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^-^^
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I i
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JOHANN SEBASTIAN BAOH
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J OH ANN S KB AST I AN BACH.
circ. 1720.
(From the picture bv J ohann Jakob I hie, in the Bach Museum, Eisenach.)
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JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
HIS LIFE, ART, AND WORK
TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF
JOHANN NIKOLAUS FORKEL
WITH NOTBS AlTD APPENDICES BY
CHARLES SANFORD TERRY
UTT.D. OANTAB.
NEW YORK
HARCOURT, BRACE AND HOWE
1920
4
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c.i
591381
PrinUd in Great BrUain
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CONTENTS
iNTBODUOnOir
Fobksl'b Pbbf^cb
I. Ths Family or Baoh^
n. Ths Casbkb of Baoh
iiA. Baoh at Lxipzio, 1723-50
m. Baoh as a Clavikb Platsb
iv. Baoh thb Oboanist.
▼. Baoh THS Gomfobxb
▼I. Baoh thx Compossb — (cofUim
▼n. Baoh as a Tsaohkb
vni. PsBsoNAii Chabaotbbibtiob
IX. BaOH'B OOMPOBinONS
X. Baoh's Manusobipts >^
XL Ths Oxnius of Baoh
IX
xxiy
1
9
29
49
61
70
80
92
106
114
143
147
APPENDICES
I. Chbonolooioal Catalooub of Baoh's Compositions 153
n. Thx Chtfboh Cantatas abbanokd Chbonolooioallt 163
m. Thx Baohosbbuubohaft Editions of Baoh's Wobks 225
IV. BiBijooBAPHT OF Baoh Litxbatubs . . 287
▼. A Collation of thb Noybllo and Pbtbbs Editions
OF THB Oboan Wobks .... 294
VI. OSNXALOOT OF THB FAMILY OF BaOH . 303
Indbx .311
^ It dioald be ttated th«t the originel ham bo ohepter heedlngi.
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ILLUSTRATIONS
JoHANN Sebastian Bach. circ. 1720. (From the
picture by Johann Jak. Ihle in the Bach Museum,
Eisenach ..... Frontispiece
Bach's Home at Eisenach (now the Bach Museum) To face page 8
The Chubch and School of St. Thomas, Leipzig,
in 1723
28
Johann Sebastian Bach, 1746. (From the picture
by Elias Oottlieb Haussmann, formerly in St.
Thomas's School, now in the Municipal Museum,
Leipzig) .....
The Bach Statue at Eisenach
48
70
JoHANN Sebastian Bach. (From the picture dis-
covered by Professor Fritz Volbach . . 92
The Bach Statue at Leipzig . 152
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INTRODUCTION
JoHANN NiKOLAtJS FoBKBL, author of the mono-
graph of which the following pages afford a trans*
lation, was bom at Meeder, a small village in Saxe-
Goburg, on February 22, 1749, seventeen months
before the death of Johann Sebastian Bach, whose
first biographer he became. Presumably he would
have followed the craft of his father, the village
shoemaker, had not an insatiable love of music
seized him in early years. He obtained books,
and studied them with the village schoolmaster.
In particular he profited by the * Vollkommener
E^peUmeister ' of Johann Mattheson, of Ham-
burg, tlie sometime friend of HandeL Like Handel,
he found a derelict Clavier in the attic of his home
and acquired proficiency upon it.
Forkel's professional career, like Bach's half a
century earlier, began at Luneburg, where, at the
age of thirteen (1762), he was admitted to the choir
of the parish church. Thence, at the age of
seventeen (1766), he proceeded to Schwerin as
* Chorprafect,' and enjoyed the favour of the
Orand Duke. Three years later he betook him-
self (1769), at the age of twenty, to the University
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X JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
of Grottingen, which he entered as a law student,
though a slender purse compelled him to give
music lessons for a livelihood. He used his oppor-
tunity to acquire a knowledge of modem languages,
which stood him in good stead later, when his
researches required him to explore foreign litera-
tures. Concurrently he pursued his musical activi-
ties, and in 1774 published at Gottingen his first
work, * Ueber die Theorie der Musik,' advocating
the foundation of a music lectureship in the Uni-
versity, Four years later (1778) he was appointed
its Director of Music, and from 1779 to 1815 co;i-
ducted the weekly concerts of the Sing-Akademie.
In 1780 he received from the University the
doctorate of philosophy. The rest of his life was
spent at Gottingen, where he died on March 17,
1818, having just completed his sixty -ninth
year.
That Forkel is remembered at all is due solely
to his monograph on Bach. Written at a time
when Bach's greatness was realised in hardly any
quarter, the book claimed for him pre-eminence
which a tardily enlightened world since has con-
ceded him. By his generation Forkel was esteemed
chiefly for his literary activity, critical ability, and
merit as a composer. His principal work, * Allge-
meine Geschichte der Musik,' was published in
two volumes at Leipzig in 1788 and 1801. Carl
iViedrich Zelter, Goethe's friend and correspond-
ent, dismissed the book contemptuously as that of
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INTRODUCTION xi
an author who had ^ set out to write a history of
music, but came to an end just where the history
of music begins.' ForkeFs work, in fact, breaks
off at the sixteenth century. But the curtailed
* History ' cleared the way for the monograph on
Bach, a more valuable contribution to the litera-
ture of music. Forkel ah^ady had published, in
three volumes, at Gotha in 1778, his ' Musikalisch-
kritische Bibliothek,' and in 1792 completed his
critical studies by publishing at Leipzig his ' Allge-
meine Literatur der Musik.'
Forkel was also a student of the music of the
polyphonic school. He prepared for the press the
scores of a number of sixteenth century Masses,
Motets, etc., and fortunately received proofs of
them from the engraver. For, in 1806, after the
Battle of Jena, the French impounded the plates
and melted them down. Forkel's proofs are still
preserved in the Berlin Boyal Library. He was
diligent in quest of Bach's scattered MSS., and his
friendship with Bach's elder sons, Carl Philipp
Emmanuel and Wilhelm Friedemann, enabled him
to secure precious reUcs which otherwise might
have shared the fate of too many of Bach's manu-
scripts. He took an active interest in the proposal
of Messrs. Hoff meister and Kuhnel, predecessors of
C. F. Peters at Leipzig, to print a ^kritisch-
korrecte ' edition of Bach's Organ and Clavier
works. Through his friend, Johann Gottfried
Schicht, afterwards Cantor at St. Thomas's,
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xii JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Leipzig, he was also associated with Breitkopf and
Haertel's publication of five of Bach's six extant
Motets in 1802-3.
As a composer Forkel has long ceased to be
remembered. His works include two Oratorios,
* Hiskias ' (1789) and ' Die Hirten bey der Krippe ' ;
four Cantatas for chorus and orchestra ; Clavier
Concertos, and many Sonatas and Variations for
the Harpsichord.
In 1802, for reasons which he explains in his
Preface, Forkel published from Hoffmeister and
Kiihnel's ^ Bureau de Musique ' his ' Ueber Johann
Sebastian Bachs Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke*
Fur patriotische Verehrer echter musikalischer
Kunst,' of which a new edition was issued by
Peters in 1866. The original edition bears a dedi-
cation to Gottfried Ba^-on van Swieten^ (1734-
1803), Prefect of the Royal Library, Vienna, and
sometime Austrian Ambassador in Berlin, a friend
of Haydn and Mozart, patron of Beethoven, a
man whose age allowed him to have seen Bach,
and whose career makes the association with Bach
that Forkel's dedication gives him not undeserved.
It was he, an ardent Bach enthusiast, who intro-
duced the youthful Mozart to the music of the
Leipzig Cantor. ^I go every Sunday at twelve
o'clock to the Baron van Swieten,' Mozart writes
in 1782, * where nothing is played but Handel and
^ * Seiner ExoeUeos dem SVeyheren ¥an Swieten ehierlnBfcigBl
gewidmet voa dem Veifamnr.*
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INTRODUCTION xiu
Bach, and I am now making a collection of the
Fugues of Bach.' The merit and limitations of
ForkeFs book wiU be considered later. For the
moment the fact deserves emphasis that, inade-
quate as it is, it presented a fuller picture of Bach
than so far had been drawn, and was the first to
render the homage due to his genius.
In an illuminating chapter (zii.), ^ Death and
Resurrection,' Schweitzer has told the story of
the neglect that obscured Bach's memory after
his death in 1760. Isolated voices, raised here
and thwe, acclaimed his genius. With Bach's
treatise on ' The Art of Fugue ' before him, Johann
Mattheson (1681-1664), the foremost critic of the
day, claimed that Germany was ^the true home
of Organ music and Fugue.' Friedrich Wilhelm
Marpurg (1718-96), the famous Berlin theorist,
expressed ihe same opinion in his preface to the
edition of that work published shortly after Bach's
death. But such appreciations were rare. Little
of Bach's music was in print and available for
performance or critical judgment. Even at St.
Thomas's, Leipzig, it suffered almost complete
neglect until a generation after Forkel's death.
The bulk of Bach's MSS. was divided among his
family, and Forkel himself, with unrivalled oppor-
tunity to acquaint himself with the dimen-
sions of Bach's industry, knew little of his
music except the Organ and Clavier composi-
tions.
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xiv JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
In these circumstances it is not strange that
Bach's memory waited for more than half a
century for a biographer. Forkel, however, was
not the first to assemble the known facts of
Bach's career or to assert his place in the music of
Germany.
Putting aside Johann Gottfried Walther's brief
epitome in his ' Lexikon ' (1732), the first and most
important of the early notices of Bach was the
obituary article, or ' Nekrolog,' contributed by his
son, Carl Philipp Emmanuel, and Johann Eriedrich
Agricola, one of Bach's most distinguished pupils,
to the fourth volume of Mizler's ' Musikalische
Bibliothek,' published at Leipzig in 1754. The
authors of this appreciation give it an intimacy
which renders it precious. But Mizler's periodical
was the organ of a small Society, of which Bach
had been a member, and outside its associates
can have done little to extend a knowledge of the
subject of the memoir.
Johann Eriedrich Agricola contributed notes
on Bach to Jakob Adlung's ^Musica mechanica
Organoedi,' published in two volumes at Berlin in
1768. The article is valuable chiefly for Agricola's
exposition of Bach's opinions upon Organ and
Clavier building.
With the intention to represent him as 'the
coryphaeus of all organists,' Johann Adam Hiller,
who a few years later became Cantor at St.
Thomas's, Leipzig, published there in 1784 a
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INTRODUCTION xv
brief account of Bach in his ' Lebensbeschrei-
bungen beriihmter Musikgelehrten und Tonkiinst-
ler neuerer Zeit.'
Four years after Hiller's notice, Ernst Ludwig
Gerber published at Leipzig, in two volumes,
1790-92, his ^ Historisch-biographische Lexikon
der Tonkiinstler.' As in Hiller's case, Gerber,
whose father had been Bach's pupil, was chiefly
interested in Bach as an organist.
Coincidently with Gerber, another of Bach's
pupils, Johann Martin Schubart, who succeeded
him at Weimar in 1717, sketched his characteristics
as a performer in the ^ Aesthetik der Tonkunst,'
published at Berlin by his son in the ^ Deutschen
Monatsschrift ' in 1793.
In 1794 appeared at Leipzig the first volume of a
work which Spitta characterises as fantastic and
unreliable, so far as it deals with Bach, Friedrich
Carl Gottlieb Hirsching's * Historisch-literarisches
Handbuch' of notable persons deceased in the
eighteenth century.
Last of ForkePs forerunners, A. E. L. Siebigke
published at Breslau in 1801 his ^Museum
deutscher Tonkiinstler,' a work which adds
nothing to our knowledge of Bach's life, but
offers some remarks on his style.
Little,. if any, information of value, therefore,
had been added to the ^ Nekrolog ' of 1754 when
Forkel, in 1802, produced his monograph on Bach
and his music. Nor, viewed as a biography, does
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xvi JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Forkel much enlarge our knowledge of the con-
ditions of Bach's life. He had the advantage of
knowing Bach's elder sons, but appears to have
lacked curiosity regarding the circumstances of
Bach's career, and to have made no endeavour to
add to his imperfect information, even regarding
his hero's life at Leipzig, upon which it should have
been eacfy for him to obtain details of utmost
interest. His monograph, in fact, is not a ^ Life '
in the biographic sense, but a critical appreciation
of Bach as player, teacher, and composer, based
upon the Organ and Clavier works, with which
alone Forkel was familiar. '
It would be little profitable to weigh the value
of Forkel's criticism. We are tempted to the con-
clusion that Bach appealed to him chiefly as a
supreme master of technique, and our hearts would
open to him more widely did not his apprecia-
tion of Bach march with a narrow depreciation
of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, the last of
whom, he declared ex cathedra, had not produced
^ a single work which can be called a master-
piece.' Gluck he frankly detested.
But Forkel's monograph is notable on other
grounds. It was the first to claim for Bach a
place among the divinities. It used him to
stimulate a national sense in his own people.
Bach's is the first great voice from out of Germany
since Luther. Of Germany's own Bisorgimento,
patently initiated by Goethe a generation after
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INTR0DUC3TI0N xvii
I Johann Sebastian's death. Bach himself is the
I
harbinger. In his assertion of a distinctive Ger-
man musical art he set an example followed in
turn by Mozart, Weber, and Wagner. * With
Bach,' wrote Wagner, ^ the German Spirit was bom
anew.' It is Forkel's perpetual distinction that
he grasped a fact hidden from almost all but
himself. In his Preface, and more emphatically
in the closing paragraph of his last Chapter, he
presents Bach as the herald of a German nation
yet unformed.
It is a farther distinction of ForkeFs monograph
that it made converts. With its publication the
clouds of neglect that too long had obscured Bach's
grandeur began to melt away, until the dizzy
altitude of his genius stood revealed. The publi-
cation of the five Motets (1803) was followed by
that of the Magnificat in 1811, and of the Mass
in A in 1818. A begioning was made with the
Cantatas in 1821, when Breitkopf and Haertel
published ' Ein' feste Burg ' (No. 80), commended
I in an article written (1822) by Johann iVied-
I rich Bochlitz (1769-1842), the champion of Beet-
hoven, as now of Bach. Another enthusiastic
pioneer was Carl iViedrich Zelter (1768-1832),
conductor of the Berlin Sing-Akademie, who
called Bach * a sign of God, clear, yet inexplicable.'
To him in large measure was due the memorable
revival of the * St. Matthew Passion ' at Berlin,
which the youthful Mendelssohn, Zelter's pupil^
6
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xviii JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
conducted in March 1829, exactly one hundred
years after the first production of the mighty work
at Leipzig. In the following years it was given
at Dresden and many other German towns.
Leipzig heard it again after a barren interval in
1841, and did tardy homage to its incomparable
composer by erecting (1843) the statue that
stands in the shadow of St. Thomas's Church,
hard by the Cantor's home for a quarter of a
century.
Meanwhile, in 1830 and 1831 the 'St. Matthew
Passion ' and ' St. John Passion ' had been en-
graved, and by 1845 the B minor Mass was in
print. The credit of having revived it belongs to
Johann Nepomuk Schelble (1789-1837), conductor
of the Frankfort Caecilienverein, though the Berlin
Sing-Akademie was the first to give a performance,
considerably curtailed, of the whole work in 1835.
A little later, in the middle of the forties, Peters
began to issue his ' kritisch-korrecte ' edition of
the Organ works, which at length made Bach
widely known among organists. But the publi-
cation of the Cantatas proceeded slowly. Only
fourteen of them were in print in 1850, when the
foundation of the Bachgesellschaf t, on the centen-
ary of Bach's death, focused a world-wide homage.
When it dissolved in 1900 its mission was accom-
plished, the entire works ^ of Bach were published,
^ So far the New BachgeeeUsohaft has paUished only a ain^
Cantata overlooked by the old Society. See infrOf p. 280.
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INTRODUCTION xix
and the vast range of his genius was patent to the
world.
It remains to discuss the first EngUsh version of
ForkeFs monograph, published in 1820, with the
following title-page:
Lnrs OF John Sisbastian Baoh; with a Critioal View
of his CiompoedtionB. By J. N. Forkel, Author of The Com-
plete Histoiy of Musio, etc., etc. Translated from the
German. London : Printed for T. Boosey and Co., Holies-
Street, Gayendish-Square. 1820.
The book was published in February 1820;
it was announced, with a slightly differently
worded title-page, in the ' New Monthly Magazine
and Universal Register ' for March 1820 (p. 341),
and the ^ Scots Magazine ' for the same month
(voL Ixxxv. p. 263). The ' New Monthly ' states the
price as 6s., the * Quarterly Review ' (vol. xxiii.
p. 281) as 6s. The book contains xi+ 116+3 pages
of Music Figures, crown octavo, bound in dark
unlettered cloth. It has neither Introduction,
notes (other than ForkeFs), nor indication of the
translator's identity. Much of the translation
is so bad as to suggest grave doubts of the trans-
lator's comprehension of the German original ;
while his rendering of Forkel's critical chapters
rouses a strong suspicion that he also lacked
technical equipment adequate to his task. It is,
in fact, difficult to understand how such an un-
satisfactory piece of work found its way into
print.
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XX JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
The character of the 1820 translAtion has a dose
bearing upon its authorship. In the article on
Bach in the new ' Grove ' it is attributed to Samuel
Wesley (1766-1837), an attractive suggestion^
since Wesley was as enthusiastic a Bach pioneer
in this country as Forkel himself was in Germany.
But the statement is not correct. In Samuel
Wesley's ^ Letters to Mr. Jacobs relating to the
Introduction into this CJountry of the Works of
J. S. Bach ' (London, 1875) we find the clue. On
October 17, 1808, Wesley writes: * We are (in
the first place) preparing for the Press an authentic
and accurate life of Sebastian, which Mr. Stephen-
son the Banker (a molt zealous and scientific
member of our Fraternity) has translated into
EngUsh from the German of ForkeL'
Unfortunately, it is impossible to identify
Stephenson precisely, or to detect his activities
in the musical circle in which Wesley includes him.
In 1820 there was in Lombard Street a firm of
bankers under the style of ' Remington, Stephen-
son, Remington, and Toulmin,' the active partner
being Mr. Rowland Stephenson, a man of about
forty in that year. The firm was wound up in
bankruptcy in 1829, Stephenson having absconded
to America the previous year. He appears to
have been the only banker of that name holding
such a recognised position as Wesley attributes to
him, though it remains no more than a conjecture
that he was the author of the translation issued in
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f
INTRODUCTION xxi
1820.^ But whoever ^Stephenson the Banker'
may have been, the poverty of his work fails to
support Wesley's commendation of his ' scientific '
equipment, and suggests that his purse rather
than his talents were serviceable to Wesley's
missionary campaign.
For the facts of Bach's life, and as a record of
his artistic activities, Forkel admittedly is inade-
quate and often misleading. Stephenson neces-
sarily was without information to enable him to
correct or supplement his author. Recent re-
search, and particularly the classic volumes of
Spitta and Schweitzer, have placed the present
generation in a more instructed and therefore
responsible position. The following pages, accord-
ingly, have been annotated copiously in order to
bring Forkel into line with modem scholarship.
His own infrequent notes are invariably indicated
by a prefixed asterisk. It has been thought
advisable to write an addendum to Chapter 11.
in order to supplement Forkel at the weakest
point of his narrative.
Readers of Spitta's first volume probably will
remember the effort to follow the ramifications of
the Bach pedigree unaided by a genealogical
Table. It is unfortunate that Spitta did not^
i Ib 'The News' of Jannaxy 4, 1829, he u deeoribed as the Becond
•CMi of the l»te John Stephenson of Qreat Ormonde Street, Queen
Square, whom he had succeeded m the partnership of the fina. His
wife was dead, and of his eight children the eldest was also in the
Bank.
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xxii JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
set out in that form the wealth of biographical
material his pages contain. To supply the de-
ficiency, and to illustrate ForkePs first Chapter,
a complete Genealogical Table is provided in
Appendix VI., based mainly upon the biographical
details scattered over Spitta's pages.
In Chapter IX Forkel gives a list of Bach's
compositions known to him. It is, necessarily,
incomplete. For that reason Appendices I. and
n. provide a full catalogue of Bach's works
arranged under the periods of his career. In the
case of the Oratorios, Cantatas, Motets, and
^Passions,' it is not difficult to distribute them
upon a chronological basis. The Clavier works
also can be dated with some approximation to
closeness. The effort is more speculative in the
case of the Organ music.
In his Preface Forkel suggests the institution of
a Society for the publication and study of Bach's
works. The proposal was adopted after half a
century's interval, and in Appendix HE. will be
found a complete and detailed catalogue of the
publications of the Old and New Bachgesellschaf t
from I860 to 1918 inclusive. The Society's issues
for 1916-18 have not yet reached this country.
The present writer had an opportunity to examine
them in the Library of the Cologne Conservatorium
of Music in the spring of this year.
In this Introduction will be found a list of
works bearing on Bach, which preceded Forkel's
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INTRODUCTION xxiii
monograph. Appendix IV. provides a biblio-
graphy of Bach literature published subsequently
to it.
Qrateful acknowledgment is made to Mr. Ivor
Atkins, of Worcester CSathedral, and to Mr. W. G.
Whittaker, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, who have
read these pages in proof, and improved them by
their criticism. C. S. T.
October 1, 1919.
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FORKEL'S PREFACE
Many years ago I determined to give the public
an account of the life of Johann Sebastian Bach,
with some reflections upon his genius and his
works. The brief article by Carl Philipp
Emmanuel Bach^ and Herr Agricola,' formerly
composer to the Court of Prussia, contributed to
the fourth volume of MMer's ' Musical Library,' •
can hardly be deemed adequate by Bach's admirers
and, but for the desire to complete my ^ General
^ Cori Plulipp Emmanuel Baoh, thiid son of JohAnn Sebactian
Baoh, b. 1714 ; Kammermasikas to Frederick the Great of Pnusia
(1746), Kapellmeister at Hamburg (1768) ; cL 1788.
* Johami Friedrioh Agrioola, of Dobiteoh, b. 1720; etadied oom-
poflition with Bach at Leipzig; Ooart Oompoeer (1761) and, after
C!arl Heinrioh Qraon's death (1759), KapeUmeister to Frederick the
Qreat of Pnuaia ; d. 1774. See Spitta, ' Johann Sebastian Bach,' iii.
243 ff.
' Lorenz Christoph Mizler (1711-78), a papil of Bach, founded at
Leipzig in 1738 the 'Soziet&t der mnnkalieohen Wiflsensohalten,' of
which Bach and Handel were members. HLder'a journal, the * Nea-er5ff-
neter Mnaikaliaoher Bibliothek,' was its organ. It appeared from 1736
to 1764. In Part L of voL iv. (1764) C. P. E. Bach and Agrioola
collaborated in the obitoary notice, or ' Nekrolog,' which is almost
the eariiest literary authority for Bach's life. It covered less than ^
twenty pages. (See Schweitzer, ' J. S. Bach ' (trans. Ernest Newman),
i. 189 ff. and Spitta, L Fref.) Agricola's association with Bach's son
in the preparation of the obituary notice is explained by the fact that
for the last ten years of Sebastian's life Agricola was in closer relations
with him than Carl Philipp Emmanu^ who no longer was resident in
Leipzig.
ZZlT
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FORKEL'S PREFACE xxv
History of Music/ ^ I should have fulfilled my
purpose long ago. As Bach, more than any other
artist, represents an era in the history of music,
it was my intention to devote to the concluding
volume of that work the materials I had collected
for a history of his career. But the announcement
that Messrs. HofiEmeister and Kiihnel, the Leipzig
music*sellers and publishers, propose to issue a
complete and critical edition of Bach's works has
induced me to change my original plan.'
Messrs. HofEmeister and Ktihners project pro-
mises at once to advance the art of music and
enhance the honour of the German name. For
Bach's works are a priceless national patrimony ;
no other nation possesses a treasure comparable
to it. Their publication in an authoritative text
will be a national service and raise an imperishable
monument to the composer himself. All who
hold Germany dear are bound in honour to pro-
mote the uoidertaking to the utmost of their
power. I deem it a duty to remind the public of
this obligation and to kindle interest in it in every
true German heart. To that end these pages
^ Forkel's * AUgemeine Gtoechiohte der Muaik' (2 ydfl. 1788-1801)
had only oome down to the sixteenth century when its author diverted
hiB pen to a biography of Baoh.
* The firm of Hofhneister and Kiihnel was founded at Leipzig in
1800 by Franz Anton Hoffmeister, who started, in 1801, a sabsoription
for the pablioation of Baoh's works, to which Forkel alhides. The
scheme fafled to mature, and its accomplishment was reseired to
G. F. Peters, who porohased HofiEmeister's ' Bureau de Musique * in
1814. See artidee on Hoffmeister and Peters in Qioye's ' Dictionary.'
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xxvi JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
appear earlier than my original plan proposed;
for they will enable me to reach a larger number
of my fellow countrymen. The section on Bach
in my ^ History of Music ' probaUy would ha^;^
been read by a handful of experts or musical
artists. Here I hope to speak to a larger audience*
For, let me repeat, not merely the interests of
music but our national honour are concerned to
rescue from oblivion the memory of one of
Germany's greatest sons.
One of the best and most effective means of
popularising musical masterpieces is to perform
them in public. In that way works of merit
secure a widening audience. People listen to
them with pleasure in the concert room, church,
or theatre, remember the agreeable impression
they created, and purchase them when published,
even though they cannot always play them. But
Bach's works unfortunately are rarely heard
nowadays; for the number of persons capal)le
of playing them adequately is at best incon-
siderable. It would have been otherwise had
Bach given touring performances of his music,^
a labour for which he had neither time nor liking.
Many of his pupils did so, and though their skill
was inferior to their master's, the admiration
^ Though Baoh never ventured upon suoh tours as Mozart or
BerlioE, for instanoe, undertook, he loved travelling, and his artistio
journeys made him famous throughout Germany, at least as an
organist Forkel himself describes (tn/hx, pp. 10, 23) his notable
visits to the Courts of Berlin and Dresden.
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FORKEL'S PREFACE xxvu
and astonishment they excited leveaied the
grandeur of his compositions. Here and there,
too, were f omid persons who desired to hear on
their own instrument pieces which the performer
had played best or gave them most pleasure.
They could do so more easily for having heard
how the piece ought to sound.
But, to awaken a wide appreciation of musical
masterpieces depends upon the existence of good
teachers. The want of them is our chief dif-
ficulty. In order to safeguard their credit, the
ignorant and incompetent of their number are
disposed to decry good music, lest they should be
asked to play it. Consequently, their pupils, con-
demned to spend time, labour, and money on
second-rate material, will not after half a dozen
years, perhaps, show themselves farther advanced
in sound musical appreciation than they were
at the outset. Whereas, under a good teacher,
half the time, labour, and money produces pro-
gressive improvement. Time will show whether
this obstacle can be surmounted by making
Bach's works accessible in the music shops and by
forming a Society among the admirers of his
genius to make them known and promote their
study.^
^ In 18Q2» it most be remambered, not a note of Baoh's oonoerted
Chnioh mosio was in print ezoept the tanes he wrote for Sohemelli'fl
Hymn-book (1736) and the vocal parts of an early Cantata (No. 71).
Of his instrumental works engraved by 1802 Forkel gives a list ffi/VtY»
p. 137. It was hardly until the foundation of the BaohgeseUaohalt in
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xxviu JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
At any rate, if music is really an art, and not a
mere pastime, its masterpieces must be more
widely known and performed th,an in fact they
are. And here Bach, prince of classic composers,
can render yeoman service.^ For his music is
so well calculated to educate the student to dis-
tinguish what is trivial from what is good, and to
comport himself as an artist in whatever branch
of the art he makes his own. Moreover, Bach,
whose influence pervades every musical form, can
be rehed on more than any other composer to
correct the superficiality which is the bane of
modem taste. Neglect of the classics is as pre-
judicial to the art of music as it would be fatal to
the interests of general culture to banish Greek
and Latin writers from our schools. Modem
taste exhibits no shame in its preference for
agreeable trifles, in its neglect of everything that
makes a demand, however slight, upon its
attention. To-day we are menaced by a proposal
1850, to oelebmte the oentenary of Baoh's death, that the systematlo
pablioation of his oonoerted Ghnroh miuio began. Belore that date,
however, Feten of Leipng had taJceo in hand the abandoned scheme
of Hoflmeister and Kiihnel, to whioh Foi^el attodes, and in which he
partioipat«)d.
^ It is notable that Forkel makes no mention of Haydn, Mosart, or
Handel, whose English domioile had divoroed Uim from Germany's
service. Forkel's pessimism is the more carious, seeing that Beethoven
was abeady thirty years old, and that Moiart in 1786, after giving
him a subject to extemporise upon, had remarked, ' listen to that
young man ; he will some day make a noise in the world ' (Holmes,
'Life of Mosart,* Dent's ed., p. 223). Forkel, in fact, appreciated
neither Ifosart nor Beethoven and thoroog^y detested Gfaiok.
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FORKEL'S PREFACE xxix
to banish the cla43sic8 from our Bchoohrooms.
Equally short-sighted vision threatens to ex-
tinguish our musical classics as welL And is it
surprising ? Modem art displays such poverty and
frivolity that it well may shrink from putting
itself in context with great literature, particularly
with Bach's mighty and creative genius, and seek
rather to proscribe it.
I fain would do justice to the sublime genius
of this prince of musicians, German and f cnreign !
Short of being such a man as he was, dwarfing
all other musicians from ihe height of his superi-
ority, I can conceive no greater distinction than
the power to comprehend and interpret him to
others.^ The ability to do so must at least connote
a temperament not wholly alien from his own.
It may even hint the flattering prospect that, if
circumstances had opened up the same career,
similar results might have been forthcoming. I
am not presumptuous to suggest such a result in
my own case. On the contrary I am convinced
that there are no words adequate to express the
thoughts Bach's transcendent genius stirs one to
utter. The more intimately we are acquainted
with it the greater must be our admiration. Our
utmost eulogy, our deepest expressions of homage.
^ Ab has been pointed oat in the Introduction, Forkel stood almoet
alone in 1802 in hie opinion of Baoh*8 pre-eminenoe. Even Beethoven
plaoed Booh alter Handel and Moaart, but knew little of his moBio on
which to found a decision.
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JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
must seem little more than well-meant prattle.
No one who is familiar with the work of other
centuries will contradict or hold my statement
exaggerated, that Bach cannot be named except
in tones of rapture, and even of devout awe, by
those who have learnt to know him. We may
discover and lay bare the secrets of his technique.
But his power to inspire into it the breath of
genius, the perfection of life and charm that
moves us so powerfully, even in his slightest
works, must always remain extraordinary and
insoluble.
I do not choose to compare Bach with other
artists. Whoever is interested to measure him
with Handel will find a just and balanced estimate
of their relative merits^ written by one fully in-
formed for the task, in the first number of the
eighty-first volume of the ^Universal German
Library,' pages 295-303.^
So far as it is not derived from the short article
in Mizler's ^ Library ' already mentioned,^ I am
indebted for my information to the two eldest
^ The anonymooB artiole in the ' Allgemeine deuteohe Biblioihek,' to
whioh Forkel alludes, deala with Bach's Clavier and Organ works and
upon them asserts Baoh's superiority over HandeL The judgment
was unusnaL Bach's fame was gravely prejudioed by German Handel-
worship, whioh the first performance of the * Messiah ' at Leipzig in
1786 stimulated. Johann Adam Hiller, Bach's third successor in the
Oantorate of St. Thomas', was largely rssponsiUe, He ne^eoted, and
even belittled, the treasures of Badi's art which the library of Stb
Thomas' contained. See Sohweiteer, L 231.
* The * Nekidog.' See mipra, p. xxiv.
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FORKEL'S PREFACae xxxi
sons of Bach himself.^ Not only was I person-
ally acquainted with them, but I corresponded
regularly for many years with both,^ particularly
Carl Philipp Emmanuel. The world knows them
as great artists. But probably it is not aware
that to the last moment of their hves they spoke
of their father's genius with enthusiastic ad-
miration.' From my early youth I have been in-
spired by an appreciation no less deep than theirs.
It was a frequent theme of conversation and
correspondence between us.
Thus, having been in a position to inform myself
on all matters relating to Bach's life, genius, and
work, I may fairly hold myself competent to com-
municate to the public what I have learnt and to
offer useful reflections upon it. I take advantage
^ Oorl Philipp Emmanuel and Wilhelm Friedemann. The latter
was bom in 1710, and alter holding Organistahips at Halle and Draeden,
died at Berlin in 1784, leaving his widow and daughter in great poverty.
The former reoeived a grant from the leoeipta of tiie *Meeaiah*
peiformanoe alluded to in note 1, ntpni. A man of brilliant musical
attainmente, Wilhelm Friedemann's character wae diaaolute and un-
steady. See SohweitaEer, i. 146 ff.
* Two letters written by 0. P. £. Bach to Forkel in 1776, convey-
ing a good deal of information reproduced by Forkel in this mono-
graph, are printed in facsimile by Dr. Max Schneider in his ' Bach-
Urkunden ' (N.B.G., xvii. (3)).
' Fori^el's statement is entitied to respect. On the other hand
there is nothing in the recorded careers of either of Bach's sons that
bears him out on this point. Schweitser (L 229) endorses £itaer*s
judgment : * Bach's sons were the children of their epoch, and never
understood their father ; it was only from piety that they looked at
him with chOdlike admiration.' Dr. Charles Bumey spent several days
with Oarl PhUipp Emmanuel at Hamburg in 1772, but during the
whole time the son never played to him a note of his father's muiio.
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xxxii JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
of my opportunity the more readily because it
permits me to draw attention to an enterprise ^
that promises to provide a worthy monument to
German art, a gallery of most instructive models
to the sincere artist, and to afford music lovers an
inexhaustible source of subUmest pleasure.
^ 1.6. Hoffmeiuitor and KOhnel's projeot.
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CHAPTER I
THE FAMILY OF BAOH
If there is such a thing as inherited aptitude for
art it certainly showed itself in the family of Bach.
For six successive generations scarcely two or three
of its members are found whom nature had not
endowed with remarkable musical talent, and who
did not make music their profession.^
Veit Bach,^ ancestor of this famous family,
^ The aooQzaoy of this statemient is apparent from the Genealogy
appended to thia vohime. Bach's sons repiesented the sixth genera-
tion from Veit Bach, the sixteenth oentnry ancestor of the family.
