Much has been written about

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

's ensembles (both in size and constituents—both vocal and instrumental) that he used. In Bach's time referred to more advanced vocal

church music Church music is Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. History Early Christian music The on ...

, usually accompanied by instrumental forces, such as his motets, church cantatas and

passions ''Passions'' is an American television soap opera that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1999, to September 7, 2007, and on DirecTV's The 101 Network from September 17, 2007, to August 7, 2008. Created by screenwriter James E. Reilly and ...

. The vocal and instrumental forces used by Bach for the performance of such music are to a certain extent documented for all the periods of his life. Information about his secular orchestral and choral music is more limited: it mostly involves his period in Köthen, and his involvement with Leipzig's student orchestra, the

Collegium Musicum The Collegium Musicum was one of several types of musical societies that arose in German and German- Swiss cities and towns during the Reformation and thrived into the mid-18th century. Generally, while societies such as the (chorale) cultivated ...

performing at

Café Zimmermann The Café Zimmermann, or was the coffeehouse of Gottfried Zimmermann in Leipzig which formed the backdrop to the first performances of many of Bach's secular cantatas, e.g. the ''Coffee Cantata'' (''Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht''), and inst ...

Before Leipzig

Arnstadt and Mühlhausen

Weimar and Köthen

Leipzig

Figural music

In 1730, Bach wrote a memo (''Entwurff'') to the Leipzig town council regarding musical staffing of the Leipzig churches for which he was responsible.

Vocal forces

In regards to vocal forces, Bach wrote:Bach, Johann Sebastian. Kurtzer; iedoch höchstnöthiger Entwurff einer wohlbestallten Kirchen Music; nebst einigem unvorgreiflichen Bedencken von dem Verfall derselben. Leipzig: Johann Sebastian Bach, 23 August 1730. Retrieved on 17 May 2011 from http://www.bach.de/leben/kirchenmusik.html. which translates to: He also lists in a note dating from about the same year (1730) the minimum requirements for the churches mentioned in the ''Entwurff'':

Instrumental forces

Likewise, Bach wrote of the instrumental forces required: which translates to:David, Hans T. and Arthur Mendel. The Bach Reader: A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents. Rev. ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1980, p. 121.

Secular music

By performer and instrument types

Vocalists

Vocal soloists

Choir

Instruments

String section

Winds

Continuo and organ

After 1750

Second half of the 18th century

19th century

20th century

21st century

In the 21st century, several conductors have recorded all or most of Bach's cantatas using choirs with three or four singers per part. For instance,

Philippe Herreweghe Philippe Maria François Herreweghe, Knight Herreweghe (born 2 May 1947) is a Belgian conductor and choirmaster. Herreweghe founded La Chapelle Royale and Collegium Vocale Gent and is renowned as a conductor, with a repertoire ranging from Re ...

has performed and recorded "Bach ... as he practiced in Leipzig, with three suitable singers per voice group".Ellen Segeren. "Voor Herreweghe gaat de tijd dringen: 'Ik wil alleen nog topmuziek'", pp. 61–64 in , summer 2010 Herreweghe sees voices suitable for Bach as "small" voices, voice types with certain characteristics: he names

Peter Kooij Peter Kooij (or, internationally Kooy, born 1954, in Soest) is a Dutch bass singer who specializes in baroque music. Biography Kooij started his musical career at 6 years as a choir boy. However he started his musical studies as a violin stud ...

and

Dorothee Mields Dorothee Mields (born 15 April 1971) is a German soprano concert singer of Baroque and contemporary music. Career Mields was born in Gelsenkirchen. She studied at the University of the Arts Bremen with Elke Holzmann, Harry van der Kamp and Ga ...

as examples of that voice type. By contrast, a number of 21st-century Bach conductors have instead accepted

Joshua Rifkin Joshua Rifkin (born April 22, 1944 in New York) is an American conductor, pianist, and musicologist; he is currently a professor of music at Boston University. As a performer he has recorded music by composers from Antoine Busnois to Silvestr ...

's arguments that most of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

's choral music was performed with only one singer per voice part.

References

Sources

* Malcolm Boyd
''Bach''.
Oxford University Press, 2006. {{Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach Historically informed performance