Werner Neumann (21 January 1905, Königstein – 24 April 1991,

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

) was a German

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

. He founded the Bach-Archiv Leipzig on 20 November 1950 and was a principal editor of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, the second edition of the complete works of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

Professional career

Neumann studied at the Conservatory of Leipzig from 1928 to 1930, and at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

from 1928 to 1933, besides Musicology also Philosophy, Psychology and

Romance studies Romance studies or Romance philology (; ; ; ; ; ; ) is an academic discipline that covers the study of the languages, literatures, and cultures of areas that speak Romance languages. Romance studies departments usually include the study of Spa ...

. He wrote his thesis in 1938 on Bach's choral

fugue In classical music, a fugue (, from Latin ''fuga'', meaning "flight" or "escape""Fugue, ''n''." ''The Concise Oxford English Dictionary'', eleventh edition, revised, ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson (Oxford and New York: Oxford Universit ...

, "J. S. Bachs Chorfuge. Ein Beitrag zur Kompositionstechnik Bachs". He worked as a teacher from 1934 to 1940 and served the military for five years. From 1945 to 1950 he worked as a freelance teacher, writer on music and teacher at the Musikhochschule Leipzig. After the ''Deutsche Bachfeier 1950'', the bicentennial of Bach, he founded the Bach-Archiv Leipzig for documentation and research, which he presided until 1973, achieving international recognition. From 1953 to 1974 Neumann was, together with

Alfred Dürr Alfred Dürr (3 March 1918 – 7 April 2011) was a German musicologist. He was a principal editor of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, the second edition of the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Professional career Dürr studied musicology and Clas ...

, editor of the ''

Bach-Jahrbuch The ''Bach-Jahrbuch'' ("Bach yearbook" or according to the publication's website "Bach Annals") is an Periodical literature, annual publication related to the composer Bach. It is published in German by the Neue Bachgesellschaft in Leipzig. It is t ...

'' (Bach almanach), writing several contributions himself. He started in 1951 to lead the East German section of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, the second complete edition of Bach's works, whereas Dürr was the director of the West German section. Neumann added several volumes of

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

s to the project. In 1974 Neumann became a member of the , the Saxonian Academy of Sciences.

Awards

*1954 Title "Professor" in recognition of his research of Bach and his merits as the director of the Bach-Archiv Leipzig *1968 in Bronze *1973 National Prize of East Germany *1981 Vaterländischer Verdienstorden in Silver

Selected publications

* ''Johann Sebastian Bachs Chorfuge'', 1938, 1950 * ''Handbuch der Kantaten J. S. Bachs'', 1947 (Handbook of the

Bach cantata The cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, known as Bach cantatas ( German: ), are a body of work consisting of over 200 surviving independent works, and at least several dozen that are considered lost. As far as known, Bach's earliest can ...

s) * ''Katechismus der Musik'' (Lobe-Neumann), 1949 * ''Auf den Lebenswegen J. S. Bachs'', 1953 * ''J. S. Bachs sämtliche Kantantentexte'', 1956, 1967 (complete texts of the Bach cantatas) * ''Bach-Dokumente'', volume 1–4 (Neumann-Schulze), 1963 to 1979 * ''Bach, Eine Bildbiographie'' (''Bach and His World (Pictorial Biography)''), 1961 * ''Das kleine Bachbuch'', 1971 and 1985 * ''Sämtliche von J. S. Bach vertonte Texte'', 1974 (complete texts composed by Bach) * Neue Bach-Ausgabe, 1954 to 1969 (cantatas' music volumes and critical reviews) * ''Faksimile-Reihe Bachscher Werke und Schriftstücke'' (

facsimile A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of r ...

s of Bach's works and documents) Neumann wrote liner notes, articles for magazines, reviews, essays, music editions.Die Quellen der Bach-Werke
bach.gwdg.de (in German)

References

External links

Entries to Werner Neumann in WorldCat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neumann, Werner 1905 births 1991 deaths People from Königstein, Saxony People from the Kingdom of Saxony Musicians from Leipzig Bach musicians 20th-century German classical musicians 20th-century German composers Bach scholars Academic staff of the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver 20th-century German musicologists 20th-century German conductors (music) Recipients of the Medal of Merit of the GDR