Veit himself was not a professional mnsidan ; one of his sons was a
Spielmann ; thereafter for the next 160 yean all bat seven of his de-
scendants, whose professions are known, were Organists or Oantors or
Town Musicians. Many of them, moreover, were men of the highest
attainments in their profession.
* He took his name from St. Vitas (Gay), patron saint of the church
of Weohmar, a fact which soffioientiy disproves Forkel's statement
that his original domicile was in Hungary. The Bachs were settled
in Wechmar as early as eirc 1620. Veit migrated thence to Hungary,
though there is no adequate foundation for the statement that he
settled at Preesburg. He returned to Wechmar during the beginning
of the Counter-Reformation under the Emperor Rudolph il (1676-
1612), and died at Wechmar, March 8, 1619. See Spitta, L 4.
Apart from church and town registers, laboriously consulted by
Spitta in tracing the Bach genealogy, we owe our knowledge of it to
an MS. drawn up by Bach in 1736 which is now in the Berlin Royal
Library after being successively in the possession of Ciarl Fhilipp
Emmanuel, Forkel, and G. Polchau, the Hamburg teacher of music.
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2 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
gained a livelihood as a baker at Pressburg in
Hungary. When the religious troubles of the
sixteenth century broke out he wan driven to seek
another place of abode, and having got together
as much of his small property as he could, retired
with it to Thuringia, hoping to find peace and
security there. He settled at Wechmar, a village
near Grotha,^ where he continued to ply his trade
as a baker and miller.^ In his leisure hours he
was wont to amuse himself with the lute,^ playing
it amid the noise and clatter of the mill. His
taste for music descended to his two sons^ and
their children, and in time the Bachs grew to be
a very numerous family of professional musicians,
The origizuJ entries in it are stated by Carl P. Emmanuel to be by
his father. Forkd also owned a Baoh genealogical tree, given him by
Oarl PhUipp Emmanuel : it has disappeared Traces of it exist in
a work published at Pressburg by Johann Matthias Korabinsky in
1784, its insertion being due to the assumption that the Bachs were
a Hungarian family. Forkel shared that error. See Spitta*s Preface
on the whole question. The MS. genealogy of 1735 is published by
the New Baohgesellschaft (xvn. 3) in facsimile.
^ Veit, in fact, returned to his native vlUage. His name, as has
been pointed out, implies a connection with Wechmar that must have
dated from infancy. Moreover, there was living there in 1561 one
Hans Baoh, an official of the municipality, who may be regarded
confidently as Veit's father.
* It has been suggested that the name Bach is the sole authority
for the statement that Veit was a baker. But Spitta points out that
the vowel in the name is pronounced long and was frequently written
Baach in the seventeenth century, a fact which makes it difficult to
associate the word with ' B&cker ' (Baker).
' In the Genealogy Johann Sebastian calls the instrument a Oyth-
ringen.
« Hans Bach (d. Dec 26, 1626) and (?) lips Bach (d. Oct. 10, 1620).
See tn/VtY, Genealogical Tables i. and n. and note to the latter.
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THE FAMILY OF BACH 3
Cantors, Organists, and Town Musicians,^ through-
out Thurmgia.
Not all the Bachs, however, were great musicians.
But every generation boasted some of them who
were more than usually distinguished. In the
first quarter of the seventeenth century three
of Veit Bach's grandchildren showed such ex-
ceptional talent that the Count of Schwarzburg-
Amstadt thought it worth while to send them at
his expense to Italy, then the chief school of
music, to perfect themselves in the art.* We do
not know whether they rewarded the expectations
of their patron, for none of their works has sur-
vived. The fourth generation® of the family
produced musicians of exceptional distinction,
^ The 'Stadt Pfeiferei,' or official town musioal establiflhment,
desoended from the miuioiAiis' gnildB of the Middle Ages and was pre-
sided over by the Stadt Mnsiker, who enjoyed certain ancient privi-
leges and the monopoly of providing the music at open-air festivities.
Johann Jakob Brahms, the father of Johannes, was a member of such
a corporation at Hamburg, after having served his apprenticeship for
five years elsewhere. See Florence May, * Johannes Brahms,' vol. L
pp. 48 ff .
* See Genealogical Table xl The three yoong Baohs were the sons
of Lips Bach and, presumably, nephews of Hans the 'Spielmann.'
The yoongeet of them was named Jonas ; the name of another was
certainly WendeL It is remarkable, in a period in which Italy was
regarded as the Mecca of musicians, that exceedingly few of the Bach
family f onnd their way thither. Besides the three sons of laps Bach-
only Johann Nikolans, 1609-1763 (see Table vi.), Johann Sebastian
Bach's son Johann Christian, 1735-82 (see Table vm.), and Carl P. E.
Bach's son Sebastian (see Tftble vn.) seem to have visited Italy.
* t.e. from Veit Bach. Of the three names Forkel mentions the
first two were a generation before Johann Sebastian ; the third, Johann
Bemhard, was of the same generation as Johann Sebastian ; none of
the three belonged to Johann Sebastian's branch*
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4 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
and several of their compositions, thanks to
Johann Sebastian Bach's regard for them, have
come down to us. The most notable of these
Bachs are :
1. Johann Christoph Bach, Court and Town
Organist at Eisenach. ^ He was particularly happy
in his beautiful melodies and in setting words to
music. In the ' Archives of the Bachs/ ^ which
was in Carl Philipp Emmanuel's possession at
Hamburg, there is a Motet by Johann Christoph
in which he boldly uses the augmented sixth, a
proceeding considered extremely daring in his day.^
He was also an uncommon master of harmony,
as may be inferred from a Cantata composed by
him for Michaelmas, to the words ^ Es erhub sich
ein Streit,' etc., which has twenty-two obbligato
parts in correct harmpny.* Yet another proof
of his rare skill is in the alleged fact that he never
1 Eldest son of Heinrioh Baoh (see Table vi.). Whetiiw he wm
Ooart as well as Town Organist at Eisenaoh cannot be stated positi^y.
' The ' Alt-Baohisohe Aiohive * is a coUeotion of the compositions of
yarions members of the family, before and alter Johann Sebastian,
formed largely by the latter. From C. P. E. Baoh it passed to G.
Polohaa and from him to the Berlin Royal Library.
* Johann CSmstoph composed several Motets (see them disonssed
in Spitta, L 75 fiE.). The daring work to which Forkei alhides was
written about 1680 and is lost Though the augmented sixth was
then and remained unusual, Johann Ghristoph's is not the eariiest use
of it. Spitta finds it in Giaoomo Carissimi (1004-74).
* The Cantata (' And there was war in heaven ') is^analysed by
Spitta (i. 44). The score is unusually full: two five-part choizB;
Vn. 1 and 2, 4 Violas, Oontrabasso, Fagotto, 4 Trombe, Timpani,
Organ. In 1726 Johann Sebastian Bach wrote a Cantata for Michael-
mas on the same text (Rev. xiL 7),
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THE FAMILY OF BACH 6
played the Organ or Clavier in less than five
parts.^ Carl Philipp Emmanuel had a particularly
warm regard for him.^ I remember the old man
playing some of his compositions to me on the
Clavier at Hamburg, and how quizzically he
looked at me when one of these daring passages
occurred.*
2. Johann Michael Bach, Organist and Town
Clerk at Gehren.* He was the younger brother
of Johann Christoph, and like him, a particularly
good composer. The Archives already mentioned *
contain several of his Motets, including one for
eight voices in double chorus,^ and many com-
positions for Church use.
3. Johann Bemhard Bach, Musician in the
^ Spitta (i. 101 n.) oharaoterises the statement aa 'a mythioal
exaggeration.' In a chapter devoted to the instrumental works of
Johann Ghristoph and his brother he instances a collection of forty-
f oar Organ Chorals by the f ormer» not one of which is in five parts.
' In the Bach genealogy already referred to G. P. E. Bach desig-
nates Johann Ghristoph a ' great and impressiTe composer.'
' A ' Lamento ' pablished under Johann Ghristoph's name seems
aotoally to haTC been composed by his father Heinrich (see Pirro,
* J.-S. Baohy' n.). Johann Ghristoph, however, is the composer of the
Motet ' Ich lasse dioh nioht,' so often attributed to Johann Sebastian.
^ See Table vi. He was the father of Johann Sebastian's first wife.
* See note, p. 4 ewpnu
* Spitta (L 59 fiE.) mentions twelve Motets by llCchael Bach. Several
of them are for eight voices. Forkel probably refers to the most
renuulable of Michael's Motets, in which he detects the romantic
spirit of Johann Sebastian. It is set to the words ' Unser Leben ist
ein Schatten ' (* life cm earth is bat a shadow '). The first choir
consists of 2 8., A., 2 T., B., and the second choir of A.T.B. only.
Spitta analyses the work closely (L 70-72). Novello publishes his five-
part Motet * Ghrist is risen ' with an En^ish text.
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6 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Prince's Elapelle and Organist at Eisenach.^ He
is said to have composed remarkably fine Suites,
or Overtures, in the French style.*
Besides these three men, the Bachs boasted
several able composers in the generations preced-
ing Johann Sebastian,' men who undoubtedly
would have obtained higher positions, wider
reputation, and more briUiant fortune if they
could have torn themselves from their native
Thuringia to display their gifts elsewhere in
Germany or abroad. But none of the Bachs
seems to have felt an inclination to migrate.
Modest in their needs, frugal by nature and train-
ing, they were content with Uttle, engrossed in
and satisfied by their art, and wholly indifferent
^ He saooeeded hia ooosin JohAim Ghristoph at Bisenaoh in 1703.
See Table m.
' Spitta (L 24 ft.) mentioDB four Stiites, or OTertoraiy Olayier pieoee,
and Organ Chorals as being by him. That Johann Sebastian Bach
highly esteemed the Suites is proved by the fact that he copied the
parts of three of them with his own hand at Leipzig.
* It is a oorioos faot that, prior to the career of Johann Sebastian
Bachf the composers of the Bach family ocoor invariably in other
branches than his. ^th two exceptions, the gift of composition
appears to have been possessed, or exercised, solely by Heinrich Bach
(see Table vi.), his two sons Johann CShristoph and Johann Michael,
already disooased, and his grandson, Johann Nikolaus (son of Johann
Ghristoph). Heinrich Bach was a very productive composer in all
forms of musical art employed at that time in church (Sp. L 36).
Bjs grandson, Johann Nikolaus, composed a Mass and a comic operetta
{ib.p 132 fi.). The only other Bach composer known to Spitta is
Georg Ghristoph, founder of the Franconian Bachs (see Tftble iv.)
and Owtor at Themar and Schweinfurt {%b. 155). The other Bach
composer outside Heinrich Bach's branch is Johann Bemhard, already
mentioned by ForkeL
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THE FAMILY OF BACH 7
to the decorations which great men of that time
were wont to bestow on artists as special marks of
honour. The fact that others who appreciated
them were thus distinguished did not rouse ihe
slightest envy in the Bachs.
The Bachs not only displayed a happy content-
edness, indispensable for the cheery enjoyment of
life, but exhibited a clannish attachment to each
other. They could not all live in the same
locality. But it was their habit to meet once a
year at a time and place arranged beforehand.
These gatherings generally took pla<)e at Erfurt,
Eisenach, and sometimes at Amstadt. Even
after the family had grown very large, and many
of its members had left Thuringia to settle in
Upper and Lower Saxony and Franconia, the
Bachs continued their annual meetings. On these
occasions music was their sole recreation. As
those present were either Cantors, Organists, or
Town Musicians, employed in the service of the
Church and accustomed to preface the day's work
with prayer, their first act was to sing a H3ann.
Having fulfilled their religious duty, they spent
the rest of the time in frivolous recreations. Best
of all they liked to extemporise a chorus out of
popular songs, comic or jocular, weaving them
into a harmonious whole while declaiming the
words of each. They called this hotch-potch a
'Quodlibet,' laughed uproariously at it, and
roused equally hearty and irrepressible laughter
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8 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
in their audience.^ It is suggested that German
Comic Opera has its origin in these trifles. But
the ^ Quodlibet ' was a familiar institution in
Germany at a much earlier period. I possess a
collection of them printed and published at
Vienna in 1642.^
But these light-hearted Thuringians, and even
those of their family who treated their art more
seriously and worthily, would not have escapied
oblivion had there not emerged in the fulness of
time one whose genius and renown reflected their
splendour and brilliancy on his forbears. This
man, the glory of his family, pride of his country-
men, most gifted favourite of the Muse of Music,
was Johann Sebastian Bach.
1 In the Qaodlibet different yoioes sang different well-known
melodies, saored and profane, and sought to combine them to form
a harmomooB whole. For an example see Variation 30 of the 'Aria
mit 30 Ver&nderongen ' (Peters' ed., bk. 209 p. 83). In it Bach
combines two popular songs of his period.
s See artide ' Qaodlibet * in Grove.
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CHAPTER II
THB OABEEB OF BAOH
JoHANN Sebastian Baoh was bom on March
21, 1685,^ at Eisenach, where his father,
Johann Ambrosius Bach, was Court and Town
Musician.^ Johann Ambrosius had a twin brother,
Johann Christoph, Musician to the Court and
Town of Amstadt,^ who so exactly resembled him
that even their wives could distinguish them only
by their dress. The twins appear to have been quite
remarkable. They were deeply attached, alike in
disposition, in voice, and in the style of their music.
If one was ill, so was the other. They died within
a short time of each other, and were objects of
wondering interest to all who knew them.^
In 1696, when Johann Sebastian was not quite
ten years old, his father died. He lost his mother
at an earlier period.'^ So, being left an orphan,
^ The date la oonjeotanl, and is dedaoed from the fact that the
infant was baptized on Maroh 23. The Gregorian Calendar was not
adopted in Germany until 1701. Had it been in nee in 1686 Baoh's
birthday would be Maroh 31.
* Johann Ambroshu' Cknirt appointment is to be inferred from the
fact that in 1684 the Doke refused him permisBion to return to Erfurk
> See TM» iv.
* Johann Ambroshu survived his brother by nearly eighteen months.
* His mother died in May 1604, and his father in January 1095. Atthe
latter date Johann Sebastian was three months short of his tenth year.
9
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10 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
he became dependent on his eldest brother,
Johann Christoph, Organist at Ohrdruf,^ from
whom he received his earliest lessons on the
Clavier.' His inclination and talent for music
must ahready have been pronounced. For his
brother no sooner had given him one piece to
learn than the boy was demanding another more
difficult. The most renowned Clavier composers
of that day were Proberger,' Fischer,* Johann
Caspar Kerl,^ Pachelbel,* Buxtehude,^ Bruhns,®
^ Excepting Johann Jakob, a lad of thirteen yean, Johann Christoph
was Baoh's only sorviving brother, and the only one of the family
in a position to look after him. Johann Jakob accompanied Sebastian
to Ohidnif (Pirro, p. 13) and afterwards apprenticed himself to his
father's sacoesaor as Town Musician at Eisenach. One of the daughters
was already married. What became of the other is not stated. See
Table v.
* It is difficult to believe this statement. That the boy was destined
for a musical career by his father hardly can be doubted. That he
was of unusual precocity, the story told by Forkel in the text proves.
His father's asserted ne^eot to instruct him is therefore hardly credible.
* Johann Jakob Froberger, bom at Halle (date unknown) ; Court
Organist at Vienna, 1037-57 ; d. 1667.
* Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer, c 1660-1738 (actual dates of
his birth and death unknown) ; Eapellmoister to Markgraf Ludwig of
Baden at Schloss Schlaokenwerth in Bohemia. His ' Ariadne Musica
Neo-Organoedum ' (1702) was the precursor of Bach's 'Das wohl-
temperirte Qavier.'
* Johann Caspar Kerl, b. 1628 ; Kapellmeister in Munich, 1656-74 ;
Court Organist at Vienna, 1677-92 ; d. 1693.
* Johann Pachelbel, b. 1663, d. 1706. In 1695 he was Organist of
St. Sebald's Church, Numberg. His influence upon the organ playing
of his generation was enormous. Bach's brother, Johann Christoph,
was his pupiL
V Dietrich Buxtehude,b. 1637, d. 1707; Organist (1668) of the Marien-
kirche, Liibeck, and the chief musical influence in North Germany.
* Nikolaus Bruhns, b. oitt. 1665, d. 1697 ; a pupil of Buxtehude ;
Organist at Husum ; the greatest organist of his time after Buxtehude.
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THE CAREER OF BACH 11
and Bohm.^ Johann Christoph possessed a book
contaming several pieces by these masters, and
Bach begged earnestly for it, but without effect.
Refusal increasing his determination, he laid
his plans to get the book without his brother's
knowledge. It was kept on a book-shelf which
had a latticed front. Bach's hands were smalL
Inserting them, he got hold of the book, rolled it
up, and drew it out. As he was not allowed a candle,
he could only copy it on moonlight nights, and it
was six months before he finished his heavy
task. As soon as it was completed he looked
forward to using in secret a treasure won by so
much labour. But his brother found the copy
and took it from him without pity, nor did Bach
recover it until his brother's death soon after.*
Being once more left destitute,^ Johann
Sebastian set out for Liineburg with one of his
Ohrdruf schoolfellows, named Erdmann^ (after-
^ Georg Bdhin» b. 1661 ; date of death unoertaiii (e. 1789) ; from
1608 OEgaoist of the Johamiiakirohe, Limebuig.
* In fact, Johann Christoph did not die until 1721, more than twenty
3rearB after Sebastian ceased to be under his roof.
' The fact that Johann Christoph survived till 1721 disproves
Forkel's statement. The youthful Bach, aged fifteen in 1700, no doubt
seized the earliest opportunity to relieve his brother of the charge
of him. Moreover, Johann Oiristoph's family was increasing (see
Table v.). In spite of the story of Bach's midnight copying, it cannot
be questioned that he owed a good deal to his brother, who not only
taught him but, presumably, maintained him at the Ohrdmf Lyceum,
where Bach acquired a sound education and a considerable knowledge
of Latin. See Pirro, pp. 14-16, on Bach's education at Ohrdmf. He
left the Lyoeum in March 1700.
* Qeorg Erdmann, Bach's feUow-pupil at the Lyceum.
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12 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
wards Btissian Resident at Danzig), and entered
the ohoir of St. MichaeFs Convent. His fine
treble voice procured him a fair livelihood. Bnt
unfortunately he soon lost it and did not at once
develop another.^
Meanwhile his ambition to play the Organ and
Clavier remained as keen as ever, and impelled
him to hear and practise ever3rthing that promised
him improvement. For that purpose, while he
was at Liineburg, he several times travelled to
Hamburg to hear the famous organist,^ Johann
^ Baoh's entry into the choir of St. Michael's Oonvent, Lnnebnrg,
took pkoe aboat Easter 1700. The step was taken upon the advice
of Elias Herda» Oantor at the Ohidrol Lyoeom, himself a former
member of St. Michael's. Bach remained at St. Ifiohael's for three
years, till 1703. The ohc^ library was particolarly rich in the best
ohuroh mnsic of the period, both German and Italian. Spitta is of
opinion that Bach's talents as a violinist and Clavier player were also
U^d nnder contribution. His voice, as Forkel states, soon ceased to
be smrviceable. His maTimum pay was one thaler (three shillings)
a month and free commons.
* Probably Georg B5hm, who had relations with the Convent choir,
inspired Bach to make the pilgrimage. Bdhm, then at St. John's,
Luneburg, was a pupil of Beinken of Hamburg. Spitta (i. 106)
suggests that Bach's cousin, Johann Ernst (see Table iv.), was at this
time completing his musical education at Hamburg, a fact which may
have contributed to draw Bach thither. He made more than one visit,
on foot» to Hamburg. F. W. Marpnrg published, in 1786, the story,
which he received from Bach himself, tiiat on one of his journeys from
Hamburg, Bach sat down outside an inn and hungrily sniffed the
savours from its kitchen. His pockets were empty and there seemed
little prospect of a meal, when a window was opened and two herring
heads were thrown out. Bach picked them up eagerly, and found
in each of them a Danish ducat. Who was his benefactor he never
discovered ; the gift enabled him to satisfy his hunger and pay another
visit to Hamburg.
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THE CAREER OF BACH 13
Adam Reinken.^ Often, too, he walked to Celle
to hear the Duke^s French band play French
mnsic, which was a novelty in those parts.'
The date and circumstances of his removal from
Liineburg to Weimar are not precisely known.'
He certainly became Court Musician there in
1703, when he was just over eighteen years of
age.^ But in the following year he gave up the
post on his appointment as Organist to the new
Church at Amstadt, probably desiring to develop
his taste for the Organ and realising that he would
have better opportunities to do so at Amstadt
than at Weimar, where he was engaged simply to
play the Violin*'^ At Amstadt he set himself
assiduously to study the works of the celebrated
organists of the period, so far as his modest means
permitted him, and in order to improve himself
i Johann Adam Beinken, b. 1623, beoame OrganiBt of St. OaUierine's
Churoh, Hamburg, in 1054, and held the poet until hk death in 1722.
* His introdnotion to French mnsic mariked another step in Bach's
progresBlye education. The reigning Duke of Celle (father-in-law of
George i. of Great Britain and Ireland) had married a Frenchwoman.
The Ooort Organist was a Frenchman. See Pirro, ' J. S. Bach,' pp. 24-27.
* He entered the Weimar service on April 8, 1703 (Pirro, p. 29).
* Bach's engagement was in the private band of the younger brother
of the Duke. He remained in his new post only a few months. He
was engaged as a Violin player, and since his interests wrae towards
the Organ and Clavier, it is dear that he accepted ib» engt^ment
as a temporary means of livelihood.
* He is, however, described in July 1703 as C6nrt Organist (Pino,
p. 30). Bach was drawn to Amstadt chiefly by the fact that the New
Church recently had been equipped with a particularly fine Organ
(spedficalaon in Spitta, i 224), which existed until 1868. Bach
inaugurated it on July 13, 1703, and entered on his duties as Organist
of the church in the following month (Pirro, p. 30).
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14 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
in composition ^ and Organ playing,^ walked the
whole way to Lfibeck to hear Dietrich Buxtehnde,
Organigt of St. Mary's Church in that city, with
whose compositions he was acquainted already.
He remained there about three months,' listening
^ Bjb eariiest Chmoh Oantata (No. 16) was oomposed heie in 17(ML
To the Amstadt period (1703-7) also must be attribated the Oapriodo
written on the departure of his brother, Johann Jakob (Peters bk. 208
p. 62), the Oapriodo in honour of his Ohrdxiif brother, Johann Christoph
(Peters bk. 215, p. 34), the Sonata in D major (Peters bk. 215, p. U),
the Organ Prelude and Fugue in minor (Novello bk. 2 p. 48), and
the Organ Fugue in C minor (NoveUo bk. 12 p. 95).
* In the ' Nekralog * 0. P. E. Bach and Agrioola remaik of the
Amstadt period, that Bach then ' really showed the first-fruits of his
industry in the art of Organ-playing and composition, which he had
in great measure leamt only from the study of the works of the most
famous composers of the time, and from his own reflections on them '
(quoted in Spitta, L 235).
' Bach's stipend at Amstadt was not inconsiderable, and his duties
engaged him only at stated hours on Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays.
He, therefore, had leisure and the means to employ it. In October
1705 he obtained four weeks' leave of absence and set ofl on foot to
Lfibeck, after leaving an efficient deputy behind him. He stayed
away until February 1708. On his return the Consistory denuuided
an explanation of his absence, and took the opportunity to remonstrate
with him on other matters. They charged him 'with having been
hitherto in the habit of making surprising variaiionea in the Ohorals,
and intermixing divers strange sounds, so that thereby the congrega-
tion were confounded.' They charged him with playing too long
preludes, and after this was notified to him, of making them too short.
They reproached him * with having gone to a wineshop last Sunday
during sermon,' and cautioned him that, 'for the future he must
behave quite differently and much better than he has done hitherto'
(see the whole charge in Spitta, L 316 ft,). Bach also was on bad
terms with the choir, whose members had got out of hand and dis-
cipline. Before his Lfibeck visit he engaged in a street brawl with
one of the scholars. Then, as later, he was a choleric gentleman.
In November 1706 he got into further trouble for having * made music '
in the church with a ' stranger maiden,' presumably his cousin Maria
Barbara Bach, then on a visit to Amstadt ; he married her a year
later. Olearly the relations between the Consistory and the brilliant
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THE CAEEER OF BACH 16
to the celebrated Organist, but without making
himself known to him, and returned to Amstadt
with his experience much increased.
Bach's zeal and persevering diligence had already
drawn attention to him, as is evident from the
fact that he received in succession several offers
of vacant organistships, one of which, at the
Church of St. Blasius, Miihlhausen, he accepted
in 1707.^ Barely a year after he entered upon
his duties there ^ he again visited Weimar and
played to the Duke, who was so pleased with his
performance that he offered him the post of Court
Organist, which he accepted.^ Weimar promised
young Organist were becoming difficult, and Bach*8 migration to
MiihlhauBen no doubt was grateful to both. His resignation was made
formally on June 29, 1707.
^ Bach was appointed on June 15, 1707, to succeed Johann Georg
Able. Muhlhausen prided itself upon its musical traditions. Bach's
Oantata, No. 71, written in February 1708 for the inauguration of the
Muhlhausen Town GouncO, was engraved (the parts only), the only
one of the 206 Cantatas which have come down to us which was
printed during Bach's lifetime. He also composed CSantatas 131 and
196 at Miihlhausen, and perhaps three others. See infra^ p. 188.
* Bach's petition to the Muhlhausen Consistory for permission to
resign his post is dated June 26, 1708, and is printed in full by Spitta,
L 373. Bach mentions the Weimar post as having been offered to
him, but bases his desire to resign the organ of St. Blasius, partly on
the ground that his income was inadequate, partly because, though he
had succeeded in improving the organ and the conditions of music
generally, he saw ' not the slightest appearance that things will be
altered' for the better. Miihlhausen, in fact, was a stronghold of
Pietism and unsympathetic to Bach's musical ideals.
* He was Court Organist and Kammermusikus. In the latter post
Bach was of use as a Violinist and Clavier player. Thid Court band,
or Kapelle, on special occasions appeared in Hungarian costume, which
Bach presumably donned. His income began at a sum nearly double
that he had received at Amstadt and Miihlhausen.
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16 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
him a particularly agreeable atmosphere in which
to cultivate his genius.^ He applied himself
closely to his work, and probably at this period
achieved the mastery of the Organ that he ever
afterwards possessed. At Weimar also he wrote
his great compositions for that instrument.^ In
1717^ the Duke appointed him Ooncertmeister,
a post which gave him further opportimity to
develop his art» since it required him to compose
and direct Church music.
It was about this time that Zachau, Handel's
master, died at Halle, where he was Organist.^
Bach, who by now had acquired a great reputation,
was invited to succeed him.'^ He visited Halle
^ The oharaoter of his employer, Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Saxe-
Weimar, most be reckoned a factor in the development of the yoathfol
Bach. The Doke was not only a cultured artist, bat was also a man
of genuine piety.
* Though Bach retouched them in later yeans and wrote others, it
may be stated in general terms that his Organ works were the fruit
of the Weimar period, which lasted from 1708 till 1717.
* Bach's promotion to the position of Goncertmeister had taken
place certainly before March 19, 1714, on which date Spitta (L 617)
prints a letter in which Bach gives himself the title. The in c r ease in
his income early in 1714 also supports the conclusion, while a letter
of January 14, 1714, written by Bach, is not signed by him as Goncert-
meister. It would seem that his promotion took place in the interval
between the two letters. As Goncertmeister it was part of his duty
to provide Gantatas for the church services. Twenty-two were
written by him at Weimar. See infra, p. 188, for a list of theuL
* Friedrich Wilhelm Zachau died on August 7 or 14, 1712.
* Spitta (i. 613) infers that, in the later years of the Weimar period.
Bach spent part of the autumn of every year in visits to the Gourts
and larger towns of Germany in order to give Organ recitals and to
conduct performances of his Gantatas. Besides the visit to Halle, in
1713, to which Foricel alludes, Bach performed at Gassel in 1713 or
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THE CAREER OF BACH 17
and composed a work as a specimen of his skill.
But for some reason miknown he did not obtain
the post. It was given to a clever pupil of Zachau,
named Kirchhoff.^
Johann Sebastian was now thirty-two years old.
He had made good use of his opportunities, had
studied hard as a player and composer, and by
tireless enthusiasm had so completely mastered
every branch of his art, that he towered hke a
giant above his contemporaries. Both amateurs
and professional musicians aheady regarded him
with admiration when, in 1717, Marchand,
the French virtuoso, a celebrated Clavier and
1714 before the fatare Fr^eriok l of Sweden, who presented him with
a ring which he drew from his finger. Baoh's feet, an admirer recorded,
' flew over the pedal-board as if they had wings.' In December 1714
he visited Leipzig and performed Cantata No. 61, ' Nan komm, der
Heiden Heiland.* In 1716 he was again invited to Halle, and at aboat
the same time performed at Meiningen. Forkel records the famous
contest with Marchand, bhe French Organist, at Dresden in
1717.
^ Forkel's brief account follows the ' Nekrolog.' Bach was in Halle
in the autumn of 1713, a year after Zachau's death. The latter's post
was still vacant and a new and particularly large Organ (sixty-three
speaking stops) was being erected. The authorities pressed Bach to
submit himself to the prescribed tests, and he complied so far as to
compose a Oantata and to conduct a performance of it. On his return
to Weimar he received a formal invitation to accept the post. After
some correspondence Bach refused it, partly, perhaps chiefly, on the
ground that the income was inadequate. The refusal was answered
by the groundless accusation that he had merely entertained the Halle
proposal in order to bring pressure upon Weimar for a rise of salary.
The misunderstanding was cleared away by 1716, when Bach visited
HaDe again. In the interval Zachau's post had been given to his pupil,
Gottfried Kirohhoff. The whole matter is discussed at length in
Spitta, i. 516 ff.
B
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18 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Organ player, visited Dresden. He played before
the King-Elector ^ and won such approbation that
he was offered a large salary to enter His Majesty's
service.^ Marchand's chief merit was his finished
technique. like Couperin,' his musical ideas
were weak to the point of banality, as we may
judge from his compositions.^ Bach was an
equally finished player, and so rich in ideas that
Marchand's head would have swollen had he
been equally gifted. Volumier, Concertmeister
at Dresden,'^ was aware of these circumstances,
and knowing that the young German had his in-
strument and his imagination under the fullest
control, determined to arrange a contest between
the two men in order to give his sovereign the
satisfaction of judging their merits. ^ With the
King's approbation, a message was dispatched
^ Frederiok AugnstuB l of Saxony was eleotod, ae Angastus n., to
the throne of Poland in 1697. He died '^ 1733.
* Loois Marohand, b. 1669, d. 1732; Organist to the French Conrt
and later of the Churoh of St. Honor6, Paris. Hib arrival in Dresden
was due to his being in disgrace at Versailles. Whether or not he was
offered a permanent engt^ment at the Saxon Ck>art» he was regarded
as the champion of the French style, and as sach the challenge was
issued to him by Bach.
* Francois Oouperin, b. 1668, d. 1733; Organist of St. Gervais,
Paris. Forkel's judgment upon his art is not supported by modem
criticism.
* Bach, howeyor, admired Marohand's compositions sufficiently to
give them to his pupils. See Pirro, p. 52.
* Jean-Baptiste Volumier, an acquaintance of Bach, according to
Spitta (i. $83). Eitner, * Qudlen Lexikon,' says that he was bom in
Spain and educated in France. Groye's * Dictionaty ' declares him a
Belgian* In 1709 he was appointed Concertmeister to the Saxon
Court. He died at Dresden in 1728.
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THE CAREER OF BACH 19
to Bach at Weimar^ inviting him to a contest
with Marchand. Bach accepted the invitation
and set out at once on his journey. Upon his
arrival at Dresden Volumier procured him an
opportunity to hear Marchand secretly. Far
from being discouraged by what he heard. Bach
wrote a polite note to the French artist challeng-
ing him to a trial of skill, and offering to play
at sight anything Marchand put before him,
provided the Frenchman submitted himseU to
a similar test. Marchand accepted the challenge,
a time and place for the contest were fixed, and
the King gave his approvaL At the appointed
hoxxr a large and distinguished company assembled
in the house of Marshal Count Flemming.^
Bach arrived punctually; Marchand did not
appear. After considerable delay he was sought
at his lodging, when it was discovered, to the
astonishment of all, that he had left Dresden
that morning without taking leave of anybody.
Bach therefore performed alone, and excited the
admiration of all who heard him, though Volumier
was cheated of his intention to exhibit the in-
feriority of French to German art. Bach was
overwhelmed with congratulations ; but the dis-
honesty of a Court official is said to have inter-
^ It k mote probable that Bach was at Dresden eftfaer expressly to
hear Marchand or upon one of his autninn tours.
* Some years earlier Flemming had witnessed Handel's triumphant
descent on the Saxon Oonrt, but had failed to establish friendly rela-
tions 7!t^ him. See Streatfield's ' Han^<4,' p. 87.
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20 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
oepted a present of one hundred louis d'or sent
to him by the King,^
Bach had not long returned to Weimar when
Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cothen^ a good judge
of music and a first-rate amateur,^ offered him
the post of Kapellmeister. He entered at once
upon his new office ^ and held it for about six
years.* At this period, about 1722,^ he visited
^ The article on Marchand in Groye gives a diffezent version of the
affair, based upon Joseph F^tis (1784-1871). According to this story
of the event, Bach, summoned from Weimar, attended Marchand's
concert incognito, and after hearing Marchand perform, was invited
by Volumier to take his seat at the Clavier. Bach thereupon repeated
from memory Marchand's theme and variations, and added others of
his own. Having ended, he handed Marchand a theme for treatment
on the Organ and challenged him to a contest. Marchand accepted
it, but left Dresden before the appointed hour.
' The Prince was brother-in-law of Duke Ernst August of Saxe- Weimar.
Bach was, therefore, already known to him and showed the greatest
regard for him both at Cothen and after he had left his servioe.
' The reason for Bach's migration from Weimar to C5then was his
failure to obtain the post of KapeUmeister at the former Oourt upon
the death, of Johann Samuel Drese in 1716. The post was given to
Drese's son. On August 1, 1717, just before or after his Marchand
triumph. Bach wm appointed Kapellmeister to the Court of Cothen.
