Bach digital

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Bach digital is a research instrument developed by philological Bach research at the Leipzig Bach Archive at the interface between Bach research, source-based performance practice , library catalog and applied computer science . All research results on the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and other composers of the Bach family as well as on the transmission of their respective works are collected in Bach digital . This information, which is always kept up-to-date, is processed as metadata and can be fully searched using various search options. The most important sources for the transmission of the works are made completely available in high-resolution digital copies, provided the owning libraries allow this. Currently these are the Berlin State Library , the Leipzig Bach Archive and the Saxon State Library - Dresden State and University Library, as well as individual libraries in Europe and the USA , which also allow online posting. The database has been online since 2010.

History and purpose of the portal

Bach digital was created on the basis of a digital catalog that has been accessible online since 2001 with metadata on all works and sources with music by Johann Sebastian Bach ("Göttingen Bach Catalog / The Sources of Bach Works").

The Bach digital database now provides Bach researchers, musicians (in particular those with historically informed performance practice) and amateurs interested in music not only scientifically sound information on JS Bach's work, but also on the works of the entire Bach family and provides original sources for free viewing. The preparation of the works of JS Bach and their sources between around 1700 and 1850 (in manuscripts and early prints from the time of JS Bach) has largely been completed. Information about newly found sources as well as corrections in data sets are incorporated on an ongoing basis. The database for JS Bach currently offers 1278 work data sets and 5525 source data sets, 1028 of which are high-resolution digital copies (as of 3/2015). This means that more than 90% of all remaining autographs and original performance materials by JS Bach can now be viewed in full as high-resolution scans. Since 2014, numerous digital copies of early copies have been added. Above all, they document the transmission by Bach's sons, students and colleagues and are particularly relevant for the transmission of Bach music for keyboard instruments.

The database is also continuously updated for the works of the Bach sons and from the Old Bach Archives (or their sources):

(As of March 2018)

Further research tools (watermark and copyist research) are also being set up.

Various viewers are available for displaying these digital copies. There is also a PDF download and print function. With the help of these high-resolution digital copies, Bach digital enables the user to have a view of Bach's desk free of any historical and modern alienation, for example his way of working (from the first, possibly rejected version to the last correction of the calligraphic fair copy / the final work), the performance materials of the copyists etc.

The added value that researching via such a database offers compared to the traditional working methods of analogue Bach research is, among other things, that parts of manuscripts that used to belong together are now stored separately, e.g. Some of the libraries are scattered around the world, can be brought together online. While the extremely fragile manuscripts were only made accessible to a select group of users before digitization, they are now available to everyone free of charge. The digitization was carried out in the best possible way so that real protection of the materials is guaranteed in the long term. With the help of zoom techniques, the user can often view these digital copies, the view of which is not impaired by digital watermarks, more precisely and in more detail than would be possible when viewing the originals even with the naked eye.

Cooperation partner

Bach digital is a joint project of the three largest German “Bach libraries”: Berlin State Library - Prussian Cultural Heritage, Dresden State and University Library, Hamburg State and University Library and Leipzig Bach Archive; the German Research Foundation supports it significantly. Since 2013 the aim has been to make all publicly owned Bach autographs and original performance materials digitally available via scans in Bach. Accordingly, since 2013, the focus has been on the gradual expansion of collaborations with domestic and foreign institutions that are important for Bach research. Funds could be obtained from the Commissioner for Culture and Media (BKM) through the digitization offensive of the German National Library. Bach digital will thus also be part of the German Digital Library and the Europe-wide digitization platform Europeana . Important Bach collections outside of Germany have given their commitment to digitally cooperate with Bach in the future, including the British Library in London and the Library of Congress in Washington. Numerous smaller collections have been already digitized by Bach manuscripts are available, including the University and State Library Darmstadt , the Bach House Eisenach , the University Library Johann Christian Senckenberg , the Wurttemberg State Library , the Municipal Library Leipzig , the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg , the local museum Saalfeld, the Duchess Anna Amalia Library , Stiftelsen Musikkulturens Fraemjande Stockholm, Harvard University Library, Yale University Music Library and Juilliard School .

Sponsor

Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media 2014 Digitization of brook sources scattered around the world
German Research Foundation since 2013 Digitization of the early transcripts of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and their integration into the digital portal Bach Digital (= Bach Digital II)
Saxon Academy of Sciences since 2011 Catalog raisonnés of the Bach family as part of the Bach repertory academy project
Packard Humanities Institute since 2010 The "Bachiana" digital library of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin. A joint project of the Bach Repertory Unit of the Saxon Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the Leipzig Bach Archive in cooperation with the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin and the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Prussian Cultural Heritage.
German Research Foundation 2008-2011 Bach-Digital I = digitization of the autographs and original parts of Johann Sebastian Bach and their integration into the Bach source catalog. A joint project of the Berlin State Library, the Saxon State and University Library in Dresden, the Leipzig Bach Archive and the Leipzig University Computer Center.
German Research Foundation 2002-2008 The Bach source catalog as a project of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen in the Bach Institute Göttingen (database completed in 2008 and basis for Bach Digital).
VG Musikedition / Commerzbank Foundation 2001-2002 The Bach source catalog as a project of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences in the Göttingen Bach Institute.
Daimler Fund 1999-2001 The Bach source catalog as a project of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences in the Göttingen Bach Institute.

Technical basis and license

The database is based on the free document and publication solution MyCoRe . This enables the sustainable storage of data and the uncomplicated exchange of research results. The contents of the database are under a Creative Commons license .

literature

  • Uwe Wolf: Bach autographs online. Bach-Digital cooperation project started - URZ delivers competence and computing power . In: Universität Leipzig, Journal, Issue 4/2008, July 2008, p. 24.
  • Martina Rebmann: Bach Digital in the Berlin State Library . In: library magazine. Messages from the state libraries in Berlin and Munich. Issue 3/2010, pp. 8-11.
  • www.bach-digital.de , interview with Christoph Wolff (questions from Barbara Wiermann). In: BIS: The magazine of the libraries in Saxony , vol. 3 / no. 3 / September 2010.
  • Martina Rebmann: Johann Sebastian Bach's autographs and the DFG project “Bach Digital” . In: Ulrich Hohoff and Christiane Schmiedeknecht (eds.), 98th German Librarians' Day in Erfurt 2009, A new look at libraries, Hildesheim [et al.] 2010, pp. 246-253.
  • Uwe Wolf : Autographs for everyone: www.bach-digital.de . In: Bach Magazin , Issue 10, Edition Bach Archive Leipzig, Autumn / Winter 2010/2011, pp. 8–9.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bach manuscripts in the highest image quality on the internet - nmz - new music newspaper. In: nmz.de. Retrieved March 23, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Jens Kupferschmidt: The development history of MyCoRe at the University of Leipzig. (PDF) In: Digital Classics Online. 2016, pp. 30–34 , accessed on June 19, 2018 (Vol. 2.2 (2016), doi: 10.11588 / dco.2016.2.32387 ).