Klavierbuechlein fur Anna Magdalena Bach (1725)

J. S. Bach's Notebook for Anna Magdalena(1725).

This hardback facsimile edition, bound in green with gold trimmings, and bearing the initials “A.M.B.” and “1725” on the front cover, presents one of the greatest albums of household music. It is primarily the personal album of Anna Magdalena Bach (1701-1760), daughter of the court and military trumpeter Johann Caspar Wilcke, a trained musician and court singer, and second wife to Johann Sebastian Bach.

The album contains partitas (two in Bach's own hand probably intended as a tribute to his wife), minuets, polonaises, marches and short pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, hischildren, and a few visitors to the Bach home. The volume also contains little vocal pieces, songs and chorales as well as exercises in harmony and thoroughbass realisations.

The pieces are arranged chronologically (except for the last section) and several members of the Bach family helped with the copying - only Wilhelm Friedemann's hand is absent. The majority of the pieces (28 works) are in Anna Magdalena's hand, and the volume provides a tantalising glimpse into the everyday world of this musical family.

Documenta Musicologica II, 25; Format 26cm x 20cm.

Afterword (Ger-Eng-Fr); 140 pages facsimile; 24 pages text.