Duke Wilhelm Ernst refused to release him from his engagement, and
Bach endured imprisonment from November 6 to December 2,
1717, for demanding instant permission to take up his new post. Pro-
bably his last work at Weimar was to put the * Orgelbiichlein ' into the
form in which it has come down to us (see articles by the present
writer in ' The Musical Times ' for January-March 1017).
With his departure from Weimar in 1718 Bach left behind him the
distinctively Organ period of his musical fertility. Though his com-
positions were still by no means generally known, as a player he held
an unchallenged pre-eminence.
* He was appointed to Cothen on August 1, 1717, and was inducted
at Leipzig on May 31, 1723.
* The date actually was November 1720. At Cdthen Bach had an
inferior Organ and tittle sorpe for his attainments : his ch\^ duties
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THE CAREER OF BACH 21
Hamburg, played the Organ there, and excited
general admiration. The veteran Reinken — ^he
was nearly one hundred years old — ^was particu-
larly impressed by Bach's performance. After
he had treated the Choral 'An Wasserfliissen
Babylon ' for half an hour in variation after
variation in the true Organ style,^ Reinken paid
him the compliment of saying, ' I thought this art
was dead, but I see that it survives in you.'
Reinken had treated the same Choral in a similar
manner some years before and had had his work
engraved, showing that he thought highly of it.
His praise therefore was particularly flattering
toBach.*
On the death of Kuhnau in 1723 ^ Bach was
appointed Director of Music and Cantor to St.
Thomas' School^ Leipzig,^ a position which he
were in oonnection with the Frinoe's band. The yearning to get back
to the Organ, which eventually took him to Leipsig in 1723, shows
itself in his readiness to entertain an invitation to Hamburg in 1720.
^ Three Organ movements by Baoh upon WoUgang Dachstein's
melody, 'An Wasserflfissen Babylon/ are extant. See notes upon
ihem and their relation to the Hamburg extemporisation in Terry,
' Baoh's Chorals,' Ptot m.
* As at Halle in 1713, Baoh does not appear to have gone to Hamburg
speGially to compete for the post of Organist to the Church of St.
James, vacant by the death of Heinrich Friese in September 1720. He
was not able to stay to take part in the final tests, nor was he asked to
submit to them, since his visit to Hamburg had given him an oppor-
tunity to display his gifts. In the result the post was given to Johann
Joachim Heitmann, who acknowledged his appointment by forthwith
paying 4000 marks to the treasury of the Church. See Spitta, iL 17 ff.
* Johann Kuhnau died on June 25, 1722.
* On the title-pages of his published works Bach describes himsell
as ' OapeUuL und Direct. Ghor. Mus. lipa.'
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22 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
occupied until his death. Prince Leopold of
Anhalt-Cothen had great r^ard for him and
Bach left his service with regret.^ But he saw
the finger of Providence in the event; for the
Prince died shortly afterwards.^ The loss of his
patron affected him deeply, and moved him to
compose a funeral CSantata ccmtaining remarkably
fine double choruses which he himself conducted
at Cothen.^ While he was at St. Thomas' he
was appointed honorary Kapellmeister to the
Duke of Weissenf els ^ and, in the following year
^ Forikd has praotioaUy nothing to aay regucding the Leipiig
period of Baoh's mnsioal life. That a profeesed historian of mnsio,
setting before the public for the first time the life of one whom he
so greatly extolled, and with every inducement to present as complete
a picture of him as was possible, should have taken no trouble to carry
his investigations beyond the point C. P. E. Bach and Agricola had
reached in the ' Nekiolog ' of 1764 is almost incredible. The only
reason that can be adduced, apart from the lack of a really scientific
impulse, is that Forkel was almost entirely ignorant of the flood of
concerted church music which poured from Leipog from 1723 to 1744.
His criticism of Bach as a composer is restricted practically to Bach's
Organ and Clavier works.
* On November 19, 1728. Latteriy his interest in music had
waned. The fact, along with Bach's concern for the education of his
sons and his desire to return to the Organ, exfdains his abandonment
of the more dignified Cdthen appointment.
* The score of this work was in Fcxkel's possession, but was missing
from his library in 1818 and was assumed to be lost until, in 1873,
Rust was able to show that Bach used for the occasion certain
choruses and Arias from the 'St. Matthew Passion,' which
he was then writing, with the first chorus of the 'Traner-
Ode ' as an opening of the extemporised wort:. See Spitta, ii 618;
Schweitcer, iL 206.
* In 1723 he received the title ' Hochfurstlich Weissenfelsisohe
wirkliohe Kapellmeister ' and retained it till his death. He retained
also his Cothen appointment.
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THE CAREER OF BACH 23
(1736), received the title of Court Composer
to the King-Elector of Poland -Saxony.^ The
two compliments are not of great consequence,
and the second was to some degree corollary
to Bach's position as Cantor of St. Thomas'
School^
Carl Philipp Emmanuel, Bach's second son,
entered the service of Frederick the Great of
Prussia in 1740. So widely was Bach's skill
recognised by this time that the King, who often
heard him praised, was curious to meet so great
an artist. More than once he hinted to Carl
Philipp Emmanuel that it would be agreeable
to welcome his father to Potsdam, and as Bach
did not appear, desired to know the reason.
Carl Philipp did not fail to acquaint his father
with the King's interest. But for some time
Bach was too occupied with his duties to accede
to the invitation. However, as Carl Philipp
continued to urge him, he set out for Potsdam
towards the end of 1747, in company with his
eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann.* It was the
King's custom to hold a private concert every
^ AngostoB m. Booh had petitioned for the appointment in a
letter dated July 27, 1733 (Spitta, iii. 38), forwarding a copy of the
newly- writtmi Kyrle and Gloria of the B minor Mafls.
* There does not appear to be any ground for the suggestion that
the post of Hof componist to the Dresden Court was attached ex officio
to the St. Thomas' Cantorate. Bach applied for it in 1733, taking
advantage of the recent accession of the new sovereign, Augustus m.,
in February 1733.
^ Friedemann was then at Halle.
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24 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
evening, and to take part on the flute in a Concerto
or two. One evening,^ when he had got out his
flute and the musicians were at their desks, an
official brought him a list of the strangers newly
arrived at Potsdam. Flute in hand the King
ran through the names, and suddenly tiuming to
the waiting musicians, said with considerable
excitement, ' Gentlemen, Old Bach has arrived.'
The flute was put away for the evening, and
Bach, who had alighted at his son's lodging, was
summoned immediately to the Palace. Wilhelm
Friedemann, who accompanied his father, often
told me the story. Nor am I likely to forget the
racy manner in which he related it. The courtesy
of those days demanded rather proUx compliments,
and the first introduction of Bach to so illustrious
a monarch, into whose presence he had hurried
without being allowed time to change his travel-
ling dress for a Cantor's black gown, obviously
invited ceremonial speeches on both sides. I will
not dwell on them ; Wilhelm Friedemann related
^ May 7, 1747, aooordii^ to Spitta, qnotiiig Friedrioh Wilhelm
ICarporg's ' HiBtoriBoh-kritiBohe BeytrAge sor Aofnahme dor Musk,'
whi^ appeared in 6 vols, between 1764-1778. On the other hand,
Spener, who first records the event, states briefly: 'May 11, 1747. His
Majesty was informed that Kapellmeister Bach had arrived in Potsdam,
and that he was in the King's ante-chamber, waiting His Majesty's
gracious permission to enter, and hear the music. His Majesty at once
commanded that he should be admitted ' (Spitta, ilL 231 n.). If the
Marpuxg and Spener dates are reliable, it looks as though Friede-
mann's story of his father, travel-stained and waary, being hurried
incontinent into the presence of the King is a piece of picturesque
embroidery.
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THE CAREER OF BACH 25
a lengthy and formal conversation between the
King and the Cantor.^
More worthy of record is the fact that the King
gave up his concert for that evening and invited
Bach, already known as ^ Old Bach/ to try the
Silbermann pianofortes^ which stood in various
parts of the Palace.* Accompanied from room to
room by the King and the musicians. Bach tried
the instruments and improvised upon them before
his illustrious companion. After some time he
asked the King to give him a subject for a Fugue,
that he might treat it extempore. The King did
so, and expressed his astonishment at Bach's
profound skill in developing it. Anxious to see
to what lengths the art could be carried, the King
desired Bach to improvise a six-part Fugue. But
as every subject is not suitable for polyphonic
^ Cieariy this was a story that T^^lhelm Friedemami prided himaelf
on the telling, and Forkel's remark soggeets the need for oaution in
accepting all ite detaUs. Frederick's courtesy to Bach, however, tends
to discredit the story that ten years earlier (1737) Handel deliberateLy
refused to meet the King at Aix-la-ChapeUe owing to the peremptori-
ness of his summons. Mr. Streatfield (p. 146) also shows that Frederick
was not at Aix until 1741, when Handel was writing the ' Messiah ' in
London.
* Gottfried Silbermann, a pioneer of the modem pianoforte. Bach
was already familiar with his Claviers with hammer action, and indeed
had offered useful criticism of which Silbermann had taken advantage.
See Spitta, iL 46.
* The pianofortes manufactured by Silbermann, of Freiberg, pleased
the King so much, that he resolved to buy them alL He collected
fifteen. I hear that they all now stand, unfit for use, in various comers
of the Royal Pftlace. [Robert Eitner, in 1873, found one of the pianos
in Frederick the Great's room at Potsdam.]
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26 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
treatment. Bach himself chose a theme and, to
the astonishment of all who were present, developed
it with the skill and distinction he had shown in
treating the King's subject. His Majesty ex-
pressed a wish to hear him on the Organ also.
Accordingly, next day. Bach inspected all the
Organs in Potsdam;^ as the evening before he had
tried the Silbermann pianofortes. On his return to
Leipzig he developed the King's theme in three and
six parts, added GanonM diverai upon it, engraved
the whole under the title ^ Musikalisches Opfer'
and dedicated it to the royal author of the theme.^
His visit to Potsdam was Bach's last journey.
The indefatigable diligence he had shown all his
life, and particularly in his younger years, when
successive days and nights were given to study,
seriously affected his eye-sight. The weakness
grew with age and became very distressing in
character. On the advice of friends who placed
great confidence in the skill of a London oculist
lately come to Leipzig,' Bach submitted to an
^ Aooording to another aoooant, which Spitta (iii. 232) follows, Baoh
played before a large oongregation in the Church of the Holy Spirit,
Potsdam. The King does not appear to have been present. The
extemporisation of the six-part Fogoe took place in Frederick's presence
on the evening of that day.
* Bach's letter to Frederick accompanying the gift is dated 7th July
1747. He calls it ' a musical offering, of which the noblest portion is
the work of Your Majesty's illnstrions hand.' In addition to Forkel's
analysis it contains a Sonata for Ftate, Violin, and CHavier, and a
canon perpetans for the same three instroments.
* John Taylor (1703-72), oculist to George n. The operation took
place in the winter of 1749-60l Taylor is said to have operated on
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THE CAREER OF BACH 27
operation, which twice failed. He lost his sight
completely in consequence, and his hitherto
vigorous constitution was undermined by the
drugs administered to him. He sank gradually
for full half a year, and expired on the evening
of July 30, 1760, in the sixty-sixth year of his
age. ^ Ten days before his death ^ he was suddenly
able to see again and to bear the light. A few
hours later he was seized by an apoplexy and
inflammatory fever, and notwithstanding aU
possible medical aid, his weakened frame suc-
cumbed to the attack.
Such was the career of this remarkable man.
I will only add that he was twice married, and
that he had by his first wife seven, and by his
second wife thirteen children; in all, eleven
sons and nine daughters.' All of his sons had an
Handd in 1751 (see the artiole on him in the 'Diet. Nat. Biognphy.*).
Streatfifild (* Handd,' p. 212), however, does not mention Taylor, and
his aoooont suggestB that Samuel Sharp, of Guy*8 Hoepital, was the
operator in Handel^s case.
^ The aotoai date was July 28, at 8.45 p jl Baoh waa woddng
to the very moment of his ooUapse on July 18. PtobaUy his last
work was the Choral Prehide (Novello bk. zviL 85) on the mdody
* Wenn wir in hdohsten Nothen sein.* Eadng eternity, he bade his
son-in-law, Altnikol, inscribe the movement with the title of the
Hynm, * Vor demen Thron tret ich hiemit,' whose first stanza filled
his mind:
Before Thy throne, my Qod, I stand,
Myself, my all, are in Thy hand.
An addendum to the Genealogy, in C. P. E. Baoh's hand, gives
Jnly 90 as the date of his father's death.
« July 18.
' See Qenealogioal Tables vn. and vxn.
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28 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
admirable talent for music, but only the elder
ones fully developed it.^
^ The statemont is misleading. Of the five sons of the first marriage,
two were famous, two died in infancy, and the fifth abandoned a pro-
mising musical career for the law. Of the ax sons of the second
marriage, one was imbecile, three died in infancy, two were famous.
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Thr Chirch and School ok St. Thomas, Leipzig, in 1723.
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CHAPTER HaI
BACH AT LEIPZIG, I723-I75O
Baoh was inducted into his office as Cantor of
St. Thomas' School at nine o'clock on the morning
of Monday, May 31, 1723. He died in his official
residence there at a quarter to nine on the evening
of Tuesday, July 28, 1760. He was buried early
on the morning of Friday, July 31, in the
churchyard of St. John's, Leipzig.
The announcement of his deaHi, made from the
pulpit of St. Thomas' on the day of his funeral,
described him as * Court Composer to His Majesty
the King of Poland and Electoral and Serene
Highness of Saxony, Kapellmeister to His High-
ness the Prince of Anhalt-Cothen, and Cantor to
St. Thomas' School of this town.' Bach usually
designated himself ^Director Chori Musici Lip-
siensis,' or shortly, ^ Director Musices.' Circum-
stances led him to emphasise a title which asserted
a musical prerogative not confined to the School
and the churches it served.
The Cantor of St. Thomas' was charged for-
merly with the musical direction of four Leipzig
^ See Ihtroduotioiiy p. zxi, Mpro.
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30 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
churcheB : St. Thomas% St. Nicolas', St. Peter's,
and the New Ghurch. He was also recfponsible
for the music in the University Church of St.
Paul, the so-called 'old service,' held originally
on the Festivals of Easter, Whit, Christmas, and
the Reformation, and once during each University
quarter. On high days music also had to be
provided at St. John's Church.
Bach, as Cantor, succeeded to a more restricted
responsibility, which dated from the early years
of the eighteenth century. The New Church,
originally the Church of the Franciscans, hcd been
restored to use in 1699. In 1704 Qeorg Philipp
Telemann, who came to Leipzig as a law student
three years before, was appointed Organist there.
He also founded the Collegium Musicum, or Uni-
versity Musical Society, a farther slight upon the
Cantor's position. Not until 1729 did the Society
pass under Bach's direction and its members
become available as auxiliaries in the church
choirs under his charge. Notwithstanding that
Bach's predecessor Kuhnau had protested against
Telemann's independence, the direction of the
New Church's music passed out of the Cantor's
control, though the School continued to provide
the choristers. Six years later the University
Church of St. Paul also began an independent
course. In 1710 the authorities resolved to hold
a University service in the church every Sunday.
Kuhnau asserted his prerogative as Cantor. But
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BACH AT LEIPZIG, 1723-1760 31
he was only able to maintain it by offering to
provide the music for the ' new service ' as well
as for the ' old service ' at the fee of twelve thalers
which the University so far had paid for the
latter. After his death the University appointed
(April 3, 1723) Johann Gottlieb Gomer, already
Organist of St. Nicolas' since 1721, to control the
music both of the ' old ' and * new ' services, for
which the University provided the choir. Not
until after a direct appeal to the King did Bach
succeed, in 1726, in compelling the University to
restore to the Cantor his emoluments in regard
to the ' old service,' the conduct of which had
been restored to him on his appointment as
Cantor. The *new service' remained under
Gomer's direction. As to St, Peter's, its services,
which had entirely ceased, were revived in 1711.
The music, however, was simple, and consisted
only of hymns.
Thus Bach, as Cantor, was responsible for the
music in the two principal churches, St. Thomas'
and St. Nicolas'. The School also provided the
choir for St. Peter's and the New Church. The
junior and ]ea4Bt competent singers sang at St.
Peter's. The rest were pretty equally distributed
between the other three churches. At the New
Church the music was performed under the direc-
tion of a Chorprafect. At St. Thomas' and St.
Nicolas' Bach personally directed the concerted
music. On ordinary Sundays a Cantata or Motet
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32 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
was performed in each church alternately. At
the great Festivals, New Year, Eipiphany, Ascen-
sion Day, Trinity Sunday, and the Annunciation,
CSantatas were sui^ at both churches, the two
choirs singing at Vespers in the second church
the Cantata performed by them in the morning
at the other church. On these occasions the
second choir was conducted by a Chorprafect.
The principal Sunday service in both churches
began at seven in the morning, ended at eleven,
and observed the following order :
L Organ Prelude.
2. Motet, related to the Gospel for the Day ;
(omitted in Lent and replaced by the
Benedictus).
3. Introit.
4. Kyrie, sui^ alternately, in German and
Latin.
5. The Lord's Prayer, intoned at the altar.
6. Gloria, intoned at the altar and answered
either by the Choir's * £t in terra pax
hominibus,' or by the congregation with
the Hymn, ' Allein Gott in der Hoh' sei
Ehr,' the German version of the Gloria.
7. Collect, intoned in Latin ; preceded by the
preces * Dominus vobiscum ' and * Et cum
spiritu tuo.'
8. Epistle.
9. Litany, in Advent and Lent only ; intoned
by four boys, the Choir responding.
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BACH AT LEIPZIG, 1723-1750 33
10. Hymn, appropriate to the Gospel.
11. GospeL
12. Credo, intoned ; (in Lent, last three Sundays
of Advent, and Festivals of Apostles, the
Nicene Creed, sung in Latin).
13. Prelude, followed by a Cantata, lasting
about twenty minutes; on alternate
Sundays in each church.
14. The Creed in German, * Wir glauben all'
an einen Gott,' sui^ by the congregation.
15. Sermon, lasting one hour (8-9 A.M.).
16. Hymn, 'Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns
wend',' followed by the reading of the
Gospel, on which the Sermon had been
based.
17. General Confession, prayers, and Lord's
Prayer.
18. Blessing.
19. Hymn.
20. Communion Service ; Hymns and Organ
extemporisation.
21. Benediction.
Vespers began at a quarter past one and was a
comparatively simple service; the music con-
sisted of Hymns, a Motet, and the Magnificat.
On the last three Sundays in Advent and
throughout Lent neither Cantatas nor Motets were
sung. The Organ was silent.
On the three great Festivals the appointed
Hymn for the season was sung at the beginning of
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34 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
the principal service, before the Oi^an Prelude :
at Christmas, ' Puer natus in Bethlehem ' ; at
Easter, ^ Heut' triumphiret Gottes Sohn ' ; at
Whitsuntide, ' Spiritus Sancti gratia.' During the
Communion service the Sanctus and concerted
music were sung, A festal hymn followed the
Benediction. The three great Festivals were each
observed for three consecutive days, on the first
and second of which Cantatas were sung at both
churches. On the third day concerted music was
sung at only one of the two churches.
The other week-day Festivals for which Can-
tatas were provided were the Feast of the Circum-
cision (New Year's Day), Epiphany, Ascension
Day, Purification of the B.V.M., Annunciation of
the B.V.M., Visitation of the B.V.M., Feast of St.
John Baptist (Midsummer Day), Feast of St.
Michael the Archangel The Reformation Festival
was kept on October 31, or if that date was a
Saturday or Monday, on the previous or following
Sunday.
On Good Friday the Passion was performed in
the two principal churches alternately.
Leipzig adopted no official Hymn-book. The
compilation from which the Hymns were chosen
by Bach was the eight-volumed ' Gesangbuch '
of Paul Wagner, published at Leipzig for Dresden
use in 1697. It contained over five thousand
Hymns but no music, merely the name of the
tune being stated above the Hymn. For the
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BACH AT LEIPZIG, 1723-1760 36
most part the Hymns for special, and even for
ordinary, occasions were prescribed by custom.
Otherwise the power of selection was in the hands
of the Cantor, and Bach's exercise of it caused
some friction with the clergy in 1728.
The provision and direction of the music at
weddings and funerals was in the Cantor's hands.
He arranged the choirs and the music sung at the
scholars' annual processions and perambulations
of the town, which took place at Michaelmas,
New Year, and on St. Martin's and St. Gregory's
Days.
Augmenting the School's choristers, the Town
Musicians took part in the Church services and
were under the Cantor's direction. Their numbers
and efficiency were inadequate.
Upon the staff of the School the Cantor ranked
third after the Rector and Sub-Bector, and took
a share in the general instruction of the scholars.
Class in. went to Bach for Latin lessons, a duty
which the Council eventually permitted him to
fulfil by deputy. Singing classes were held by
the Cantor on three days of the week, Mondays,
Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, at nine and noon, and
on IVidays at noon. His instruction in singing
was given to the four upper classes only. On
Saturday afternoons the Cantata was rehearsed.
Once in four weeks the Cantor took his turn to
infqsect the scholars. Like the other masters,
he was required to conform to the regulations
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36 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
of the School House, in which he livecL He rose
at five in summer, at six in winter, dined at ten
and supped at five in the afternoon.
Holidays were numerous. A week's vacation
was given at the Easter, Michaelmas, and New
Year Fairs. At Midsummer the School had a
month of half-holidays. Whole holidays were
given on the birthdays of the four upper masters.
There were no morning lessons on Saints' Days,
on the occasion of funeral orations in the University
Church, and on the quarterly Speech Days.
Hence, though Bach's office carried large respon-
sibility, it left him considerable leisure for com-
position. I
As Cantor Bach had an official residence in the
left wing of the School House. In 1723, the
Cantor's wing was of two storeys only, dwarfed
by the greater elevation of the main edifice and
under the shadow of the church. Bach brought
to Leipzig four children of his first marriage,
and his second wife, Anna Magdalena, presented
him with a son or daughter annually from 1723
to 1729. The accommodation of the Cantor's
lodgii^ therefore rapidly became inadequate. In
the spring of 1731 Bach found a house elsewhere
while an additional storey was added to it, which
provided a new music-room, a good-sized apart-
ment whence a passage led to the big schoolroom
in the main building. The new wing was formally
opened and dedicated on June 6, 1732, when
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BACH AT LEIPZIG, 1723-1760 37
Bach's secular Cantata ^Eroher Tag, verlangte
Stunden ' was performed ; the libretto being by
his colleague Winkler. IVom thenceforward tiU
his death eighteen years later Bach's occupancy
was not disturbed. The wing continued to be
the official residence of the Cantor until the School
moved to the suburbs of the city in 1877.
In addition to his residence, which he occupied
rent £ree, the Cantor enjoyed a revenue from
various and fluctuating sources, amounting in
gross to 700 thalers (=£106 per annum). His
fixed stipend was only 100 thalers (=£16). About
12 thalers came to him from endowments. In
kind he was entitled to 16 bushels of com and
2 cords of firelogs, together with 2 measures of
wine at each of the three great Festivals. From
the University, after his successful protest, he
received 12 thalers for directing the ' old service.'
By far the larger part of Bach's income was
derived from fluctuating sources. They were
of three kinds: (1) School monies, (2) funeral
fees, (3) wedding fees. The School monies repre-
sented perquisites derived from funds obtained
by the scholars, partly by their weekly collections
from the public, partly from the four annual
processions or perambulations of the cily. From the
weekly collections a sum of six pfennigs multiplied
by the number of the scholars was put aside for
the four upper masters, among whom the Cantor
ranked third. From the money collected at the
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38 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
New Year, Michaelmas, and St. Martin's Day
processions the Rector took a thaler, the Cantor
and the Sub-Bector each took one-eleventh of the
balance, sixteen thirty-thirds went to the singers,
and one-quarter of what remained fell to the
Cantor. Out of the money collected on St.
Gregory's Day (March 12) the Rector took one-
tenth for the entertainment of the four upper
masters, and the Cantor took one-third of the
residue. For funerals one thaler 15 groschen
was paid when the whole school accompanied
the procession and a Motet was sung at the house
of the deceased. When no Motet was sung the
Cantor's fee was 15 groschen. For weddings he
received two thalers.
Beckoned in modem currency, and judged by
the standard of the period, the Cantor's income
was not inadequate and served to maintain
Bach's large family in comfort. When he died
in 1750, in addition to a mining share valued at
60 thalers, he possessed in cash or bonds about
360 thalers, silver plate valued at 251 thalers,
instruments valued at 371 thalers, house furniture
valued at 29 thalers, and books valued at 38
thalers. His whole estate was declared at 1158
thalers, or somewhat less than the savings of two
years' income. But for the inequitable distribu-
tion of his property, owing to his intestacy, which
left Anna Magdalena only about 400 thalers and
the mining share, Bach's widow and unmarried
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BACH AT LEIPZIG, 1723-1750 39
daughters ought not to have been afiSicted with
excessive poverty, as in fact they were.
At the beginning of his Cantorate Bach worked
amid discouraging and unsatisfactory conditions.
The Rector, Johann Heinrich Emesti, was over
seventy years of age in 1723. The School was
badly managed, its discipline was relaxed, the
better-to-do citizens withheld their sons from it,
and its numbers were seriously diminished. In
1717 the junior classes contained only 53 as
against 120 in Emesti's earUer years. The
proximity and operatic traditions of Dresden
and Weissenfels also had a bad effect ; the St.
Thomas' boys, after attaining musical proficiency,
were apt to become restless, demanding release
from their indentures, and even running away to
more attractive and lucrative occupations. More-
over, the governors of the School were the Town
Council, a body which had little sympathy with
or appreciation of Bach's artistic aims and tem-
perament. To these difficulties must be added
another. The Town Musicians, on whom Bach
reUed for the nucleus of his orchestra, were few
in number and inefficient.
So long as Emesti lived, there was little prospect
of reform. But, after his death, in October 1729,
Bach made vigorous representations to the Town
Council. Already he had remonstrated with the
Council for presenting to foundation scholarships
boys who lacked musical aptitude. The Council
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40 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
retaliated by accusing Bach of neglecting his
singing classes, absenting himself without leave,
and of other irregularities. He was declared to
be ^ incorrigible ' and it was resolved (August 2,
1730) to sequestrate the Cantor's income, in
other words, to withhold from him the perquisites
to which he was entitled for the conduct of the
Church services.^
Bach was not det^red from offering, three
weeks later (August 23, 1730), a 'sketch of what
constitutes well-appointed Church music, with a
few impartial reflections on its present state of
decay' in Leipzig. The document reveals the
conditions amid which Bach worked. Its repre-
sentations may be summarised :
The foundation scholars of St. Thomas' are of
four classes : Trebles, Altos, Tenors, Basses.
A choir needs from four to eight ' concertists '
(solo singers) and at least two ' ripienists ' to each
chorus part, *.e. a minimum of twelve voices.
The foundation scholars number fifty-five, by
whom the choirs of the four CShurches, St. Thomas',
St. Nicolas', St. Peter's, and the New Church are
provided.
For the instrumental accompaniments at least
twenty players are required: viz., 2 or 3 first
Violins, 2 or 3 second Violins, 4 Violas, 2 Violon-
ceUi, 1 Contrabasso, 2 or more Flutes, 2 or 3 Oboi,
^ In view of Baoh's memorial of Augost 23, 1730 (infra), this
to be the meaning of the reeolation.
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BACH AT LEIPZIG, 1723-1760 41
1 or 2 Fagotti, 3 Trombe, 1 TimpanL To fiU
these places there are eight Town Musicians, and
at the moment there are no players available for
third Tromba, Timpani, Viola, Violoncello, Contra-
basso, third Oboe (or TaiUe).
To augment the Town Musicians the Cantor has
been wont in the past to employ University
students and instrumental players in the School.
Upon the former ' at all times ' he reUes for Viola,
Violoncello, and Gontrabasso, and ' generally ' for
the second Violins. But the Council, by its recent
resolution, no longer affords the Cantor the means
to employ them. To place the scholars in the
orchestra weakens the choir, to which they natur-
ally belong.
By presenting to foundation scholarships boys
unskilled and ignorant of music, the resources at
the Cantor's disposal are still farther lessened.
Hence, Bach concludes, ' in ceasing to receive
my perquisites I am deprived of the power of
putting the music into a better condition.'
No answer was made to Bach's memorial, and
he contemplated resigning his position. But with
the advent of Johann Matthias Gesner as Bector
in September 1730 a happier period dawned upon
the * incorrigible ' Cantor. In 1732 Gesner pro-
cured the withdrawal of the Council's ban on
Bach's perquisites. The fallen fortunes of the
School revived, and Bach did not again make an
effort to leave Leipzig. In 1736 the grant of the
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42 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
post of Hof-C!omponist to the Saxon Court gave
him at length a title which compelled the defer-
ence of his civic masters.
Bach's early mismiderstanding with the Uni-
versily cut him off from association with the most
dignified, if not the most important, institution
in Leipzig, and deprived him of opportunity to
display his genius beyond the radius of his Church
duties. The situation changed in 1729, when he
became director of the University Society, and he
held the post for about ten years. The Society
gave weekly concerts on Fridays, from 8 to 10,
and an extra concert, during the Fair season, on
Thursdays at the same hour. It performed vocal
and instrumental music and was the medium
through which Bach presented his secular Can-
tatas, Clavier and Violin Concertos, and Orchestral
Suites to the public. The proficiency of his elder
sons and pupils, and his wife's talent as a singer,
were a farther source of strength to the Society,
whose direction undoubtedly made these years the
happiest in Bach's life. He took his rightful place
in the musical life of the city, and relegated to a
position of inferiority the smaller fry, such as
Gomer, who had presimied on Bach's aloofness
from the University and Municipality to insinuate
themselves. His increasing reputation as an
organist, gained in his annual autumn tours, also
enlightened his fellow-townsmen regarding the
superlative worth of one whom at the outset
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BACH AT LEIPZIG, 1723-1760 43
they were disposed to treat as a subordinate
official.
The Leipzig of Bach's day offered various oppor-
tunities for musical celebration ; official events in
the University, * gratulations ' or 'ovations' of
favourite professors by their students, as well as
patriotic occasions in which town and gown par-
ticipated. The recognised fee for piicea d^occasion
of a public character was fifty thalers. Bach's
conductorship of the University Society enabled
him to perform festival works with the resources
they required, and to augment the band and
chorus needed for their adequate performance.
Even before he undertook the direction of the
University Society, Bach more than once pro-
vided the music for University celebrations. On
August 3, 1725, his secular Cantata, * Der zufried-
engestellte Aeolus,' was performed at the students'
celebration of Doctor August Priedrich Miiller's
name-day. In 1726 he revived an old Cantata^
to celebrate the birthday of another of the Leipzig
teachers. In the same year the appointment of
Dr. Gottlieb Kortte as Professor of Roman Law
was celebrated by Bach's Cantata *Vereinigte
Zwietracht der wechsehiden Saiten.' In 1733 the
birthday of another Professor was marked by the
performance of the Cothen Cantata to yet another
text (^ Die Freude reget sich '). On November 21,
^ * Steigt f reudig in die Lnf t,' first performed at Cothen, set to a
new text, ' Sohwingt freodig each empor.'
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44 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
1734, the lost Cantata 'Thomana sass annoch
betriibt' was song at the induction of Gesner's
successor, Johann August Emesti, as Rector of
St. Thomaa' School.
But Bach's activity as a secular composer at
Leipzig was chiefly expended on patriotic celebra-
tions. His compositions of this character are
particularly numerous during the years 1733-36,
while he was seeking from the Dresden Court the
post of Hof-Componist. The first of these cele-
brations took place on May 12, 1727, the birth^
day of Augustus n. of Poland-Saxony, when
Bach's Cantata, 'Entfemet euch, ihr heitem
Sterne,' was performed in the Market Place by
the University Society. The King was present
and listened to the performance from a convenient
window. The music is lost. Six years elapsed
before Bach was invited to collaborate in
another celebration of the royal House. On
September 6, 1733, less than two months after his
application for the post of Hof-Componist, the
University Society celebrated the eleventh birth-
day of the Electoral Prince by performing Bach's
dramma per muaica, ' Die Wahl des Herkules,' or
^ Herkules auf dem Scheidewege*' Barely three
months later, on December 8, 1733, Bach pro-
duced another Cantata in honour of the royal
family, ^ Tonet, ihr Pauken, erschallet Trompeten,'
of which he was both author and composer. On
no less than three occasions in 1734 Bach did
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BACH AT LEIPZIG, 1723-1760 45
homage to his unheeding sovereign. In January
the Universily Society, under Bach's direction,
performed his Cantata * Blast LSrmen, ihr Feinde '
to celebrate the coronation of Augustus nL The
music had already done duty in Dr. Miiller's
honour in 1726. On the following October 6,
1734, when the King visited Leipzig, Bach's
hurriedly written Cantata, ^Preise dein GlUcke,
gesegnetes Sachsen,' whose first chorus became the
' Osanna ' of the B minor Mass, was performed in
the Market Place. Two days later, on October 7,
1734, the King's birthday was celebrated by
another Bach Cantata, 'Schleicht spielende
Wellen,' performed by the Collegium Musicum.
In 1738, having received the coveted title of Hof-
Componist in the interval (1736), Bach performed
a work — 'Willkommen, ihr herrschenden Grotter
der Erden ' — ^now lost, in honour of the marriage
of the Princess Maria AmaUa of Saxony to Charles
of Sicily, afterwards Charles hl of Spain.
Apart from his musical activities and the house
in which he lived there is Uttle that permits us
to picture Bach's life at Leipzig. Association
with his friends Johann Christian Hoffmann,
Musical Instrument Maker to the Court, Marianne
von Ziegler, J. C. Gottsched and his musical wife,
Johann Abraham Bimbaum, among the Pro-
fessoriate, Picander and Christian Weiss, Bach's
regular librettists, suggests the amenities of an
aoademio and Uterary circle. But the claims of
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46 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
his art and the care of his large family had the
first call upon Bach's interest. And few men had
a happier home life. While his elder sons were
at home the family concerts were among his most
agreeable experiences. As his fame increased,
his house became the resort of many seeking to
know and hear the famous organist. Late in the
thirties he resigned his directorship of the Uni-
versity Society. His sons were already off his
hands and out of his house, and he turned again
to the Organ works of his Weimar period. Their
revision occupied the last decade of his life, and the
hitherto constant flow of Church Cantatas ceased.
