Bach for a Hundred Years

A Social History of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem

Paul S. Larson

• Publisher: Lehigh University Press
• Year: 2011
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781611460957
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

This is an account of the actions taken by the residents of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to create a local amateur society singing the music of J. S. Bach and to develop it into a choir of international importance. Singers, instrumentalists, industrialists, academicians, bankers, and churches acted in community to found and perpetuate a group devoted to sharing the music of Bach locally, nationally, and internationally. While The Bach Choir of Bethlehem performs frequently elsewhere, the annual Bethlehem Bach Festival became and remains a magnet for those who love Bach and want to experience his music excellently performed in historic and sacred surroundings.
In order to reach and maintain its premier status, the choir, its conductor, its board, and staff had to be experts in music performance and shifts in audience tastes. They had to be responsive to research in performance practice, and skilled in strategic planning, promotion and fundraising. In recent years they had to become competent in sound recording technology and use of the internet. These attributes are described and analyzed with frequent use of documents and personal anecdotes.
Successfully balancing the human actions and desires involved in such a complex enterprise has earned The Bach Choir of Bethlehem the title "A National Treasure" in music and the recognition that it is at the same time a national model for excellence as a cultural non-profit organization.
This is a story of how and why—for over a century—inspiring performances of Bach's music came about and were brought to many thousands of listeners.

Table of contents

• Illustrations
• Acknowledgments
• Author’s Note
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 Bach, Bethlehem, and Wolle 1733–1897
• Chapter 2 Creating an American Bach Choir 1898
• Chapter 3 A National Success 1899–1900
• Chapter 4 Becoming International 1901
• Chapter 5 The Bach Festivals Questioned 1902
• Chapter 6 Bach Festivals as an Idea 1903
• Chapter 7 A Bach Cycle 1904–1905
• Chapter 8 The Wolles in California 1905–1911
• Chapter 9 Renewing the Bach Choir in Bethlehem 1912–1913
• Chapter 10 An American Center for Bach 1914
• Chapter 11 “My Bach Choir” 1915–1933
• Chapter 12 Years of Transition 1934–1938
• Chapter 13 A More Comprehensive Scope The Third Conductor
• Chapter 14 A Distinguished Career 1951–1969
• Chapter 15 Connecting with Bach 1969–1976
• Chapter 16 Mann’s Last Years with the Choir 1976–1980
• Chapter 17 In Mann’s Footsteps 1981–1983
• Chapter 18 A Renewed Choir 1982–1990
• Chapter 19 “A More Sophisticated Organization” 1991–1996
• Chapter 20 “A National Treasure” 1996–2000
• Chapter 21 A Second Centennial 2000–2007
• Appendix A BACH FESTIVAL DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR LECTURE SERIES
• Appendix B BACH CHOIR DISCOGRAPHY
• Selected Bibliography
• About the Author