Matt GoldsteinProf. LibinMusic & Ideas II1 March 2015Handel Bach = Opera (Annotated Bibliography)Dean, Winton, and Anthony Hicks. The New Grove Handel. London: Macmillan, 1982. Print. This text includes an all-inclusive catalogue of Handels works that proves vital vital for comparing Bach and Handels genre overlaps. Additionally, I found a fascinating chapter on Handels Character and Personality, which will hopefully add a more personal angle to my essay.Erickson, Raymond.The Worlds of Johann Sebastian Bach. New York: Amadeus, 2009. Print. This work illuminates the cultural settings and contexts of Bachs life, and features one chapter that is of particular interest: Chp. 5 Leipzig: The Cradle of German Acting. This chapter will provide valuable insight regarding the active opera culture in Leipzig and possible reasons why Bach was not lured into writing for it.Herz, Gerhard. "Bach's Religion."Journal of Renaissance and Baroque Music1.2 (1946): 124-38.JSTOR. Web. This piece delves into various aspects of Bachs religious life. Examining Bachs religious upbringing, adult religious practices, and religious belief system, it becomes clear that his religious beliefs had a significant effect on his musical life. Bachs relationship with the church and with local clergy sheds light on his apparent aversion to opera.

Hogwood, Christopher.Handel. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1985. Print. This comprehensive, well-respected biography of Handels life provides an in-depth look at the various stages of Handels life. Two chapters are of particular interest: Chp. 3 London: the Heyday of Opera (1710-28) and Chp. 4 London: the Decline of Opera (1729-37). These chapters will help to explain Handels relationship to opera, operas relationship to 18th century London culture, and all of the varying ways in which Handel, opera, and London culture affected each other.Landon, H. C. Robbins.Handel and His World. Boston: Little, Brown, 1984. Print. The opening chapter of this book explores Handels childhood and early years, allowing for examination of his upbringing and the root of Handels desire to compose for the theatre. A later chapter, The Alpine Faun & The Royal Academy 1719-1728 provide further insight regarding the 18th century London opera culture that so affected Handels life and career.Marissen, Michael.The Social and Religious Designs of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1995. Print. Chapter Three, Lutheran Belief and Bachs Music, offers more concrete analysis of the specific manners in which the church influenced Bachs music. In this light, the churchs position on operatic music can be showed to directly affect Bachs work.

Marshall, Robert Lewis.The Music of Johann Sebastian Bach: The Sources, the Style, the Significance. New York: Schirmer, 1989. Print. This book analyzes Bachs music in detail, examining the stylistic sources of Bachs musical techniques. As indicated in this text, Bach used many ideas and idioms common to opera, re-using them in his own music in ways that both defy and hark back to opera.Monod, Paul. "The Politics of Handel's Early London Operas, 17111718."Journal of Interdisciplinary History36.3 (2006): 445-72. Web. This article looks specifically at the politics involved in putting up an opera during Handels time. The politicaldifficulties of opera production may explain Bachs lack of opera repertoire, and also shed light on Handels turn to Oratorio in the mid-18th century.Somervell, D. C. "The Bach Passions and Greek Tragedy."Music and Letters27.4 (1946): 221. Web. This article explores the inherent theatricality of Bachs Passions, showing the way many of Bachs compositions expressed drama and theatricality without being operas. Williams, C. F. Abdy. Handel. London: J.M. Dent, 1901. Print. One of the older and most respected biographies of Handel, this book gives a detailed, step-by-step depiction of Handels life. Handels relationship with opera is shown in context with the rest of his artistic career and life, giving an important framework for understanding the composer.Wolff, Christoph, Walter Emery, Richard Douglas. Jones, E. Eugene. Helm, Ernest Warburton, and Ellwood Derr. The New Grove Bach Family. London: W. W. Norton, 1983. Print. This text included an all-inclusive catalogue of Bachs works, allowing for comparison between the two great composers material. Additionally, this book features respective chapters on Bachs childhood and years in Luneburg, Arnstadt, Muhlhausen, Weimar, Cothen, and Leipzig that may prove useful in analyzing Bachs lack of opera repertoire.