Pupils resorted to him and filled his empty house,
to one of whom, Altnikol, he gave a daughter in
marriage.
A man of rigid uprightness, sincerely religious ;
steeped in his art, earnest and grave, yet not
lacking naive humour; ever hospitable and
generous, and yet shrewd and cautious ; pug-
nacious when his art was slighted or his rights
were infringed; generous in the extreme to his
wife and children, and eager to give the latter
advantages which he had never known himself ;
a lover of sound theology, and of a piety as deep
as it was unpretentious — such were the qualities
of one who towers above all other masters of music
in moral grandeur.
Four, perhaps only three, contemporary
portraits of Bach are known. One is in the
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BACH AT LEIPZIG, 1723-1760 47
possession of the firm of Peters at Leipzig and
once belonged to Carl Philipp Emmanuel's
daughter, who with inherited impiety sold it to
a Leipzig flute player. The second hung in
St. Thomas' School and is reproduced at p. 48
of this volume. It was painted in 1746 and
restored in 1913. Both portraits are by Elias
Gottlieb Haussmann, Court Painter at Dresden.
The third portrait belonged to Bach's last pupil,
Kittel, and used to hang on the Organ at Erfurt,
whence it disappeared after 1809, during the
Napoleonic wars. Recently Professor Fritz
Volbach of Mainz has discovered a fourth portrait,
which is printed at p. 92 of the present volume.
He supposes it to be none other than the Erfurt
portrait, as indeed it well may be, since it repre-
sents a man of some sixty years, austere in
countenance, but of a dignity that is not so
apparent in Haussmann's portraiture.^
Bach left no will. In consequence his widow,
Anna Magdalena, burdened with the charge of
a step-daughter and two daughters, was entitled
to only one-third of her husband's estate. Neither
^ The well-known portrait by G. F. Rr. Liszewski in the Joachimsthal
Gymnaainm, Berlin, was painted in 1772, twenty-two years after
Bach's death. It represents him at a table with mnsio-paper before
him and an adjacent Clavier. Pirro uses for his frontispiece a portrait
by Geber, which bears no resemblance whatever to the Haossmann or
Volbaoh piotores. Mention must also be made of a singularly engaging
picture of Bach at the age of thirty-five. It hangs in the Eisenach
Bach Museum and is by Johann Jsk, Ihle. It is reproduced as the
frontispiece of this volume.
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48 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Carl Philipp Emmaauel nor Wilhelm Friede-
macn was her own child. But the fact cannot
excuse gross n^ect of their father's widow.
Her own sons were in a position to make such a
contribution to her income as would at least have
kept want from her door. In fact she was per*
mitted to become dependent on public charity,
and died, an ahns-woman, on February 27, 1760,
nearly ten years after her great husband. The
three daughters survived her. One died in 1774,
the second in 1781. The third, Begine Susanna,
survived them, her want relieved by gifts from
a public tibat at last was awakening to the
grandeur of her father. Beethoven contributed
generously. Begine Susanna died in December
1809, the last of Bach's children. In 1845 her
nephew, Johann Christoph Friedrich's son, also
died. \^th him tiie line of Johann Sebastian
Bach expired.
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JOHANN SkBASTIAN BaCK,
circ, 1 746.
From the picture by Ilaussmnnn,)
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CHAPTER m
BACH AS A OLAVIBB PLAYBB
As a Clavier player Bach was admired by all who
had the good fortune to hear him and was the
envy of the virtuosi of his day. His method
greatly difiEered from that of his contemporaries
and predecessors, but so far no one has attempted
to explam in what the difference consisted.
The same piece of music played by ten dif-
ferent performers equally intelligent and com-
petent will produce a different effect in each
case* Each player will emphasise this or that
detaiL This or that note will stand out with
differing emphasis, and the general effect will
vary consequently* And yet, if all the players
are equaJly competent, ought not their per-
formances to be uniform ? The fact that they
are not so is due to difference of touch, a quality
which to the Clavier stands as enunciation to
human speech. Distinctness is essential for the
enunciation of vowels and consonants, and not less
so for the articulation of a musical phrase. But
there are gradations of distinctness. If a sound
is emitted indistinctly it is comprehensible only
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60 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
with effort, which occasions us to lose much of
the pleasure we should otherwise experience.
On the other hand, over-emphasis of words or
notes is to be avoided. Otherwise the hearer's
attention will be diverted from the Umt ensemble.
To permit the general effect to be appreciated
every note and every vowel must be sounded
with balanced distinctness.
I have often w<»idered why Carl Philipp
Emmanuel Bach's ' Essay on the Bight Manner
of playing the Clavier ' ^ does not elucidate the
qualities that constitute a good touch. For he
possessed in high degree the technique that made
his father pre-eminent as a player. True, in his
chapter on ^ Style in Performance/ he writes,
^ Some persons play as if their fingers were glued
together ; their touch is so deliberate, and they
keep the keys down too long; while others,
attempting to avoid this defect, play too crisply,
as if the keys burnt their fingers. The right
method lies between the two extremes.' But
it would have been more useful had he told us
how to reach this middle path. As he has not
done so, I must try to make the matter as clear
as is possible in words.
Bach placed his hand on the finger-board so
that his fingers were bent and their extremities
poised perpendicularly over the keys in a plane
^ HiB ' Versuch uber die wahre Art das Klavier za spielen ' was
published (Part i.) in 1753.
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BAC5H AS A CLAVIER PLATER 61
parallel to them.^ Consequently none of his
fingers was remote from the note it was intended to
strike, and was ready instantly to execute every
command. Observe the consequences of this
position. First of all, the fingers cannot faU
or (as so often happens) be th/rown upon the notes,
but are placed upon them in full control of the
force they may be called on to exert. Li the
second place, since the force communicated to the
note needs to be maintained with uniform pressure,
the finger should not be released perpendicularly
from the key, but can be withdrawn gently and
gradually towards the palm of the hand. In
the third place, when passing from one note
to another, a sliding action instinctively instructs
the next finger regarding the amount of force
exerted by its predecessor, so that the tone is
equally regulated and the notes are equally
distinct. In other words, the touch is neither
too long nor too short, as Carl Philipp Emmanuel
complains, but is just what it ought to
be.«
Many advantages arise from holding the hand
in Bach's position and from adopting his touch,
^ Farkel*8 meamng can be made dear in the following manner:
plaoe the thumb and fingen of either hand upon the notes D £ F
of the pianoforte so that the three middle fingers lie more or less flat
npon the keys ; then draw baok the three middle fingers ontil they
form an arch having their tips approximately in a straight line wi^
the tips of the thumb and little finger upon the keys.
* It most be remembered that Forkel is speaking of the davier
and not of the Pianoforte.
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62 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
on the davichoid and Harpsichord,^ and on
the Organ ae welL I point out mwely the most
important of them. To begin with, if the fingers
are bent, their movements are free. The notes
are struok without effort and with less risk of
missing or hitting too hard, a frequent fault with
people who play with theur fingers elongated or
insufGxsiently bent. In the seoond place, the
sliding fisiger-tip, and the consequently rapid
transmission of regulated force from one finger to
another, tend to bring out each note clearly and
to make every passage sound uniformly brilliant
and distinct to the hearer without exertion. In
the third place, stroking the note with uniform
pressure permits the string to vibrate freely, im-
proves and prolongs the tone, and though the
CHavichoid is poor in quality, allows the player
to sustain long notes upon it. And the method
has this advantage : it prevents over-expenditure
of strength and excessive movement of the hand.
We gather that the action of Bach's fingers was
so slight as to be barely perceptible. Only the
top joint seemed to move. His hand preserved
its rounded shape even in the most intricate
passages. His fingers rested closely upon the
keys, very much in the position required for a
^ shake.' An unemployed finger remained in a
^ The Htopsiohotd, as its name impUfls, was an uutmment whoae
gtringp were pLuoked by a j^taimL Baoh p referred the older CiaTier,
or daviehordy wfaioh ooold be regulated, as the other oonld not, by
nioety ol tonoh. See note^ p. 68» infiu.
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BAC5H AS A CLAVIER PLAYER 63
position of repose. It is hardly necessajy to say
that other hmbs of his body took no part in his
performance, as is the case with many whose
hands lack the requisite agilit^.^
A man may possess all these qnalitiesy however,
and remain an indifferent performer on the
Clavier, just as clear and agreeable enunciation
does not necessarily make a good speaker. To be
a first-rate performer many other qualities are
needed, and Bach possessed them all in a notable
Some fingers are longer and stronger than others.
Hence players are frequently seduced to use the
stronger whenever they can readily do so. Conse-
quently successive notes become unequal in tone,
and passages which leave no choice as to the finger
to be used may become impossible to play. Bach
recognised this fact very early in his career. To
get over the difficulty he invented exercises for
his own use in which the fingers of both hands
were made to practise passages in every con-
ceivable position. By this means every finger on
both hands equally became strong and service-
^ Sohwatgwr (L 208) points oat that Baoh's touch was modern, in
that he raaliaed that ' singing tone ' depends not only upon the manner
in which the keys aie straok* but, to a great extent^ on the regulation
of their ascent.
Of Handel's touch, Burney writes (quoted by Rockstro, p. 849) s
* His touch was so smooth, and the tone of the instrument so much
cherished, that his fingers seemed to grow to the keys. They were
so curved and compact when he played, that no motion, and scarcely
the fingers themselves, could be discovered**
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64 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
able, so that he could play a rapid suocession of
chords, single and double ^ shakes/ and running
passages with the utmost finish and delicacy, and
was equally fluent in passages where some fingers
play a ' shake ' while the others on the same hand
continue the melody.
Besides these improvements, Bach invented a
new system of fingering.^ Before his time, and
even in his early years, it was usual for the player
to pay attention to harmony rather ths^ counter-
point. Even so it was not customary to use
every one of the twenty-four major and minor
keys. The Clavichord was still what we term
^ gebunden ' ; that is, several keys struck the
same string, which, therefore, could not be
accurately tuned.' Consequently it was usual to
employ only those keys whose notes were tuned
with some approximation to accuracy. Again,
^ At the begiimmg of the seventeenth century, aa Spitta pomts out
(iL 34), the art of fingering had not developed. Speaking generally,
neither thumb nor little finger was employed. It was not until the
beginning of the eighteenth oentury that a scientifio method emerged,
a development rendered necessary by the advance in the modes of
muflical expression. C. P. E. Bach, quoted by Schweitzer (L 206),
puts this concisely : ' My late father told me that in his youth he had
heard great men who never used the thumb except when it was neces-
sary to make big stretches. But he lived in an epoch when there
came about gradually a most remarkable change in musical taste,
and therefore found it necessary to work out for himself a much more
thorough use of the fingers, and especially of the thumb, which, besides
performing other good services, is quite indispensable in the difficult
keys, where it must be used as nature intends.'
* According to Mr. Arnold Dolmetsch, daviohords with spedal
strings for each note (bundfrei) were known in Bach's time.
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BACH AS A CLAVIER PLAYER 66
good players in those days hardly ever used the
thumbs except when a large interval had to be
stretched* But when Bach began to melodise
harmony so that his middle parts not merely
filled in but had a tune of their own, when,
too, he began to deviate from the Church modes
then in general vogue in secular music, using the
diatonic and chromatic scales indifferently, and
tuning the Clavier in all the twenty-four keys, he
found himself compelled to introduce a £fystem of
fingering better adapted to his innovations than
that in use, and in particular, to challenge the
convention which condemned the thumb to in-
activity. It is held by some writers that Couperin
forestalled Bach's method of fingering, in his
^L'Art de toucher le Clavecin,' published in
1716. But that is not the case. In the first
place. Bach was above thirty years old in 1716,
and had already developed a distinctive method
of his own. And in the second place, Couperin's
system differs materially from Bach's, though both
made more frequent use of the thumb than was
so far customary. When I say ' more frequent
use ' I do so advisedly ; for whereas in Bach's
system the thumb is the principal finger — ^for the
difficult keys, as they are called, are unplayable
without it — ^it is not equally indispensable with
Couperin, whose thematic material was not so
intricate as Bach's, nor did he compose or play
in such difficult keys. Consequently Couperin
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66 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
had not an equally urgent need to use the thumb.
We need only compare Couperin's with Bach's
system of fingering, as Carl Philipp Emmanuel
explains it,^ to discover that Bach's permits every
passage, however intricate and polyphonic, to be
played with ease, whereas Couperin's is hardly
effective even for his own compositions. Bach
was acquainted with Couperin's works and highly
esteemed them,^ as he did those of other Erench
Clavier composers, for their finish and brilliance.
But he considered them affected in their excessive
use of ornaments, scarcely a single note being free
from them. He held them, also, superficial in
matter.
Bach's easy, unconstrained use of the fingers,
his musical touch, the clearness and precision of
every note he struck, the resourcefulness of his
fingering, his thorough training of every finger
of both hands, the luxuriance of his thematic
material and his original method of stating it, aU
contributed to give him almost unlimited power
over his instrument, so easily did he surmount
the difficulties of its keyboard. Whether he im-
provised or played his compositions from notes,
he systematically employed every finger of each
hand^ and his fingering was as uncommon as the
compositions themselves, yet so accurate that he
^ In the * Essay * already referred to. For a diwmasion of Couperin's
method see Spitta, ii. 37 ff.
* For instanoe, the Rondeau in B flat in Anna Magdalena's *Noten-
buch ' (No. 6) (1726) is by Couperin.
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BACH AS A CLAVIER PLAYER 67
never missed a note. Moreover, he read at sight
other people's compositions (which, to be sure,
were much easier than his own) with the utmost
facility. Lideed, he once boasted to a friend at
Weimar that he could play at sight and without a
mistake anything put before him. But he was
mistaken, as his friend convinced him before the
week was out. Having invited Bach to breakfast
one morning, he placed on the Clavier, among
other music, a piece which, at a first glance, seemed
perfectly easy. On his arrival. Bach, as was his
custom, sat down at the Clavier to play or look
through the music. Meanwhile his friend was in
the next room preparing breakfast. In a short
time Bach took up the piece of music destined to
change his opinion a«nd began to play it. He had
not proceeded far before he came to a passage at
which he stopped. After a look at it he began
again, only to stop at the same place. ^ No,' he
called out to his friend, who was laughing heartily
in the next room, ' the man does not exist who
can play everything at sight. It can't be done.'
With that he got up from the Clavier in some
annoyance.^
Bach also could read scores with remarkable
facility and play them on the Clavier. He
found no more difficulty in piecing together the
^ No doubt the friend who prepared this trap for Baoh was Johann
Gottfried Walther. His oompoaitioiis frequently were ohazaoterued
by intricacy.
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68 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
separate parts when laid side by side before him.^
He often did so when a friend brought him a new
Trio or Quartet for Strings and wished to hear
how it sounded. If a Continuo part, however
badly figured, was put before him he could im-
provise a Trio or Quartet upon it. Nay, when
he was in the mood and at the height of his
powers, he would convert a Trio into a Quartet
by extemporising a fourth part. On such occasions
he used a Harpsichord with two manuals and
pedal attachment.
Bach preferred the Clavichord to the Harpsi-
chord, which, though susceptible of great variety
of tone, seemed to him lacking in soul. The
Pianoforte was still in its infancy and too coarse.'
^ Mozart had the same gift. When visitixig St. Thomas' School
in 1789, he heard with astonishment a peiformanoe of Baoh's Motet,
' Singet dem Henn ein neaes lied.' ' At the oonohudon he expressed
his delight, and said, *' Now that is something from which a man may
learn." On being informed that Bach was Cantor to this school, and
that his Motets were venerated there as reUqaes, he was eager to see
them. No score being to be obtained, they handed him the separate
parts, and it was interesting to observe his manner of reading them,
holding some in his hands, some on his knees, pladng some on chairs
around him; seeming thoroughly lost to everything, and not rising till
he had thoroughly satisfied his curiosity ' (Holmes, ' life of Mozart,'
ed. Dent, p. 251).
* There were in Baoh's time three ' Qavier ' instruments in use.
The oldest, the Clavichord, as a rule, had two strings to every
note, set in motion by a 'tangent' striking them from bdow. Its
advantage was that it permitted the tone to be regulated by the
touch. For that reason, though its tone was weak. Bach preferred
it. The Clavicembalo, or Harpsichord, as it is called in the text, was
in general known as the ' flugel/ the strings being plucked, or flipped
by a quill or metal pin, alter the manner of the modem mandoline.
The third instrument was the ' piano e forte,' or Hammerclavier.
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BACH AS A OLAVIER PLAYER 59
Both for practioe and intimate use he regarded
the daviohord as the best instrument and pre-
ferred to express on it his finest thoughts. He held
the Harpsichord, or Clavicembalo, incapable of the
gradations of tone obtainable on the Clavichord,
an instrument which, though feeble in quality, is
extremely flexible.
No one could adjust the quill plectrums of his
Harpsichord to Bach's satisfaction; he always
did it himself. He tuned his Harpsichord and
Clavichord, and was so skilful in the operation
that it never took him more than a quarter of an
hour. It enabled him to play in any key he
preferred, and placed the whole twenty-four of
them at his disposal, so that he could modulate
into the remoter as easily and naturally as into
the more nearly related keys. Those who heard
him frequently could hardly detect the fact that
he had modulated into a distant key, so smooth
were his transitions. In chromatic movements
his modulation was as easy and sequent as in
diatonic. His ^Chromatic Fa«ntasia,' which is
now published,^ bears out my statement. In
his extemporisation he was even freer, more
brilliant and expressive.
The dATioembalo was also built with two keyboftids, like an Organ,
and a pedal-boaid proyided with strings. It was for this instrument
that the so-oalled Organ Sonatas of Bach were written. He possessed
five CLaTioembali, bat not a single daviohord at the time of his death.
For that reason it has been questioned whether Foi^el is aooorikte in
stating that Baoh preferred the latter instrament. See Sohweitser,
i. 200 ff. ^ Peters bk. 207 p. 4.
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60 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
When he played his own mumc Bach usually
adopted a brisk pace. He contadved to introduce
so much variety that ev«y piece became a sort
of conversation between its parts* If he wished
to express deep emotion he did not strike the notes
with great force, as many do, but expressed his
feeUng in simple melodic and harmonic figures,^
relying rather on the internal resources of his art
than external dynamics. Therein he was right.
True emotion is not suggested by hammering
the Clavier. All that results is that the notes
cannot be heard distinctly, much less be connected
coherently.
^ The truth of this remark is very evident in the * Orgelbuohlein.'
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C5HAPTERIV
BAOH THS ORGANIST
What has been said regarding Bach's admirable
Clavier playing applies generally to his skill as
an organist. The Clavier and Organ have points
in common, but in style and touch are as different
as their respective uses. What sounds well on
the Clavier is ineffective on the Organ, and vice
versa. The most accomplished Clavier player
may be, and usually is, a bad organist unless he
realises the differing natures of the two instruments
and the uses they serve. I have come across
only two men who can be regarded as exceptions
to this general rule — ^Bach and his eldest son,
Wilhelm IViedemann. Both were finished Clavier
performers, but no trace of the Clavier style was
apparent when they played the Organ. Melody,
harmony, and pace were carefully selected with
due regard to the nature and distinctive use of
each instrument. When Wilhelm IViedemann
played the Clavier his touch was elegant, delicate,
agreeable. When he played the Organ he inspired
a feeling of reverent awe. On the one he was
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62 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
charming. On the other he was solemn, im-
pressive. So also was his father, and to an even
greater degree. Wilhelm Friedemann was a mere
child to him as an organist, and frankly admitted
the fact.^ The music that extraordinary man
wrote for the Organ is full of dignity, awe-inspiring,
^ saturated with the atmosphere of devotion. His
improvisation was even more inspired, dignified,
and impressive: for then his imagination was
untrammelled by the irksomeness of expressing
himself on paper. What is the essence of this
artT Let me, though imperfectly, attempt an
answOT.
When we compare Bach's QaviOT compositions
with those written for the Organ it is at once
apparent that they differ essentially in melodic
and harmonic structure. Hence we conclude
that a good organist must select fitting themes for
his instrument, and let himself be guided by its
character and that of the place in which it stands
and by the objects of its use. Its great body of
tone renders the Organ ill-adapted to light and
jaunty music. Its echoes must have Uberty to
rise and fall in the dim spaces of the church,
otherwise the sound becomes confused, blurred,
and unintelligible. What is played upon it
^ FoTkel writes as though he were in a poeition by penonal
knowledge to oompue the gifts of Baoh and his son. In faot
he was born in 1749 and was less than two years old when
Baoh died.
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BACH THE ORGANIST 63
must be golted to the place and i^e instru-
ment, in other words, must be congruous to
a solemn and majestic fabric. Occasionally
and exceptionally a solo stop may be used
in a Trio, etc. But the proper function of
the Organ is to support church singing and
to stimulate devotional feeling. The composer
therefore must not write music for it which
is congruous to secular surroundings. What is
commonplace and trite can neither impress the
hearer nor excite devotional feeling. It must
therefore be banished from the Oi^an-loft. How
clearly Bach grasped that fact ! Even his secular
music disdained trivialities. Much more so his
Organ music, in which he seems to soar as a spirit
above this mortal planet.
Of the means by which Bach attained to such
an altitude as a composer for the Organ we may
notice his harmonic treatment of the old Church
modes, his use of the obbligato pedal, and his
original registration. The remoteness of the
ecclesiastical modes from our twenty-four major
and minor keys renders them particularly ap-
propriate to the service of religion. Any one who
looks at Bach's simple four-part Hymn tunes
(Choralgesdnge) will at once convince himself of
the fact. But no one can realise how the Organ
sounds under a similar system of harmonic
treatment unless he has heard it. It becomes
a choir of four or five parts, each in its natural
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64
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
oomfiass. Compare the following chords in
divided harmony :
^^
mi~'^
with these :
m ^ ^ I I
which is the more usual form organists employ.
We reaUse instantly the effect when music in four
or more parts is played in ihe same manner.
Bach always played the Organ so, adding the
obbligato pedal, which few organists know how
to use properly. He employed it not only to
sound the low notes which organists usually play
with the left hand, but he gave it a regular
part of its own, often so complicated t^at many
organists would find it difficult to play with their
five fingers.
To these qualities must be added the exquisite
art Bach displayed in combining the stops of the
Organ. His registration frequently astonished
organists and Organ builders, who ridiculed it at
first, but were obliged in the end to admit its
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BACH THE ORGANIST 85
admirable results and to confess that the Organ
gained in richness and sonority.^
Bach's peculiar registration was based on his
intimate knowledge of Organ building and of ihe
properties of each individual stop. Very early in
his career he made a point of giving to each part
of the Organ the utterance best suited to its
qualities, and this led him to seek imusual com-
binations of stops which otherwise would not have
occurred to him. Nothing escaped his notice
which had the slightest bearing on his art or pro-
mised to advance it. For instance, he made a
point of observing the effect of large musical
compositions in different surroundings. The prac-
tised ear, which enabled him to detect the slightest
error in music even of Hie fullest and richest
texture, and the art and rapidity with which he
tuned his instrument, alike attest his intuitive
skill and many-sidedness. When he was at Berlin
in 1747 he was shown the new Opera House. He
took in its good and bad qualities at a glance,
whereas others had done so only after experience.
He was shown the large adjoining Saloon and
went up into the gallery that runs round it.
Merely glancing at the roof he remarked, 'The
architect has secured a novel effect which, pro-
bably, neither himself nor any one else suspected.'
The Saloon, in fact, is a parallelogram. If a
^ On Baoh*8 use of tk9 stops see Spitta, L 394 ff., and PSno's 'L'Orgae
de J.-& Baoh.*
B
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66 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
person puts his face to the wall in one comer of
it and whispers a few words, another person at
the comer diagonally opposite can hear them
distinctly^ though to others between them the
words are inaudible. The effect arises from the
span of the arches in the roof, as Bach saw at a
glance. These and similar observations suggested
to him striking and unusual combinations of
Organ stops.
Bach brought the methods I have indicated to
bear upon Church music, and they help to explain
his extraordinarily dignified and inspired playing,
which was at once so appropriate and filled the
listener with deep awe and admiration. His pro-
found knowledge of harmony, unfailing originality,
freedom from a secular style, his complete com-
mand of the instrument, both manuals and
pedals, whence flowed a generous stream of the
richest and most abundant fancy, the infallible
and swift judgment which allowed him always to
select from the treasury of his mind precisely the
musical ideas best suited to the occasion immedi-
ately before him, his intuitive grasp of every
detail, and his power to make it serve his artistic
ends — ^in a word, his transcendent genius brought
the art of Organ playing to a degree of perfection
which, till then, it had never attained and hardly
will attain again. Quantz ^ has expressed the
^ Johann Joachim Quantz, b. 1697 ; flute player and oompoeer ;
taught Frederick the Great the flute ; settled at Berlin as Kanuner*
mudkus and Court Composer ; d. 1773.
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BACH THE ORGANIST 67
same opinion. ' The admirable Johann Sebastian
Bach/ he writes, ' brought the art of Organ playing
to its highest perfection. It is to be hoped that
when he dies it will not be suffered to decline or
be lost, as is to be feared from the small number
of people who nowadays bestow pains upon it.' ^
Strangers often asked Bach to play to them
between the hours of divine service. On t^ose
occasions he was wont to select and treat a theme
in various ways, making it the subject of each
extemporisation even if he continued playing for
two hours. As a b^inning he played a Prelude and
Fugue on the Great Organ. Then he developed it
with solo stops in a Trio or Quartet. A Hynm-
tune followed, whose melody he interrupted in
the subtlest fashion with fragments of the theme
in three or four parts. Last came a Fugue, with full
Organ, in which he treated the subject alone or
in association with one or more accessory themes.
Here we have ihe art which old Beinken of Ham-
burg considered to be lost, but which, as he
afterwards found, not only survived but attained
its greatest perfection in Bach.
Bach's pre-eminent position and his high reputa-
tion often caused him to be invited to examine
candidates for vacant organistships, and to report
on new Organs. In both cases he acted so con-
scientiously and impartially that he generally made
^ The ' Nekiolog ' sams up more briefly than Forkel, in a judgment
whioh, without doabt» ib the veiy troth: 'Baoh was the greatest
Organ player that haa yet been known.'
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68 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
enemies. Scheibe, late Director of Music at the
Danish Court, who as a young man was examined
by Bach on such an occasion, was so incensed
by Bach's unfavourable verdict that he after-
wards avenged himself in his ' Critical Musician '
by violently attacking his examiner.^ In his
examination of Ch^ans Bach equally exposed
himself to trouble. He could as little prevail on
himself to praise a bad instrument as to recom-
mend a bad organist. He was, therefore, severe,
though always fair, in the tests he applied, and as
he was thoroughly acquainted with the construc-
tion of the instrument it was hopeless to attempt
to deceive him. First of all he drew out all the
stops, to hear the Full Organ. He used to say
jokingly, that he wanted to find out whether the
instrument had good lungs ! Then he gave every
part of it a most searching test. But his sense
of fairness was so strong that, if he found the work
really well done, and the builder's remuneration
^ Johami Adolph Soheibe, a natiye of Leipsdg, was an unsaooessful
candidate for the Organistship of St. Thomas* Church in 1729. Bach
was one of the judges. In 17S7 Scheibe poblished in the ' Eritische
Mnsikas ' a criticism of Bach which, wliile doing justice to his powers
as an organist, characterised his compositions as ' turgid and confused
in character.' Bach wae incensed by the criticism and asked his
friend. Professor Bimbaam of Leipdg, to answer it^ Scheibe replied
in 1739, with a wholly unjustified challenge of Bach's general educa-
tion and culture. In his ' Phoebus and Pftn,' performed in 1731, Bach
had already had the satisfaction of xeEMceieDting Scheibe as ' Midas '
and calling him an ass. On the whole matter see Schweitzer, i. 178 ff.
and Si^tta, ilL 262. Scheibe conducted the Oourt orchestra at Copen-
hagen from 1742-49 and died there in 1776.
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BACH THE ORGANIST 69
too small, so that he was likely to be a loser.
Bach endeavoured, and often successfully, to
procure for him an adequate addition to the
purchase price.
When the examination was over, especially if
the instrument pleased him, Bach liked to exhibit
his splendid talent, both for his own pleasure and
the gratification of those who were present. Such
demonstrations of his powers invariably invited
the verdict, that he was conclusively ' the prince
of Clavier and Organ players,' a title which Sorge,
the late highly-esteemed organist at Lobenstein,^
once gave him in a dedicatory Preface.
^ Georg Andreas Soige, ' Court and Town Organist to the Count of
Reoss and Flan at Lobeostein/ in his dedication thus commended
Bach : * The great musical virtue that Your EzoeQency possesses is
embellished with the excellent virtue of affability and unfeigned love
of your neighbour.* See Schweiteer, i. 155.
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CHAPTER V
BACH THE OOMPOSEB
Bach's first attempts at composition, like all
early efforts, were unsatisfactory. Lacking gfpecial
instruction to direct him towards his goal, he was
compelled to do what he could in his own way,
like others who have set out upon a career with-
out a guide. Most youthful composers let their
fingers run riot up and down the keyboard, snatch-
ing handfuls of notes, assaulting the instrument
in wild frenzy, in hope that something may result
from it. Such people are merely Finger Com-
posers — ^in his riper years Bach used to call them
Harpsichord Knights — ^that is to say, their fingers
tell them what to write instead of being instructed
by the brain what to play.^ Bach abandoned that
method of composition when he observed that
^ The following passage from the Autobiography of Hector Berlioz
(ed. Dent, p. 11) is relevant : ' My father would never let me learn the
piano ; if he had, no doubt I should have joined the noble army of
piano thumpers. . . . Sometimes I regret my ignorance, yet, when
I think of the ghastly heap of platitudes for which that unfortunate
piano is made the daily exouse-— insipid, shameless productions, that
would be impossible if their perpetrators had to rely, as they ought,
on pencil and paper alone — then I thank the fates for having forced
me to compose silently and freely by saving me from the tyranny of
finger-work, that grave of original thought.*
70
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The Bach Statue at Eisenach.
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BACH THE COMPOSER 71
brilliant flourishes lead nowhere. He realised that
musical ideas need to be subordinated to a plan
and that the young composer's first need is a
model to instruct his efforts. Opportunely
Vivaldi's Concertos for the Violin,^ then recently
published, gave him the guidance he needed. He
had often heard them praised as admirable works
of arty and conceived the happy idea of arranging
them for the Clavier.* Hence he was led to study
their structure, the musical ideas on which they
are built, the variety of their modulations, and
other characteristics. Moreover, in adapting to
the Clavier ideas and phrases originally written
for the Violin Bach was compelled to put his
brain to work, and so freed his inspiration from
dependence on his fingers. Henceforth he was
able to draw ideas out of his own storehouse, and
having placed himself on the right road, needed
only perseverance and hard work to succeed.
And how persevering he was ! He even robbed
^ Antonio Vivaldi, d. 1743 ; a master of form. That fact turned
the attention of German composers to him ; while the popularity of
his Violin Cbncertos also attracted musicians, like Bach, whose work
at Cothen was in close association with the Court KapeUe or
band.
■ Bach re-wrote sixteen ^valdi Violin Concertos for the Qayier,
four of them for the Organ, and developed one into a Concerto for four
Claviers and a quartet of strings which Forkel enumerates {infra, p. 132)
as a composition of Bach's (Peters bk. 260). Bach learnt from Vivaldi
' clearness and plasticity of musical structure.' See article ' Vivaldi '
in Grove ; Spitta, i. 411 ff ; Schweitzer, i. 192 ft. The Vivaldi Clavier
Concertos are in Peters bk. 217; the Organ Concertos in Novello
bk. 11. Not aQ thesQ transcriptions are based on Vivaldi See
Schweitzer, L 193.
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72 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
himself of sleep to practise in the night what he
had written during the day! But the diUgence
he bestowed upon his own compositions did not
hinder him from studying the works of SVesco-
baldi,^ iVoberger, Kerl, Pachelbel, Fischer,
Strungk,^ Buxtehude, Beinken, Bruhns, Bohm,
and certain IVench organists who were famed in
those days as msusters of harmony and fugue.^
The models he selected — Cfliurch musicians for
the most part — ^and his own disposition inclined
him to serious and exalted subjects. But in that
kind of music little can be accomplished with
inadequate technique. Bach's first object, there-
fore, was to develop his power of expressing him-
self before he attempted to realise the ideal that
beckoned him. Music to him was a language, and
the composer a poet who, whatever the idiom he
affects, must first of all have at his disposal the
means of making himself intelligible to others.
But the technique of his period Bach found limited
in variety and insuf&ciently pliable. Therefore
he set himself at the outset to refashion the
accepted harmonic system. He did so in a
manner characteristically individual and bearing
the impress of his personality.
^ Girolaiho Fresoobaldi, b. 1683» d. 1644 ; Organist of St Peter's,
Rome.
' Delphin Stnmgk, b. 1601, d. 1694 ; Organist of St. Martin's,
Brunswick ; composed for the Organ.
* PoroeU' should be added to those whom Forkel mentions as Baoh's
modek. See infra, p. 261.
1
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BACH THE COMPOSER 73
If the language of music is merely the utterance
of a melodic line, a simple sequence of musical
notes, it can justly be accused of poverty. The
addition of a Bass puts it upon a harmonic founda-
tion and clarifies it, but defines rather than gives
it added richness. A melody so accompanied —
even though all the notes are not those of the
true Bass — or treated with simple embellishments
in the upper parts, or with simple chords, used to
be called ' homophony.' But it is a very different
thing when two melodies are so interwoven that
they converse together like two persons upon a
footing of pleasant equality. In the first case
the accompaniment is subordinate, and serves j
merely to support the first or principal part. In j
the second case the two parts are not similarly;
related. New melodic combinations spring
from their interweaving, out of which newi
forms of musical expression emerge. If more(
parts are interwoven in the same free and inde-{
pendent manner, the apparatus of language is
correspo ndingly enlarge d, and becomes practically^
inexhaustible if, in addition, v ariet i es of fori
and r hythm a re introduced. Hence harmony
becomes no longer a mere accompaniment ol
melody, but rather a potent agency for aug-l
menting th e richness and expres siveness of musical\
oonvCT saiafliu 1*0 serve that iend fT^SmpIeluj- \
companiment will not suffice. True harmony is j
the interweaving of several melodies, which
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74 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
emerge now in the upper, now in ihe middle,
and now in the lower parts.
