On the performing forces of Johann Sebastian Bach's Leipzig church music

On the performing forces of Johann Sebastian Bach's Leipzig church music Efforts to establish an historically informed performance of 17th- and 18th-century music should pertain to the translation-in-sound of a composition as it may have been played in optimal conditions at a particular performance location, rather than to the 'archaeological' reconstruction of actual proportions. Bach had to adapt to very different performance conditions in Arnstadt, Muhlhausen, Kothen, Weimar and Leipzig, as a consequence of which he could neither perform on a constant musical level nor count on a constant/invariable performance apparatus. A standardized performance or choral arrangement could never be attained because of the great differences in local premises, financial conditions, vocal and instrumental casting possibilities, the musicians' individual perceptions and acoustic conditions as well as personal and structural proportions. Even today, these elements remain variable.