JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH'S LIFE (1685-1750)

Compared to most other major composers, Johann Sebastian Bach's life and career were confined to a very limited geographical space. Born and raised in Thuringia, he never went farther north than amburg and !"bec#, or farther south than Carlsbad. $n a similarly confined way, his east%west range stretched from &resden 'east( to )assel 'west(. is complete geographical space can be found on a map derived from Christoph *olff's great scholarly Bach study 'Chr. *olff, Bach, +ssays on is !ife and ,usic. arvard -niversity .ress, Cambridge, ,ass., /00/(. The little map on the current page 'derived from a &utch boo# on Bach1 J. 2ubinstein, !. 3an asselt, and T. )oopman, Bach. Terra, 4utphen, /056( shows the places where Bach actually lived and wor#ed. $t is a clic#able map, which means thay you can follow the course of Johann Sebastian Bach's life by clic#ing the towns on the map with the mouse of your computer. $f you want to follow Johann Sebastian's complete *erdegang, just start with his birthpace +isenach 'bottom left(, follow the arrows, and end in !eip7ig, where he died in /869. Thus, the right order is as follows1 +isenach /:56%/:06 ;hrdruf /:06%/899 !"neburg /899%/89< *eimar /89=%/89= >rnstadt /89=%/898 ,"hlhausen /898%/895 *eimar /895%/8/8 )?then /8/8%/8<= !eip7ig /8<=%/869

Eisenach 1685-16 5 +isenach 'Thuringia(, the birthplace of Johann Sebastian Bach, with the famous *artburg on top of the mountain '!uther translated the @ew Testament into Aerman here(. Bach visited the same +isenacher Aeorgenschule as !uther did about /09 years before. Johan Sebastian's father, Johann >mbrosius Bach '/:B6%/:06(, twin brother of Johann Christoph, lived here since /:8/ as string player, town piper and court trumpeter, that is as a higher ran#ing city musician. $n /::5, he married +lisabeth !Cmmerhirt '/:BB%/:0B( from +rfurt, who also grew up in a musical family. Johann Sebastian was born as their eight child on </ ,arch /:56. is two godfathers, who gave their name to the child, were Sebastian @agel, town piper of Aotha, and Johann Aeorg )och, a ducal forrester in +isenach. Johann Sebastian was bapti7ed in the Aeorgen#irche 'St. Aeorge's church(. The baptismal entry is dated <= ,arch /:56. The official Bachhaus at Drauenplan </, now a museum, is no longer believed to be Johann Sebastian's birthplace. > more li#ely candidate is a place at !utherstrasse, where most of the house from Bach's time disappeared. The Bach family was one of several traditional families of musicians, who were often organi7ed along guilde lines and who earned their living as town musicians, organists, and cantors. The family had produced musicians for several generations. Some of them, in particular Johann >mbrosius's cousins Johann ,ichael and Johann Christoph 'the family had somewhat monotonous naming habits(, had become composers of fame. Johann Sebastian's mother died in /:0B and his father in /:06, so, as a 0 year old child he lost both parents in one year. ;f the five surviving children, Johann Sebastian and his brother Johann Jacob went to live with their eldest brother, another Johann Christoph, who was organist in ;hrdruf. Oh!"!#$ 16 5-1700 $n St. ,ichaels church, where Johann Sebastian's brother, Johann Christoph, was organist since /:09. Johann Christoph must have been a very competent musician, but he never made much of a career. e had been a student of Johann .achelbel, a famous Thuringian organist at +rfurt, who had undergone $talian influences. $t was from his brother that Johann Sebastian got his first formal #eyboard lessons. This is, at least, the traditional view. Aiven the Bach family traditions and Johann Sebastian's talent, it is li#ely however that he already was a versatile musician at the age that he entered Johann Christoph's household. e also went to the !yceum in ;hrdruf, learned !atin, and sung in the school choir. *hen his brother could no longer support him, he eventually left for !"neburg on /6 ,arch /899, together with his school friend Aeorg +rdmann. The ,ichaelis#irche was partially destroyed and remodelled several times and was finally bombed at the end of *orld *ar $$. ;nly a tower fragment has survived. >lthough ;hrdruf has its Johann%Sebastian%Bach%Strasse at the place where Johann Christoph's house and the school used to be, these buildings no longer eEist.

L%ne&#!' 1700-170( Bach left for !"neburg on /6 ,arch /899, together with his school friend Aeorg +rdmann. >ccording to an old regulation, children of poor parents could attend the !atin school here and pay for their costs by singing in the choir of the ,ichaelis#irche and %schule 'St. ,ichael's choir and church(. St. ,ichel's church is what you see the eEterior of here. >n image of the interior is also available. Bach 'who had a much%praised soprano voice before his voice bro#e( and +rdmann were singers of the ,ettenchor 'matin choir( here and were paid some money according to the surviving payroll. Bach's choice for St. ,ichel's can, apart from financial necessity, be seen as a conscious step towards an advanced musical career. The school had an impressive musical tradition and had a famous music library, to which the great cantor Driedrich +manuel .raetorius '/:<=%/:06( had added many important music manuscripts and prints. >ltogether, the library contained //9< titles of about /86 composers at the death of .raetorius. .ossibly, the foundation was laid here for Bach's legendary musical erudition and certainly for his profound familiarity with the /8th century Aerman choir tradition. St. ,ichael's also housed the F2ittera#ademieF, a college for young nobles, at which Drench music and manners were cultivated. There were regular concerts by the famous Drench band maintained by the du#e of nearby Celle. Current Bach scholarship tends to stress the importance of Drench influences on Bach during this period. >t the end of this short period in !"neburg, Bach appears to be be an organ virtuoso of some renown. Since it is impossible that his s#ills in this respect came out of the blue, he must, apart from his earlier training in the family, have had plenty of opportunity for #eyboard playing in !"neburg. @othing is #nown about this, but it is not unli#ely that he too# lessons from the older Aeorg B?hm who came from the same Thuringian bac#ground as Bach. B?hm was organist at the Johannis#irche, the organ of which is shown on the picture here. This organ was, incidentally, in bad shape. B?hm also wrote Drench%inspired #eyboard music. B?hm's influence is obvious in Bach's earliest organ wor#s. >t least as important for the young Bach was the influence of Johan >dam 2ein#en, the 85 year old organist of the )atharinen#irche in amburg and perhaps the former teacher of B?hm 'who certainly was in amburg for some years(. Bach went to amburg several times in order to get familiar with 2ein#en's wor#. $n the summer vacation of /89/, for instance, Johann Sebastian wal#ed to amburg 'B5 #m to the @orth( to hear 2ein#en and others in amburg. 2ein#en, of &utch origin, was of the school of the great /8th%century &utch composer and >msterdam city organist Jan .ieters7. Sweelinc#, who was a major influence on the northern Aerman organ scene. Sweelinc#, in turn, was much influenced by the virtuoso variation techniGue of the +nglish virginalists 'Bull, Byrd, Aibbons, and others(. >ll in all, then, Bach not only underwent Drench influence in !"neburg but via 2ein#en also considerable &utch, and indirectly, +nglish influence. The end of Bach's !"neburg period is somewhat obscure. e left around +aster /89<, presumably in connection with his application as organist in Sangerhausen. The /8 year old Johann Sebastian was unanimously chosen by the city administration, but the decision was overruled by the du#e of SaEony% *eissenfels, who arranged the appointment of a candidate of his own. )ei*a! (I) 170+-170+ &u#e Johann +rnst of SaEony%*eimar '/::B%/898( was one of the two du#es of *eimar. .robably, his portrait would not have made it to the *orld%*ide *eb if he had not had the good fortune of hiring Johann Sebastian Bach as Flac#eyF 'servant( and violinist in his private chapel. There are records of salary payment to Bach from ,arch to >ugust /89=. >part from his application to the post of organist in Sangerhausen 'see !"neburg(, we do not #now what Bach did between his departure from !"neburg around +aster /89< and his short job as live decoration in *eimar. !uc#ily, Bach would soon become organist in >rnstadt. A!ns,a", 170+-1707 >rnstadt at Bach's time was a very charming town of only =599 inhabitants. $t was here that Johann Sebastian got his first serious job1 $n >ugust /89= he was appointed organist of the @eue )irche. This was the third church of the town 'after the ;ber#irche and the !iebfrau%#irche(, but it had an attractive new *ender organ. ;bviously, Johann Sebastian already had a certain mar#et value as organist, because he got a relatively high salary1 twice as much as his successor in /898, his cousin Johann +rnst. > receipt of payment has been preserved. Sebastian's tenure in >rnstadt was not entirely successful. e was obsessed by the organ and refused to seriously practice with the boys of the church's school choir 'not his official duty anyway(. e got into conflict and in the summer of /896 he even had a street fight with the bassoon player Aeyersbach 'after Johann Sebastian had called him names(.