Prom about the year 1720, when he was thirty-
five, until his death in 1760, Bach's harmony
consists in this melodic interweaving of inde-
pendent melodies, so perfect in their union that
each part seems to constitute the true melody.
Herein Bach excels all the composers in the world.*
At least, I have found no one to equal him in
music known to me. Even in his four-part
writing we can, not infrequently, leave out the
upper and lower parts and still find the middle
parts melodious and agreeable.
f But in harmony of this kind each part must be
highly plastic ; otherwise it cannot play its role
as an actual melody and at the same time com-
bine witii the other parts. To produce it Bach
^followed a course of his own, upon which the text-
books of his day were silent, but which his genius
suggested to him. Its originality consists in the
freedom of his part writing, in which he trans-
gresses, seemingly, at any rate, rules long estab-
lished and to his contemporaries almost sacred.
Bach, however, realised their object, which was
simply to facilitate the flow of pure melody
on a sound harmonic basis, in other words,
successive and coexistent euphony, and he suc-
ceeded with singular success though by un-
* See Eimberger's * Kunst des idnen Satzes/ p. 167. [The wo^
was pabliahed in two vdiimeB at Beiliii in 1771, 177^]
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BACH THE COMPOSER 76
familiar means. Let me explain my meaning
more closely.
Between simple intervals there is little diffi-
culty in deciding whether the second note must
rise or fall. And in regard to phrases, or sections
of a phrase, if we analyse their structure and
follow out their harmonic tendency, their resolu-
tion is equally clear. But this sense of destina-
tion may be provoked in each part by different
intervals. As we have observed aheady, every
one of the four parts must flow melodically and
freely. But to secure that result it will be neces-
sary to introduce between the notes which begin
a phrase and establish its general atmosphere
other notes which often are not consonant with
those employed in the other parts and whose
incidence is governed by the accent. This is what
we call a transitvs regvlaris et irregularis.^ Each
part starts from a fixed point, and returns to it,
but travels freely between them. No one has
made more use of such progressions than Bach
in order to colour his parts and give them a char-
acteristic melodic line. Hence, unless his music
is played with perfect fluency, occasional passages
will sound harshly and we may be tempted to
accuse him of exaggeration. But the charge is
ill f oimded. Once we play them as Bach intended
^ Trannius regukuria^A passing note on the nnacoented portions of
the bar ; inauUua ifregulanamma passing note on the aooented part of
the bar.
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76 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
them^ such pacNsages reveal their foU beauty aud
theur attractive though bizarre dissonance opens
up new vistas in the reahn of sound.
But, to speak in detail of Bach's transgression
of recognised rules. To b^in with, he admitted
octaves and fifths provided they sounded well;
that is, when ihe cause of their being forbidden
did not arise.^ Everybody knows that there are
positions in which they sound well, and others
when they should be avoided, owing to the harsh
effect or thin harmony they produce. Bach's
octaves and fifths never produce bad or thin
harmony, and he was very definite as to when
they could and could not be used. In certain
circumstances he would not permit hidden fifths
and octaves even between the middle parts,
though we exclude them only between the outer
parts. Yet, on occasion he used tliem in such a
barefaced manner as to puzzle the beginner in
composition. But their use very soon commends
itself. Even in the last revision of his early com-
positions we find him altering passages, which at
first sight appear impeccable, with ihe object of
enriching tlieir harmony and without scrupling to
use hidden octaves. A remarkable instance occurs
^ l^itta (iiL 815 ff .) prints ft treatifie by Baoh, * Ruke and InstniotioiM
for playingThorongh-baBsor Aooompanimentin Four F&rte/ dated 1738.
Rule 3 of ohap. vL states : ' Two fifths or two octaves must not oocor
next one another, for this is not only a fault, but it sounds wrong. To
avoid this there is an old role, tibat the bands must always go against
one another, so that when the left goes up the right must go down,
and when the right goes up the left most go down.*
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BACH THE COMPOSER 77
in the first part of ihe ^ Well-tempered Clavier/
in the E major Fugue, between the fifth and fourth
bars from the end.^ I regret to this hour that,
on looking over the later text, from which Hoff-
meister and Kiihners edition of that work is
printed,^ I was so foolish as to reject Bach's
amended reading there, merely because the har-
mony is unorthodox though more pleasing. I
stupidly prefixed the older, more correct, and
harsher reading, though in the later text the
three parts run easily and smoothly. And what
more can one demand ?
Again, there is a rule that every note raised
by an accidental cannot be doubled in the chord,
because the raised note must, from its nature,
resolve on the note above. If it is doubled, it
must rise doubled in both parts and, conse-
quently, form consecutive octaves. Such is ihe
rule. But Bach frequently doubles not only notes
accidentally raised elsewhere in the scale but
actually the aemitoniwn modi or leading -note
itself. Yet he avoids consecutive octaves. His
finest works yield examples of this.
Again, Bach's statement that 'over a pedal
point all intervals are permissible that occur in
the three scales ' ^ should be regarded rather as
^ AotuaUy the third beat of the fourth bar from the end. P. bk. 1
p. 37 Fogae no. 9.
* Forkfll edited the ' Wohltemperirte Clavier' for Hoffmeister in
1801.
* The role is Dot in the* Boles Mid InatnietimiB' already referred to.
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78 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
an expansion than a violation of the recognised
rule. In general what is called an Organ point is
merely a retarded close. Bach, however, did not
hesitate to employ it in the middle of a piece ; a
striking example occurs in the last Gigue of the
* English Suites.'^ On a first hearing this Gigue,
imperfectly rendered, may not soimd well. But
it grows more beautiful as it becomes more
familiar, and what seemed harsh is found to be
smooth and agreeable, until one never tires of
playing and hearing it.
Bach's modulation was as original and char-
acteristic as his harmony, and as closely related to
it. But the two things, though closely associated,
are not the same. By harmony we mean the
concordance of several parts ; by modulation, their
v| progression through keys. Modulation can take
\i place in a single part. Harmony requires more than
one. I will endeavour to make my meaning clearer.
Most composers stick closely to their tonic key
1 and modulate out of it with deliberation. In
music that requires a large number of performers,
and in a building, for instance a church, where
the large volume of sound dies away slowly, such
a habit shows good sense in the composer who
wishes his work to produce the best possible
effect, ^ut in chamber or instrumental music
it is notalways a proof of wisdom, but rather of
mental poverty. Bach saw clearly that the two
^ Suite No. 6, in D minor (P. bk. 204 p. 84).
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BACH THE COMPOSER 79
styles demand different treatment. In his large
choral compositions he bridles his exuberant
fancy. In his instrumental works he lets himself
go. As he never courted popularity, but always
pursued his ideal, Bach had no reason to suppress
the nobility of his inspirations, or to lower their
standard for public consumption. Nor did he
ever do so. Therefore every modulation in his
instrumental work is a new thought, a constantly
progressive creation in the plane of the chosen
keys and those related to theft! He holds fast
to the essentials of harmony /but with every
modulation introduces a new suggestion and
glides so smoothly to the end of a piece that no
creaking of machinery is perceptible ; yet no
single bar — ^I might almost say no part of a bar —
is like another. Every modulation bears a strict
relationship to the key from which it proceeds,
and springs naturally from it. Bach ignored, or
rather despised, the sudden sallies by which many
composers seek to surprise their hearers. Even
in his chromatic passages his progressions are
so smooth and easy that we are hardly conscious
of them, however extreme they may be. He
makes us feel that he has not stepped outside the
diatonic scale, so quick is he to seize upon the
consonances common to dissonant systems and
combine them to his sure purpose.
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CHAPTER VI
BACH THE COMPOSER (contitmed)
Bach's treatment of harmony and modulation
powerfully influenced his melody. The strands
of his harmony are really concurrent melodies.
They flow easily and expressively, never engross
the hearer's attention, but divide his interest,
as now one now the other becomes prominent.
Even when they are noticeable they seem obscured
by the melodic parts that accompany them — ^I
say ' seem obscured,' for if the hearer is su£&ciently
instructed to distinguish the several melodies in
the ensemble he will discover them to be more
clearly defined by their accompaniment.
The combination of several melodic lines obliges
the composer to use devices which are unnecessary
in homophonic music. A single melody can
develop as it pleases. But when two or more are
combined each must be so delicately and cleverly
fashioned that it can be interwoven with the
others in this direction and in that. And here
we detect one at least of the reasons why Bach's
melodies are so strangely original, and his tunes
so clearly distinguishable from those of other
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BACH THE COMPOSER 81
composerfi. Provided that novelty does not de-
generate into eccentricity or extravagance, and
that clearness and facility of expression march
with agreeableness, a composer's meritorious-
ness is proclaimed in his originality.'*' The one
drawback is that ihe ordinary hearer cannot
appreciate melodic beauties which are patent
only to the expert.
But Bach's melodies are not invariably so han-
dicapped. They are always original, it is true.
But in his free compositions the melodies are so
natural and spontaneous that, while they sound
differently from those of other composers, their
naturalness, and the sincerity of feeling that
inspires them, make them intelligible to every
listener. Most of the Preludes in the ' Well-
tempered Clavier ' as well as a number of move-
ments in the Suites are of this character.
Bach's melody, then^ bears the unmistakable
stamp of originality. And so does his passage
work, as it is called. Such novelty, originality,
and brilliancy are not found in any other composer. 1
Examples are to be found in all Bach's Clavier |
works. But the most striking and original are in
* Many people hold the opinioo that the best melody ia one which
the largest number of persons can understand and sing. But this
cannot be admitted, for if it were true, popular airs which axe sung
up and down the country by all olnosoe, even the lowest, must be
accounted the finest and best I should be inclined to state the pro-
position conversely : a melody which attracts everybody is invariably
of the most ordinary kind. In tibat form the statement mighty periiaps,
pass as a principle.
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82 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
the * Great Variations,' ^ in the first Part of the
* davieriibung,' ^ in the * English Suites/ * and
the ^ Chromatic Fantasia.' ^ In the last particu-
larly Bach's fertility impresses us. The greater
part of its passage work is in the form of harmonic
arpeggios whose richness and originality match
the chords they represent.
In order to realise the care and skill Bach
expended on his melody and harmony, and how
he put the very best of his genius into his work,
I need only instance his efforts to construct
a composition incapable of being harmonised
with another melodic part. In his day it was
regarded as iinperative to perfect the harmonic
structure of part-writing. Consequently the com-
poser was careful to complete his chords and
leave no door open for another part. So far
the rule had been followed more or less closely in
music for two, three, and four parts, and Bach
observed it in such cases. But he applied it also
to compositions consisting of a single part, and to
a deliberate experiment in this form we owe
the six Violin and the six Violoncello Solo Suites,*^
^ Forkd allades to the ' Goldberg VariatioDs ' (P. bk. 209).
« P. bkB. 206, 20d. » P. bks. 203, 204.
* P. bk. 207.
* Baoh wrote three Suites (Partita) and three Sonatas for Solo
Violin. They date from about 1720 and are in the keys of Q minor,
B minor, A minor, D minor, C major, and E major (P. bk. 228). The
six Violonoello Suites date from the same period and are in G major,
D minor, G major, £ flat major, minor, and D major (P. bks. 2388,
238b).
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BACH THE COMPOSER 8s
which have no accompaniment and do not require
one. So remarkable is Bach's skill that the solo
instrument actually produces all the notes required
for complete harmony, renderiag a second part
unnecessary and even impossible.
Bach's melody never paUs on us, because of the
presence in it of those qualities to which I have
referred. It remains ^ever fair and young/
like Nature herself. In his earUer works, iu which
we find him still in bondage to the prevailing
mode, there is a good deal that to-day seems
antiquated. But when, as in his later works,
he draws his melody from the living wells of
inspiration and cuts himself adrift from convention,
all is as fresh and new as if it had been written
yesterday. Of how many compositions of that
period can the same be said ? Even the works
of ingenious composers like Beinhard Keiser^
and Handel have become old-fashioned sooner
than we or their composers might have supposed.
Like other caterers for the public, they were
obliged to pander to its taste, and such music
endures no longer than the standard which
produced it. Nothing is more inconstant and
fickle than popular caprice and, in general, what
is called fashion. It must be admitted, however,
that Handel's Fugues are not yet out of date,
^ Reinhazd Ketfler, b. 1673, d. 1739; ioholftr of the Ldpiig Thonuw*
aohvlib ; settiied ftt Hambnrg, 1604 ; composed a number of Openiy
and for a time had a great vogue.
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64 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
though there are probably few of his Arias that
we now find agreeable.^
Bach's melody and harmony are rendered still
more distinctive by their inexhaustible rhythmic
variety. Hitherto we have discussed his music
merely subjectively as harmony and melody. But
to display vivacity and variety music needs to be
uttered with rhythmic point and vigour. More
than those of any other period composers of Bach's
time found no difficulty in this, for tiiey acquired
facility in the management of rii3^m in ihe
'Suite/ which held the place of our 'Sonata/
Between the initial Prelude and closing Gigue the
Suite includes a number of characteristic French
dance measures, whose rhythm is their distin-
guishing characteristic. CSomposers of Bach's day,
therefore^ were familiar with measures and
rhythms which are now obsolete. Moreover skilful
treatment was necessary in order that each dance
might exhibit its own distinctive character and
swing. Herein Bach exceeded his predecessors
and contemporaries. He experimented with every
kind of key and rhythm in order to give variety
and colour to each movement. Out of his ex-
perience he acquired such fadlity that, even in
^ It was pieoisely his agreeable operatic Arias that expressed
Handel's genius in the eyes of his generation. With rare exceptions
that branch of his work is obsolete and his cult survives mainly in
the ^Messiah,' wh&oh sapfMits Us quite posthumoias repiatation as
'■msioiaa ia ovdiDary to the Protestaot religion.* See Mr. R. A.
Stietttfidd's 'Handel,* Xntroduotion.
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BACH THE COMPOSER 86
Fugue, with its oomplex interweaving of several
parts, he was able to employ a rhythm as eajsy
as it was striking, as characteristic as it was sus-
tained from beginning to end, as natural as a
simple Minuet.
The source of Bach's astonishiug pre-eminence
is to be sought in his facile and constant applica-
tion of the methods we have discussed. In what-
ever form he chose to express himself, easy or
difficult, he was successful and seemingly effort-
less.^ There is not a note in his music that does
not suggest consummate ease of workmanship.
What he sets out to do he concludes triumphantly.
The result is complete and perfect ; no one could
wish for a single note to be other than it is. Some
illustrations wiU make my poiat clearer.
Carl Philipp Emmanuel, in the preface to his
father's * Vierstimmige Choralgesange ' ('Pour-
part Hymn-tunes '), which he edited,^ says that
^ Schweitzer advanoes the opinion, which may perhaps be challenged,
that nievitable and natoral as Baches melodieB are, they do not give
the impression of ' effortless invention.' Bach, he holds, worked like
a mathematician, who sees the whole of a problem at once, and has
only to realise it in definite values. Hence, he agrees with Spitta,
Bach's way of working was quite different from Beethoven's. With
Beethoven the work developed by means of episodes that are inde-
pendent of the theme. With Bach everything springs with mathe-
matical certainty from the theme itself. See Schweitsser (i. 211) on
Bach's methods of working.
* Johann Sebastian Bach's ' Vierstimmige Choralges&nge ' were pab-
lished in 1766 and 1769. C. P. E. Bach was concerned only with the
first volume. Foikel perhaps refers to an edition of the * Choral-
gBsftnge ' issued by Breitkopf in four parts at Leipadg in 1784, 1786,
1786, and 1787, and edited by a P. £. Bach.
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86 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
ihe world was accustomed to look for nothing but
masterpieces from Bach. Some reviewers thought
this praise exaggerated. But if the term ' master-
piece ' is restricted to works written during the
years of Bach's maturity ^ it is nothing less than
the truth. Others have produced masterpieces
in various forms which may be placed honourably
by the side of his. For instance, certain Alle-
mandes, Courantes, etc., by Handel and others are
not less beautiful, though less richly wrought, than
Bach's. But in Fugue, Counterpoint, and Canon
he stands alone, in a grandeur so isolated that
all around him seems desert and void. No one
ever wrote Fugues to compare with his ; indeed,
persons unacquainted with them cannot imagine
what a Fugue is and ought to be. The ordinary
Fugue follows a rule of thumb development. It
takes a theme, puts another beside it, passes
them into related keys, and writes other parts
round them over a Continue. Certainly this is
Fugue : but of what merit ? Persons who know
no other not unnaturally hold the whole species
in little esteem, and the player who hopes to make
such commonplace material convincing will need
all his skill and imagination.
Bach's Fugue is of quite another kind. It pre-
sents all the characteristics we are accustomed to
^ Forkel indicates the period 1720-1750. Bat in 1720 Baoh had
abeady completed the ' Orgelbiioblein * and the greater part of his
Organ works.
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BACH THE COMPOSER
W
87
in freer musical forms : a flowing and distinctive
melody, ease, clarity, and facility in the pro-
gression of the parts, inexhaustible variety of
modulation, purest harmony, the exclusion of
every jarring or unnecessary note, unity of form
and variety of style, rhythm, and measure, and
such superabundant animation that the hearer
may well ask himself whether every note is not
actually alive. Such are the properties of Bach's ^^
Fugues, properties which excite the admiration
and astonishment of all who can appreciate the
intellectual calibre their composition demands.
How great a tribute of homage is due to work of
this kind, which exhibits all the qualities which
lend distinction to compositions in other musical
forms ! '^Moreover, Vhile all Bach's Fugues of his '
mature perigd-^iave the foregoing properties in
common, *^each is endowed with pecuhar excel-
lencies of its own, has its own distinctive indi-
viduality, and displays a melodic and harmonic V
scheme in keeping with it.' The man who can
play one of Bach's Fugues is familiar with, and can
play, one only ; whereas knowing one, we can
perform portfolios of Fugues by other performers
of Bach's period.
To what a height was the art of Counterpoint
carried by Bach's genius! It enabled him to
develop out of a given subject a whole family of
related and contrasted themes, of every form and
design. It taught him to develop an idea logically
A
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88 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
from the beginning to the end. It gave him such
a command of harmony and its infinite combina-
tions that he could invert whole themes, note by
note, in every part, without impairing in the least
the flow of melody or purity of his harmony. It
taught him to write in canon at all intervab and
in movements of all kinds so easily and naturally
that the workmanship is not perceptible and the
composition sounds as smoothly as though it were
in the free style. Lastly, it has given to posterity
a legacy of works immensely various, which are,
and will remain, models of contrapuntal form as
long as music endures.*
I have written exclusively so far of Bach's
Clavier and Organ work. But in its expression
music has two branches, instrumental and vocal,
and as Bach excels in both of them, the reader
will desire to hear somewhat respecting his vocal
tnritings.
It was at Weimar that Bach first had occasion
to write for the voice,^ upon his appointment to
* There are people who oonclnde that Baoh merely perfected harmony.
Bat if we realiie what harmony ia, a means to extend and emphasiee
musical expression, we cannot imagine it apart from melody. And
when, as in Baoh's esse, harmony is actually an association of melodies,
such a view becomes the more ridiculous. It might perhaps be reason-
aUa to say of a composer that his influence was restricted to the
sphere of melody, because we may get melody without harmony. But
there cannot be real harmony without melody. Hence the composer
who has perfected hannony has influenced the whole, whereas the
melodist has left his marie only on a fraction of his art
^ As has been pointed out already (supra, p. 14) Bach's eariiest
church CSantatas date from the Amstadt period.
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BACH THE COMPOSER 89
the Kapelle, which imposed on him the provision
of music for the ducal chapeL His church music,
like his Organ works, is devout and serious, and
in every respect what church music ought to be.
He makes a point also of not elaborating individual
words, which leads to mere trifling, but interprets
the text as a whole.^ His choruses invariably are
magnificent and impressive, and he frequently
introduces Chorals into them,^ making the other
parts accompany their Cantus fugally, as was the
practice in a Motet. As elsewhere in his works,
the harmonic structure of his voice parts and
instrumental accompaniment is rich. The de*
clamation of ihe recitatives is expressive, and the
latter have fine Continuo parts.' In his Arias,
hardly one of which is not beautiful and expres-
sive. Bach seems to have been handicapped by
the inefficiency of his singers and instrumentalists,
who constantly complained of the difficulty of his
music. If he had been fortunate enough to have
capable performers the merits of his church music
^ The statement oertaiiily needs a caveat. No oomposer of his
period studied his text more doeely or reYerenUy than Bach. No
one, on the other hand, was more readily fired by a partioolor word
or image in his text to give it sometimes irrelevant expression.
* Of Bach's church Cantatas 206 have survived. In only 22 of them
does Bach fail to introduce movements based upon the Lutheran
Chorals.
* We must attribute to ForkeFs general ignorance of Bach's concerted
church music his failure to comment upon a much more remarkable
feature of the recitatives, namely, their unique treatment of the
human voice as a declamatory medium, a development as remark-
able as Wagner's innovations in operatic form a coitury later.
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90 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
would have been established and, like his other
works, they would still be sung and admired ; for
they contain treasures which deserve immortality,^
Among the works composed at Leipzig I single
out two Cantatas, one of which was performed at
Cothen at the funeral of Bach's beloved Prince
Leopold, and the other in St, Paul's Church,
Leipzig, on the occasion of the funeral sermon in
honour of Christiana Eberhardine, Queen of
Poland and Mectress of Saxony.^ The first
contains double choruses of uncommon magni-
ficence and most affecting sentiment.' The second
has only four-part choruses, but they are so de-
lightful and fresh that he who begins the work
will not pause till he has reached the end of it.
It was written in October 1727.
Bach also composed a great number of Cantatas,
chiefly for the choir of St. Thomas' School, Leipzig.^
^ It was not the impeif eotions of the ohoir but the indifEeienoe of
Bach's successors at St. Thomas', Leipzig, that was chiefly responsible
for the neglect of his Cantatas in the latter half of the eighteenth
century. Johann Friedrich Doles (1716-89) was the only Cantor who
realised the greatness of his predecessor's concerted church music.
* The ' Trauer-Ode ' was performed on October 17, 1727. Bach
finished the score two days before the performance I A parallel case
is that of Mozart, who finished the overture of ' Don Gioyanni ' on the
morning of the first perfoimanoe of the Opera, and actually played
it unrehearsed that evening.
* It has been pointed out already that Bach used the ' St. Matthew
Passion ' music, set to other words, for the occasion. No. 26 (* I would
beside my Lord be watching ') was sung to the words ' Go, Leopold,
to thy rest ' !
* Of the 206 surviving Cantatas, 172 were written for the Leipzig
choir.
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BACH THE COMPOSER 91
The choir ordinarily numbered fifty singers, and
sometimes more^ over whose musical training
Bach presided like a father. He practised them
so hard in Cantatas for single and double chorus
that they became excellent singers. Among these
works are some which, in profundity of conception,
magnificence, richness of harmony and melody,
and animation, surpass everything of their kind.
But, like all Bach's works, and in common with
other masterpieces, they are difficult to perform
and need a numerous orchestra to produce their
full effect.
Such are Bach's most important vocal com-
positions.^ In minor forms of the art, morceanx
for social entertainments and the Uke, he wrote
little,^ though he was of a most sociable dis-
position. For instance, he is said never to have
composed a song.* And why should he ? They
produce themselves so spontaneously that there is
little call for genius to aid their gestation.
^ Forkel'fl knowledge is very incomplete.
' Elsewhere Forkel mentions only one of the secular Cantatas.
* There is a tradition that Bach wrote a comic song, ' Uir Sohonen,
horet an,' which was widely current about the time of his death (Spitta,
iii. 181 n.)- The Aria, 'So oft ich meine Tabakspfeife,* in A. M.
Bach's ' Notenbuch ' of 1725, should be mentioned. See B. G. xzxiz.
sec. 4.
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CHAPTER VII
BACH AS A TEACHER
It not infrequently happens that talented com-
posers and players are incapable of imparting their
skill to others. Either they have never troubled
to probe the mechanism of their own facility, or,
through the excellence of their instructors, have
taken the short cut to proficiency and allowed
their teacher and not their own judgment to decide
how a thing should be done. Such people are
useless to instruct beginners. True, they may
succeed in teaching the rudiments of technique,
assuming that they have been properly taught
themselves. But they are certainly unqualified
to teach in the full sense of the word. There is,
in fact, only one way to become a good teacher,
and that is to have gone through the discipline
of self-instruction, a path along which the be-
ginner may go astray a thousand times before
attaining to perfection. For it is just this stumb-
ling efifort that reveals the dimensions of the art.
The man who has adventured it learns the obstacles
that obstruct his path, and how to surmount them.
To be sure, it is a lengthy method. But if a man
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JoHANN Sebastian Bach.
{Front the picture discoz-ered ly Professor Fritz Volbach.)
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BACH AS A TEACHER 93
has patience to persevere he will reap a sure reward
after an alluring pilgrimage. No musician ever
founded a school of his own who has not fol-
lowed such a course, and to his experience his
teaching has owed its distinctive character.
This is so with Bach, who, only gradually dis-
covering his full stature, was thirty years old
before unremitting application raised him above
the difficulties of his art. But he reaped his
reward. Self ^-discipline set him on the fairest and
most alluring path that it has ever been given to
a musician to tread.
To teach well a man needs to have a full mind.
He must have discovered how to meet and have
overcome the obstacles in his own path before
he can be successful in teaching others how to
avoid them. Bach united both qualities. Hence,
as a teacher he was the most instructive, clear,
and definite that has ever been. In every branch
of his art he produced a band of pupils who
followed in his footsteps, without, however,
equalling his achievement.
First of all let me show how he taught the
Clavier.^ To begin with, his pupils were made to
acquire the special touch of which I have already
spoken.^ To that end for months together he
made them practise nothing but simple exercises
^ Baoh's meihod has oome down to ns in treatuee by two of hk
papilfl, G. P. K Baoh's ' Essay ' and Edraberger's * Die Knnst dee
leinen Satses in der Ifiosik,' to which raferenoo has been made already.
* Suprctf p. 60l
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94 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
for the fingers of both hands, at the same time
emphasising the need for clearness and distinctness.
He kept them at these exercises for from six to
twelve months, miless he fomid his pupils losing
heart, in which case he so far met them as to write
short studies which incorporated a particular
exercise. Of this kind are the ^ Six Little Pre-
ludes for Beginners,' ^ and the ' Fifteen Two-
part Inventions,' ^ both of which Bach wrote
during the lesson for a particular pupil and after-
wards improved into beautiful and expressive
compositions. Besides this finger practice, either
in regular exercises or in pieces composed for the
purpose. Bach introduced his pupils to the use
of the various ornaments in both hands.
Not until this stage was reached did Bach allow
his pupils to practise his own larger works, so
admirably calculated, as he knew, to develop their
powers. In order to lessen their difficulty, it
was his excellent habit to play over to them the
pieces they were to study, with the remark,
* That 's how it ought to sound.' * It would be
difficult to exaggerate the helpfulness of this
method. The pupil's interest was roused by hear-
ing the piece property played. But that was not
^ Bach wrote eighteen Ptelodes for Beginners. They are all in
P. bk. 200.
* Most of these movements, which Bach called indifferently ' Inven-
tions ' (ideas) and ' Praeambola ' (PjreLndes), were written in 1723.
They are in P. bk. 201.
* Heinrich Nikolans Qerber, who was Bach's pupil from 1724 to 1727,
particularly emphasises this feature of Bach's teaching.
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BACH AS A TEACHER 95
the sole result. Without the help thus given
the pupil could only hope to overcome the dif-
ficulties of the piece after considerable effort,
and would find it much less easy to realise a proper
rendering of it. As it was, he received at once an
ideal to aim at and was taught how to surmount
the difficulties the piece presented. Many a
young performer, still imperfect after a year's
practice, probably would master his music in a
month if he once had it played over to him.
Bach's method of teaching composition was
equally sure and effective.^ He did not begin
with the dry details of counterpoint, as was the
custom of other teachers in his day. Still less
did he burden his pupils with the physical pro-
perties of sound, which he held to be matter for
the theorist and instrument-maker rather than
the composer. He started them off at once on
four-part harmony over a figured Bass, making
his pupils write each part on a separate stave in
order to impress on them the need for accurate
harmonic progression. Then he passed to Hymn
tunes, setting the Bass himself and making his
pupils write the Tenor and Alto parts. In time
he let them write the Bass also. He insisted on
correct harmony and on each part having a real
melodic line. Every musician knows what models
^ See on the whole matter Spitta, iiL 117 fL Bach's method is
illustrated by his * Roles and Instnictions ' (1738) printed by Spitta,
iii. 316 ff., and also by the ' Einige hdohst nothinge Regeln ' at the
end of A. M. Baoh's ' Notenbnoh ' (1726).
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96 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Bach has left us in this form. The inner parts of
his four-part Hymn-tunes are so smooth and
melodious that often they might be taken for the
melody. He made his pupils aim at similar tune-
fulness, and until they showed a high standard
of merit did not permit them to write compositions
of their own. Meanwhile he aimed at cultivating
their feeling for pure harmony and for the order
and connection of ideas and parts by familiarising
them with the compositions of others. Until they
had acquired facility in those qualities he neither
permitted them nor held them competent to put
pen to paper.
Bach required his pupils in composition to work
out their musical ideas mentally. If any of them
lacked this faculty he admonished him not to
compose and discountenanced even his sons from
attempting to write until they had first given
evidence of genuine musical gifts. Having com-
pleted their elementary study of harmony, Bach
took his pupils on to the theoiy of Fugue, beginning
with two-part writing. In these and other exer-
cises he insisted on the pupil composing away
from the Clavier.^ Those who did otherwise he
^ Mozart wrote aa follows to a correspondent who asked him what
his method of composition was : ' I can really say no more on this
sabjeot than the following ; for I myself know no more about it» and
cannot account for it. When I am, as it were, completely myself,
entirely alone, and of good cheeir--0ay, travelling in a carriage, or
walking after a good meal, or during the night when I cannot sleep ;
it is <Hi sooh occasions that my ideas flow best and most abundantly.
fFA^nce and Aot0 they come, I know not ; nor can I force them. Those
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BACH AS A TEACHER 97
ridiculed as ^ Harpsichord Knights.' In the second
place he required rigorous attention to each part
and its relation to the concurrent parts, permitting
none, not even an inner one, to break off before
it had finished what it had to say. He insisted
upon a correct relation between each note And its
predecessor. If he came upon one whose deriva-
tion or destination was not perfectly clear he
struck it out as faulty. It is, indeed, a meticulous
exactitude in each individual part that makes
ideas that pkaee me I letain in lOAmory, and am aooiutomed» aa I
have been told, to horn them to myself. If I contume in this way^
it soon oconra to me how I may torn this or that morsel to aooount*
so as to make a good dish of it, that is to say, agreeably to the roies
of ooonterpoint, to the peculiarities of the varioos instruments, etc.
All this fires my soul, and, provided I am not disturbed, my subject
enlarges itself, becomes methodised and defined, and the whole,
though it be long, stands almost complete and finished in my mind, so
that I can survey it, like a fine picture or a beautiful statue, at a
^nce. Nor do I hear in my imagination the parts succesdvdy, but
X hear them, as it were, all together. What a delight this is I cannot
tell I • • . When I proceed to write down my ideas, I take out of the
bag of my memory, if I may use that phrase, what has previously been
collected into it in the way I have mentioned. For this reason the
committing to paper is done quickly enough, for everything is, as I
said before, already finished ; and it rarely differs on paper from what
it was in my imagination ' (Ift/e, ed. Dent, p. 266).
Wagner, writing in 1861 to Uhlig, who could not understand how
the libretto of * Young Siegfried ' could be set to music, expresses the
same idea as Mosart : * What you cannot possibly imagine is a-making
of iteelf 1 I tell yon, the nmsical phrases build themselves on these
verses and periods without my having to trouble at all ; everything
springs as if wild from the ground' (life, trans. Ellis, iiL p. 243).
Schumann writes in 1839 : ' I used to rack my brains for a long
time, but now I scarcely ever scratch out a note. It all comes from
within, and I often feel as if I could go on {laying without ever
oondng to an end ' (Grove, voL iv. p. 868).
Q
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98 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Bach's harmony really multiple melody. Con-
fused part-writing, where a note that belongs to
the Tenor is given to the Alto, or vice versa, or
the haphazard addition of extraneous parts to a
chord which suddenly shows an increase of notes
as if fallen from the sky, to vanish as suddenly
as they came, are faults found neither in his own
nor his pupils' writing. He regarded his musical
parts as so many persons engaged in conversation.
If there are three, each of them on occasion may
be silent and listen to the others until it finds
something relevant to say itself. But if, at an in-
teresting point of the conversation, an interloping
voice intervened. Bach regarded it as an intruder
and let his pupils understand that it could not be
admitted.
Notwithstanding his strictness on this point,
Bach allowed his pupils considerable Ucence in
other respects. In their use of certain intervals,
as in their treatment of harmony and melody, he
let them experiment within the limits of their
abihty, taking care to discountenance ugliness and
to insist on their giving appropriate expression to
the character of the composition. Beauty of ex-
pression, he postulated, was only attainable on a
foundation of pure and accurate harmony. Having
experimented in every form himself, he liked to
see his pupils equally adventurous. EarUer
teachers of composition, for instance, Berardi,^
^ Angelo Beiardi's 'Doonmenti annonioL Nelli qnali oon varii
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BACH AS A TEACHER 99
Buononciniy^ and Fux,^ did not allow such liberty.
They were afraid to trust their pupils to encounter
difficulties, and short-sightedly prevented them
from learning how to overcome them. Bach's
fi^stem was wiser, for it took his pupils farther,
since he did not limit their attention, as his pre-
decessors did, to the harmonic structure, but ex-
tended it to the qualities that constitute good
writing, namely, consistency of expression, variety
of style, rhythm, and melody. Those who would
acquaint themselves with Bach's method of teach-
ing composition will find it fully set forth in
Kimberger's * Correct Art of Composition.' *
As long as his pupils were under his instruction
Bach did not allow them to study any but his
own works and the classics. The critical sense,
which permits a man to distinguish good from
bad, develops later than the aesthetic faculty and
may be blunted and even destroyed by frequent
contact with bad music. The best way to in-
struct youth is to accustom it early to consort
with the best models. Time brings experience
and an instructed judgment to confirm the pupil's
early attraction to works of true art.
dkooni, regole, ed eosempii si dimonsirano gli studii arteficiosi della
mosioa ' was published at Bologna in 1687.
