The Bach Cantatas Website is celebrating its First Year's Anniversary Exactly a year ago, on December 30, 2000, I sent the following message: Present for the New Year - A New Archive Site I have a special present for the New Year for you, in the form of a new Site for 'Bach Cantatas Recordings Review and Mailing List Archive'. The address is simple: http://www.bach-cantatas.com The new Archive Site has better look & feel and its content has been largely expanded. [snip] Reading the Introduction page and looking at the content of the other Index Pages, you will know what to look forward to. I am managing the new site all by myself. Therefore, I shall be able to update it more often than it used to be. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Simon Crouch (of our group) for his co-operation, patience, generosity and unstinting help with hosting the Archive in his site in its previous stage. I look forward to receiving your comments (corrections, suggestions, improvements, etc.) about the new Site. Where do we stand a year after? Name The name of the site was shortened from 'Bach Cantatas Recordings Review and Mailing List Archive' to 'Bach Cantatas Website'. Some Statistics When the Bach Cantatas Website was launched, it included about 200 pages and a few pictures. The site has now more than 2,000 pages, more than 2,100 pictures, and more than 50,000 internal links. When the site was launched the number of visits per day was about 20. Now it is about 150, and the total number of visits in the past year is more than 23,000. The Bach Cantatas Website today includes: [a] 108 cantatas: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/IndexBWV.htm The information about each cantata, which has already been discussed in the Bach Cantatas Mailing List, is split into two pages (at least). The first includes a detailed list of all the known recordings of the complete cantata or of individual movements from it. Where there are many recordings of the cantata, such as the case of BWV 147, the page of recordings is split into sub-pages. The second page all the discussions about the cantata are compiled more or less chronologically. I added inter-links from the page of the discussions to the page of the recordings. So, when you read about a recording in the discussion page, and you want to know more about it, you only have to click on the relevant link. In the cantatas which have been lately discussed I also added pictures of the covers of the CD's (or LP's). The most popular cantatas in terms of length of discussions are: BWV 4, BWV 21, BWV 51, BWV 82, BWV 106, BWV 147, BWV 170, and BWV 199. It is interesting to note that many of them are solo cantatas. The most recorded cantatas are BWV 51 (40 complete recordings) and BWV 82 (41 complete recordings). [b] 191 pages about Bach's Great Vocal Works: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/IndexVocal.htm The pages include for each of Bach's Other Vocal Works, a list of its recordings and discussions. Where individual recordings is discussed (such as SMP conducted by Harnoncourt) it has a special page. The pages are inter-linked. The most recorded Bach's vocal work is the Mass in B minor BWV 232 with at least 80 complete recordings (additions to the list of recordings is an on-going research). [c] 197 pages about Performers of Bach Cantatas & Bach's Other Vocal Works: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/IndexPerformers.htm There is a page (or pages) for each conductor, who has recorded at least 3 recordings of Bach's vocal works. The page lists all the known recordings by this conductor. All the discussions dedicated to individual performers are also compiled in this section. The pages are inter-linked. The most popular conductor in terms of dedicated discussions is John Eliot Gardiner. The most prolific conductor in terms of number of recordings is Helmuth Rilling. [d] 139 pages of General Topics: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/IndexTopics.htm This section includes discussions about general topics related to the cantatas and Bach's other vocal works, which do not directly belong to any of the above sections. You can find in this Section topics such as Bach and Religion, Bach and Opera, Books, Bach and Numbers, Trumpets in Bach Cantatas, etc. The most popular subject is OVPP (One-Voice-Per-Part). [e] 1032 Short Biographies: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/IndexBiographies.htm This section includes Short Biographies of singers, conductors, chorus masters, choral and instrumental groups, who have recorded Bach's vocal works. Each bio of a conductor includes link to the page of his recordings in the Performers Section. Each bio of other performers includes a list of the performer's recordings of Bach's cantatas and other vocal works. Each entry of a recordings in the Sections of Cantatas, Bach's Great Vocal Works and Performers, include links to the relevant entries in the Short Biographies Section. When applicable, the bio includes also pictures and links to other sites about the performer. [f] 181 Reviews of Bach's Non-Vocal Works: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/IndexNonVocal.htm Most of the reviews are by Donald Satz, but there are also some by other contributors. [g] Scores: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/IndexScores.htm This section is based mostly on the contribution of the knowledgeable Thomas Braatz and includes examples from the score (and some commentary) of 16 cantatas. I hope that Tom will continue to contribute to this section. Of course, other contributors are also invited. [h] Texts and Translations: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/IndexTexts.htm This section includes some translations of the cantata texts into languages such as English, Dutch and Hebrew. It also includes links to the relevant entries in other cantata sites, such as Walter F. Bischof (original German texts and some French translations) and Z. Philip Ambrose (English translations). This section should be largely expanded, as translations of many cantatas into other languages are missing. [i] Special Pages Introduction, Lutheran Church Year, Order of discussion, Table of Cantata Recording by Major Conductors according to BWV Number, Terms & Abbreviations, New and Upcoming Recordings, How to contribute, and more. [j] Links: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Links.htm This section includes hundreds of Links: Sites about Bach Cantatas and other Bach Sites, Sites with Reviews of Recordings, Sites of Performers, Sites of Record Labels, General Classical Music Sites, Sites of Members in the Bach Cantatas Mailing List, and more. I am encouraged by the positive feedback the Bach Cantatas Website is getting from all over the world. Many of the feedback messages can be read in the following page: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Topics/About.htm The enterprise of the Bach Cantatas Website is an international collective project, dedicated mainly to the vocal works of the greatest composer who has ever lived. I want to use this opportunity to thank everybody who has contributed to the material compiled in the Bach Cantatas Website, either through the Bach Cantatas Mailing List (BCML) and the Bach Recording Mailing List (BRML) or by writing directly to me. The name of each contributor is mentioned in the relevant place. Kirk McElhearn deserves special gratitude for his managing of both lists. I hope to see many of you contributing to the weekly cantata discussions in the BCML. These discussions are the main source for the material compiled in the Bach Cantatas Website. I continue to look forward to receiving your comments (corrections, suggestions, improvements, etc.) about the Website. The instructions how to join the BCML, how to contribute, and how to send me comments, appear in the following page: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/How.htm I wish you all another Great and Happy Bach Year, Aryeh Oron Bach and Jazz Music Fan WebMaster of Bach Cantatas Website: http://www.bach-cantatas.com