<

!ater in /896 he obtained a four wee# leave of absence to go to !"bec# to get acGuainted with the music of &ietrich BuEtehude. $n ;ctober /896 he wal#ed the <99 miles to !"bec# 'young Bach wal#ed a lot(. +ver since his stay there, he was deeply influenced by the organ music of BuEtehude. But BuEtehude also was a prolific composer of vocal wor#s. +specially his >bendmusi#en in the ,arien#irche 'organi7ed, among other things, to ma#e !"bec# more attractive to travelling businessmen( were very famous and must have made a deep impression on Bach 'the ,arien#irche is shown here on the left(. .ossibly, he even participated in it as a performing musician. Johann Sebastian not only was a versatile musician, he also had to eat and to pay his replacement in >rnstadt 'his cousin Johann +rnst(. BuEtehude's vocal wor#s 'li#e Castrum &oloris, of which only the teEt has survived( presumably had a direct influence on Bach's own early vocal wor#s, li#e Aottes 4eit is die allerbeste 4eit ''>ctus Tragicus'(, B*3 /9: 'officially belonging to the ,"hlhausen period(. $nstead of after four wee#s, Bach only returned to >rnstadt in the middle of January /89: '>bendmusi#en or just a girlH(. The church authorities were not amused. ,oreover, Bach applied his new virtuoso organ techniGue during the church services and was thus said to confuse the unprepared congregation. e was also accused of going into the wine cellar during sermons and ma#ing music with a Fstranger maidF in the church. ,ost biographers presume that this was his second cousin and later wife ,aria Barbara. ;n what evidenceH ,aria Barbara, who lived for a while in the same house 'of her relative mayor Deldthauss( as Sebastian, was not really a Fstranger maidF for the very small population of >rnstadt. >ll in all, then, Johann Sebastian did not eEactly live the life of a saint during his >rnstadt period. *ithout trying to ma#e our hero more romantic than he really was, it also must be said that it seems a somewhat unrealistic interpretation of the ambitions of an energetic <9 year old virtuoso to assume that he wal#ed hundreds of miles through northern Aermany with the sole purpose of undergoing the influence of old men li#e 2ein#en and BuEtehude, even if this influence turned out to be very profound. >nyway, Bach's days in >rnstadt were counted. +ventually, he found a new position in ,"hlhausen and applied for his resignation in >rnstadt. *or#s 3ery few wor#s have survived of the >rnstadt period. .erhaps Capriccio sopra la lontanan7a del suo fratello dilettissimo 'Capriccio on the &eparture of is ,ost Beloved Brother(, B*3 00<, was composed in >rnstadt '/89B(. Durthermore, the chorale prelude *ie sch?n leuchtet der ,orgenstern, B*3 8=0, is ascribed to this period 'around /896(. The autograph of this prelude is also the oldest surviving Bach autograph. >nother youth wor# is the fragmentary early version of the .relude and Dugue in A ,inor, B*3 6=6a. .erhaps, some of the ,"hlhausen cantatas also have their origin in >rnstadt, li#e Christ lag in Todesbanden, B*3 B, and @ach dir, err, verlanget mich, B*3 /69. -%h.ha#sen 1707-1708 Johann Aeorg >hle, organist of the Blasius#irche in ,"hlhausen, died on < &ecember /89:. The city wanted to revitali7e its declining music life. ;n +aster Sunday /898 '<B >pril(, Johann Sebastian Bach gave a test performance, as organist, and possibly also with the cantata Christ lag in Todesbanden, B*3B. e obtained the prestigious position as organist in June of the same year. Things went more smoothly here for Bach than in >rnstadt. ,oreover, a small inheritance from his uncle, Tobias !Cmmerhirt, made it possible for him to get married to his beloved second cousin ,aria Barbara Bach 'the Thuringia of those days was not free of in% breeding(. ;n /8 ;ctober /898, Sebastian and Barbara had their ceremony in the church of &ornheim. $n ,"hlhausen, Bach developed an interest in composing vocal church music. This new interest might have originated under the impact of BuEtehude's >bendmusi#en. $t is also a fact that the Blasius#irche had a much richer vocal tradition and offered a more favorable setting for vocal music than the @eue )irche in >rnstadt 'the church also had a great music library, where Bach studied and copied a lot of traditional church music(. ,aria Barbara is almost never mentioned in this conteEt, but it is not eEcluded that she too played a role in her husband's shift of interest 'she was the daughter of a prolific composer of vocal wor#s, after all(. >nyway, even Bach's very first cantatas are superb masterpieces. ;ne of the ,"hlhausen cantatas, the 2atswechsel 'Fcity council changeF( cantata, Aott ist mein )?nig, B*3 8/ was even printed. $n fact, it would remain the only cantata to appear in print during Bach's life time. @one of Telemann's or Cndel's wor#s had appeared in print yet, so, the performance on B Debruary /895 must have been a real triumph for the << year old composer. Before too long, however, Bach was dissatisfied with the possibilities for a Fwell%regulated church musicF in ,"hlhausen. The tradtional interpretation blames this frustration on the theological disputes between pietists, led by Bach's immediate boss pastor J.>. Drohne 'fat pietist on the right(, and the orthodoE !utherans, led by pastor +ilmar 'picture on your left( of the ,arien#irche. >lthough the pietists, including Bach's immediate boss

