Bach and the Baroque: European Source Materials from the Baroque and Early Classical Periods With Special Emphasis on the Music of J.S. Bach

Most articles written about performance practice deal with relatively small areas (trills, over dotting, etc.) placing emphasis on citing original sources or collating several original sources in order to support a given position. There is not sufficient information in these articles to deal with all aspects of Baroque style. This text was built on the premise that as many conclusions as possible should be drawn from the sources themselves. Leaps to conclusions about other aspects of style insufficiently documented in sources are made on the basis of the author's own experience as performer. There are different conclusions that one can reach, as the area is large and some aspects of style find the various sources in disagreement(e.g., time signatures) or are simply not discussed. Most of the source disagreements stem from national differences in style. This text which includes regular assignments may be used as main material for a course on the performance of the music of J.S. Bach or for a course on Baroque performance practice in general. (From the Introduction).