Over the past few years, I have coordinated the engraving of all of Bach’s Sacred Cantatas on MuseScore. While I understand that many of the cantatas and individual movements have been available for Capella and Finale for some time, I thought it would be helpful to have these works engraved on a free, open source platform, for all to enjoy. I am very thankful to Aryeh for his willingness to distribute these files on https://bach-cantatas.com
Engraving was mostly done by Javad Javadzade (https://www.javadjavadzade.com). Полина Емельяненкова (Polina Yemelianenkova) also contributed a substantial number of files. The scores used for the engraving are from the Bach-Gesellschaft collection. Most scores include Bernhard Todt’s piano reductions (published by Breitkopf und Härtel). Both collections are available on the Bach Cantatas Website.
The files can be accessed on a browser and can be played directly there. In addition, you’ll be able to download the original MuseScore files, the pdf of the full score and/or individual parts, as well as the corresponding MusicXML, MIDI, and Audio files. You’ll be able to edit the MuseScore files (e.g., correct typos, change clefs, reassign instruments for playback, change metronome marks…) on the free MuseScore software (https://musescore.org/en/download), version 3.
This is work in progress. Next steps are: (1) including piano reductions for BWV 111 to BWV 145 and BWV 200; and (2) including continuo realizations for all the cantatas. #1 will be completed relatively soon. #2 will take many years, but I think it is an important next step.
I hope you will find some of this work helpful. Happy Holidays!
Ramon Casadesus-Masanell |