Drohne, were in general less favorably inclined towards rich church music, modern Bach scholarship tends to minimi7e the effect of the dispute on Johann Sebastian. > more crucial event might have been the great fire that destroyed one fourth of ,"hlhausen on =9 ,ay /898. This catastrophe no doubt had a deep economical impact on ,"hlhausen, which made its climate less favorable for church music. $t must also not be overloo#ed that Bach was very ambitious, eager to improve both his financial position and his social status. *ith his fast growing reputation as an organ virtuoso and composer, he had just outgrown his ,"hlhausen position in one year. $n spite of this, Bach managed to maintain good relationships with ,"hlhausen. e continued supervising the rebuilding of the Blasius church organ, which was started on his recommendations. e also had a personal relationship with pastor +ilmar, who later on became the godfather of Bach's first child Catharina &orothea. *or#s ,ajor organ wor#s of the ,"hlhausen period are the famous Toccata and Dugue in & ,inor, B*3 6:6 and the .relude and Dugue in & ,ajor, B*3 6=<.. >nother masterpiece ascribed to this period is the organ .assacaglia in C ,inor, B*3 65<. >part from Aott ist mein )?nig, B*3 B*3 8/, Bach presumably composed the following cantatas in ,"hlhausen 'although >rnstadt roots are not eEcluded(1 >us der Tiefen, B*3 /=/, sometimes said to be Bach's first cantata '/898H(, also mentioned in connection with the fire catastrophe of /898I and, last but not least, the masterly Aottes 4eit ist die allerbeste 4eit, ''>ctus Tragicus'(, B*3 /9:. Some other cantatas of these period are lost. The cantatas of this period often have a /8th century motet style, using bible teEts and choirs, with ariosos at best. @evertheless, the form is more varied than the more stereotypical $talian recitativo plus aria style that Bach developed during his neEt *eimar period. )ei*a! (II) 1708-1717 ere we are in *eimar, one of the major courts in the area in which Johann Sebastian rose to fame. is move to *eimar, B9 miles to the north of ,"hlhausen, was a significant step in his career, both financially 'his salary was doubled( and professionally. Bach had been here before, for a very brief period as violinist in /89=, and we already met one of the du#es of *eimar, Johann +rnst, who died in /898. *eimar, uneasily governed by no fewer than two du#es, was now governed by the formadible loo#ing du#e *ilhem +rnst 'picture on the left( and since /890 also by his nephew and successor of Johann +rnst, +rnst >ugust 'smaller picture on the right(. *ilhelm +rnst '/::<%/8<5( was a !utheran ruler and a sponsor of the court music. e hired Bach as organist and member of the orchestra, and encourgaged Johann Sebastian to eEploit his uniGue talents for the organ. Bach was also on friendly terms with +rnst >ugust '/:55%/8B5( and his younger half%brother Johann +rnst Jr. '/:0:%/8/6(. $n the long run, Johann Sebastian ran into some trouble with this double loyalty, because there were lots of tensions, intrigues, and even open hostilities between the courts of the two du#es, *ilhelm +rnst and +rnst >ugust. +specially, Johann +rnst Jr., who died when he was only /0 years old, was musically gifted. e too# composition lessons from Bach's friend and relative in *eimar Johann Aottfried *alther. Johann +rnst also had the the good idea to ma#e a trip to >msterdam, to return in /8/= with a rich collection of $talian music. Johann Sebastian Bach made various organ transcription of the $talian material, and particularly 3ivaldi's /8/< collection of concertos, !'+stro armonico had a profound influence on Bach's style of composition. This was in fact a decisive moment in Bach's development1 from now on he combined his earlier counterpoint style, with its northern Aerman and Drench influences, with 3ivaldi%li#e harmonic planning and thematic development. Bach was only <= now, relatively well%paid, and married to ,aria Barbara. Soon upon their arrival in *eimar '/895(, their first child, Catharina &orothea, was born. -nli#e *ilhelm Driedemann 'born on << @ovember /8/9( and Carl .hilipp +manuel '5 ,arch /8/B(, she was not raised to become a great composer. >lthough we get the impression of a happy incipient family life, the Bachs also lost the twins that ,aria Barbara had given birth to in /8/=. Some of the children had famous godfathers, such as Aeorg .hilipp Telemann, director musices in Dran#furt am ,ain since /8/<. e had a friendly relationship with the Bachs and was the godfather of Carl .hilipp +manuel. Throughout his life, Bach was preoccupied with the improvement of organs, and also the organ of the *eimar court chapel was remodelled by einrich Trebs on Bach's instructions. .articularly in the period /895%/8/B, Bach is supposed to have been concentrating on organ playing and composing1 most of his major organ compositions stem from the *eimar period. *e are not completely certain, however, about his activities in other realms during those years. Cantata composition was not neglected, because in /8/= the ' unt' cantata *as mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd, B*3 <95 was performed at nearby *eissenfels for the local du#e. This was Johann Sebastian's first secular cantata, and also the first cantata in the new $talian style with recitatives and da capo arias. &u#e Christian of SaEony%*eissenfels, incidentally, was an eEtravagant despot, who brought his du#edom in serious crisis. Bach never hesitated to see# the favors of such hunt%loving tyrants if he thought that he could improve his position. This great hunter of *eissenfels was addressed as Fgentle ChristianF and Fgood shepherdF in Bach's homage cantatas.

$n /8/=, Bach had the opportunity of succeeding Driedrich *ilhelm 4achow, former teacher of andel, at the !iebfrauen#irche in alle. Bach gave an organ concert here and perhaps a performance of the cantata $ch habe viel Be#"mmernis, B*3 </ 'this is highly controversial(. e was also loc#ed into a room to write a cantata on the spot on a teEt by his local supporter, the alle pastor Johann ,ichael eineccius. e was lodged in the best hotel, 4um goldenen 2ing, where, according to the surviving invoice, food, tobacco and spirits were lavished on him. ,ost important of all, he was offered the job, but decided to stay in *eimar when du#e *ilhelm +rnst doubled his salary. +ventually, *ilhelm +rnst appointed him )on7ertmeister on ,arch <, /8/B. >s we saw before, Bach was a rather earthly human being in his career behavior. e also had to support a growing family, including ,aria Barbara's unmarried sister, Driedelena ,argaretha, who was an often overloo#ed member of the Bach household till her death in /8<0. $n his new function, Bach had to write one cantata per month 'in !eip7ig, later on, he wrote one cantata per wee# during certain periods(. These were cantatas in the new $talian style that Bach had adopted in /8/=. ,ost teEts were written by Salomon Dranc# '/:60%/8<6(, senior consistorial secretary, court librarian and director of the numismatic collection at *eimar. ;ther Bach cantata teEts 'of both *eimar and leip7ig( were written by Aeorg Christian !ehms and +rdmann @eumeister. @eumeister '/:8/%/86:( was senior pastor of the amburg Jacobi#irche since /8/6 and initiator of a moderni7ing reform of cantata teEts1 Bach's fame began to eEtend far beyond *eimar in these days. ;ne of the most important writers on music, Johann ,attheson '/:5/%/8:B( of amburg referred to Bach as Fthe famous organist of *eimarF in his boo# &as Besch"t7te ;rchestre. amburg, /8/8. >nother indication of Bach's growing fame is the anecdote of the contest with the famous Drench court #eyboard virtuoso !ouis ,archand '/::0%/8=<(. >ccording to the legendary story, Bach travelled to &resden in the fall of /8/8 to meet ,archand for a harpsichord contest. ,archand was so impressed by Bach's reputation that he never showed up. Bach's fame also attracted more and more students, such as Johann Tobias )rebs and J.,. Schubart 'no family, the later successor of Bach in *eimar(. The circle of students also included Bach's relatives Johann !oren7 and Johann Bernhard. Bach's job in *eimar ended in a rather dramatic way. Since he was close to the co%regent +rnst >ugust, the other du#e, *ilhelm +rnst, forbade Johann Sebastian any musical service to his rival. Stubbornly, Bach refused to comply and was passed by for the function of Capellmeister when the old one, Johann Samuel &rese, died in /8/:. &rese was succeded by his insignificant son Johann *ilhelm and the great Bach was not even short%listed. Bach was offended and abruptly stopped his production of cantatas that year '/8/:(, which casts some doubt on the idea that Bach produced his church music only to the honor of Aod. Dortunately, Bach made a great impression on !eopold von >nhalt%)?then with his wedding music for !eopold's sister, when she got married to +rnst >ugust. Bach received a job offer 'this time as Capellmeister( from !eopold, but *ilhelm +rnst refused to let Johann Sebastian go to the brother in law of his rival +rnst >ugust. Bach was even arrested and imprisoned for a month '@ovember : % &ecember <( before he was dismissed Fwithout honorF. Bach could move to )?then now. This is the incredible conclusion of one of the most creative episodes in the history of western music. *or# Bach wrote the following cantatas in *eimar 'titles can be found via the Bach ome .age, Cantatas(1 B*3 /=<, /6<, /66, 59a, =/, /:6, /56, /:/, /:<, /:= 'on teEts of S. Dranc#, +vangelisches >ndachts%;pffer. *eimar, /8/6. B*3 /5<, /<, /8<, </ 'presumably, on unprinted teEts of Salomon Dranc#(. B*3 89a, /5:a, /B8a 'teEts1 S. Dranc#, +vangelische Sonn% und Desttages%>ndachten. *eimar, /8/8. B*3 :/, /5 'teEts1 +. @eumeister, Aeistliches Singen und Spielen. Aotha, /8//. B*3 6B, /00 'teEts1 A.C. !ehms, AottgefClliges )irchen%;pffer. &armstadt, /8//. B*3 := 'perhaps on unprinted teEt by J.,. eineccius(. Bach also wrote a major .assion ,usic in *eimar, that has not been preserved. Bach wrote most of his major organ compositions in *eimar, for instance, the ;rgel%B"chlein, all but the last of the so%called eighteen FAreatF chorale preludes, and most of the preludes and fugues. ,any harpsichord compositions were started in *eimar 'for instance, part of &as *ohltemperierte Clavier $(. ,ost of the orchestral and chamber wor#s of this period did not survive, unfortunately, eEcept perhaps in the form of later adaptations, li#e the Brandenburg Concertos / and :. /0,hen 1717-17(+ - 1a!, 1 (1717-17(0) Sebastian started his new job as Capellmeister in )?then in &ecember /8/8. e had a lot of freedom there, because already on &ecember /: he was in !eip7ig to test a new organ 'leaving his family, one has to assume, with the mess of the move from *eimar to the new house(. is new patron was .rince !eopold von >nhalt%)?then '/:0B%/8<5(, a <= year old boy and music enthusiast who was Fdearly lovedF by Bach. ,ost surviving portraits show the prince as a sweet, somewhat decadent ,ona !isa1

