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the Cantatas and Motetts
Charles Sanford Terry, 1917
Being rebuilt from the 1917 printing.
- Bach’s Chorals, Part III: The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the Organ Works
Charles Sanford Terry, 1921
Being rebuilt from the 1921 printing.