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Editorial Principles of the Stuttgart Bach Editions
The Stuttgart Bach Editions are scholarly publications. They are
based on the conviction that the needs of practical performance
are best served by a musicologically reliable text which neither
browbeats the interpretative artist nor denies him necessary guidance
as a result of any indecisiveness. After consideration of the latest
research findings, the musical text is prepared through critical
comparison between accessible sources.
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In view of the satisfactory situation regarding the source material (in
the case of most of the sacred vocal works J.S. Bach‘s original score,
or the parts used at the first performance or, ideally, both have survived)
there is, as a rule, no doubt concerning the sources on which an edition
should be based. The autograph scores are almost free from errors, but
as a result of numerous alterations made during the compositional process
the definitive reading cannot always be ascertained without doubt. Sometimes
essential indications of the scoring are missing – details which Bach
decided upon or specified precisely only when the performance parts were
written out. He generally added performance instructions such as dynamics,
articulation markings, and the figuring of the continuo line only when
checking the parts which had been copied by students of the Thomasschule.
In similar passages, whether in different instrumental parts played simultaneously
or at various points in a movement, the details are not always given identically.
In view of the extreme haste with which the parts often had to be produced
for a performance, careless mistakes were almost bound to occur. Thus
writing errors went uncorrected and there could easily be ambiguities
regarding the intended meaning of slurs. In a few cases Bach made such
important alterations for the first or a subsequent performance that publication
of more than one version of a movement is desirable.
In many cases the original sources of works by Johann Sebastian Bach’s
sons have survived. However, compositions by other members of the Bach
family are generally known only from contemporary copies, whose reliability
has to be considered in detail. The Stuttgart Bach Editions consist of
three sections. The musical text is preceded by a brief Foreword, which
places the work’s composition and reception in its historical context
and which also discusses any particular editorial or performance problems,
not least the choice of instruments. Finally, in the Critical Report the
source material used for the edition is described, the editorial principles
employed are summed up, and in the detailed notes all editorial deviations
from the sources and significant differences between the sources are described
and, if necessary, justified. The German texts are given in present-day
orthography and in line with current usage; where historical phonetical
and grammatical formulae require explanation this has been provided. In
addition to period hymn books and editions of the Bible, surviving libretti
of Bach’s time have been evaluated. Each of the recent publications contains
below the German text a singable English translation, which follows the
original German as closely as possible. The performance material consists
of the full score, miniature score, vocal score with piano, choral score,
all instrumental parts, and the keyboard continuo part which includes
a suggested realisation of the figured bass.
In the Stuttgart Bach Editions all editorial alterations to the musical
text which go beyond the changes necessary to bring it into line with
modern practice – such as the replacement of clefs which are no longer
in use – are documented appropriately. Some decisions, for example the
addition of dynamic markings omitted in the original, or of staccato dots
or slurs on the basis of clear analogies – all of which have been made
with great care – have been indicated in the musical text by the use of
small print, dotted lines, italics or brackets, none of which need specific
mention in the Critical Report. The editions are revised regularly, when
reprinted, on the basis of the latest musicological findings.
On occasion the original sources also contain entries which were made
later. In the Stuttgart Bach Editions the attempt has always been made
to decide whether these entries are to be regarded as unauthorized, or
whether they are still of interest today because they derive from authentic
sources which are now lost, or at least because they throw light on performance
practice in Bach’s day. In such cases they are presented for discussion
in the Foreword, in the Critical Report, or, appropriately marked, in
the musical text.
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