Two years before, young !eopold had ta#en over the government of the princedom from his mother, Aisela >gnes, an active !utheran at this Calvinistic court, who still held considerable power. @either Calvinism nor mama prevented !eopold from spending almost a Guarter of the total revenue of the princedom to his great hobby1 the band. The prince had hand%pic#ed his eEpensive virtuosos from Berlin and now things even became super for the young ruler because he succeeded to attract already famous Johann Sebastian Bach as his Capellmeister, for the considerable sum of B99 Taler a year. The prince played the violin, the viola da gamba and the clavier himself and loved to join the band as a sophisticated )arao#e player. >parently, mama did't want to have the band in the palace all the time, so, they had to practice at the house of !eopold's friend Sebastian, who received some eEtra money for the inconvenience 'Bach loved eEtra money for this or for that(. >part from repertoire for the band, Bach wrote lots of chamber music in )?then. $n /8/0 he went to Berlin to get a great ,iet#e harpsichord for the court, which greatly stimulated his #eyboard output. Bach did not have to write church music at this Calvinistic court. $nterestingly, he did not seem to miss this at all because from the record it appears that he had the time of his life, just by producing chamber music in relative freedom, or by ma#ing a trip now and then to test an organ. .layboyish prince !eopold even too# his musicians to Carlsbad, where he Ftoo# the watersF during the summers of /8/5 and /8<9. This was Guite a trip 'even today there is no easy route from )?then to Carlsbad 'in the current C7ech 2epublic(. +verybody #nows that water in such places, even with some mineral salts added to it, does little more to human health than water at home and that Fta#ing the watersF must be seen as an alibi for society entertainment and for showing off 'for instance with your band(. The lover of Bach's music would li#e to spend a fortune to eEperience for one day 'or even an hour( how his hero moved around in this elegant atmosphere. *ere the singers ta#en along, including Bach's wife of neEt year >nna ,agdalena 'employed by !eopold since /8<9(H @o matter the Guality of the water, they must have had a great time. /0,hen 1717-17(+ - 1a!, ( (17(0-17(+) But, alas, death struc# again in Bach's life. -pon his return in )?then, he learned that his wife ,aria Barbara had died after a short illness and that she already had been burried on July 8. Bach was left behind with four children1 Catherina &orothea '/<(, *ilhelm Driedemann '/9(, Carl .hilipp +manuel ':(, and Johann Aottfried Bernhard '6 (. Three other children had died in infancy. The usual biographical story at this point says that poor Bach FneededF a FnewF wife to ta#e care of the children. This underrating of Bach as a human being, however, must be a distortion based on the mista#en view that Bach was a #ind of saint, in fact the Ffifth evangelistF, on his long march towards the St ,attew .assion. *omen, in this view, only play a role as child bearers and careta#ers, who, at best, copy their master's music or sing and play some easy pieces on the home virginal. >ll available evidence, however, points in a different direction. Dirst of all, recall that ,aria Barbara's sister, Driedelena ,agdalena, was part of the Bach household till her death in /8<0. *as she unable to ta#e care of the childrenH The FnewF wife, >nna ,agdalena *ilc#en 'or *"l#enI daughter of the trumpeter of the *eissenfels court(, was a very gifted soprano, who even earned half the salary of her famous /: year older Capellmeister and lover Sebastian. >nna ,agdalena was probably only /0 years old when she and her =6 year old boss fell for each other. They had been wor#ing together for more than a year when they finally got married on = &ecember /8</, just after they had been godparents together of the child of the )?then cellar master 'Bach had something with wine cellars1 recall >rnstadt(. ow and when had their courtship begunH ow do we have to eEplain the life%long resentment of the children from the first marriage, who completeley left her alone after their father's death in /869H >lthough Bach's first marriage was reportedly a happy one, there is much more evidence for the happiness of the second marriage. .rince !eopold was inspired by all this to marry one wee# later, to his cousin Driederica enrietta von >nhalt% Bernburg 'inbreeding was not limited to Thuringia(. This charming princess 'see picture( has become the most famous amusa 'i.e., anti%musical persona( of the history of music. This is due to the fact that Bach himself blamed the declining climate for music in )?then on the poor princess 'in a letter to Aeorg +rdmann of /8=9(. ,odern scholarship has established, however, that !eopold had to contribute more and more to the .russian military, so that he had less money for music. $t should also be mentioned that the terrible amusa had already died before Bach's departure to !eip7ig. @o matter the causes of the declining musical life in )?then, Bach applied three times for another post since /8<9. >lready at the end of /8<9 'a year before !eopold's marriage to anti%musical Driederica(, Sebastian applied for the position of organist at the Jacobi#irche in amburg 'picture on the left(. This church had a famous four%manual Schnitger organ. Bach gave a glorious concert, impressed almost /99 year old Jan >dam 2ein#en, was offered the job, but refused to pay a considerable sum to the church funds, so that the job went to somebody else.

