What We Do

Bach Perspectives »

Bach Perspectives, inaugurated in 1995, is the leading English-language serial publication devoted to Bach studies. New volumes appear, on average, every other year, and feature cutting-edge research by top scholars in the field, often related to the topic of a Society biennial meeting. Vols. 1–4 were published by the University of Nebraska Press; beginning with volume 5, the series is published by the University of Illinois Press. Bach Perspectives is distributed to members of the Society. In addition, volumes are freely available in an open access edition thanks to a subvention from the Society’s Ruth and Noel Monte Fund.

Bach Notes »

Bach Notes, the newsletter of the American Bach Society, is published twice a year (Spring and Fall) and distributed to members and subscribers digitally by email or, by request, in print by mail. Edited by Rebekah Franklin (Oklahoma Baptist University), Bach Notes keeps members abreast of Bach publications, recordings, performances, festivals, and workshops. The editor welcomes letters, articles, comments, and member news, and can be contacted at bachnotes@americanbachsociety.org. 

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ABS Guides »

ABS Guides are short monographs on the works of J. S. Bach. Written by leading Bach scholars, and published by Oxford University Press beginning in 2024, the series is meant for practitioners, music scholars, and a non-specialist general audience. ABS Guides are made possible by support from the Ruth and Noel Monte Fund of the American Bach Society. Already issued are guides to the Art of Fugue and Musical Offering, the Well-Tempered Clavier, and church cantatas. Forthcoming guides are devoted to the Brandenburg Concertos and the St. John Passion.

Other Publications »

In addition to Bach Perspectives, Bach Notes, and the ABS Guides, the American Bach Society has sponsored a handful of other publications: The Organs of J. S. Bach by Christoph Wolff and Markus Zepf, trans. Lynn Edwards Butler (University of Illinois Press, 2012); Exploring the World of J. S. Bach: A Traveler’s Guide by Robert L. Marshall and Traute M. Marshall (University of Illinois Press, 2016); Commentaries on the Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach: A Selective Guide, by Hans-Joachim Schulze, trans. James Brokaw (2024); as well as Joan Lippincott and George Ritchie, organ, The Uncommon Bach: Johann Sebastian Bach Organ Works, Variants, Rarities, and Transcriptions (PGM Recordings, 1997).