1 Qiovanni Maria Baononoini, b. e. 1640» d. 1678 ; Maestro di Oapella
at Modena; published his 'Musioo prattico' at Bologna in 1673^
1688.
' Johann Joseph Fuz, b. 1660, d. 1741 ; Kapellmeister at Vienna ;
puUished his ' Giadus ad Fkurnassum ' at Vienna in 1725,
* See wpra, p. 74.
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100 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Under this admirable method of teaching all
Bach's pupils became distinguished musicians,
some more so than others, according as they came
early or late under his influence, and had opp(M>
tunity and encouragement to perfect and apply
the instruction they received from him. His
two eldest sons, Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl
Philipp Emmanuel, were his most distinguished
pupils, not because he gave them better instruc-
tion than the rest, but because from their earliest
youth they were brought up amid good music at
home. Even before they b^an their lessons they
knew what was good. On the other hand, others,
before they became Bach's pupils, either had
heard no good music or their taste had been*
already vitiated by contact with bad. It at least
attests the excellence of Bach's method that even
his pupils thus handicapped took high rank in
their profession and distinguished themselves in
one or other of its branches.*
Bach's first pupil waa JoHAi!m Caspar Vogleb,
who received instruction from him in his early
days at Amstadt and Weimar and, on Bach's
testimony, was an exceedingly able player. He
became organist, and later burgomaster, at Weimar,
retaining his professional position. Some Choral
* I speak hero only of tlnwe papib who made mnab their profenioii.
Bat, besidea these, Bach had a great many other papik. Every
dilettante in the ndghboarhood desired to boaat of the instmetion of
so great and celebrated a man. Many gave themselves out to have
been his papils who had never been taught by him.
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BACH AS A TEACHER 101
Flreludes by him for a two-m^tialed Qi^an with
pedals were engraved about 1737/5*'..
Other pupils of Baoh who beoaine famous
were: .\-'\-
1. HoMiLinSy of Dresden. He was not-bnly an
excellent organist but a distinguished cottiiposer
of church music as well* v^-\
2. Tbai^sohel, of Dresden. He was a 6i^[
musician and performer on the Clavier. There
exist in MS. six Polonaises by him which perhaps
are superior to those of any composer but Wilhelm
Friedemann Bach.^
3. GrOLDBBBG, of Kouigsbcrg. He was a very
finished player on the Clavier, but without any
marked talent for composition.^
4. E^BEBSy Organist at Altenbui^. He was not
only a player of the first rank, but also a prolific
composer for the Organ, Clavier, and of church
music. He was fortunate in having Bach's in-
struction for nine years.^
^ See Spitta, L 622 ; Sohwrntaer, L 214 lor forlher details xeg»idiiig
Vo^er, who died eM^ 1766.
* Gottfried August Homilhui, b. 1714, d. 1786; papil of Bttoh* ow«»
1736. GantOT of the Kroiiasohii]6» Dresden.
t Christoph Tiansohel (1721-1800) tanght mnsio at Letpng and
Dresden ; Bach's pupil and friend, oire, 1742. See Spitta, iiL 246.
* Johann Gottlieb (or Theophiku) Goldberg, clayioenist to Ooiint
Kaiserling (tn/hi, p. 119) for whom Bach wrote the so-called ' Goldberg
Variations.^ He was bom arc 1720 and was a pupil of Bach from
1733-40.
ft Johaan Lodwig Krebs, b. 1713, d. 1780; Bach's pupil, 1726-36.
Baoh said of him that he was ' tlie best orab (Krebs) in the brook
(Baoh).'
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102 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
6. Altnikol^ Qf^amst at Naumburg. He was
Bach's son-in-^>^'ahd is said to have been a veiy
competent pda^et and composer.^
6. Aasic^ii^^ Court Composer at Berlin,* He
is less known as a composer than as a theorist.
Hq \trfi(nslated Tosi's' *I1 canto figurato' from
Ify^ein into German and provided the work with
.ab* instructive commentary.
7. MuTHBL, of Biga. He was a good Clavier
player and wrote for that instrument. His
Sonatas and a Duet for two Claviers attest his
ability as a composer.*
8. Kebnbebgeb,^ Court Musician at Berlin to
the Princess AmaUa of Prussia.^ He was one of
the most distinguished of Bach's pupils, full of
genuine enthusiasm for his art and eager to assure
its interests. Besides his exposition of Bach's
system of teaching composition, we are indebted
to him for the first logical treatise on harmony,
in which he sets forth his master's teaching and
^ JohADD Chiistoph Altoikol, d. 1759.
s Johann Friedrioh Agrioola, b. 1720, d. 1774; pupil of Baoh
eirc. 1738-41 ; Direotor of the Royal Chapel, Berlin.
* Pier Franoeeoo Tod, b. circ 1660; singiiig master in London.
Hjb * Opinioni de* cantori antiohi e modemi, o sieno osservazioni sopra
il canto figurato ' was published at Bologna in 1723.
* Johann Gottfried Muthel, b. dre. 1720, d. cire. 1790 ; pupil of
Baoh in 1760 and resident in his house at the time of his death;
organist of the Lutheran Ohuroh, Riga.
B Johann PhilippKimberger,b. 1721, d. 1783; Baoh's pupil, 1739-4L
* Louisa Amalia, of Brunswiok-Wolf enbuttel, wife of Frederiok the
Qreat's brother, and mother of his suooessor, Frederiok William n.
(1786-97).
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BACH AS A TEAOHER 103
practice. The first work is entitled 'Kunst des
reinen Satzes/ and the second, ' Wahre Grund-
satze zum Gebrauch der Harmonie.' ^ He served
the interests of his art also by other writings and
compositions, and was an excellent teacher. The
Princess Amalia was his pupil.
9. KiTTEL, Organist at Erfurt. He is a sound,
though not a finished, player, and is distinguished
as a composer by several Organ Trios, so excellent
that Bach himself might have written them. He
is the sole survivor (1802) of Bach's pupils.*
10. VoiGT, of Anspach,^ and an organist named
SoHUBABT * were mentioned to me by Carl Philipp
Emmanuel as having been Bach's pupils* He
knew nothing about them except that they
entered his father's house after he left it.^
^ The seoond work was pabliflhed in 1773 at Berlin. For the first,
see Bwpra^ p. 74.
* Johann Christian Kittel» b. 1732, d. 1800 ; one of Baoh*s latest
pupils ; Organist of the Predigerkirohe, Eif art He is said to have
possessed a portrait of his master and to have rewarded his pupils for
good playing by drawing the onrtain which nsnally covered the piotore
and permitting them to look npon it. It is» perhaps, the portrait,
recently discovered by Dr. Frits Volbach, which is reproduced at p. 92
of this volume.
* Nothing seems to be known of him.
« Johann Martin Schubart succeeded Bach at Weimar in 1717. He
was bom in 1690 and died in 1721. See Spitta, L 343.
* In addition to those mentioned by Forkel, the following pupils of
Bach are known: Johann Qotthill Ziegler, of St. Ulrich's Church,
Halle; J. Bemhard Bach, of Ohidmf ; Heinrich Nikolaus Qerber,
Organist at Sondershausen ; Samuel Anton Bach, of Meiningen;
Johann Ernst Bach, of Saze- Weimar ; Johann Elias Bach, Cantor at
Schweinfurt ; Johann Tobias Krebs, organist at Buttelst&dt, and his
sons, Johann Ludwig, Johann Tobias, and Johann Carl; Johann
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104 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
I have said already that Bach's sons were his
most distinguished pupils. The eldest^ Wilhslm
FsDEDSMA^nf Bagh^ came nearest to his father
in the originaUly of his genius. His melodies
have quite a different character from those of
other composers. They are exceedingly clever,
el^ant, and spontaneous. When performed with
delicacy^ as he played them, they cannot fail to
charm every hearer. It is greatly to be regretted
that he jHief erred to follow his fancy in extemporisa-
tion and to espend his genius on fugitive thoughts
rather than to work them out on paper. The
number of his compositions therefore is small,
but all are beautiful
Gabl Philifp Emmakuel Bach, who comes
next, went out into the world sufficiently early
to discover that it is a good thing for a composer
to have a large public behind him. Hence, in
the clearness and easy inteUigibilily of his com-
positions, he approaches the popular style, though
he scrupulously avoids the commonplace.^ Both
he and his elder brotiier admitted that they were
Schneider, oiganut of St. Nioolaa*, Leiprig ; Georg Friedrich Eiaioke,
OMitor at FrankenluMuen ; Johann Friedrich Doles, Bach's second
saooessor in the Oantorate of St. Thomas' ; Radolph Stnuibe^ who
afterwards settled in Eng^nd ; C!hristoph Nichelmaan, oembatiat to
Frederick the Qxeat ; Christian Qribner, and Oarl Hartwig.
For fall information apon Bach's pupils see Spitta, L 522 fL, ii 47 ff.,
iiL 116 fLf 239 ff., and the relative arttdes in Grave's * Dictionary.'
^ Forkel does not do justice to his friend. C. P. £. Bach is recog-
nised as the immediate preooMor of Haydn and as the link between
the latter and J. S. Bach.
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BACH AS A TEACHER 105
driven to adopt a style of their own by the wish
to avoid comparison with their incomparable
father.
JoHAior Chbistofh Fbiedbioh Bach, Con-
certmeister at the Court of Biickeburg, imitated
Carl Philipp's style, but was not his equaL
According to Wilhelm IViedemann, he was the
best player among the brothers, and the most
effective performer of their father's Clavier com-
positions.
JoHANN Chbistiak Baoh, called 'Bach of
Milan/ and afterwards 'Bach of London/ was
the youngest son of Bach's second marriage and
of too tender an age when his father died ever to
have had lessons from him. Hence, perhaps,
the absence of Bach's style in his music. He was,
in fact, a popular composer universally admired
in his day.^
^ Mozart had a yery particular regard for him. See SohwaitBor
i. 220 on his brothers' abilities as composers.
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CHAPTER VIII
PEBSONAL OHAKAOTBEISTIOS
DiSTiNQUiSHED 8*8 a player, composer, and teacher,
Bach was also an indulgent father, a good friend,
and a loyal citizen. His paternal devotion is
shown by his care for his children's education,
and he was equally assiduous in the performance
of his civil and social duties. His acquaintance
was agreeable to everybody. Every lover of
music, whatever his nationality, wm sure of a
friendly reception at his house, and his sociability
and reputation caused him to be seldom without
visitors.
As an artist Bach was exceptionally modest.
Notwithstanding his pre-eminence in his profession,
a superiority of which he could not but be conscious,
and in spite of the admiration and respect daily
shown him, he never gave himself airs. If he
was asked the secret of his mastership he would
answer, ' I was made to work ; if you are equally
industrious you wiU be equally successful,' ^ a
^ Spitta (liL 262) qaotes a oharaoteristio anecdote. To some one
who praised his skill on the Oigan Baoh replied : ' There is nothing
wonderful ahoat it. Ton merely strike the right note at the ri^t
moment and the Organ does the rest.'
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PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 107
remark which made no allowance for his own
exceptional genius. His opinion of other com-
posers and their work was invariably fair and
generous. Naturally, much of their work struck
him as somewhat trivial, viewed from his own
altitude. But he never uttered a harsh criticism,
unless it were to a pupil, to whom he held himself
bound to say what he thought. Still less did
he presume on his acknowledged superiority to
indulge in braggadocio, as often happens with
performers brought into touch with those whom
they regard as their inferiors. Herein Bach's
modesty went so far that he never spoke
voluntarily of his frustrated contest with
Marchand, though the latter was the challenger.^
Many absurd stories are told of Bach ; for instance
that, dressed up as a village schoolmaster, he
liked to enter a church and ask the organist to
let him play a Choral, in order to enjoy the astonish-
ment excited by his playing, or to hear the Organist
declare, * This must be Bach or the Devil.' ^
He always ridiculed such stories, and indeed
had too much respect for his art to make it cloak
his vanity.
^ See aufra, p. 19. Baoh himself oertainly was the challenger.
* When Handel was at Venice in 1708, Domenioo Soarlattt, hearing
a stranger tooohing the Harpsiohord at a masquerade, exclaimed,
*That must either be the famous Saxon or the Devil' (Rookstro's
'Qeorge Frederick Handel,' p. 48). Stceatfield (p. 146) mentions a
similar event which took place in 1737. Hearing a stranger playing
a F^igae in one of the Flemish oborohes, the organist emfaiaced him,
saying* ' You can be no other bat the great HandeL'
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108 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
At musical parties where Quartet or other instru-
mental musio was performed. Bach liked to play
the Viola, an instrument which put him, as it
were, in the middle of the harmony in a position
from which he could hear and enjoy it on both
sides. On those occasions he would sometimes
join in a Trio or other piece on the Harpsichord.
If he was in the mood and the composer was
agreeable, he would, as has been told already,
extemporise a new Trio from the Gontinuo part,
or, adding a new part, convert the Trio into a
Quartet. But these were the only occasions on
which he was ready to display his great powers
before others. One Hurlebusch, of Brunswick,^
a conceited and arrc^ant Clavier player, once
visited Bach at Leipzig, not to hear him play,
but to play to him. Bach received him poUtely
and listened patientiy to his very indifferent per-
formance. On taking leave Hurlebusch made
Bach's eldest sons a present of his published
Sonatas, exhorting them to study them diligently.
Bach, knowing the kind of music his sons were
wont to play, smiled at Hurlebusch's nalvet6 but
did not permit him to suspect his amusement.^
Bach was fond of listening to the music of other
composers. If he and one of his elder sons hap-
^ Heiiinoh Larans Hmlelniaoh was organiat of three obniohes in
BroDBwiok. His vvAt to Baoh took place in 1790; aeemingLy. See
Schiraiteer, L 164.
* Sohweitcer prints an appreoiatiQn of HuriebiuQli wliioii mggedia
that he was a man of distinot afailtty and * a pacagon of poUteness.'
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PEBSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 109
pened to be in church when a Fugue was played,
directly the subject had been stated he always
pointed out how it ought to be developed. If the
composer knew his business and fulfilled Bach's
anticipations, he was pleased and nudged his son
to draw his attention to the fact. Is this not
evidence of his impartial interest in other people's
compositions ?
I have mentioned already the composers whom
in his youth Bach esteemed, loved, and studied.
Later, when experience ripened his critical faculty,
he had other favourites, among them Imperial
Kapellmeister Fux, Handel, Caldara,^ Reinhard
Keiser, Hasse,^ the two Grauns,' Telemann,^
Zelenka,^ Benda,^ etc., and, in general, the dis-
tinguished musicians at Dresden and Berlin. He
was acquainted with all except the first four of
those I mention. In his youth Bach was intimate
with Telemann.*^ He also had a very warm regajxi
^ Antonio Oaldara, b. eifie. 1670; yioe-KapettmeiBter at Vienna,
1716-36; d.1736.
* Johann Adolph Hasae, b. 1699» d. 1783 ; Kapdlmeiflter and
Director of the Opera, Dresden.
* Johaan Gottlieb Qrann, b. drc 1098, d. 1771 ; oondnctor of the
royal E^apelle, Berlin.
Oarl Heinrich Graun, b. 1701, d. 1769 ; like his brother, in Frederick
the Great's servioe.
* Georg Fhilipp Telsmann, b. 1681, d. 1767 ; Oaotor and Mnaik*
direktor in Hamborg.
« Johaan Diamac Zdeoka, b. 1679 or 1681, d. 1746; Ooort Com-
poser at Diesdon.
* Franz Benda, b. 1709, d. 1786 ; Oonoertmeister to Frederiok the
Great npOB the death of J. G. Graun.
* OnTebniann'BinaMiioeonBaoh8eeSpitta,iL437.
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110 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
for Handel and often expressed a desire to know
him. As Handel, like himself, was a famous per-
former on the Organ and Clavier, many in Leipzig
and its neighbourhood wished to bring the two
great men together. But Handel, then living in
London, never found time for a meeting during
the visits he paid to Halle, his native town. On
his first visit in 1719, Bach was at Cothen, only
some twenty miles distant. As soon as he was
informed of Handel's arrival he lost not a moment
in setting out to visit him, but on his arrival
found that Handel had returned to England. At
the time of Handel's second visit, between 1730
and 1740,^ Bach was prevented from leaving
Leipzig by indisposition. But no sooner was he
advised of Handel's arrival at Halle than he sent
his eldest son, Wilhelm IViedemann, to beg him
to visit Leipzig, an invitation which Handel was
unable to accept. In 1752 or 1753, when Handel
paid his third visit to Germany,^ Bach was dead.
He had always expressed the strongest desire to
know Handel, and the Leipzig people were dis-
appointed in their wish to hear the two great
men together.
While Hasse was Kapellmeister at Dresden
both the Opera and Kapelle flourished. Bach
^ Handel's seoond visit to Halle took plaoe in June 1729. His
mother's illness detained him. See Streatfleld, p. 110.
* Handel's third visit took place in Jnly-Aagost 1750. He was
laid up by a severe accident in the course of it, and appears to have
not leoovered |rom it at the time of Bach's death.
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PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 111
had many friends at Dresden, who held him in
high regard. Among them may be mentioned
Hasse and his wife, the celebrated Faustina.^
They often visited Leipzig and were admirers of
the Cantor's rare talents. Hence, at Dresden he
was always received in the most respectful
manner and often visited the Opera, generally
accompanied by his eldest son. When the time
for their jomney approached Bach would say in
fun, ^ Well, Eriedemann, shaU we go to Dresden
to hear the pretty tunes * again ? ' Innocent as
the jest was, I am sure Bach would not have
uttered it to any but his son, who afa*eady could
distinguish between great music and agreeable
trifles.
Bach was never in a position to make what is
called a brilliant fortune.^ He held a fairly
lucrative office, but his income had to maintain
and educate a large family. He neither possessed
nor sought other means of livelihood, and was too
absorbed in his art and work to think of accepting
engagements which, in those days, and to a man
of his genius, certainly would have brought riches.
Had he possessed a taste for travel he would, as
even one of his detractors admits, have 'drawn
1 Faustina Boidoni, b. 1693, d. 1783 ; m. Hasse in 1730. She was
one of the most famous singers of the day.
* The original has ' liederohen.'
* See supra, p. 37. Oompaie Handel's case. He leoeiYed a royal
pension of £600 per annum, and though he was twice a bankrupt, left
£20,000.
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112 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
upon himself the admiration of the whole world/
But he preferred a quiet domestic life, constant
occupation in his work, with contentment and'
a moderate competence, like his forbears.
His modesty, however, did not prevent him
from receiving manifold proofs of regard and
affection and marks of honourable distinction.
Prince Leopold of Cothen, Duke Ernst August
of Weimar,^ and Duke Christian of Weissenfels,
aU showed sincere regard for him, which must have
been the more agreeable to him seeing that they
were all sound judges of music. At Berlin, as at
Dresden, he was universally honoured and re-
spected. If we add to these testimonies the fact
that he captured the admiration of all who heard
him play or were acquainted with his music, then
we may be sure that Bach, ' singing for himself
and the Muses,' received at the hands of Fame the
recognition he valued most, and cherished it far
more than the trivial honour of a ribbon or gold
chain.
I add that, in 1747, Bach became a member
of the ^Society of the Musical Sciences,' founded
by Mizler, only because we owe to the circum-
stance his admirable Choral Variations on ' Vom
Himmel hoch.' ^ He presented them to the
^ The Dake was the nephew of, and Boooeededf Dake Wilhelm Enist
1111728.
* The Oanonic VariationB on tiw melody are pafaliahed by Novello
bk.' 19, p. 73. For the liuder Society, see Mtpfo, p. xziv.
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PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 113
Society on his admission and they were engraved
subsequently.^
^ Spitta (iii 294) regardi the Btateineiit as inooneot and holds that
the work was engraved before Bach joined Mizler's Society in June
1747. Pirro (p. 215) supports Spitta and regards the Variations as
having been engraved at Niimberg * vers 1740.'
B
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CHAPTER IX
BAOH'S OOMFOSmONS
To have produced so many great works in all
forms of musical expression Bach necessarily must
have been a prolific writer. For if a composer be
the greatest genius in the world, unless he con-
stantly exercises his art he cannot hope to produce
real masterpieces. Superlative excellence is the
fruit of indefatigable application. Tet in Bach's
case we should be wrong to acclaim as master-
pieces all the products of his great activity just
because masterpieces at length were the fruit of
it. Already in his early compositions we find
undeniable evidence of genius. But they are
blemished by faults, passages poor in quaUty,
extravagant, insipid, that are hardly worth pre-
serving, though of interest to the student who
wishes to trace from its source the development
of Bach's genius.
It is not difficult to distinguish with exac-
titude those of Bach's early compositions which
are of the first excellence; for he has been at
pains to give us the clue. As he did not publish
his first work until he was about forty years
U4
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BACH'S COMPOSITIONS 116
old,^ we are justified in ftflBiimiTig the merit of
what^ at so mature an age^ he thought worthy
to put into prints and in concluding generally
that all his engraved works are of first-rate
merit.'
With respect to his unpublished compositions,
and they are by far the most numerous, we must
in order to distinguish their merit rely partly
on a critical examination of their texts, partly on
Bach's own judgment. Like all great composers,
he was continually working on his compositions
with a view to making them still more finished.
Indeed, he actually attempted to improve some
of them that were already perfect. Any that were
susceptible of improvement he improved, even
those already engraved. Such is the origin of the
variant readings of his works found in older and
more recent texts. By constantly retouching his
compositions Bach aimed at making them in-
disputable masterpieces. In this category I place
most of what he wrote before the year 1726, as I
show in detail in the following catalogue. A great
^ The fint of Baoh's works to be engrayed was the Mahlhaosen
GbuBtata, *Qoit ist mem KMg' (parts only). It was paUished in
1708, when Baoh was twenty-three years old. Eoi^el refers to
Partita I. in the first Part of the 'Oavjerabang' (P. bk. 205 p. 4). It
was engraved in I726» when Baoh was forty*one years old. In 1731
he republished it, with five others that had appeared in the interad,
in the first Ptet of the ' Oavierfibang ' (P. bks. 206» 906).
* Fo^el's rather casual oritioal axioms seem to be as fdlows :
'PabUoationpostalatsseuseUenoe*; ' An amended MB. impliss that
the original text was not a finished wodk of ail'
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116 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
many compositions subsequent to 1726, which
for rea43ons ea49ily understood are still in MS., bear
too evidently the stamp of perfection to leave
us in doubt whether to class them as early essays
or M the finished work of an accomplished master.
The following are those of Bach's works which
have been engraved :
1. Glavieriibung, or * Exercises for the Clavier,
consisting of Preludes, Allemandes, Courantes,
Sarabandes, Gigues, Minuets, etc., for the Diversion
of Amateurs. Opus I. Published by the Composer,
1731.' This was Bach's first published work
and contains six Suites. The first of them came
out in 1726 ; ^ the others followed in successive
years until all were engraved together in 1731.*
The work was much noticed at the time. Such
compositions for the Clavier had not been seen
or heard before, and the man who could play them
was sure of a success. Our young players to-day
would profit by the study of them, so brilliant,
agreeable, expressive, and original are they. In
the new edition ^ they are entitled, ' Exercises
for the Clavier.'
^ It mm the fint work eognTed by Baoh himaelf , though the parte
of the Oantata ' Gott ist mein Kdnig ' had been pabUahed by the
l^own Ooandl at MuhlhauBMi in 1708.
* The work was pabliahed at Leipsig ' in Oommiiwion bey Boetii
SeeL hinderlaaaenen Toohter, unter den Rath-hauae.' The Suites, or
Ptotitas (P. bks. 206, 206), are in B flat major, G minor, A minor,
D major, G major, E minor.
* In 1801 Hoflmeiater and Kfihnel unsaooessfully attempted to
puUiflh Baoh's woika by sabaoription.
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BACH'S COMPOSITIONS 117
2. Clavieriibung, or * Exercises for the CJavier,
Part II,, consisting of a Cioncerto in the Italian
style and an Overture in the French manner ^ for
a Clavier with two manuals. Published by
Christopher Weigel, Junior, in Niimberg.' ^
3. Glavieriibungi or ' Exercises for the Clavier,
Part in,, consisting of various Organ Preludes
to the Catechism and other Hymns, composed
for the diversion of amateurs and particularly
of competent judges of such works. Published
by the Composer.' Besides the Preludes and
Fugues for the Organ, all of which are masterly,
the book contains four Duetti for the Clavier,'
models of their kind.
4. Seeks Chorale, or 'Six Choral Melodies of
different kinds, for an Organ with two manuals and
pedal. Zella, in the Thuringian Forest. Pub-
lished by Johann G. Schiibler.' * They are full
of dignity and religious feeling. In some of them,
too, we have instances of Bach's original manage-
^ The Partita in B minor (P. bk. 206 p. 20).
* The work was published in 1735. The Italian Oonoerto in F major
is published by Novello and P. bk. 207.
* The work appeared in 1739. It was intended to contain works
for the Organ only ; the four Duetti are inoongruous and seem to have
crept in by mistake. See the soheme of the work discussed in Terry,
' Bach's Chorals,' Part UL The Choral Preludes are in Novello's ed.,
bk.zvL
* The work was published cire, 1747-60. Five of the six move-
ments certainly, and the sixth with practical certainty, are
adaptations to the Organ of movements out of Bach's Church
Oantatas. See Pfeoiy, 'Bach,' p. 636b The Chorals] are in
Novello's ed.» bk. zvL
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118 JOHANN SBBASnAN BACH
ment of the stops.^ Thus^ in the second Choral,
^Wo soil ich fliehen hin/ he gives to the first
manual an 8 foot, to the second a 16 foot, and to
the pedal a 4 foot stop. The pedal has the oafUvs
5. CluviervXmng, or ^ Exercises for the Clavier,
consisting of an Aria with several Variations, for
a Clavier with two manuals. Published by
Balthasar Schmidt at Niimberg.' ^ This ad-
mirable work consists of thirty Variations, some
in canon, in a variety of movements and at all
intervals from the unison to the ninth, with eaay
flowing melody. It includes a regular four-
part Fugue,^ several extremely briUant Variations
for two Claviers,^ and concludes with a Quodlibet,
as it is called, which alone would render its com-
poser immortal, though it is not the best thing in
the volume.*
The Variations are models of what such com-
positions ought to be, though no one has been
so rash as to attempt to follow Bach's footsteps.
^ See Mpra, p. 66.
* Thiistiie pedal soiuidB above the part giTon to the BeooDdn^^
and 18 often the tojMnoit part. See NoveUo's ed., bk. zvL 4.
> Pabliahed otrc 1742 ; the BO-oalled * Goldberg Variations.* They
are in P. bk. 209.
* Variation No. 10 is a Fnghetta in f oar parts.
* Ten of the Variati<Mi8 are marked ' a 2 C9aT.,' that is» for two key-
boards or manuals: Nos. 8, 11, 18, 14, 17, 20, 28» 26, 26^ 28. Nob. 5,
7, 29 are marked * a 1 ovrero 2 Qav.'
* The moTement is oonstmoted upon two merry folk-songs, * Kiaat
and RQben haben mich vertriebeD,* and ' loh bin so lang nioht bei dir
gewest'
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BACHES COMPOSITIONS 119
We owe them to Count Kaiaerling, formerly
Buflaiaii Ambassador at the Saxon Electoral
Court, who frequently visited Leipzig with
Qoldberg, already mentioned^ among Bach's
pupils. The Count was a great invalid and
suffered from insomnia. Goldberg lived in the
Ambassador's house, and slept in an adjoining
room, to be ready to play to him when he was
wakeful. One day the Count asked Bach to
write for Goldberg some Clavier music of a
soothing and cheerful character, that would
relieve the tedium of sleepless nights. Bach
thought a set of Variations most likely to ful-
fil the Count's needs, though, on account of the
recurrence of the same basic harmony through*
out, it was a form to which he had hitherto paid
little attention. like all his compositions at
this period, however, the Variations are a master-
piece, and are the only example he has left us of
this form.^ The Count always called them * my
Variations' and was never weary of hearing
them. For long afterwards, when he could not
sleep, he would say, ' Play me one of my Varia^
1 See Mfpni, p. 101.
* In iBct Baoh wrote the early * Aria variata alia maniera Italiana*
(PeteiB bk. 216, p. 12) for the Glavier. F6r the Organ he wrote four
sets of Variations upon as many Ghonl mdodies (Novello hk» six.).
Bat all except the Goldberg Variations are youthful wodsn, and in his
maturity Baoh clearly had no liking for the form. The theme of the
Goldberg Variations, moreover, is itself a yonthfol idea ; at least it
dates back to as early as 1725, and is found in A. M. Baoh's * Noten-
buch ' (No. 26, Aria in G major).
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120 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
tionB, Goldberg.' Perhaps Bach was never so
well rewarded for any composition as for this.
The Count gave him a golden goblet containing
one hundred louis d'ors, though, as a work
of art, Bach would not have been overpaid
had the present been a thousand times as large.
It may be observed, that in the engraved copy
of the Variations there are serious mistakes,
which the composer has corrected in his own
copy.i
6. Einige hanoniache Verdnderungen, 'Canonic
Variations on the Christmas Hymn ' Vom Himmel
hoch da komm ich her,' for an Organ with two
manuals and pedaL Published at Niimberg by
Balthasar Schmidt.' The work contains five
canonic variations of the utmost ingenuity.^
7. Muaihaliacfies Opfer, or ' A Musical Offering,'
dedicated to Frederick n.. King of Prussia. The
theme received by Bach from the King * is treated
first as a three-part Fugue under the acrostic title
' Bicercare ' {Begis ii^au cantio et reliqua canonka
arte resohUa). There follows a six-part 'Bicer-
care ' and ' Thematis regii elaborationes canonicae '
^ There is no reference to these oorrigenda in the B.Q. edition.
* The work has been referred to abeady in connection with Baoh's
membership of Mizler's Sodety (««pro» p. 112). It was composed pre-
sumably drc. 1746 and in point of technical skill is the most brilliant
of Baoh's instrumental worics. Forkel states that it was engraved
after June 1747, when Bach joined Mizler's Sodety. Spitta (iii 296)
is of opinion that it was already engraved by then. It is in bk. xix. of
Novdlo's edition.
* Supra, p. 25.
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BACH'S COMPOSITIONS 121
of various kinds.^ The work includes a Trio for
flute. Violin, and Clavier upon the same subject.^
8. Die Kunat der Fuge, or * The Art of Fiigue.'
This work, unique of its kind, did not appear till
about 1762, after Bach's death, though the greater
part of it had been engraved by his sons during
his lifetime.^ Marpurg,^ the leading German
musical critic of that day, contribute a preface
to this edition which contains many just observa-
tions on the value and utility of such treatises.^
But, being too good for the general public, the
work found only a smaU circulation among those
who discerned its merit and eagerly bought copies.
The pieBentation oopy of the work, which Baoh sent to Frederick
along with a dedicatory letter (July 7, 1747), is in the Beriin
Amalienbibliothek and proves that only the first third of the work,
as far as the ' Ricercare a sei vooi ' (see B.G. xxxi. (2)) was sent then.
The latter and the remaining canons were dispatched sabseqnently
probably by the hand of C. P. E. Bach. The six-part Ricercare was
a partionlar compliment to the King. Frederick had desired Baoh
on his visit to play a Fugue in six parts but left it to the player to
select his theme. Bach now employed the ' thema regium ' for the
purpose. The first reissue of the work was by Breitkopf and Haertel
in 1832. Peters (bk. 210) brought it out in 1866. See Schweitxer,
i. 417 n. and Spitta, iii 101 ff. and 202.
* In C minor (P. bk. 237 p. 3).
* The statement is inaccurate. The work was written for the most
part in 1740 and the greater part of it was prepared for engraving by
Bach himself during his last illness. None of his elder sons was wi^
him at his death, and the blunders that disfigure the engraved copy
show that they dumsily finished their father's work. It is in P. bk. 218.
« Friedrioh Wilhebn Marpurg, b. 1718, d. 1706.
* The work was published shortly after Bach's death, but had no
sale. C. P. E. Bach then commissioned Marpurg to write a preface,
and the new edition was published at the Leipzig Fair, Easter, 1752.
In four years only about thirty copies were sold. See Spitta, iii 107 ff.
and Schweiteer, L 423 ff.
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122
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
The plates were never used again and eventually
were sold ^ by Bach's heirs at the price of old copper.
Written by a man of Bach's transcendent genius,
and commended as a masterpiece by a critic so
highly regarded as Marpui^, a work of this kind,
if published in any other country than Germany,
would have passed through at least ten editions
by now, if only at the bidding of patriotism. But
in Germany not a sufficient number of copies was
sold to pay for the plates used in engraving the
work !
The work consists of fugal Variations planned
on the most elaborate scale.' The composer's
intention was to show in what a variety of ways
the same theme can be treated fugaUy. The
Variations (here called ' Ciontrapunctus ') ^ are
complete Fugues upon the same theme. The last
Fugue of all has three subjects, in the third of
which the composer signs his name, BACH.^
^ In 1766. See C. P. E. Baoh's advertisement in Felix Qienier,
p. 232.
* The work oontainB six Fugaes and four oanons upon the same
theme; an unfiniahed Fagae ' a tre soggetti/ the first four notes of the
third of which spell BACH; and the Choral Pkelnde ' Wenn wir in
hSohsten Nothen sein.'
* Sohweitser explains : ' His purpose in this work being a purely
theoretioal one, Baoh writes the Fugues out in score, and calls them
" counterpoints." '
BAOH
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BACH'S COMPOSITIONS 123
Baoh was prevented from finishing it by the dis-
order of his eyes, and as an operation brought no
relief the movement was never completed. It is
said that Baoh intended to introduce four themes
into it and to bring it to an impressive conclusion
by inverting them all. All the Fugues in the
work are equally smooth and melodious.