>nother indication that Bach was loo#ing for another job was the dedication of his siE Brandenburg Concertos to ,argrave Christian !udwig of Brandenburg. Christian !udwig had a band in his Berlin Castle, and Sebastian reminded him of Fthe small talents for music which eaven had granted himF. This implicit application did not have any effect. Sebastian's third application was successful, however, be it that he was only third choice. $n >pril /8<=, Bach became the successor of the !eip7ig cantor Johann )uhnau, after Aeorg .hilipp Telemann 'musical director at amburg now( had declined the job and Christoph Araupner was not released from his court position at &armstadt. >part from the declining musical situation in )?then, Bach was see#ing another position in connection with the educational needs of his sons 'letter to Aeorg +rdmann, /8=9(. >nother common biographical interpretation is that Bach wanted to write vocal church music again, hence his intererest in the amburg and !eip7ig positions. Some biographers even associate this alleged new interest in church music with the death of Bach's first wife. There is almost no evidence, however, that Bach saw church music as his true vocation. >lthough he certainly wrote a lot of church music, his purely instrumental output was much more constant and spread over a much larger part of his life. The documentary record seems to show that Bach's applications were almost always motivated by a down%to%earth desire to improve his position, musically, but certainly also in terms of prestige and, above all, money. $t should also be noted that his flirtation with the ,argrave of Brandenburg had nothing to do with church music. $t is, in this conteEt, also somewhat curious that Bach's <9 year old wife >nna ,agdalena is almost never mentioned. ow could a composer, dearly in love with a gifted soprano, fail to have some renewed interest in vocal musicH *hat Sebastian's three applications have in common, however, is that they are for positions in big cities. ;ne can easily imagine that >nna ,agdalena and the upgrowing children were bored to death in )?then1 There is absolutely no place here where one can spend one's Talers or have some fun. So1 F&ad, let's go to amburg or Berlin for a change, and perhaps even !eip7ig will doFJ $n spite of the Bachs's move to !eip7ig, Sebastian continued to serve his prince as honorary Capellmeister, the prince he had so dearly loved and who died in /8<5, at age ==. *or# Traditionally, the )?then period is seen as the culmination point of Bach's chamber music output. There is good evidence, however, that Bach was just as productive in this field in *eimar and in !eip7ig 'Collegium ,usicum(. -nfortunately, most of Bach's chamber music is lost. ,ost famous wor#s of the )?then period are the siE Brandenburg Concertos, B*3 /9B:%/96/. These were finished by ,arch <B, /8</. The numbers one and siE are often said to go bac# to the *eimar period. ;ther great wor#s finished in this period are the unaccompanied violin sonatas and partitas 'B*3 /99/%/99:( and cello suites 'B*3 /998%/9/<(. Traditionally, Bach's great violin concertos in > ,inor 'B*3 /9B/(, + ,ajor 'B*3 /9B<(, and the double concert in & ,inor 'B*3 /9B=( are also ascribed to this period. .articularly, for B*3 /9B/ '> ,inor( and B*3 /9B= 'double concert( this is more controversial. The harpsichord masterpiece of the )?then period is the collection of <B preludes and fugues found in &as *ohltemperierte Clavier $, B*3 5B:%5:0. Durthermore, Bach wrote the two% part $nventions, B*3 88<%85: in )?then and a version of the three%part $nventions 'or Sinfonien(, B*3 858% 59/. >lso, the Drench Suites, B*3 5/<%5/8, and presumably the +nglish Suites, B*3 59:%5//, were composed in )?then. Bach wrote little organ music in this period and occasional cantatas 'for instance, for the prince's birthday(, of which in most cases only the teEts have survived. ;f special interest is the Clavier%B"chlein f"r *ilhelm Driedemann Bach, begun on January <<, /8<9. Lei23i' 17(+-1750 - 1a!, 1 (17(+-17( ) Aeorg .hilipp Telemann '/:5/%/8:8(, city music director of amburg, was elected cantor in !eip7ig on // >ugust /8<<. Telemann 'left( was the most famous composer of his days and !eip7ig's first choice. *hen, after a long hesitation, Telemann decided to stay in amburg, Christoph Araupner, court Capellmeister at &armstadt was the most li#ely candidate. Araupner was a former pupil of the St Thomas School and former law student at !eip7ig -niversity. owever, the !andgrave of esse refused to let his Capellmeister go, so that Araupner had to withdraw 'slavery was not completely abolished yet in /5th century Aermany, at least not for musicians1 recall Bach's eEperience in *eimar(. Bach only became a candidate when the post at St Thomas had been vacant for half a year. Bach's audition was on 8 Debruary /8<= 'Araupner's was on /8 January /8<=(. Bach's test cantatas were Jesus nahm 7u sich die 4w?lfe 'B*3 <<( and &u wahrer Aott und &avids Sohn 'B*3 <=(. Bach was successful and, after Araupner's withdrawal, the contract was signed on 6 ,ay /8<=.

The St Thomas School had a choir tradition of centuries and was in Bach's time a #ind of musical service institute that had to supply the four major churches in !eip7ig with choirs on Sundays and other Christian holidays. The school is shown here 'on the right( in its old form 'on the left of the picture(. before the remodelling of the /8=9s, when two stories were added. There were four churches, the churches of St Thomas 'Thomas#irche, on the picture on the right((, St @icholas '@i#olai#irche(, St .eter '.eters#irche(, and the @ew Church '@eue )irche(. The St @icholas church was the most important, followed by the St Thomas church. So, four choirs had to be formed out of the 66 pupils of the school. +ach choir had minimally eight singers 'two sopranos, two altos, two tenors, and two basses( and four soloists. The best singers were used for the St Thomas and St @icholas churches 'cantatas, passions, motets(, while the boys without talent had to sing less ambitious music in the St .eter church. There were choir rehearsals on ,onday, Tuesday, *ednesday and DridayI and on Saturday the boys were joined by the instrumentalists for the rehearsal of the Sunday cantata. 3ery often, however, there was practically no time for rehearsals. Bach wor#ed harder than ever before in those years and is supposed to have written 6 yearly runs 'i.e., 6 E 60 cantatas( altogether. The first annual cycle of /8<=%/8<B included many *eimar wor#s, but for the second cycle, /8<B%/8<6, Bach almost wrote one cantata per wee#. >fter a short interruption in /8<6, Bach wrote a third cycle over the neEt two years. $t is not eEactly #nown when Bach wrote the remaining two cycles. >bout two fifth of Bach's cantata production is lost 'apart from Aott ist mein )?nig, B*3 8/, no other cantata appeared in print during Bach's life time(. Bach's cantata output in the /8<9s is one of the most astonishing creative eEplosions in the history of *estern music, even if one considers that BaroGue composers were eEtremely productive in general. Aeorg .hilipp Telemann, for instance, could write a cantata in one day and was said to write an eight%part motet as if he were writing a letter 'Telemann wrote B9 operas, BB .assions, and /< yearly cycles of cantatas(. Bach's predecessor in !eip7ig, Johann )uhnau '/::9%/8<<( had written /B yearly cycles, and the absolute world champion cantata writing was Johann .hilipp )rieger '/:B0%/8<6(, who wrote almost <999 cantatas. >lthough nobody has heard even a fraction of the more than =699 cantatas of only these three composers, it is generally assumed that they were routine productions and much less original than Bach's cantatas. *hat is so astonishing about Bach, however, is that his cantatas were also the results of certain routines but that many are masterpieces nevertheless. &uring these early !eip7ig years, Bach also gave the first performance of the St John .assion '/8<B( and produced the ,agnificat '/8<=( and the St ,atthew .assion '/8<8 or /8<0(. $nterestingly, according to the general FparodyF techniGue of those days, ten parts of the St. ,atthew .assion were not only considered apt by Bach for the death of Jesus Christ but also as Trauermusi# for Sebastian's mundane friend and lover of the Carlsbad waters .rince !eopold von >nhalt%)?then '/8<0(. !eopold's death in /8<5 terminated Bach's position as honorary Capellmeister in )?then, a function that was granted to Bach by !eopold upon Sebastian's appointment in !eip7ig. Dortunately for Bach, he was able to acGuire his neEt honorary Capellmeistership already in /8<0 from the hands of the Fgentle ChristianF and heroic hunter, du#e Christian von Sachsen%*eissenfels. These Capellmeister titles were very important for Bach, who never was satisfied with the mere title of FCantorF in !eip7ig and always used the more impressive sounding &irector ,usices. Bach was not only a genius but also a social climber, who throughout his career flattered potential aristocratic employers and patrons with homage compostions and servile letters. The Bachs' life was not without personal tragedy during those years. Between /8<= and /8=8 >nna ,agdalena went through no less than twelve nine%month pregnancies 'with the eEception of the years /8<0, /8=B, and /8=:(. +ight of the twelve children died at ages varying from an hour to five years. ;f the remaining four children, one was seriously mentally%handicapped 'Aottfried einrich(. The last child was born in /8B<, when >nna ,agdalena was B/ 'and Sebastian 68(. Bach's professional life was not entirely satisfactory either. $t was among Bach's official duties to teach !atin to the schoolboys and to train the choirs. Bach did not want to teach !atin and had to pay a replacement from his own poc#et. ,oreover, the school turned out to be in chaos, lac#ing in discipline and with the musical level at an all time low 'due to the wea# disciplinary regime of the nearly seventy year old rector Johann einrich +rnesti, shown on the right here(. Bach's official salary was only a fourth of his )?then salary and he was much dependent on eEtra earnings from musical services at funerals and weddings. $n FgoodF years, the Thomas choirs had to sing at one funeral a day, but in his letter to Aeorg +rdmann '/8=9(, Bach was complaining that due to mild weather his income was often reduced. !ast but not least, Bach got involved in an increasing number of conflicts with the many authorities he had to deal with. The conflicts of this early period culminated in a conflict with the -niversity. The cantor of the Thomas School had the right to also call himself director musices of the -niversity. >lready in )uhnau's days the -niversity had tried to ma#e itself less dependent on the Thomas School. The -niversity had established a

