Jones wrote The Creative Development of J. S. Bach in two volumes, published in 2007 and 2013 by Oxford University Press.[2] David Ledbetter notes in a review of volume I for Early Music that the book is focused on the "composer's creative development", not found in comparable books: Christoph Wolff provided biographical details; David Schulenberg provided commentaries on individual keyboard pieces; Peter Williams discussed the complete organ works in the order of the BWV catalogue; and Alfred Dürr described the Bach cantatas following the liturgical year. Ledbetter summarises: "Anybody wishing to get to grips with the music of Bach will be well advised to equip themselves with this survey as their starting point."[3] A review of volume II by Peter Smaill compares "outstanding musical analysis" of the "all-embracing study of Bach's musical creativity, year by year" to the biography in three volumesbyPhilipp Spitta.[4]
^Ledbetter, David (2007). "Early Bach / The Creative Development of Johann Sebastian Bach. Volume I: 1695-1717. Music to Delight the Spirit by Richard D. P. Jones". Early Music. 35 (4): 634–635. doi:10.1093/em/cam101. JSTOR30139527.