Johnny Reinhard: Bach and Tuning

Johnny Reinhard’s latest book, published in August 2016 by Peter Lang.

Currently available as an e-book from peterlang.com.
Due out in paperback shortly.

Bach and Tuning is strictly concerned with the identification of a historically accurate tuning paradigm that applies to the great majority of Johann Sebastian Bach’s music. Once Bach has his personal tuning aesthetic acknowledged, a new dimension of meaning is invoked in performance through the intended interplay of diverse musical intervals. This new narrative lays bare Bach’s mental calculations regarding his idealized intonation. Bach, the true chromatic composer of the Baroque, was the scion of a great music family. Likewise, Andreas Werckmeister was the bright star in a neighboring musical family, only a generation earlier. Bach and Tuning connects the valuable tuning contribution made by Werckmeister to Bach’s musical masterpieces.

Here, to whet your appetite, is the List of Contents:

The Bach family phenomenon

Microtonal analysis

New spotlight on Buxtehude, Walther, Kirnberger, and Werckmeister

Exploring Thuringian cities

Cultural norms lived by Bach

Elizabeth Hehr’s translation of Werckmeister’s Musicalische Temperatur (1691)