regular Sunday service in its St .aul church '.auliner#irche( 'shown on the left below(. This service was called the FnewF service, neEt to the traditional FoldF service 'eight church high festivals only(. >fter )uhnau's death, the -niversity had given both services in the hands of a man of their own, Johann Aottlieb A?rner, organist of the St @icholas church. This discontinuation of the tradtional connection with the Thomas School made Bach furious. $t made it very difficult for him to recruit students for the musical services in the other !eip7ig churches and it also cost him money. >fter a long battle, it was decided that Bach could legally consider himself &irector of ,usic of the -niversity of !eip7ig, but that his traditional prerogative only eEtended to the FoldF service, not to the FnewF service. Bach lost his interest in these FoldF services and left them to an assistant. Dinancially, Bach completely lost the battle because the -niversity did not commision compositions anymore to the Thomas Cantor, who therefore lost one of his sources of income. Aradually, Bach became completely dissatisfied with his position, both financially and in terms of musical facilities. &uring the last twenty years of his life he devoted himself more and more to other musical projects, beginning in ,arch /8<0 when Bach assumed the direction of the Collegium ,usicum in !eip7ig. Lei23i' 17(+-1750 - 1a!, ( (17( -1740) >round /8=9, Bach's gigantic cantata production ran out of steam for a number of reasons. The material circumstances for church music were less than ideal and the various conflicts had made Bach weary of his function. $n a famous memorandum to the !eip7ig city council of /8=9, Bach eEplained his grievances. This document is the most important source of information about Bachs's performance practice and ideas about the desired si7e of choirs and instrumental groups. ;f the same year, a letter has survived that Bach had written to his childhood friend Aeorg +rdmann, who lived in &ant7ig as diplomat in 2ussian service. $n this letter, Bach bitterly complains about his disappointing !eip7ig circumstances, and eEpresses serious interest in a function in &ant7ig. @othing of this #ind wor#ed out, however. !uc#ily, Bach had also found a new challenge since /8<0, when he too# over the direction of the Collegium ,usicum ',usic Society(, an orchestra of students and some professional musicians founded by Telemann in /89<. *ith a short interruption berween /8=8 and /8=0, Bach assumed the leadership of this society till the early /8B9s. The concerts were held once a wee# 'on Driday evenings( in 4immermann's Coffee ouse 'twice a wee# during the +aster and St ,ichael's Dairs( at )atharinenstrasse /B 'picture on the left(. *ith good weather, during the summer, the concerts were also held at 4immermann's garden near the Arimma Aate 'close to the -niversity, near the wall at the opposite side of the city from the Thomas church(. $n /8=BK=6 Bach wrote his famous Coffee Cantata, B*3 <//, as a #ind of commercial for 4immermann. Bach's rival A?rner also had a Collegium ,usicum and later on the two music societies were merged into a new one that became the basis of the later Aewandhaus orchestra tradition. This can be seen as the beginning of bourgeois concert life. The Collegium ,usicum had regular guest performances and, presumably, Bach performed his own harpsichord concertos with his sons *ilhelm Driedemann and Carl .hilipp +manuel. $t is believed nowadays that Bach's output of chamber music must have been enormous during these years and that most of these wor#s got lost by the unfortunate way in which Bach's legacy was handled after his death. >nother recent view is that many of Bach's concertos 'including the famous violin concertos in > ,inor 'B*3 /9B/( and & ,inor 'B*3 /9B=( and also the ;uverture in B ,inor, B*3 /9:8( stem from this period 'and not from the )?then years, as was believed in the past(. Till /8=6 Bach still composed a small number of church cantatas and oratorios, including the St ,ar# .assion '/8=/(, the Christmas ;ratorio '/8=BK=6(, the +aster ;ratorio '/8=B( and the >scension ;ratorio '/8=6(, but after /8=6 his religious canatata production came to an almost complete halt 'most of the wor#s just mentioned were parodies of secular cantatas(. The production of secular cantatas, however, went on till at least /8B< 'the year of the .easant Cantata, B*3 </<, Bach's last datable cantata(. ,ost of these secular cantatas were congratulatory or homage cantatas for important persons or wor#s for special festive occasions, created by Bach on demand and usually on a commercial basis. Bach really had become a #ind of early%bourgeois capitalist entrepreneur, who also was a dealer of boo#s and music and he even occupied himself with the rental of musical instruments. $n the /8B9s, he also sold Silbermann fortepianos. $n spite of Bach's complaints around /8=9, the situation at the Thomas school improved during the early /8=9s, than#s to the the new rector Johann ,atthias Aesner '/:0/%/8:/(, who had #nown Bach since *eimar and who was among his admirers. The school got two eEtra stories and was renovated into the form familiar from many pictures. &uring the construction wor# ',ay /8=/%June /8=<(, the Bachs lived in the house of &r. Christoph &onndorf, owner of a brewery and friend of Bach's, in the ainstrasse 'house does not eEist anymore(. The renovated building is shown on the right. The cantor lived in the left 'southern( part of the school, the rector in the right 'northern( part, and the school boys in the middle. The buidling was on the

