rssWe live and learn in the book of our fellow-men. - Ellis Peters
2009, October 09
Terry and Whittaker
New reprints available: Charles Sanford Terry and W. Gillies Whittaker
I am very happy to have found two sets of books, one new to me (Whittaker), and one I have had in photocopy form for many years and have used to study the chorale melodies (Terry). The Whittaker set has arrived and I will read along to cantatas as I listen. The Terry set should get here in about 10 days, when I will be able to retire the extremely large 3-ring binder holding the photocopies.
C.S. Terry wrote three volumes on the chorale melodies in the cantatas, organ works, passions and oratorios of Bach. They were published in 1915, 1917 and 1921. They were reprinted by AMS Press in 1979. Still, copies were very difficult to find. The University of Washington has a copy of the original publication, and the Stanford Music Library has a copy of the AMS reprint.
The books are now in the public domain, so they have been scanned by the Library of Liberty and are available as PDF files.
From the Online Library of Liberty:
Fair use statement: This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit.
- Charles Sanford Terry, Bach Chorals Volume One: Passions, Oratorios
- Charles Sanford Terry, Bach Chorals Volume Two: Cantatas
- Charles Sanford Terry, Bach Chorals Volume Three: Organ Works
Or you can buy them printed and bound by the Cornell University Library:
- Charles Sanford Terry, Bach Chorals Volume One: Passions, Oratorios
- Charles Sanford Terry, Bach Chorals Volume Two: Cantatas, Motets
- Charles Sanford Terry, Bach Chorals Volume Three: Organ Works
I also found a good used copy of the two volumes W. Gillies Whittaker wrote on the Bach Cantatas. This is a great find; Whittaker was the first person to perform all the cantatas publicly, back in the 40's. When he died his completed manuscript was revised for publication in 1959 by Harold Thompson, continuo player.
The dating of the cantatas was revised in an appendix to the 1978 paperback edition from Oxford University Press.
Try this link for other copies: The Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach: Sacred and Secular in Two Volumes
I predict many hours of happy reading and listening, then blogging.
