Music for manuals by Bach and those Bachs who lived before, during, and after him.

All chosen for playing for at Mass – before, during and after.

Bach was once a brand name in Europe.

There were more than 50 Bachs involved with music in Europe at that time, to the point that people would say, “What’s he do?” and the answer was “He’s a Bach.” and they knew he was a musician.

This is a book of music composed by Bachs before, during, and after the life of Johann Sebastian Bach himself and includes his own music in the middle of the book. You will find many useful short pieces in his section that are invaluable for the Catholic organist.

It is very interesting to play music from before JSB’s time, his music, and the music of those that followed him. You will see and hear the drastic changes as JSB brought the Baroque era to its glorious end and his sons embarked into the Classical era.

It is also interesting to see that there were Bachs who served at Catholic churches, one for 48 years, and this, along with other works by composers of this era that served in Catholic churches, indicates that the style of music was shared, dispelling the idea that there were distinctly different styles of organ music separating the Catholics and Lutherans.

These pieces were probably composed on the harpsichord or the clavichord as they were available in homes since organs were in churches or halls, which had to be pumped by hand or foot by a helper or two or more, and building it was expensive.

Klaviermusik, which just means keyboard music, is the title of many books of music from that era without in- dictating clavichord, harpsichord, or organ. Quite a bit of this Klavier music from the transitional era is quite suited to the organ. Certain pieces in the Goldberg Variations of Bach — best known for performance on the harpsichord and modern piano — are included here and are very well suited to the organ. Incidentally, Bach did have the opportunity to play a very early piano and he was not impressed, though his sons were able to play more refined pianos and wrote for them.

You will find that being creative in registration and altering tempo can turn a solemn soft piece during communion into a stunning postlude.

As a musician in Germany, Johann Sebastian Bach and others sought out employment in Royal Court, Opera, Lutheran, or Catholic churches. Talented musicians could adjust to the demands of these three different work environments.