Members of the American Bach Society will gather on campus Friday-Sunday, April 24-26, to explore the topic "J.S. Bach and the Musical Instruments of His Time." The event, the society's biennial meeting, is hosted by the Yale College department of music, the School of Music, the Institute of Sacred Music and the Collection of Musical Instruments. Events that are free and open to the public are listed below.
Established in 1972, the American Bach Society is a group of scholars, performers and admirers of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), widely considered one of the greatest composers of the Western world.
The conference will bring together specialists on Bach and his music and experts on historical instruments. "The theme of the conference is a natural one for Yale, whose Collection of Musical Instruments is rich in the kind of instruments Bach knew, and whose libraries hold some of the most famous manuscripts of Bach's instrumental music," says Daniel Melamed, associate professor of music history and a specialist on Bach, who is coordinating the meeting on campus. Yale's holdings include "the keyboard notebook Bach assembled for his oldest son Wilhelm Friedemann, and the only copy of the so-called 'Neumeister' chorale preludes for organ that were first identified in 1985," adds Melamed.
The conference will include four sessions of scholarly papers and lecture-demonstrations covering new research on harpsichords, flutes, trombones, and other instruments of Bach's time. Guest speakers will come from across the United States, Canada and Europe.
The conference will open at 1 p.m. on Friday with welcoming remarks and a scholarly session in Dwight Chapel, 67 High St. The remaining three scholarly sessions will be held at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, and at 9 a.m. on Sunday in Sudler Hall of William Harkness Hall, 100 Wall St. The sessions are free and open to the public.
Highlighting the conference will be a performance of Bach's "St. John Passion," sung by the Yale Camerata to the accompaniment of the Arcadia Players, who will perform on period instruments. The concert will be at 8 p.m. on Friday in Battell Chapel, corner of College and Elm streets. Admission is free, and the public is invited.
In conjunction with the conference, there will be an exhibit of Bach-related items from Yale's collections -- including original manuscripts and early printed editions of the composer's work and music by Bach's contemporaries -- at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, 121 Wall St.
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