To make up for the unfinished Fugue Bach
concluded the work with a Choral Prelude upon
the tune ^ Wenn wir in hochsten Nothen sein,'
which he dictated to his son-in-law, Altnikol, a
few days before his death,^ Of the extraordinary
skill it displays I do not speak, save to remark
that even in his last illness it proclaims Bach's
skill undiminished. The pious resignation and
devotion that characterise it move me deeply
whenever I play it. Nor should I find it easy
to say which I had rather had been omitted, the
Choral Prelude, or the conclusion of the unfinished
Fugue.
9. Lastly, after Bach's death, his four-part
Chorals were collected by his son, Carl Philipp
Emmanuel, and were published by Bimstiel
(Berlin and Leipzig), Part I. in 1766, Part II. in
1769.^ Each Part contains one hundred Chorals,
^ Bwpra^ p. 27. Hie movvment is in N. bk. 17 p. 8ff. It is not
certain that Baoh intended the Pnlode or the nniinished Fngoe to be
inohided.
* 0. P. B. Baoh was only oonoemed with the flnt vohime. Eik,
in his edition of the ' dxnalgesinge,' oonjeetoies that KinibeKger was
lesponsihle for the i
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124 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
mostly taken from the composer's church Can-
tatas.
More recently Eimberger edited, in four volumes,
a collection of Bach's Chorals. They are pub-
lished by Breitkopf.^
Bach's works, still in MS., consist of composi-
tions for the Clavier, Organ, with and without
other instruments. Strings, and the voice. I will
enumerate them in that order.
!• Compositions fob teeb Clavieb
1. Six LitUe Prelvdeafor Beginners.^
2. Fifteen Ttvo-part Inventions. An Invention
is a musical theme so constructed that by imita-
tion and inversion a whole movement can be
evolved from it. The subject having been first
stated, the rest develops naturally out of it. For
the instruction of a young Clavier player these
fifteen Inventions are of great value, seeing that
the composer has been careful not only to provide
exercises for both hands but for every finger as
1 The four YofaimeB were published at Leipzig between 1784-87.
Spitta gtates that 0. P. E. Baoh was the editor. Erk joins Kimbergpr
with him in that position. As C. P. £. Baoh died in 1788 Kimberger's
asBooiation with the work is probable, especially if he had already
been responsible for the 1709 Yofaime.
* Baoh's Cflavier school consisted of eighteen Prehides for beginners
(all in B.G. xzxvi.) ; the two-part and three-part Inventions ; and the
' Well-tempered GLavier.' The six Preludes mentioned by Forkel, and
which alone he knew, were published by him for the first time. Seven
more are found in Wilhelm XViedemann's * davierbftohlein ' (B.G.
XLV (1)), and the remainii:^ five have survived in texts handed down
by others of Bach's pupils. The eighteen are in P. bk. 200.
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BACH'S COMPOSITIONS 125
welL They were composed at Cothen in 1723,
with a long title which begins : ^ An honest Guide,
in which lovers of the Clavier are shown a clear
method of playing correctly in two parts/ etc.^
It cannot be denied that, among other blem-
ishes, the Inventions occasionally exhibit melodic
poverty and roughness. But finding them useful
to his pupils. Bach eventually revised them and
removed from them everything that offended his
maturer taste, so that they now stand as master-
pieces of pure music. Moreover they are in-
valuable exercises for the fingers and hands and
are sound instructors of taste. There is no better
introduction to Bach's larger works than they
afford.
3. Fifteen ihree^part Inventions^ also called Sym-
phonies. They were written for the same purpose
as the Inventions, but are more advanced.^
4. * The WeU-tempered Clavier , or. Preludes and
Fugues in all tones and semitones, composed for
the profit and use of young musicians desirous
of knowledge, as also for those who are skilled
already in this studio.^ Part I. was finished in
1722. Part II., like Part I., contains twenty-four
Preludes and twenty-four Fugues in every key,
^ The Autograph was written at Cothen and is dated 1723. It also
oontains the fifteen Symphonies, or three-part Inventions mentioned
in paragraph 3. Both Inyentions and Symphonies are in P. bk.
201. Aooording to Spitta (iL 67 n.) the Inventions wete paUished at
Leipsig in 1763. See also Sohweitseer, i. 328 fL
* See the previous note.
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126 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
and was composed at a later period.^ Eveiy
number of it^ from first to last, is a masterpiece.
In Part L^ however, certain Preludes and Fugues
bear marks of immaturity and are included pro-
bably only in order to complete the series. But
here again Bach eventually corrected whatever
seemed to him lacking in finish. He altered or
rewrote entire passages, so that in the later texts
few movements are not perfect. Among these
few I reckon the Fugues in A minor,' G major
and O minor,^ G major,^ F major and F minor.^
The rest are excellent, some of them so super-
latively good as to be not inferior to those in
Part 11.^ Even Part II., for all its original per^
fection, has been improved by the composer, as
may be observed by comparing the original and
later texts. Both Parts contain treasures of art
not to be found outside Germany.
^ The seooDd Pftrt was compiled in 1744 and Baoh's Autograph of
it, though not the eailiest Autograph, is in the British Museum. See
Schweitser, L 331 fiL and Spitta, iL 101 ff. The whole work is in
P. bks. 1. 2 ; or la, lb ; or 279(ki, 27006.
* No. 2a Spitta (iL 164) attributes it to the yean 1707 or 1708.
Sehweitcer (i. 332) also regards it as a youl^ifnl piece written, more-
over, for the pedal Caavicembalo.
* Nos. 16 and 16. Spitta, admitting that the two do not rank with
the most interesting in the ooUeotion, finds no indioati<m of their
being of different date from the beet movements.
* No. 1. Here Spitta (ii. 166 n.) challenges ForkeL
* Nos. 11 and 12. In regard to Na 12 (F minor) Spitta holds
Forkel to be in error. As to No. 11, he expresses the same opinion as
in note 3, mipra.
* The date 1744 places the second Part among Bach's latest com-
positions. On the other hand, like the first Ptet^ it contained wmk
ol eadiar date.
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BACff S COMPOSITIONS 127
5. ChfromaUc Fa/niaaia and Fugtie.^ I have
taken oongiderable pains to discover a similar
piece of music by Bach, but without success.
The Fantasia is unique and unequalled. Wilhelm
Friedemann sent it to me from Brunswick
inscribed with these words by a mutual friend :
* Anbey kommt an etwas Musik von Sebastian,
sonst genannt : Fantaaia chromatica ; bleibt schon
in aUe Saecula.'
It is remarkable that this piece, for aU its
technical skill, appeals to the most unpractised
hearer, if it is performed at aU tolerably,
6. A Fantaaia in C minor. It is not of the same
character as the preceding work, but resembles
rather the Allegro of a Sonata. It is divided into
two parts, but must be played as a single move-
ment. It is an excellent work, and in old copies
an unfinished Fugue follows, which, however,
cannot belong to it.^ The first thirty bars
certainly are by Bach, for they are marked by
an extremely bold use of augmented and diminished
intervals and their inversions, in three-part
harmony. None but Bach attempted such things.
< Ghronmtio Fantaaia and Fogne in D minor (P. bk. 207 p. 4). It
probably dates from oire, 1720-23.
* The MS. was diaoovered in 1870 and is now at Dresden. It was
written circ 1738 and disproves Forkel's oonjeotoxe that the Fogne
did not belong to the Fantasia and is only partially by Baoh. The
Fogne contains forty-seven ban. As the Aotogiaph is a fair copy the
Fogoe cannot be called onfinished. See Spitta, ilL 182. The Fan-
tana is in P. bk. 207 p. 50; the Fogoe in P. bk. 212 p. 88. See B.Q.
xxxTi., zzxvxn., and xul for other Gbvier Fantasiaa.
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128 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
The rest of the movement seems to have been
added by another hand and bears no trace of
Bach's style.
7. Six large Suites, consisting of Preludes, Alle-
mandes, Ck)urantes, Sarabandes, etc. They are
known as the ' English Suites,' because the com-
poser wrote them for an Englishman of rank.^
All of them are of great merit as works of art,
and some movements, in particular the Gigues
of the fifth and sixth Suites, are perfect master-
pieces of harmony and melody.
8. Six srnuU Suites, consisting of Allemandes,
Courantes, etc. They are generally called the
* Erench Suites,' because they are written in the
French style.^ The composer is intentionally
less academic in them than in his larger Suites,
and their melodies are more than usually pleasant
and agreeable. In particular the fifth Suite
deserves to be noticed: all its movements are
most melodious, and in the concluding Gigue
^ The tnie explanation seems to be that the Prelude of the first
Suite (A major) is based npon a Gigue by Charles Dieupart (d. drc,
1740), a popular teacher and composer in England. The words ' fait
pour les Ang^ois,' which head the A major Suite in an early MS., have
been wrongly interpreted as applying to the whole set of six. They
merely indicate Dieupart's borrowed Gigue. See Grove, voL i. 701,
and Parry, ' J. S. Bach,' p. 463. A copy of the work exists, of date
1724-27, made by one of Bach's pupils. But the composition of the
Suites may certainly be assigned to the Gothen period. They are
published in P. bks. 203, 204.
* The Piench Suites undoubtedly date back to the Gothen period,
since they figure, though incomplete, in the ' Notenbuch ' of A. M. Bach
(1722). They are published in P. bk. 202.
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BACffS COMPOSITIONS 129
only consonant intervals, especially thirds and
sixths, are used.
These are Bach's principal works for the Clavier
which can be considered classics. ^ A great number
of single Suites,^ Toccatas and Fugues,^ besides
those already mentioned, have great and varying
merit, but are youthful works.* At the most,
ten or twelve of them seem to me worth preserving,
some of them because they would be useful as
finger exercises, for which their author originally
intended them, others because they are at least
better than similar works by other composers.
As an exercise for the fingers of both hands I
particularly single out a Fugue in A minor,^ in
which the composer has been at great pains to
write florid passages in order to give equal
strength and suppleness to both hands. For
beginners a little two-part Fugue ^ should also
prove useful. It is melodious, flowing, and not
at aU old-fashioned.
^ Forkel's inoomplete catalogue may be compared with the Bach-
geeellflchaft volumes in., xm. (2), ziv., xxv. (1), xxxi. (2), xxzvi., ttjt.,
ZLin. (1 and 2), xlv. (1). See generally SchweitsBcr, oh. 15, and Pirro,
pp. 218 ff.
> P. bks. 205, 206, 208, 212 (fragment in F minor), 214, 215,
1950.
» P. bks. 200, 210, 211, 212, 214, 215, 1959.
* For the most part these youthful works will be found in
B.G. xzxvi.
» P. bk. 207 p. 16.
• In C mmor (P. bk. 200 p. 10).
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130 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
II. MlJSIO FOB THB ClAVIEB WTTH OTHEB
Instbumbnts
1. Six Sonatas for Clavier tvith VioKn obbligaio.
Composed at Cothen, they are among Bach's
masterpieces in this form and display f ugal and
canonic writing which is both natural and full of
character. The Violin part needs a master to
play it; for Bach knew the capabilities of the
instrument and spared it as little as the Clavier.
The six Sonatas are in the keys of B minor, A
major, E major, C minor, F minor, and G major. ^
2. Several Sonatas for Harpsichord and Violiri^
Harpsichord and Flute^^ Harpsichord and Viol
da OamJba.^ They are admirably written and
most of them are pleasant to listen to even to-
day.^
3. Several Concertos for the Clavier and other
instruments. They contain real gems of art
but are antiquated in form.*
1 Id P. bkfl. 232, 233.
* Suite in A major (P. bk. 236), Sonata in E minor (P. bk. 236),
Fagae in Q minor (P. bk. 236), four Inventions (P. bk. 2^7), Sonata
in Q minor (BG. ix. 274 ; not in P.), Sonata in C major for 2 Yiolina
and Clavier (P. bk. 237).
* There are six Sonatas for Flute and davier, in B minor, E flat
major, A minor, C major, E minor, £ major (P. bks. 234, 235).
^ There are three Sonatas for CSavier and Gamba, in Q major,
D major, G minor (P. bk. 239).
* Forkel omits two Sonatas for Violin, Flute, and Clavier, in G major
and C minor (both in P. bk. 237).
* As Forkel mentions in sees. 4, 5, 6 the Concertos for two, three,
and four Claviers, perhaps he had in mind here seven Concertos for
Clavier and Orchestra (P. bks. 248-254). A Concerto for Clavier,
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BACH'S COMPOSITIONS 131
4. Ttvo Concertos for two Olaviera, with an
accompaniment of two Violins, Viola, and
Violoncello. The first, m C minor,^ has an antique
flavour. But the second, in C major,^ is as fresh
as if it had been written yesterday,^ It may
be played without the String quartet and still
sounds admirable. The final Allegro is a majestic
movement and strictly fugal. Compositions of
this form were first perfected, indeed, we may
conjecture, were first attempted, by Bach. At
least, I have met with only a single example by
another composer that may perhaps be older —
namely, Pachelbel of Niimberg's Toccata, as he
called it. Pachelbel, however, was a ccmtemporary
of Bach and may have taken the idea from him.
However, his work is not worth considering. One
instrument merely repeats the other's phrases
without being at all concertante. It almost
seems as if Bach at this period had made up his
mind to discover what could be done with any
number of parts. Having already written for a
^olin, flnte, and OroheBtra (P. bk. 265 p. 4) in A minor also shcnild be
mentioned. Also an Overtoie, in 6 minor, for dayier and Strings
(B.G. XLV. (1) p. 190; not in P.)
* P. bk. 257 p. 4. • P. bk. 256 p. 4.
* There are, in fact, three Gonoertos for two daviers and Orchestra :
two in minor and one in major. Forkel refers to only one of the
former and regards it as antiquated by comparison with the one in
C major. Spitta (iiL 144) attributes the major to 1790. Fozkel's
minor in its original f onn was a Conoerto for two Vidins, now k)8t
The other C minor Oonoerto is identical with the Oonoerto in D minor
for two Violins and is in P. 257b. Spitta (iii 138) dates it 1736.
See SohweitEer, L 413.
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132 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
single solo instrument music which required no
accompaniment, he next experimented in dividing
his material between as large a number of solo
instruments as possible. Hence the Concertos
for two Claviers were followed by
6. Ttvo Concertos for three Claviers with an
accompaniment of Strings.^ These Concertos
present a remarkable characteristic : besides
the concertante combination of three Claviers, the
stringed instruments also have concertante parts
distinct from the accompaniment. It is difficult
to reahse the art involved in this achievement.
For, in spite of their technical skill, the two
works are so delicate, full of character, and
expressive, that the composer might be treating
a simple melody (note particularly the Concerto
in D minor). Words are inadequate to express
the admiration they arouse. But Bach was not
satisfied. Hence he wrote
6. A Concerto for four Claviers and four stringed
instruments.^ I cannot judge the effect of this
composition, for I have never been able to get
together the four instruments and four performers
^ In D minor and major (P. bks. 268, 259). The tradition is that
Baoh wrote these two Concertos in order to play them with his elder
sons. Spitta (iii. 144) finds the tradition trustworthy. Henoe the
two works must have been written by c 1733 at latest, before the sons
left home. See also Schweitzer, i 414.
* In A minor (P. bk. 260). This is not an original composition, but
is an arrangement by Bach of a Vivaldi Concerto for four Violins.
Spitta (iiL 140) assigns it to the same period as the Concertos for three
davien, e. 1733. See B.Q. xun. (1) inpa.
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BACH'S COMPOSITIONS 133
it requires. But that it is admirably written can
be seen from the parts.
in. Compositions fob the Obgan
The pedal is the distinctive feature of the Organ
which places it above aU other instruments, and
gives it its magnificence, sonority, and majesty.
Deprive it of the pedal and you take from it the
solemn and imposing tones which are its dis-
tinctive utterance, reducing it to the level of a
^positiv,' or Chamber-organ, an instrument re-
latively insignificant.
But an Organ equipped with a pedal must be
able to employ it in its full compass,^ and both
composer and organist must know the proper use
of it. No one excelled Bach in this knowledge.
Not only is his rich harmony and melody singu-
larly adapted to the instrument, but he gave the
pedal a part of its own, even in his early com-
positions. Yet it was only gradually that he
mastered its technique; for his Organ master-
pieces belong to the period in which those for the
Clavier began to be classics. His early and im-
mature Organ works are widely dispersed ; for
as soon as a composer begins to be distinguished
everybody is anxious to possess a specimen of his
art. Public curiosity, however, generally dies
down long before a composer comes to maturity,
^ The pedftl on the small Qerman Oigwi had only the compass of
anooCaye.
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134 JOHAKN SEBASTIAN BACH
particularly if his work is over the heads of the
public. And this seems to have been Bach's
fortune. Consequently his mature Organ works
are less familiar than his early efiorts. The latter,
however, cannot possibly be admitted to a * correct
and critical ' edition of his works, and I mention here
only those whose merit is as incontestable as that
of the Clavier works enxunerated in the preceding
paragraphs.
Bach's finest Organ music falls into three
groups :
1. The Great Preludes and Fugues^ with obbligato
pedaL Their number cannot be stated, but I
beUeve it not to exceed a dozen.^ At least, after
prolonged search I have not been able to collect
more than that number.^ To these I must add
a very clever and original Passacaglia, which,
^ The Great Pl^ludee and Fugaes are, with one exception, in B.G. zv.
The Prelude and Fugae in E flat was publiahed by Baoh in the third
Part of the ' davierubang.' Its Fugue is known as the ' St Anne's.'
* From the figures printed by Forkel the twelve can be identified
as follows (the refetenoes in parentheses ue to the Novello edition of
Baoh's Organ works) :
Prelude and Fugue in minor, the ' Great ' (bk. Tii. 64).
Do.
do.
A minor.
do. (bk. viL 42).
Do.
do.
G major.
do. (bk. viii. 112).
Do.
do.
£ minor.
do. (bk. viiL 98).
Do.
do.
B minor.
do. (bk. vii. 52).
Do.
do.
C major.
do. (bk. ix. 166).
Do.
do.
D minor \
(bk.
iz. 150).
Do.
do.
major (
bk.
iiL70).
Toooata and Fugue in D minor (bk* x. 196).
Do. do. F major (bk. iz. 176).
PrehidA and Fogoe in G minor (bk. Tiii 120).
Do. do. E minor (bk. iL 44).
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BACH'S COMPOSITIONS 136
however, seems suitable rather for a two-manual
Qavioembalo and pedal than for the Organ.^
2. Prdudes on Choral Melodies. It was at
Amstadt that Bach began to compose Variations
on Choral melodies, under the title 'Partite
diverse.' ^ Most of them can be played on the
manuals alone. Those which I include here are
an exception and require the obbUgato pedal.
Their number may amoimt to one himdred. I
myself possess above seventy, and more survive
elsewhere.^ No other Choral Preludes approach
^ The Passaoaglia in C minor (Novello bk. 10 p. 214) was written
originally for the davioembalo and pedaL It belongs to the later
Weimar period, ••«. eirc 1715. See Spitta, i. 688 and SchweitEer, i. 280.
* They are all printed in Novello bk. 19, and are three in number,
on the melodies * Christ, der da bist der helle Tag,' ' O Gk)tt, da f rommer
Gott,' and ' Sei gegruaset, Jesa gfitig.' The pedal is only required in
one movement of the first, in none of the second, and considerably in
the third. Without question all three date from Bach's earliest
period, but whether they were written at Amstadt or Luneburg cannot
be stated.
* The fullest collection of these miscellaneous Organ Choral Preludes
is in B.G. xl. Not counting variant readings they number fifty-
two, besides two fragments and thirteen of doubtful authenticity,
of which two are sets of Variations. The Novello edition contains
fifty-two in bks. 18 and 19. To these must be added the ' Eighteen '
Preludes on Choral Melodies, which Forkel nowhere mentions, as well
as the third Part of the * Cflavierubung,' the ' Schubler Chorals^' and
tiie Variations on ' Vom Himmel hoch,' to which he has already made
reference in the first section of this chapter. As he does not mention
it spedfically, it is to be inferred that Forkel was ignorant of the exist*
enoe of the ' Orgelbiichlein ' ; otherwise he could hardly have failed
to introduce it in this section. All Bach's Choral j^udes, mis-
cellaneons and in collections made by himself, toe in Novello's
edition, bks. 16-19. A useful key to tiieir melodies is provided by
bk. 20. For more detailed information see Terry, ' Bach's ChonJs/
Partm.
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136 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
them in religious feeling, dignity, and sublimity of
expression. I cannot notice them individually ;
tiiiey are too numerous. Besides the larger, there
is a great number of shorter and easier ones,
particularly useful for young players. MSS. of
them exist in considerable number.^
3. Six SonataSf or Trios, for two manuals and
an obbligato pedaL^ Bach wrote them for his
eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann, whom they
helped to become the great performer he was
when I knew him. It is impossible to overpraise
their beauty. Bach composed them when he was
in the full vigour of his powers, and they may be
considered his chef d'omvre in this form.^ He also
wrote other Organ Sonatas, the MSS. of which are
in various collections. They are fine composi-
tions, though they do not equal the Six in merit.^
^ The laige number of MSS. of many of the miBoeUaneona Preludes
is made evident in the introduction to B.G. xl.
' The Sonatas in E flat major, minor, and D minor are in N.
bk. 4 ; E minor, major, 6 major in N. bk. 6.
' The 80-oalled * Sonatas ' were actually written for a CSavicembalo
with two manuals and a pedaL Bach's Autograph of them belonged to
his second son and an earlier copy of them to Wilhelm Friedemann.
Both are now in the Berlin Royal Library. Friedemann went to
Dresden as Organist in 1733 and Spitta is of opinion that the whole
of the six Sonatas were in existence by or soon after 1727. If so,
they must be regarded as the outcome of Bach's early years at
Leipzig. See Spitta, iii. 212 ff. and Schweitzer, i. 278.
^ None are extant. Spitta, iii. 213 n., conjectures that Forkd
refers to the Trios in D minor and C minor (N. bhs. 2 p. 54, 12 p.
106) and the Pastorale in F major (N. bk. 12 p. 102.) His incom-
plete knowledge of the Organ works is revealed by Appendix y.
infra.
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BACH'S COMPOSITIONS 137
IV. Instextmbntal Music
There are few instruments for which Bach did
not write. In his day it was usual to play a
Concerto or instrumental Solo during the Com-
munion office.^ Bach composed many of these
pieces himself, and always with a view to their
improving the technique of the player. Most of
them are lost. But two important works of
another kind survive and to some extent compen-
sate us. They are :
1. Six Solos for Violin^ unaccompanied.^
2. Six Solos for ViolonceUo^ imaccompanied.^
The Violin Solos have long been considered by
the finest players to be the best instructor for the
instrument. The Violoncello Solos are equally
effective.*
^ This IB a pore conjeotnie and Sohwettzer sooutB it (L 416 n.).
* The oldest oopy of them dates from ore. 1720 ; they belong
therefore to the late Gothen period. The 1720 MS. is in A. M. Baoh's
handwriting and was disoovered in 1814 at Petrograd among old
papers about to be sent away to a bntter dealer. The Sonatas are in
P. bk. 228.
' They also date from the C5then period and are in P. bk. 238a»
2d8b.
^ Fori^el omits to mention the Brandenburg Concertos (P. bks. 201-
266) ; the Orertures in C major (P. bk. 267), B minor (P. bk. 268),
D major (P. bk. 269)» D major (P. bk. 2068) ; and the Violin Concertos
in A minor (P. bk. 229), E major (P. bk. 230), and (for two Violins)
m D minor (P. bk. 231). In B.G. zzi. (1) is a Symphonio movement, in
D major, for Violin and orchestia. A Sinfonia in F major (B.G. ym.
96) is another version of the first Brandenburg Concerto. The
Clavier Concertos have been mentioned supra.
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138 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
V. VOOAL Musio
1. Five complete sets of church Cantatas for
the Sundays and Festivals of the year.^
2. Five compositions for Holy Week, one of
which is for double chorus.^
3. Several Oratorios,^ Masses,^ a 'Magnificat/
^ The set of five is complete only for Obristmas Day, Feast of the
GiroamciBlon, Whitsunday (one of tiie five is of donbtful authentioity),
Pnrifioation of the B.V.M., and Feast of St. Ifiohael the Axohangel.
See Teny, * Bach's Ohoiab,' Part EL 2 ff .
* In giving the number of ' Passions ' as five, Forkel repeats the
statement of the * Nekrolog.' The number corresponds with the five
sets of Church Cantatas which Bach is known to have written. It
is, however, exceedingly doubtful whether Bach wrote more than four
* Passions.' Only those according to St. Matthew and St. John have
oome down to us from C P. E. Bach, who was left the Autographs of both
by his father. The ' St. John Passion ' was first performed in 1724
and the ' St. Matthew Passion * in 1729. Picander, Bach's librettist,
certainly wrote two other Passion texts, one of which was written for
Good Friday 1725, and the second, based on St. Mark's Gospel, was
actually performed at St. Thomas', Leipzig, on Good Friday 1731.
Spitta (iL 605) gives good reason to hold that Bach's music for this
Ptosion was adapted from the ' Trauer-Ode,' which he had written
in 1727 in memory of Queen CSiristiaae Eberhardine. But of the 1725
' Passion ' there is no trace. If it ever existed, its loss probably may
be assigned to Wilhekn Friedemaon's carelessness, to whom presom-
ably it was assigned in the division d Bach's property after his death.
But even so, we have no more than four * Passions.' lliere exists,
however, a fifth ' Ptasion according to St. Luke,' which is undoubtedly
in Bach's Autograph, and which Spitta is inclined to attribute to Bach
himself. It is published by Breitkopf and Haertel, but is genecally
regarded as being by another composer than Bach, who probably
copied it for use at LeipEig. On the whole matter see Spitta^ iL 504 fL,
Sohweitaer, chap. xxvL, and the Bach-Jahrbnch for 1911 (PuUioations
of the New BaohgeseUbohaft xn. (2)).
' Other than the ' Ptedons,* the only Oratorios are the ' Christmas
Oratorio' (1734), the 'Easter Oratorio' (o. 1736), and 'Ascension
Oratorio '(c 1735).
« Besides the B minor Mass (1738-? 38) Bach wrote four misoalled
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BACH'S COMPOSITIONS 139
settings of the ^ Sanctus,^ compositions for birth-
days and Saints' Days,^ funerab,' marriages,^ and
some Italian Cantatas.^
4. Several Motets for single and double
chorus.*
Most of these works are now dispersed. The
Church Cantatas were divided between his elder
sons after their composer's death. Wilhelm
Friedemann had the larger share because, being
organist at HaUe, he could make use of them.
Later, circumstances compelled hijn to part with
them gradually. I know of no^other collection of
Bach's larger choral works. There exist, however,
eight or ten Motets for double chorus, but they
are dispersed in various hands.^ In the collection
' short ' MuaeSy in F major, A major, G minor, and G major. They
an belong to the Leipzig period (e. 1739),
^ Beeidee the settdng of the Sanotos in the B minor Maes there ate
four detached aettangs, in C major, D major, D minor, and G major.
Of these only that in D major is probably by Baoh (e. 1723).
* The mnaio for Sainte* Days is indnded in the chnroh Oantatae.
For the Birthday Odes see mpra, Chap. Ua.
> Besides the * Trauer-Ode,' three or four of the ohmeh Cantatas
and certainly three of the Motets were written for funerals. See
Teny, op. oU., pp. 24, 44.
^ Among the chuioh Oantatas there are at least five for use at
weddingEk Baoh wrote also three seoolar wedding Oantatas: ^Weiohet
nnr,betrtibteSohatten'(e.l730); 'Oholder Tag' (? 1749); the third
(1728) has disappeared.
* Two Italian Cantatas — ' Amore traditore ' and * Non sa ohe sia
dokxre ' — have come down to ns. A third, ' Andxo dall odle al prato,'
is lost See B.G. zi. (ii), zziz.
* Only six ore genuine. See mfta, p. 141.
* Of the Motets that haTS oome down to us as his, only six are
Baoh*s. Foxkel mentions Atb d them in sees. 7 and 8 of the next
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140 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
bequeathed by the Princess Amalia of Prussia
to the Jo&«himsthal Oymnasium at Berlin there
are some of Bach's vocal compositions.^ Their
number is not considerable, but among them are
the following :
1. Twenty-one CShurch Cantataa' In one of
them, set to the words, * Schlage doch, gewiinschte
Stunde,' ^ the composer introduces a bell obbligato.
From that fact we may conclude that the Cantata
was not composed in the period of Bach's matur-
ity,* for the use of bells is of doubtful taste.
2. Two Masses for five voices with instrumental
accompaniment.^
3. A Mass for double chorus, the first being
paragraph ; he omitB * Lobefc den Harm, alle Heiden.' In 1802-3
Breitkopf and Haertd pahUshed six Motets— 4Jie five mentioned by
Foitol and another, 'Ich laose dioh nicht,' of which Baoh made a
copy, bat whoee oompoeer aotoally was Johann Ohristoph Baoh. We
know that Bach composed at least one Latin Motet for double chorus,
and Friedemann's share of his father's autographs may have con-
tained it and others known to Foi^el but no longer extant.
^ The Amahenbibliothek of the Joachimsthal Gymnasium, Berlin,
contains one of the most important Baoh collections, but it hss long
been superseded by the Royal library there as the chief repository
of Bach's Autographs.
* The Amalienbibliothek hss only one Autograph, namely, Oeuktata
34, ' O ewiges Feuer.' The rest are early copies.
' Cantata 53. No Autograph of this Oeuktata exists, and the copies
from which the B.G. edition was printed are in the Amalienbibliothek.
« On the contrary, the Cantata belongs to the Lnpzig period,
1723-34.
* None of the four * short ' Masses is in five parts. All have instru-
mental accompaniments. The autograph scores of the Masses in
A major and Q major are in Massrs. Broitkopf and Haertel's possession.
Copies of the othcnr two scores, in Altnikol's handwriting, are in the
Berlin Royal library. See Introduction to B.G* vin.
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BACH'S COMPOSITIONS 141
accompanied by Strings and the second by wind
instruments.1
4. A ' Passion,' for double Chorus,^ the text by
Picander.^
5. A ^ Sanctus/ for four voices and instru-
mental accompaniment>
6. A Motet, for four voices, ' Aus tiefer Noth
schrei ich zu dir.' ^
7. A Motet for five voices, ' Jesu, meine Freude.'
8. Four Motets, for eight voices in double
chorus:
(a) * Fiirchte dich nicht, ich bin dei dir*'
(6) 'Der Geist hilft unserer Schwachheit
auf.'
(c) * Komm, Jesu, komm.'
(d) ' Singet dem Herm ein neues Lied.' •
9. A detached four-part fugal chorus, 'Nimm
was dein ist, und gehe bin.' ^
^ An eight-part Mass in G was perfonned at a Leipzig Gewandhaus
Oonoert on March 7» 1806, and was published later in the year by
Breitkopf and HaerteL The score is admittedly, for the greater part
of the work, in Bach's hand and is in the Berlin Royal Library. The
publication of the work was under consideration by the Bachgesell-
schaft in 1858. That it is not by Bach is generally held. It has been
attributed to Johann Ludwig Bach (d. 1741 ). See Qenealogioal Table n.
> The ' St. Matthew Passion.'
' A nom de phime for Christian Friedrioh Henrid (1700-64), who
wrote a large number of Bach's Leipzig texts.
* Perhaps Forkel indicates the short SancHu in Richter's edition of
the Choraigesdnge, No. 123, or that in B.G. zu. p. 177.
* This is the first Chorus of Cantata No. 38. It is printed as a
separate Motet in Eik, No. 150.
* Forkel's list is complete except for * Lobet den Herni, alle Heiden.'
' The opening Chorus of Cantata 144.
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142 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
10. A bucolic Cantata, with BecitatiTes^ Aria,
Duet, and Chorus. A note is prefixed to it.^
On the MS. of the last-named Cantata and of
the Mass for double chorus (No. 3 av/pra) there is
a note by Kimberger analysing the skill and merit
of the compositions.
^ Forkel relera to the 'Peasant Cantata,* or *Mer hahn en none
Oberkeety' performed on Aogast 90, 1742. Forkel deadly was not
familiar with Bach's other secular CSuitatas. See B.G. n. (li.), zx. (ii.),
TXTT. The Autograph score of the Peasant CSantata is in tibe Beriin
Royal Library.
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CHAPTER X
baoh's manuscbifts
It has been remarked more thaaa once that Bach^
throughout his life, devoted much thought to the
improvement of his compositions. I have had
frequent occasion to compare the original and
subsequent texts of his works, and confess to have
experienced both surprise and pleasure in observing
his care to improve whatever he thought faulty,
to make good better, and better perfect. Nothing
is more instructive than a collation of this kind,
whether to the experienced musician or the in-
structed amateur. I should like to see a supple-
ment to the complete edition of Bach's works
showing these variant readings.^ The collation
would be in the highest d^ree instructive, and to
attempt it is as appropriate to the works of the
composer, a poet in sound, as to those of the poet
in words.
In Bach's early texts he often repeats a phrase
to other words with some melodic variety, in a
^ ForkeFs suggestion was oairied out, with yarying thoroughness,
in the BaehgeseUschAlt edition.
14M
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144 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
lower or even in the same octave. In his riper
experience he could not tolerate such poverty of
workmanship, and cut out these passages remorse-
lessly, without regard for the number and quality
of the persons who had approved them in their
original state. There occur to me two good
examples of this, the C major and C sharp minor
Preludes in the first part of the * Well-tempered
Clavier.' Bach revised them so drastically as to
cut them down by one-half, sacrificing passages
that he thought redundant.^
In. other places Bach tends to be over-concise ;
he expresses an idea, but does not fully develop it.
The best illustration that occurs to me is the
D minor Prelude in the second part of the ' WeU-
tempered Clavier.' I possess several texts of it.
In the oldest the first transposition of the theme
in the Bass and several other details essential to
a complete development of the idea are wanting.
A second MS. gives the theme to the Bass wherever
the latter is in a key nearly related to that of the
tonic. In a third MS. these addenda are de-
veloped more fully and are joined more skilfully.
But melodic details are present of doubtful
relevance to the rest of the composition. In a
fourth MS. these disappear or are amended, so
that, as we have it, the Prelude stands as one of
the most beautiful and least faulty in the ' Well-
tempered Clavier.' Many people, no doubt, pre-
^ Forkel's judgment is at fault. See SohwutsEer, i. 33d.
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BACH'S MANUSCRIPTS 146
ferred the movement in its original form. But
Bach was not a man to be influenced by approba-
tion or criticism. He went on correcting until
he satisfied himself.