western city wall. $n Bach's time it was neEt to a gate, with a little bridge, leading to the fields west of the city. The building was demolished in /09<. $n /8=B, Aesner became professor at the new -niversity of A?ttingen and was succeeded by the young and ambitious adjunct rector Johann >ugust +rnesti '/898%/85/( 'picture on the left, below(. Dor some years, Bach had had good relations with him, because +rnesti was godfather to two of Bach's children '>ugust >braham in /8== and Johann Christian in /8=6(. But in the second half of the /8=9s, things went completely out of hand between the two men. +rnesti, perhaps inspired by certain +nlightenment ideals, wished to diminish the role of music in the Thomas school and came into conflict with Bach 'rector and cantor lived in the same noisy building, which was full of music all the timeI maybe, we shouldn't blame +rnesti too much on his growing disli#e of music(. The conflict culminated in a, often public, fight about the right to appoint prefects 'leaders of the choirs(. Traditionally, this had been the privilege of the cantor, and when +rnesti tried to ta#e over the cantor's role in this respect, Bach was furious 'the enlightened +rnesti, one of the smartest faces in our portrait gallery in my opinion, wanted to dismiss a prefect that had beaten a studentI this was against Bach's will(. The very unpleasant struggle lasted from /8=: till /8=5, when everybody became silent all of a sudden, presumably by order of the SaEonian court in &resden '!eip7ig's somewhat dormant but nevertheless highest authority(. The crucial point is that Bach had been appointed court Capellmeister and composer in &resden in /8=: 'without special duties(, to the service of the +lector of SaEony Drederic# >ugustus $$ '#ing >ugustus $$$ of .oland(. Bach had applied for this function in /8==, with a very humble letter and under submission of two parts 'the )yrie and Aloria( of the 'later( ,ass in B ,inor. This application had been prepared for years by the writing of flattering congratulatory cantatas for members of the royal family. $n /8=:, Bach finally succeeded, presumably with some help from the influential Count )eyserling#, who greatly admired Bach and who was later rewarded with a dedication of the Aoldberg variations. >t the local '!eip7ig( level, Bach would presumably have lost the fight about the prefects in the long run, but the &resden interference now seemed to suffice to bring the overt conflict to an end. *ith a sufficient supply of church cantatas from the /8<9s and with the apparent protection of the &resden court, Bach put only minimal energy into his cantor function and withdrew more and more into a #ind of Fself%styled retirementF 'Chr. *olff( to devote himself to projects of his own choice, particularly his instrumental monothematic cyclic wor#s of his later years. $n the meantime, Bach's oldest sons had left the house. *ilhelm Driedemann had become organist at the Sophien#irche in /8== and Carl .hilipp +manuel had become student in Dran#furt an der ;der in /8=B 'in /8=5 he became musician at the court of crown prince Drederic# $$ of .russia and followed him to .otsdam in /8B9 when he became #ing Drederic# the Areat(. Bach's son Johann Aottfried Bernhard became organist in ,"hlhausen in /8=6, left the city one year later with debts, became organist in Sangerhausen, but had to flee his debtors again. e showed up as student in Jena, where he suddenly died in /8=0 at the age of <B. Bach's efforts and concerns about this son form one of the most tragic episodes of his life during these years. >ltogether, Bach had more or less successfully emancipated himself from an almost medieval Thuringian bac#ground to a mildly entrepreneurish bourgeois with sons at the university 'the daughters never received a similar education from their male%chauvinist father(. .erhaps inspired by the fact that the new Bach generation produced gifted professional musicians again, Bach began a family genealogy under the name F-rsprung des musicalisch%Bachischen DamilieF, which traced the family tradition bac# to /:th century 3eit Bach. $n general, we see a Bach during these years with a very evident self%consciousness and a growing concern about his position in history. This also appears from his constant revisions of earlier wor# and from his efforts to get his wor# published. Bach had been publishing his #eyboard partitas since /8<:, and in /8=/ the whole collection of siE was published as Clavier%Lbung, .art $, B*3 5<6%5=9. Clavier%Lbung, .art $$ followed in /8=6 '$talian Concerto, B*3 08/ and Drench ;uverture in B ,inor, B*3 5=/(. Clavier%Lbung, .art $$$ was published in /8=0. $t contains the organ wor#s B*3 66<, ::0% :50, 59<%596. Bach also became the center of a circle of a growing number of students, some of them with a distinct historical and theoretical interest ',i7ler, )irnberger, >gricola(. This led to a #ind of historical reflection, which had a deep influence on Bach's last creative period, which started around /8=6 and to which we will turn neEt. Bach was, incidentally, attac#ed in /8=8 by his former student Johann >dolph Scheibe and accused of an old% fashioned, unnatural and overly learned style of composition. >gainst this attac#, Bach was eloGuently defended by his spo#esman, Johann >braham Birnbaum, of the -niversity of !eip7ig. $n spite of this, Bach clearly underwent a certain influence of the new galant style in his later wor#s. Lei23i' 17(+-1750 - 1a!, + (1740-1750)

