On-line Book Review

it is truly a remarkable achievement

This is a large book; it consists of a series of scholarly essays, which are arranged under seven section headings of diverse topics, as can be seen in the table of contents in brief on the left. (The actual table of contents has two further levels of sub-headings, occupying 10 pages of the book.) If you are already familiar with Steiger's work, you may be a little disappointed to find that not all the essays are published here for the first time: in fact, the first twelve essays are based on already-published materials, mostly in the last decade. But as they are now arranged in such a narrative and systematic way, the whole discussion is made much more accessible. In addition, there is a generous set of indices of names, the biblical reference, hymn tunes, Bach's works, and keywords, which further enhances its usefulness as a reference book.

The author's main focus is the words set by Bach in his works, which she examines from a wider historical settings, such as applied emblematics, medieval mystic tradition, the atonement, ars moriendi, and hermeneutics. Common with many of her articles, Steiger's writing is rich with citations from the sources from which Bach presumably gained knowledge or received influence, such as Johann Olearius, Johann Arndt, Heinrich Müller, Martin Moller, Martin Geier, Johann Heermann, to name but six. Studying these citations and their potential influence on Bach gives some insight into how Bach approached his compositions.

This may be the most systematic and up-to-date monograph discussing Bach's vocal works as a whole from a theological angle; but the detailed discussion of the actual works are limited to those works indicated under the "works covered" above in bold type. Nevertheless, it has to be said that it is truly a remarkable achievement that so much has already been done in the space of a few decades.