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Bach FAQ 117
Bach-Gesamtwerk, Bach Complete Edition, Bach-Gesamtausgabe: Are There Really Three Terms for the Same Music Work?..
This offer is only available at "Bach 4 You", the shop of Renate Bach in the Johann Sebastian Bach Mission..
Just Bach's sheet music as a PDF file would be cool enough. And you'll also receive five valuable extras on top of that. First is the valuable “Bach Biography for Children” in a tablet version. Then there's the audiobook edition of it. Specifically, the one featuring 19 musical works by Bach, each three to five minutes long. Next is the first short Bach biography from 1750 (... the necrology) as an audio collage with music. It continues with a kind of audio play: “The Most Beautiful Quotes About Johann Sebastian Bach.” This medley is accompanied by Bach’s musical works and a short biography. All audio products are narrated by professionals. Click here to visit the shop or, alternatively, use the following link to visit the Complete Works of Bach directly. Of course, and to the six really cool extras included with the complete works. There you can also preview the audiobooks. The music, however ... unfortunately not, since ASCAP is “throwing a wrench in the plan”..
The Bach-Gesamtwerk Are CDs – the Bach-Gesamtausgabe Is Sheet Music..
Just a quick reminder: This entire page is an advertisement = a commercial = a promotion. And here’s a brief overview now ... followed later by a detailed answer to the question in the headline: The Gesamtwerk and the Complete Edition are one and the same: namely, 141 CDs to listen to. Or, to be more precise: Bach’s 1,128 musical pieces to listen to..
However, when Bach connoisseurs and enthusiasts refer to the Gesamtausgabe, they mean Bach’s collected works in sheet music form. In other words, on paper. It consists of roughly 52 volumes, totaling 16,800 pages, and you can purchase a brand-new set today for around €20,000, fresh off the press. Or you can get them as PDFs for almost nothing*. That is, in electronic form in the historical edition. Unfortunately, you cannot buy them in print from Bach 4 You, the publisher in the joint Bach Mission. But of course, we’ll tell you where you can..
* ... included free of charge as one of six bonus items to Bach's complete works, that is, to Bach's music. Explore now?..
Both terms have since been artificially assigned by Bach experts. Specialists make a very clear distinction between them and do not mix these terms. It can be confusing, however, if you search for them online. Unless, of course, you end up at Bach on Bach. Or on one of my other websites. This – regarding the Gesamtwerk and the Gesamtausgabe – is indeed a bit confusing. Just like ... almost everything with Bach..
The Complete Edition (... Gesamtwerk) ... not the Gesamtausgabe.
The price for this collection at Bach 4 You is truly incredibly low. And on top of that, you also get six bonus items: One bonus, for example, is a PDF file containing 16,800 sheet music pages. Photographed by Peter Bach, Jr. over the course of three (... long) days in top quality. And then digitized by the Renate Bach Publishing House. When you make a purchase, you can also look forward to five more exciting Bach extras. If you’re interested, just take a look in the shop, right where they’re listed. By the way, when you buy from Bach 4 You, of course you’re also supporting our efforts to help cover the enormous costs of our Johann Sebastian Bach Mission. It’s no different than in any museum around the world. Thank you very much for that as well. We hope the small ad spaces don’t bother you too much from time to time..
More Information Regarding the Bach-Gesamtausgabe, the New Bach-Gesamtausgabe, and the Revised New Bach-Gesamtausgabe..
Since the Bach on Bach website always offers additional information, I’d like to give you the opportunity here to learn a little more about the Bach-Gesamtausgabe. Specifically, the 16,800 pages of sheet music that make up the collection. Would you have guessed that these 50 volumes of the “Old Bach-Gesamtausgabe” were published over a period of 50 years? Meanwhile, there is not only the “New Bach-Gesamtausgabe” ... it is far from being in the public domain. I am not allowed to photograph or copy it so that my wife can offer it for sale ... because it was only completed in recent years. But that just makes things even more confusing. Because to make matters worse (... true Bach fans, Bach musicians, and Bach experts will forgive me for saying this), the first volumes of the “Revised New Bach-Gesamtausgabe” are already available..
