Unit information: J.S. Bach - The Leipzig Years in 2011/12

Unit name	J.S. Bach - The Leipzig Years
Unit code	MUSI30076
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Glyn Jenkins
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of Music
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

This unit will concentrate to a large extent on the great Mass in B minor, whose composition occupied Bach at various stages during his career in Leipzig (1723-50). Discussions of the work  its origins, structure, use of parody and so forth  will be set in a broad context, surveying Bachs personal and artistic development during those years, and including comment on the cantatas and keyboard music as well as The Art of Fugue and the Musical Offering. Especial attention will be devoted to ways in which Bach responded to changing musical fashions and ideals that swept through Germany at this time.

Aims:

This unit aims to investigate not only the social and religious climate that prevailed in Germany during Bachs final years, but also those factors that influenced his stylistic development at this point in his career. How Bach rose to the various challenges posed will be examined by means of case studies and by inspection of primary source materials. While there will be a certain amount of factual input from the unit director, the main focus will be on student participation in seminars, founded on specified readings and including an opportunity to engage in oral presentation and counter-argument.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will:

• Be able to discuss in detail Bachs B minor Mass

• Be able to relate particular compositional and technical features to the broader liturgical and doctrinal contexts in which they are situated

• Be able to discuss reasons for stylistic development illustrated in Bachs Leipzig works

• Be able to discuss the characteristics of the principal genres in which Bach worked

• Comment on the primary sources for this repertoire (in particular, scribal habits and patterns of transmission)

And additionally (specific to Level H) to:

• incorporate a consistently strong grasp of detail with respect to content

• argue effectively and at length (including an ability to cope with complexities and to describe and deploy these effectively)

• display to a high level skills in selecting, applying, interpreting and organising information, including evidence of a high level of bibliographical control

• describe, evaluate and/or challenge current scholarly thinking

• discriminate between different kinds of information, processes, interpretations

• take a critical stance towards scholarly processes involved in arriving at historical knowledge and/or relevant secondary literature

• engage with relevant theoretical, philosophical or social constructs for understanding relevant works or traditions

• demonstrate an understanding of concepts and an ability to conceptualise

• situate material within relevant contexts (invoking interdisciplinary contexts where appropriate)

• apply strategies laterally (perhaps leading to innovative results).

Teaching Information

Seminars (NB. taught together with Year 2).

Assessment Information

Coursework essay (c. 3000 words) (50%) and 2 hr examination (50%)

NB the essay and examination questions will be specific to this level, as will the assessment criteria.

Reading and References

• M. Boyd, Bach (London, 1983)

• M. Boyd (ed.), The Oxford Companion to J.S. Bach (Oxford, 1999)

• J. Butt, Bach  Mass in B minor (Cambridge, 1991)

• R. L. Marshall, J.S. Bach  the sources, the style, the significance (New York, 1989)

• C. Wolff, J.S. Bach  the Learned Musician (Oxford, 2000)