Publications

The book “Der Kopf macht die Musik” (“The Mind Makes the Music”) brings together, for the first time, a selection of Reinhard Goebel’s extraordinarily diverse and equally multifaceted literary output. The volume contains essays, lectures, commentaries, and interviews that reveal the violinist and conductor as a meticulous researcher. Established ways of thinking in musical performance practice as well as in (musicological) scholarship are critically examined, while the texts simultaneously illustrate the close interconnection between research and performance. In addition, selected contributions pay tribute to Reinhard Goebel’s life and artistic work from both personal and scholarly perspectives.

Although most of the essays, lectures, and interviews have previously appeared elsewhere, they were scattered across various publications and were often difficult to access. For example, the 2022 box set released by Deutsche Grammophon containing all recordings by Musica Antiqua Köln and Reinhard Goebel does not include reprints of the introductory texts. At the same time, this volume presents previously unpublished writings.

Editor: Hans-Joachim Wagner / Kamprad 2024
With the kind support of Kunststiftung NRW and the City of Cologne.

The present book on Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos is the result of 35 years of research into the music of the German courts in the eighteenth century. Its origins date back to the preparations for the recording of these concertos in 1986/87—the recording itself is included in the book—and the work was subsequently thoroughly revisited and expanded for the new production with the Berlin Baroque Soloists in 2017. The book was then written in 2021, the year marking the 300th anniversary of the presentation of the score to the Margrave of Brandenburg.

Dohr 2023