Bach—Eine Bildbiografie/Pictorial Biography by Michael Maul (review)

Abstract

M ichael Maul’s credentials are impeccable. He is a key member of the research team at the Bach-Archiv Leipzig and for several years has served as the artistic director of the “Bach-Fest,” the annual Leipzig Bach Festival. His Bach—Eine Bildbiografie/Pictorial Biography is different in a number of ways from the range of previous accounts of Johann Sebastian Bach’s life written by such distinguished authors as Philipp Spitta, Albert Schweitzer, Christoph Wolff, and others. Perhaps most importantly, it is a biography based on iconographical documents, where every right-hand page presents an image, with detailed description given on the left-hand page. In between four introductory and two closing pages (also accompanied by images), the book follows a clearly outlined chronology of the Cantor’s life in six chapters, divided into 141 episodes. More than likely, this palindromic number is a thinly veiled, witty reference to the numerical signature of Bach; when converted into numbers, the four letters B-A-C-H equal 2 þ 1 þ 3 þ 8 = 14. At the top of every left-hand page, the pertinent year is highlighted, giving precise guidance to the reader. The chapters mark the main stations in the composer’s life; thus, for example, chapter 6 offers an account of the Leipzig years. The pages by no means mark a rigid year-by-year account. A few years—even from the composer’s later decades—remain unmentioned (for example, 1744 and 1745). Meanwhile, some years, which the author deemed more eventful, are discussed in considerably more detail; for example, the events of 1725 are elaborated over six pictures and therefore six double pages. Maul’s distinctive view focuses on the interrelations of people and events in the baroque master’s life, eminently supported by numerous citations from contemporary sources and a wonderful compilation of images. This may help explain why only the most well-known sacred cantatas and about a dozen of the hundreds of