Baroque and classical style in selected organ works of the Bachschule

This dissertation examines the different styles existing simultaneously during this period, including the late baroque. Rococo, Pre-Classic or Galant, Empfindsamkeit, Sturm und Drang, and the mature Classical, and includes a discussion of the late baroque style of J. S. ach's organ works and the organs on which Bach played. The different style phases are defined and discussed according to their musical style elements, which also provides a framework for the analysis of the compositions of the Bachschule selected for study.

There are brief biographies of thirty-eight Bach organ pupils, and a section on the decline of organ composition, performance, and its central importance in the worship of the church. The decline in the organ's role after Bach is examined as it resulted from theological, philosophical, political, social, and musical factors.

Discussion and analysis of forty-eight selected works by eighteen Bachschulers show how Bach's pupils variously avoided or participated in the new styles. Some eagerly embraced the new music, even playing an important role in its development. Others clung to the past and emained the last exponents of the heritage and training they had received from Bach. Others remained somewhere in between, to varying degrees adopting aspects of both the old and new in their work. Some works are discussed in their relationship to existing works by Bach, especially if there appears to be a relationship of imitation or modeling. Compositions have been selected to represent a variety of organ genres, including free works, chorale-based works, pedal solo, toccata, fugue, trio, sonata, and concerto.