/9

Since /8==, the &resden connection had become very important for Sebastian. $n contrast with the stagnating !eip7ig situation, &resden had a very lively music scene, with lots of interesting musicians, li#e the violinist and 3ivaldi promotor .isendel, the Drench flute virtuoso Buffardin, and the director of church music at the SaEon court Jan &ismas 4elen#a, who was a promotor of the .alestrina style. The opera was led by Bach's friend and prolific composer for the theater, Johann >dolf asse, who wrote more than :9 operas and who was married to the then famous star soprano Daustina Bordoni 'picture on the left(. >ll these people were admirers of Bach, which made it easier for Sebastian to maintain a regular personal contact with &resden. The &resden connection was in general very important for Bach's new style, which incorporated elements of both the new galant fashion and the stile antico 'old fashioned strict contrapunt in the style of .alestrina(. The $talian connections of the &resden musicians were, presumably, instrumental in Bach's acGuaintence with these new stylistic elements. $n the last decade of Bach's life, all these interests were deepened and eEtended under the influence of Sebastian's many theoretically gifted students and under the influence of Bach's growing connection with Berlin. Bach's son Carl .hilipp +manuel had become court musician there since /8=5, and, obviously, .otsdam and Berlin were the future in the Aerman spea#ing world, both in terms of power and in terms of culture. The first time Bach had been in Berlin was in /8/0, when he purchased the great ,iet#e harpsichord for the )oethen court. *ith Carl .hilipp +manuel in Berlin, Bach became a more or less regular visitor. e was in Berlin in /8B/, when >nna ,agdalena became seriously ill for a while, as we #now from the correspondence of Bach's second%cousin Johann +lias Bach, who was part of the Bach household between /8=8 and /8B<, and who acted as Bach's secretary and musical tutor of the younger children. is letters form an important source of infromation about the Bach family in those years. .resumably, Bach was also in Berlin in /8B6, when !eip7ig was temporarily sieged by .russia during the second Silesian war between >ustria and .russia 'SaEony was an ally of >ustria(. But the most famous visit to Berlin is the one which Sebastian undertoo# in ,ay /8B8 with his son *ilhelm Driedemann. e was received at the Stadtschloss 'picture on the right, below( in .otsdam by Drederic# $$ '#ing Drederic# the Areat of .russia(, who was an enthusiastic musical amateur and player of the flute. Bach tried all organs in .otsdam and the Silbermann fortepianos in the palace. The visit culminated in the famous theme given to Bach by the #ing with the reGuest to elaborate on it. Bach improvised on the theme but promised the #ing that he would ma#e something more sophisticated at home and have it engraved and printed. This resulted in the ,usical ;ffering, B3* /980, engraved by Bach's former pupil and engraver in 4ella, Johann Aeorg Sch"bler. The dedication to the #ing was printed in !eip7ig by Bernhard Christoph Breit#opf. @ote, incidentally, that Bach's flirtation with Drederic# the Areat of .russia gives some food for thought, politically and morally. Bach was not an arbitrary citi7en but the court Capellmeister and composer of the +lector of SaEony, who had just been defeated by .russia in the Second Silesian *ar. ;ne gets the impression that Bach had a #een eye for the direction that contemporary history had ta#en and where the future was in terms of power and influence. $n a way, then, Bach's opportunistic visit to .otsdam in /8B8 was the last major step in a career well%planned. Some parts of the ,usical ;ffering showed again a certain influence of the new galant style. >ccording to 2obert !. ,arshall, in his article FBach the .rogressiveF, this influence is also visible in the Aolberg 3ariations, that appeared in /8B< 'as Clavier%-ebung $3( and were commisioned by Count )eyserling# for his harpsichord player and former student of Bach and his son Driedemann, Johann Aottlieb Aoldberg. Some characteristics of this new style are a less dense polyphonic structure and the emphasis on a main part 'melody(, a regular and rather fiEed phrase structure 'themes of /: measures, divided in two parts of 5 measures, etc.(, and a slower harmonic rhythm than was usual in the older baroGue style. Durthermore, it is common in this style to use popular dance rhythms and fol# songs, such as the Guodlibet at the end of the Aoldberg variations. Similar elements can be found in the .easant Cantata 'B*3 </<( of /8B< and also the siE Sch"bler chorales, B*3 :B6%:69, show certain influences of the new style. These are just a few eEamples of the fact that Bach was well aware of new developments and that he didn't hesitate to incorporate them in his own compositions. Bach was not only occupied with the style of the future but, as already mentioned, even more so with the stile antico, the strict counterpoint of composers li#e .alestrina. Bach's preoccupation with the stile antico is most obvious in his ,ass in B ,inor, B*3 <=<, but all other great FencyclopedicF compositions of his last period show a related preoccupation with strict counterpoint and the canon form. This is true for the Aolberg 3ariations, but also for the canonic variations 3om immelhoch da #omm' ich her, B*3 8:0, '/8B8 or /8B5(, and most prominently of all in the )unst der Duge 'B*3 /959(, a wor# started around /8B9 and not finished yet when Bach died in /869 'it was published in /86/(. >lso the preludes and fugues collected as &as *ohltemperierte Clavier $$ 'finished by the early /8B9s( show a certain influence of the stile antico.

//

$n the past, Bachs oeuvre was often seen as the the culmination point of a development of centuries, as the terminal point of the polyphonic period in the history of music. ,odern Bach scholarship, however, also tends to stress the pre%classic, FprogressiveF elements in Bach's late wor#s and even his preoccupation with the stile antico can be seen as an element that points to the future rather than to the past. Bach's new historical dimension grew in connection with his large circle of theoretically gifted and historically%minded students such as !oren7 ,i7ler, the founder of the Societaet der musicalischen *issenschaften and the translator of DuE's Aradus ad .arnassum '/8<6( 'Bach owned the original !atin version(, a wor# that analyses the old .alestrina counterpoint style in depth. $t had something to do with the growing enthusiasm in this period about antiGuity and even about things FgothicF as cultivated in the coming 2omantic era. $n /8B8, Bach became member /B of ,i7ler's society, for which he had to submit a composition 'the aforementioned canonical variations B*3 8:0(. +ach member also had to submit a portrait. The portrait that Bach used for the occasion is the famous aussmann portrait of /8B:. Bach finished his great B ,inor ,ass in /8B0. .robably, he was not active in his function as cantor anymore because the !eip7ig authorities started the process of attracting a new cantor 'Aottlob arrer(. Bach was practically blind due to cataracts at the end of his life. +arly in /869, he was unsuccessfully treated for that by the British oculist Taylor and later that year he was hit by a stro#e. e died on July <5, /869. >ccording to recent medical interpretations of Bach's symptoms in the last period of his life, he probably suffered and died from diabetes mellitus. Traditionally, it was assumed that just before he died Bach dictated a setting of the chorale *enn wir in hoechsten @oten sein 'Dor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit( to his son%in%law >ltnic#ol. This has always sounded too virtuous and pious to be true, and indeed, modern Bach scholarship has demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that this was a myth all along. Bach was not very much of a religiously inspired composer anyway during the last two decades of his life. Bach's estate and legacy was divided among his wife and children, not without difficulties, because for some reason Sebastian had failed to ma#e a will. The sons of Bach's first marriage didn't do very much for their stepmother >nna ,agdalena afterwards 'her own sons were still too young(. @obody #nows the reason for this curious neglect. She died on Debruary <8, /8:9 and was given a pauper's funeral. *ilhelm Driedemann 'born in /8/9, picture on the right( was organist at the Sophien#irche in &resden till /8B:, when he became organist and cantor at the !iebfrauen#irche in alle, where he had to write cantatas li#e his father. e was involved in conflicts there and resigned in /8:B, without finding other employment. $n /889, he went to Brunswic# and four years later to Berlin. e tried to ma#e himself a living as a travelling organ virtuoso but didn't succeed to build up a stable and successful eEistence. e survived in Berlin than#s to financial support from his student Sara $t7ig !evi, who was the daughter of Drederic# the Areat's ,inister of Dinance and a great%aunt of DeliE ,endelssohn's. e was very famous as an organist and not entirely unsuccessful as a composer, although he often failed to write out and publish his brilliant improvisations. e died in pitiful circumstances in /85B. Carl .hilipp +manuel 'born in /8/B( had the most stable career. he remained at the .otsdam court till /8::, when he succeeded Telemann as music director of amburg. !i#e his older brother, he was a #eyboard virtuoso who had to write cantatas now. often with some help from the wor#s of father Sebastian or Telemann. e was rather succesful as a composer, wor#ed under more civili7ed and understanding authorities than his father, and died in amburg in /855. Two sons of >nna ,agdalena were successful musicians and composers as well. Johann Christoph Driedrich 'born in /8=<( became chamber musician to count von Schaumburg%!ippe at the Buec#eburg court, where he stayed till his death in /806. Johann Christian 'Bach's youngest son, born in /8=6I picture on the left( became Guite famous. e went to $taly than#s to a love affair with an $talian singer. >s Aiovanni Bach, he met the inevitable padre ,artini in Bologna '#nown from ,o7art's biography( and became organist of the dom at ,ilan. >fter a brief and successful stay as opera composer in @aples, he went bac# to ,ilan. is neEt station was !ondon, where he was very successful as a composer of operas and chamber music. $n /8:B he came in touch with the visiting ,o7art and had a direct and lasting influence on the young genius. $n spite of these early successes, his music went out of fashion, he tended towards alcoholism, built up considerable debts and died at age B: 'in /85<(, earlier than his older brothers Driedemann and +manuel. ;f Bach's four remaining daughters, +lisabeth Juliane Driederica 'F!iesgenF( was married to Bach's student Johann Christoph >ltnic#ol in /8B0. The other three daughters neither found a husband nor had received the education to support themselves in a financially satisfactory way.

/<