Bach to the Future: Johann Sebastian Bach as a Cultural and Musical Icon

In this course, we will take a multi-disciplinary look at musical icon Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) and his contributions to the development of Western music and culture. We will explore Bach's life and some of his most important works, and we will contextualize these both historically and in terms of Bach’s lasting influence on classical and contemporary music, including pop and rock. As one of Middlebury's Public Humanities Lab courses, the class will focus on public forms of communication such as exposés for a public exhibition and program notes for a choral concert. A creative project will round out our semester's work. Readings and materials come from the fields of music theory and history, cultural studies, history, and more.