Bach 333: The New Complete Edition Deutsche

The 333 years since the birth of JS Bach isn’t really an anniversary, merely an excuse. But who cares when this is a real milestone in the history of recorded sound: the issue of every known piece by Bach on 222 CDs, amounting to more than 280 hours of music. In his own lifetime, JS Bach merely had a regional reputation. He became accepted as a truly great composer only after his rediscovery by Mendelssohn in the 1820s-30s. And it took a further century for chamber orchestras to emerge able to perform Bach’s greatest pieces in a way that does them justice. Bach not only wrote great orchestral music, he also wrote great vocal and instrumental pieces. As for his keyboard music, it is the greatest-ever contribution to the organ repertoire. Although Bach lived for 65 years, the sheer scale of his productivity is astonishing, even by the standards of Mozart. The issue is also extremely well documented, with a lavishly illustrated Bach biography.