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‘The best translation is that which most tactfully reconciles the opposed claims of the English words and Bach's music’. These sane words were written some fifteen years ago by Mr. Walter Emery. Yet, in the last decade or so, we have seen the emergence of several editions of Bach's choral works which have preferred to cast them aside. For too long this perplexing but stimulating problem has remained on the shelf and it is as much to Mr. Emery as to the editors of these versions that our thanks must go for causing us to ponder awhile. Three years ago the subject reappeared in the pages of the musical press, sparked off by the release of a recording of the St. John Passion with a new English translation by Mr. Peter Pears, since which time many strong views have been expressed by experts and laymen alike.
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The author would like to thank Mr. Michael Anderson who played the continuo for the illustrations.Google Scholar
The recorded examples were transferred from gramophone records to magnetic tape by courtesy of Decca Record Co. Ltd., without whose permission such re-recording would have constituted an infringement of copyright.Google Scholar
See pp. 40–42 for the printed illustrations to this paper.Google Scholar