So, it’s “back to square one.” A new volume is now being published every year. And by 2060, give or take a few years, this edition will be complete. You can read a bit more about the New Bach-Gesamtausgabe here on Wiki. You can even buy the New Bach-Gesamtausgabe Edition from Bärenreiter-Verlag. There you can read that it will be completed in 104 volumes. There is also plenty more information available. The Bach Archive provides additional details there..
Oh, right, why three different Bach-Gesamtausgaben? Well … Bach researchers are constantly discovering new things about Bach’s music. A motet turns up that’s attributed to him. Or there’s a consensus that a “work by Bach” wasn’t actually composed by him. That doesn’t happen every week, or even every year. But in 50, 60, 70, or even 100 years, quite a few things will be different from what they are today. That’s why the “Old” Gesamtausgabe of Bach’s works was published first, followed by the “New” one, and finally the “Revised New” one. For the vast majority of Bach fans – I’d estimate 99 percent of us –the “Old” Bach-Gesamtausgabe is certainly adequate. For the top experts among all Bach specialists, however, the “New Revised Bach-Gesamtausgabe” is undoubtedly very valuable. Diplomatically put? Thank you..
The Bach-Gesamtausgabe in Leipzig ... My Photography Experience and Three Exhausting Days..
At first, as a new Bach fan, you’re familiar with the Bach-Gesamtwerk, which is sometimes also called the Complete Edition. But you’re not yet familiar with the Bach-Gesamtausgabe. Even better: You think both terms refer to the same collection..
Later on, you’ll be better informed. In fact, you might even be better informed now, because Google has led you straight from that exact situation to Bach on Bach ... that is, to this, my page..
Finally, you read that the “Old Bach- Gesamtausgabe” can be bought here and there for around € 150, and you wonder how a Bach fan – or perhaps it is not a Bach fan at all – offers it for sale. You learn that this complete “Bach-Gesamtausgabe” was once scanned. But simply copying it and offering it to you would be illegal. Because even though the copyright on the “Bach-Gesamtausgabe” has expired, scanning or photographing the entire work generates a new copyright for those scanned or photographed pages..
But we really wanted to be able to offer them to you through the Renate Bach Publishing House. So my wife and I set out on a trip, and we were warmly welcomed at the museum in Leipzig. Over the course of three days, spending eight hours each day in a crouched position, I photographed all 50 volumes of the “Old Bach-Gesamtausgabe.” Here are a few impressions from our “event.”..
The “Old Bach-Gesamtausgabe”: shoot – turn the page – hold the edge – shoot – turn the page – hold the edge – shoot ... and so on. 50 volumes. Lots and lots of sheet music: With a sore back, I returned to the hotel on the first evening. But the haul is incredibly cool..
The “Old Bach-Gesamtausgabe” part two: Just sitting in this position alone relaxes muscles, tendons, and whatever else has been aching after all this time..
Of course, the “Old Bach-Gesamtausgabe” isn’t available in just one color. No, it comes in red, brown, blue, and green. Just so it doesn’t look too straightforward..
A Bach treasure: the “Old Bach-Gesamtausgabe.” Here you can see three different editions. But they all have the same content. It’s hard to imagine that these editions were produced over a period of 50 years ... that’s two generations. The “New Bach-Gesamtausgabe” is meanwhile complete and available for purchase. And the “Revised New Bach-Gesamtausgabe” has been in the works over the past few years and will continue to be developed over the next 40 years. At least, that’s the rough estimate. But you can already buy the first volumes today. Not only in 2060..
10,000 Music Gift Ideas? Or 1,000,000+ Gift Ideas for Musicians?..
It is a Bach calendar. However: More precisely, it is a Bach cities and Bach places Bach calendar. Three sizes. This year and next year. European style and US style. To the shop..
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