In the early part of the seventeenth century it
was the fashion in instrumental music to overload
single notes with ornaments and add florid runs.
Lately it has become the fashion to do so in vocal
music as well. That Bach shared this disposition
may be inferred from certain pieces that he wrote
in this style. An instance is the Prelude in
E minor in ihe first part of the ^ WeU-tempered
Clavier.' But he soon returned to his natural
better taste, and altered the movement to the
form in which it is engraved.^
Every decade has its own style of melody, dis-
tinctive of itself and evanescent. A composer
must carefully avoid it if he hopes to be listened
to by posterity. In his young days even Bach
ran upon this rock. His early compositions for
the Organ, and the two-part ' Inventions ' in their
original form, are full of fiarituri such as the taste
of his period approved. His Organ compositions
remain comparativebfr untouched, but the ^In-
ventions ' he closely revised. The public will soon
be able to compare them in their first and later
forms, as the publishers, with admirable spirit,
have resolved to discontinue the present edition
t Also in Wilhelm VtMmomn's 'Glavierbftohlein.' See Sohimteer,
L27Q; Spitta. ii. 166.
K
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146 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
and to send out to subscribers a revised one based
on Baoh's corrected text.
Bach's processes of revision so far mentioned,
however, merely correct faults of form, that is,
diffuseness or incomplete development of a musical
thought. But Bach employed other methods
which are less easy to describe because they are
more subtle. He often rivets the style and char-
acter of a piece by changing a single note, strictly
correct grammatically and yet disagreeable to an
artist such as himself. Even commonplace pas-
sages he could convert into phrases of beauty by
the addition or alteration of a single note. Only
the most sensitive taste and trained experience
can decide in such cases, and Bach possessed both
in the highest perfection. He developed them to
such a pitch, indeed, that his brain eventually
rejected any idea which, in all its properties and
relations, did not accord inevitably and naturally
with the whole composition. Consequently his
later works display such consistency of merit that
all of them seem to have been cast complete
in a mould, so smooth, facile and abundant is the
flow of his rich fancy. It is on the highest sum-
mits of the art that harmony and melody find
their ideal union, and as yet Bach dwells there in
majestic isolation.
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1
CHAPTER XI
THB GENIUS OF BAOH
It is surely unnecessary to ask whether that artist
is a genius who, in every form of his art, has
produced masterpiece after masterpiece, of an
originaJity which sets them ahove the achieve*
ments of all other ages, distinguished also hy
a wealth of originality and agreeableness that
enslaves every hearer. The most fertile fancy,
invention inexhaustible, a judgment so nice as to
reject intuitively every irrelevant and jarring /
detail, unerring ingenuity in employing the most ;
delicate and minute resources of his art, along \
with an unrivalled technique — ^these quaUties,' ;
whose expression demands the outpouring of a ' >
man's whole soul, are the signboards of genius. • f
The man who cannot find them in Baches music
either is not acquainted with it at all or knows
it imperfectly. One needs to be steeped in it
thoroughly to appreciate the genius of its author.
For the greater the work the closer study is de-
manded for its apprehension. The butterfly
method, a sip here and there, is of little use.
But admirable as were the gifts Baoh received
w
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148 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
from nature, he could never have become an
accomplished genius had he not learned betimes
to avoid the rocks on which many artists, some of
them perhaps not less gifted than he, too often
founder. I will communicate to the reader some
scattered thoughts on the subject and conclude
this essay with an indication of the character-
istics of Baches genius.
Even the largest natural gifts, coupled with the
strongest propensity for a particular art, offer no
more than fruitful soil on which that art may
thrive by patient cultivation. Industry, the true
begetter of every art and science, is an indis-
pensable factor. Not only does it enable genius
to master technique, but it stimulates the critical
and reflective faculties also. The very ease with
which genius acquires and applies the apparatus
of musical composition frequently entices it to
leap over root principles in its plunge into deeper
waters, or to fly before its wings are grown. In
such a case, unless genius is guided back to
neglected fundamentals and forced to build itself
upon the great examples of the past, it will in-
evitably expend its treasure uselessly and never
attain to its promised dimensions. For it is an
axiom, that real progress can never be made,
nor the highest perfection be attained, if the
foundations are insecure. If arduous heights are
to be achieved, the easier obstacles must first be
approached and overcome. Guided by his own
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THE GENIUS OP BACH 149
inexperience no one ever can hope to become
great. He must profit by the practice and ex-
ample of others.
Bach did not f omider on this rock. His soaring
genius attended an equally ardent industry which
incessantly impelled him, whenever he found his
own equipment insufficient, to seek guidance from
others. Vivaldi and his Concertos were the first
from whom he sought counseL fVom them he
turned to the principal Organ and Clavier com-
posers of the period. Nothing is more intel-
lectually stimulating than counterpoint, and the
composers Bach studied were distinguished by
their mastery of it, as their fugal writing attests.
Hence Bach's diligent study and imitation of them
pointed his taste and imagination to perceive
wherein himself was lacking and what steps were
needed to take him farther in his art.
A second rock upon which genius often comes
to grief is the pubUc's undiscriminating applause.
To be sure, I do not undervalue pubUc approval
or commend without reserve the remark of a
Greek teacher to his pupil, ' You performed badly,
otherwise the audience would not have applauded
you.' Yet it is none the less true that many
artists are thrown off their balance by exaggerated
and often unmerited plaudits, particularly in their
early careers before they have acquired self-dis-
cipline and sound judgment. The pubUc merely
asks for what it can understand, whereas the true
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160 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
artist ought to aim at an achievement ^liiich
cannot be measmed by popular standards. How,
then, can popular applause be reconciled with the
true artist's aspirations towards the ideal 7 Bach
never sought applause, and held with Schiller :
Kannst da nicht aOen gof aUen dnich deine That und
dein Kmistwei^
Hadi' es wenigen recht ; vielen gefaUen ist schlimm.^
Lake every true artist. Bach worked to please
himself in his own way, obejring the summons of
his own genius, choosing his own subjects, and
finding satisfaction only ia the approval of his
own judgment. He could count on the applause
of all who understood good music, and never
failed to receive it. Under what other conditions
can sound works of art emei^e 7 The composer
who debases his muse to the popular mood either
lacks real genius or, having it, abuses it. For to
catch the ear of the public is not a difficult task
and merely connotes an agreeable facility. Com-
posers of that class are like artisans who frankly
fashion their goods to suit their market. But
Bach never condescended to such artifices. The
artist, in his judgment, is the dictator of public
taste, not its slave. If, as often happened, he was
asked to write something simple for the Clavier
^ ' Since yoa cannot please eyerybody by yoor actions and work,
strive at least to satisfy a few ; popular appredation enooiuageB bad
ark*— Scfaillflr's * Votiftaleln.*
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THE GENIXJS OF BACH 161
he would answer^ 'I will do what I caiu' He
would choose an easy theme. But when he b^an
to develop it he always found so much to say
that the piece soon became anything but simple.
If his attention was drawn to the fact, he would
answer smilingly, ^ Practise it well and you will
find it quite easy. You have as many good fingers
on each hand as I have.' Nor was he prompted
in this by mere contradictoriness, but exhibited
the true artist spirit.
It was, in fact, the artist temperament that led
Bach to make the great and sublime his goaL
For that reason nis musicus not merely agreeable,
like' other compo8ers\ butMransports us to the
regions of the ideal It does not arrest our atten-
tion momentarily but grips us the stronger the
oftener we listen to it, so that after a thousand
hearings its treasures are still unexhausted and
3rield fresh beauties to excite our wonder.*' Even
the beginner who knows but the ABC of his art
warms with pleasure when he hears Bach's music
and can open his ear and heart to it. It was the
true artist spirit, too, that guided Bach to unite
majesty and grandeur of design with meticulous
care for detail and the most refined elegance,
characteristics which we rather seek, perhaps, in
works whose object is merely to give pleasure.
Bach held strongly that if the strands are im-
perfect, the whole design is faulty. His genius
is sublime and impressive, and he never conde-
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152 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
scends to be frivolous even when he touches the
lighter forms of art.
To conclude : it wa49 the union of astounding
genius and indefatigable appUcation that enabled
Bach to widen at every point the domain of
musical expression. His successors have failed
to maintain the art at the level to which he raised
it. If Bach was more successful, if he was able
to produce great work of convincing beauty and
imperishable as a model for those who came after
him, we owe it as much to his application as to
his genius.
This man, the greatest orator-poet that ever
addressed the world in the language of music,
was a German ! Let Germany be proud of him !
Yes, proud of him, but worthy of him too !
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Thk Bach Statue at Leipzig.
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APPENDIX I
CHRONOLOGICAL CATALOGUE OP BACH'S
COMPOSITIONS 1
L CATALOomo OF Bach's Compositions fbiob to his
AFPomTMENT TO Wbimab m JuNB 1708, in his
twenty-fourth year.
Vooal:—
Motet : Lobet den Herm, alle Heiden.
Clavhsb*: —
Oapriooio sopra la iontananza del bug fratello dilettissimo
(bk. 208 p. 62) (1704).
Capriccio in honoiem Joh. Ghiistoph Bachii, Ohidrof
(bk. 216 p. 34) (c. 1704).
Sonata in D major (bk. 216 p. 44) (c. 1704).*
B.G. xxxvi. prints a number of pieces which, in general,
may be assigned to Bach's immature years. They are repro-
duced in Peters' edition :
Book 200 : Fughetta m C minor (p. 10).
Prelude and Fughetta in D minor (p. 40).
Do. do. E minor (p. 42).
Do. do. A minor (p. 47).
^ The CantataB are olaaoified under Appendix n.
* The relerenoes are to Peters' edition. Ezoepting bk. 1969, ^^oh
oontaine pieces of doubtful authentioity, every number printed by
Peters is entered in the Chronological Catalogue.
* There are three other Sonatas, in A minor, C major, D minor,
none of which is an original composition. They are printed in P.
bk. 213. The first and second are adaptations of material in Reinken's
' Hortus Musicus.' The third is a transcription of the second Solo
Sonata for Violin.
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164 JOHAI^ SEBASTIAN BACH
Fague in C major (p. 64).
Do. do. (p. 66).
Book 207 : Fantasia in C minor (p. 60).
Book 212 : Do. do. (p. 68).
Fugue in D minor (p. 69).
Do. do. (p. 61).
Do. £ minor (p. 68).
Book 214 : Prelude and Fugfaetta in F major (p. 76).
Do. do. O major (p. 78).
Ptielude in G major (p. 80).
Book 216 : Three Minuets (p. 62).
To these may be added (? authentic) from B.G. xlh. :
Book 212 : Fantasia and Fughetta in B flat major (p. 68).
Do. do. D major (p. 60).
Qboan 1 : —
Prelude and Fugue in C minor (bk. 2 p. 48) (c. 1704).
Do. do. major (bk. 8 p. 88) (? 1707).»
Do. do. the ' Short/ A minor (bk. 10 p. 208).
Fugue in C minor (bk. 12 p. 96) (c. 1704).
Do. G minor, on a theme by Legrenzi (bk. 10 p. 230)
(c. 1708).
Do. B minor, on a theme by Corelli (bk. 3 p. 60).
Do. D major (bk. 12 p. 83).
Do. G major (bk. 12 p. 66).
Do. G major (bk. 12 p. 86).
Do. G minor (bk. 2 p. 41).
Prelude in A minor (bk. 10 p. 238) (by 1706).
Do. major (bk. 12 p. 94).
^ The leferenoeB Me to NoveUo's twelve Books of Baoh*8 Organ
Works, edited by J. F. Bridge and J. Higgs. The edition is oompleto,
and oontains every movement included in Alfred DSrfifol's 'Thema-
tisohes VersEeichnisa ' (second edition, 1882) ezoept his No. 24 on p.
72 ; Noe. 6 and 8 on page 86 ; the * Kleines harmonisohes Labyrinth '
(DorfM, p. 88, figs. 131-33), the genuineness of which is questioned
by Spitta (iL 43) ; and figs. 136-37 on p. 88. The Novello edition also
follows Rust» against Spitta's judgment, in printing the ' Fantasia con
LnitaEione ' (bk. 12 p. 71) as an Organ instead of as a Clavier piece.
Books 15-19 print the Choral Preludes. See the Peteis and Novello
editions collated in Appei^dix V.
* Printed as a ' Toccata ' in E major in B.G. xv. p. 276.
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CHRONOLOGICAL CATALOGUE 165
Fantasia and Fagae in A minor (bk. 12 p. 60).
Fantasias in O major (bk. 9 p. 168 ; hk. 12 p. 76).
Pastorale in F major (bk. 12 p. 102).
Caioral Partita : Ghiist, der da faist der helle Tag (bk. 19
p. 36).
Do. Gk>tt, dn fiomm«r Gott (bk. 19 p. 44).
Do. Sd gegriisset, Jesu giitig (bk. 19 p. 55).
Generally speaking, the Choral Preludes, other than those
in the maturer oollections made by Bach himself, may be
regarded as youthful works (bks. 18, 19).
n. Catalooitb of Baoh's Compositions at Wbucab,
1708-17, from his twenty-fourth to his thirty-third
year.
Vooal: —
Secular Cantata : Was mir behagt (1716), or^ Verlockender
Gotterstreit.
Clavubb: —
Sixteen Concertos after Vivaldi (bk. 217) (c. 1708-12).
Toccatas in D major (bk. 211 p. 28), G major (bk. 216
p. 19), D minor (bk. 210 p. 68), G minor (bk. 211 p. 4),
E minoi; (bk. 210 p. 23) (c. 1708-12).
Aria variata alia maniera Italiana (bk. 215 p. 12) (c. 1708-
12).
Prelude and Fugue in A minor (bk. 211 p. 14) (c. 1715).
Fugues in A major (bk. 215 pp. 52, 57).
Do. B mmor (bk. 214 p. 48).
Do. A major (bk. 212 p. 66).
Do. A minor (bk. 212 p. 70).
Fantasia in G minor (bk. 215 p. 32).
Do. B minor (bk. 215 p. 41). (For Organ, N. bk. 12
p. 71.)
Do. D major (bk. 211 p. 28).
Do. A minor (bk. 215 p. 5) (c. 1710).
Qbqak: —
Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor (bk. 10 p. 214).
Four Concertos after VivaUi (bk. 11).
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156 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Eight Short PieludeB and Fugues (bk. 1).
Qigelbiiohlein (bk. 16) (1717).
Alia in F major (bk. 12 p. 112).
Fantasia oon Lnitadone (bk. 12 p. 71).
Do. C major (bk. 12 p. 92).
Do. C minor (bk. 3 p. 67).
Trio in C minor (bk. 12 p. 108).
Do. D minor (bk. 2 p. 64).
CSanzona in D minor (bk. 2 p. 34) (c. 1714) •
AUabreve in D major (bk. 2 p. 26).
Prelude and Fugue in C major (bk. 7 p. 74).
the ' Short/ E minor (bk. 2 p. 44).
D major (bk. 6 p. 10).
the * Great,' A minor (bk. 7 p. 42).
A major (bk. 3 p. 64).
the ' Great,' G minor (bk. 7 p. 64).
F minor (bk. 6 p. 21).
G major (bk. 7 p. 80).
G minor (bk. 8 p. 120) (c. 1712).
Toccata and Fugue in D minor (bk. 6 p. 2).
Do. do. the ' Great,' G major (bk. 9 p. 137).
Do. do. the ' Great,' F major (bk. 9 p. 176).
Do. do. the Dorian, D minor (bk. 10 p. 196).
Fantasia and Fugue in G minor (bk. 3 p. 76).
Prelude in G major (bk. 2 p. 30).
Do. C major (bk. 12 p. 91).
Fugue, the ' Short,' in G minor (bk. 3 p. 84).
Do. C major (bk. 12 p. 100).
m. CaTALOGXTB of BaOH'S CiOMPOSinONS AT COthbn,
1717-23, from his thirty-third to his thirty-ninth
year.
Vocal : —
Secular Cantata : Durchlaucht'ster Leopold (1717).
Do. Mit Gnaden bekrone der Himmel die Zeiten
(? 1721).
Do. Weiohetnur,betriibteSchatten(71717-23).^
^ Spitte (ii 620, 718) mentioDB a Birthday Cantata written in
1717-1721 (T), tbe title of wfaiob is lost.
Do.
do.
Do.
do.
Do.
do.
Do.
do.
Do.
do.
Do.
do.
Do.
do.
Do.
do.
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CHRONOLOGICAL CATALOGUE 167
Glavhsb: —
Clavier-Biiohlein vor Wilhelm Friedemann Baoh (1720).
Ghiomatio Fantasia and Fague (bk. 207 p. 4) (c. 1720-23).
Glavier-Biichlein vor A. M. Baohin (bt 1969) (1722).
The WeU-tempeied Clavier (Part i.) (bk. 2790a) (1722).
Six French Suites (bks. 202 and 2793) (c. 1722).
Six English Suites (bks. 203-4 and 2794-95) (before 1726).
Fantasia and Fugue in A minor (bk. 208 p. 50).
Fugue in A minor (bk. 207 p. 16) (B.Q. m. p. 334).
Twelve Little Preludes and Six Preludes for Beginners
(bks. 200 and 2791) (c. 1722).
Inventions and Symphonies (bks. 201 and 2792) (1723).
Toccatas in F sharp minor and C minor (bk. 210 pp. 30
and 40).
Suites in A minor, E flat major, E minor, F major, and
F minor (fragment) (bk. 214 pp. 54, 62, 68 ; bk. 215 p. 27 ;
bk. 212 p. 84).
Prelude and Fugue in E flat major (bk. 214 p. 40).
Ghambbb :' —
Six Sonatas (Suites) for Violin Solo (bk. 228) (c. 1720).^
ffiir f^^iju, (ffnif^) fnr V JolonoeUo Solo (bk. 238a) Ic. 1120).
Six Sonatas for Violin and Clavier (bks. 232-33-232a-33a).
Suite in A major for Violin and Clavier (bk. 236).
Four Inventions for Violin and Clavier (bk. 2957).
Sonata in E minor and Fugue in G minor for Violin and
Clavier (bk. 236) (? early work).
Six Sonatas for Flute and Clavier (bks. 234-35).
Sonata in C major for two Violins and Clavier (bk. 237).
Three Sonatas for Viol da Gamba and Clavier (bk. 239).
Sonata in Q major for two Flutes and Clavier (bk. 239 p. 2) .
Sonata in G major for Violin, Flute, and Clavier (bk..237).
Obohbstral : * —
Six Brandenburg Concertos (bks. 261-66) (1721).
^ The re fa ranoe s mn to PetesB* edition.
' The D minor conteine the funoue Gheoonne.
* The raferenoee ere to Petete' edition. In the B.G. edition the
Orebestnl musio is included in the Chember Muno volumes.
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168 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Four SiiiteB (Orortmes) (bks. 267-69, 2068) .^
Thiee Gonoertos for Violin and Qrohestia (bks. 229, 230).'
Concerto in D minor for two Violins and Qrobestra (bk. 231).'
Qboan: —
Plolude (FBmtasia) and Fagae, tbe * Great/ in G minor
(bk. 8 p. 127) (? 1720).
IV. Cataloqitb of Bach's CIompositions at Lxipzia,
1723-34, from his thirty-ninth to his fiftieth year.
Vooal: —
Magnifioat in D (7 1723).*
Sanctas in C major, D major (c. 1723), D minor, and
G major (P. bk. 29b).«
St. John Passion (1723).
Trauer-Ode (1727).
St. Matthew Passion (1729).
Mass in B minor (1733-?1738).
Christmas Oratorio (1734).
Thiee Wedding Chorals (P. bk. 1664).
Motet : Jesu, meine Freude (1723).
Do. Der Geist hilft misrer Schwaofahfiit anf (1729).
Do. Fiirohte dich nioht.
Do. Smget dem Henn ein nenes lied.
^ Pino, p. 228, holds that the fizBt two (C major and B minor) were
written at Cothen and the last two (D major and D major) at Leipzig.
Sohweitcer (i. 402) regards it as not clear in which period the Overtures
were wiitten.
* In A minor, E major, O major. The Q major figures as the fourth
Brandenburg (bk. 264) and as the Clavier Cbnoerto in F major (bk.
248). The A minor and £ major were also converted into Clavier
Gonoerti (O minor and D major) (bks. 249, 261). The D minor Clavier
Conoerto (bk. 264) p ree ervoo a lost Violin Concerto in the same key,
and the one in F minor (bk. 260) corresponds with a lost Violin Con-
oerto in G minor (bks. 3068, 3069).
* Also arranged as a Concerto for two Claviecs (C minor) in P.
bk. 267b.
* Bach wrote another Magnificat, the mosio of which is lost. See
Spitta, ii 374.
* All ezoept the Sanotus in D major are of doubtful aothentioity.
See SohweitMr, li 328 and Spitta» lii 41 n.
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CHRONOLOGICAL CATALOGUE 169
Motet : Komm, Jesu, komm.
Seonlar Cantata : Der zufriedengeBtellte Aeolns (1726) ; ciso
entiUed Blast Lannen, ihr Feinden
(1734).
Do Veieinigte Zwietiacht der weohflelnden
Saiten (1726), or, Auf schmettemde
Tone der muntem Trompeten (after
1733).
Do. Schwmgt freudig euoh empor ; alao en-
Htied Die Fieude reget sich, or Steigt
freudig in die Lnft (1726).
Do^ Entfemet euch, ihr heitem Sterne (1727 ;
music lost).
Do. Veigniigte Plaissenstadt (1728; music
lost).
Do. Von der Vergnugsamkeit, or Ich bin in
mir yergnugt (c. 1730).
Do. Weichet nur, betrubte Schatten (c.
1730).
Do. Der Streit zwischen Phoebus und Pan
(1731).
Do. Froher Tag, verlangte Stunden (1732;
music lost).
Do. Schweigt stille (Coffee Cantata) (c. 1732).
Do. Herkules auf dem Scheidewege, or Die
Wahl des Herkules (1733).
Do. Tonet, ihr Pauken ! Erschallet, Trom-
peten (1733).
Do. Preise dein Giucke, gesegnetes Sachsen
(1734).
Do. Schldcht, spielende Wellen (1734).
Do. Thomana sass annoch betriibt (1734;
music lost).
Graduation Cantata : Siehe, der Hiiter Israels (music lost).
Claydbb: —
Notenbuch vox Anna Magdalena Bach (bk. 1969)
(1726).
ClavierUbung, Part I. containing the six Partitas, or
German Suites (hks. 206-6 or 2796-97) (1731).
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160 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Qbohbstbal: —
Concertos in C major, C minor, and C minor for two
Claviers and Orchestra (bks. 256, 257, 257b) (1727-36).^
Seven Concertos for Clavier and Orchestra (bks. 248-54)
(1729-36).
Concerto in A minor for Violin, Flute, Clavier, and
Orchestra (bk. 256) (c. 1730).>
Concerto in A minor for four Claviers and Orchestra
(bk. 260) (c. 1733).
Concertos in D minor and C major for three ClavieiB and
Orchestra (bks. 258, 259) (c. 1733).
Oboan : —
Prelude and Fugue, the Great, in 6 major (bk. 8 p. 112)
(1724orl725).«
Six Sonatas in E flat major, C minor, D minor, £ minor,
C major, 6 major (bks. 4 and 5) (1727-33).*
Prelude and Fugue in C major (bk. 3 p. 70) (c. 1730).*
Do. do. D nunor (bk. 9 p. 150).
V. Catalooxtb of Bach's (Dobcpositions at Lbipzio»
1735-50, from his fifty-first year to his death.
Vocal: —
Ascension Oratorio (Ciantata 11) (c. 1735).
Schemelli's Hymn-book (1736).
Easter Oratorio (c. 1736).
^ The Conoerto in C minor (P. bk. 257) is an arrangement of one for
two Violins now lost. The third, also in C minor, is identical with the
D minor Concerto for two Violins and is pablished in that key in the
Peters edition. The remaining Concerto, in C major, is the only one
originally written for the Clavier. See Sohweiteer, i. 413.
* The work is an amplification of the Prelude and Fugae in A minor,
already catalogued among the Clavier works of the Cothen period.
Bohweitaser (i. 340) concludes that it was rearranged as an orchestral
Concerto early in the thirties, when Bach needed Concertos for the
Telemann Society's Concerts.
* The scheme of the Q major and C m^or Preludes and Fugues
dates back to the Weimar period. See Spitta, iii. 208 ; Parry, p. 67.
* These ao-oalled ' Organ ' SonataB were written for the Pedal davi-
cembalo.
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CHRONOLOGICAL CATALOGUE 161
Four Masses, in F major, A major (c. 1739), G minor,
G major (c. 1739).
Secular Cantata : Angenehmes Wiederau (1737).
Do. Willkommen, ihr herrsohenden Gdtter der
Eiden (1738) (music lost).
Do. Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet (Peasant
Cantata) (1742).
Do. O holder Tag (? 1749), or, O angenehme
Melodei.
Italian Cantata : Amore traditore.
Do. Andro dall* colle al prato (lost).
Do. Non sa che sia dolore.
Clavubb : —
Clavierubung, Part II. containing the Italian Concerto
(bk. 207) and Partita in B minor (bk. 208) (1736).
Fantasia and Fugue in C minor (bk. 207 p. 60 and bk. 212
p. 88) (c. 1738).
Clavierubung, Part III. containing the four Duetti (bk. 208)
(1739).
Clavierubung, Part IV. containing the Goldberg Variations
(bk. 209) (c. 1742).
The Well-tempered Clayier, Part II. (bk. lb or 2790b) (1744).
Chambbb : —
Sonata for Violin, Flute, and Clavier, in C minor (in the
* Musical Offering') (bk. 237 p. 3) (1747).
Three Partitas for the Lute (? 1740).^
Organ : —
The Catechism Choral Preludes (in Clavierubung, Part III.)
(bk. 16) (1739).
Fugue in D minor (in ditto) (bk. 16 p. 49) (1739).
Prelude and Fugue in E flat major (in ditto) (bk. 6 p. 28)
(1739).
Do. do. the ' Great,' in C major (bk. 9 p. 166).
Do. do. the ' Great,' in B minor (bk. 7 p. 62)
(1727-36).
I>o. do. the ' Great,' in E minor (bk. 8 p. 98) .
^ The Clavier Suitee in E minor, E major, and C minor are arrange-
ments of theee, o^erwiae loet. Lute Partitas. See Sehweitcer, L 344.
L
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162 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Canonic Variations on ' Vom Himmel hooh ' (bk. 19) (1746).
The Sohdbler CSioial Prelndes (bk. 16) (c. 1747-dO).
The Eighteen CSioial Preludes (bk. 17) (e. 1747-60).
The Mndcai Offering (P. bk. 219) (1747).
The Axt of Fogae (P. bk. 218) (1749).
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APPENDIX II
THE CHURCH CANTATAS ARRANGED
CHRONOLOGICALLY
Wb have the statement of Carl Philipp Emmanuel Baoh,^
confirmed by Sorkel,' Bach's earliest biographer, that his
father composed five Cantatas for every Sunday and
Festival of the ecclesiastical year. Concerted music was
sung at Leipzig annually on forty-three Sundays and
sixteen week-days.' Bach therefore must have written
at least 295 Cantatas. Of this number he composed at
least thirty before 1723. Hence approximately 266 were
written at Leipzig. But Bach's fertility does not appear
to have outlived the year 1744. We have reason, there-
fore, to conclude that the 266 Leipzig Cantatas were
written in the course of twenty-one years, that is, between
1723 and 1744. To complete that number Bach must
have composed a new Cantata every month, a surprising
but demonstrable conclusion.
Of the 296 Cantatas only 202 have come down to us,
three of them in an incomplete state.^ Of those written
before 1723 the survivors are too scanty to indicate a rate
of productivity. But thereafter we have fuller materials
for a calculation. Bach, as Cantor, conducted his iQrst
Leipzig Cantata on May 30, 1723, and in the following
sixteen months produced twenty-four Cantatas, at the
i In Mizler'8 ' Nekrolog.*
> 8ti/pra^ p. 138.
* See the proeent writer's ' Baoh's GhonOs/ Part IL p. 1.
* JTbii., p. 4. Four more Cantatae, of doubtful authenticity, are
published by the Baehgeeellschaft, Jahrgang XLI.
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164 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
rate of more than one a month.^ Beginning at the New
Year of 1725 he wrote eighteen Cantatas in nine months,
some of which, however, may belong to the years
1726-7-8-9. But even so, his monthly average seems to
have been maintained. For 1730 we have, perhaps, ten
Cantatas. For 1731 about twenty survive, of which
half a dozen may belong to 1732, a deduction which still
preserves Bach's steady average. In 1735 he produced
actually nineteen Cantatas between the New Year and
the following November, though not all of them are
positively dated. Thereafter his activity is less certainly
measured. But from 1736 till the end of 1744 he com-
posed fifty-three Cantatas, at the rate, that is, of at least
six every year, without making allowance for Cantatas
written and lost.
There are few phenomena in the record of art more
extraordinary than this unflagging cataract of inspiration,
in which masterpiece followed masterpiece with the
monotonous periodicity of a Sunday sermon. Its musical
significance has been presented with illuminating exegesis
by more than one commentator. But its literary apparatus
has captured little attention. Yet Bach's task must have
been materially eased or aggravated according as the
supply of libretti was regular or infrequent, while the
flow of his inspiration must have been governed by their
quality. Moreover, the libretto was the medium through
which he offered the homage of his art to the service of
God. The subject therefore deserves attention. How-
ever trivial, measured against the immensities of Bach's
genius, the study will at least provide a platform from
which to contemplate it.
At the outset the opinion may be hazarded that the
provision of his weekly libretti caused Bach greater
anxiety than the setting of them to music, a task which
he accomplished with almost magical facility. It is
^ See tlie Table of CenUiM set oat in ohronologioal order.
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THE CHtJRCH CANTATAS 166
true that from the early part of the 18th century cyolee
of Cantata texts for the Churoh's year were not infre-
quently published. Bach was in more or less intimate
touch with the authors of four, perhaps five, printed
collections of the kind. But he used them with surprising
infrequency. Neumeister's published cycles provided
him with seven libretti,^ Franck's with sixteen,* Picander's
with ten,^ Marianne von Ziegler's with nine,^ and Helbig's
with two.^ He took three Hbretti from the Bible,* and
the hymn-book furnished him with eleven more.' But
all these published sources together only account for
fifty-eight texts. Bach possessed only one book that
could assist his own efforts at authorship— -Paul Wagner's
eight-volumed Hymn-book — whence he took the stanzas
which decorate his Cantatas like jewels in the rare settings
he gave them. It was, therefore, mainly upon writers
with whom he was brought into occasional or official
contact that Bach depended for his texts.
At the beginning of his career Bach was thrown upon
his inexperience. His earUest Ubretti, consequently, are
tentative and transitory in their construction. His
first Cantata was written at Amstadt for the Easter
Festival of 1704.® The core of the hbretto is a seven-
stanzaed Easter song by an unknown poet, eked out by
two passages of Scripture, a Becitativo, Aria, and a verse
of a congregational hymn. The Aria and Becitativo are
the only original numbers of the libretto, and there is little
1 Nob. 18, 24, 28, 59, 61, 142, 160.
• Nob. 31, 70, 72, 80, 132, 147, 162, 166, 161, 162, 163, 164, 166, 168,
185, 186 (part).
• Nob. 146, 148 (part), 166, 167, 169, 171, 174, 188, 190 (one verrion),
' Ehie sei Gott ' (inoomplete).
« Nob. 68, 74, 87, 103, 108» 128, 175, 176, 183.
• Nob. 47, 141.
• Nob. 60, 191, 196.
' Nob. 4, 97, 100, 107, 112, 117, 118, 129, 137, 177, 192.
• No. 15 : ' Denn da wizst mma^ Saefe nioht in der Hdlle
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166 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
doubt that Baoh wrote them himself.^ But the whole
libretto is stamped by his personality, and reveals the
inveterate subjectivity of his religion. For, disregarding
the general message of the Festival, the libretto opens on
the soul's personal longing for immortality and closes on
its song of victory over death. In construction it is
archaic, a survival of traditions acquired from central
and northern Germany through Bach's earher residence
at Liineburg and intercourse with Hamburg.'
Three years passed before Bach produced his next
extant Cantata. In the interval, on 29th June 1707, he
resigned his Amstadt appointment to become organist
of the Church of St. Blasius at Miihlhausen.^ Here,
within the space of ten months, he produced three
Cantatas, the uniform character of whose libretti points
to local and transitory influence upon the composer. The
first of them,^ written in August 1707, is a setting of
Psalm 130, with the addition of two hjrmnHstanzas. The
second ^ was performed on 4th February 1708, at the
inauguration of the Miihlhausen Town Council, and con-
sists of Old Testament passages, a verse of a hjrmn, and
three original stanzas. The third,^ a wedding Cantata,
was performed at Domheim, near Amstadt, on 5th June
1708, at the marriage of Pastor Johann Lorenz Stauber
to Frau Bach's aunt, and is set to four verses of
Psahn 116.
We can have Uttle doubt regarding the authorship of
these singularly austere libretti, so far removed in
atmosphere from those of Bach's subsequent periods.
In fact, the clue is furnished by Bach himself. A note
in his handwriting on the score of the first of the three
^ The intimate peraonal note of the opening words of the Beoitativo^
' Ifein JesuB ware tot ' — xeveals him.
* Spitta, i. 281. * Sohweitser, i. 108.
« No. 131 : ' AuB der Tiefe rofe ioh, Herr, zu dir.'
* No. 71 : ' GoU ist main KSnig.'
* No. 109 : * Derr Herr denket an uns.'
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THE CHURCH CANTATAS 167
Cantatas (No. 131) states that he oomposed it at the
request of Georg Christian Eihnar. The man was a
close friend, godfather of Bach's eldest daughter,
Eatharina Dorothea (b. 1708), chief pastor of the Church
of the Blessed Virgin, and Consistorial Assessor, at
Miihlhausen. He was, moreover, an aggressive foe of
Pietism, of which Miihlhausen was the citadel, and Bach's
minister, Frohne, the protagonist. Indeed, the two
men waged so public and wordy a warfare ^ that Bach's
social relations with the one and official connection with
the other must have been rendered difficult. To his
settled convictions regarding the fellowship of music and
worship Pietism offered Puritan opposition. In fact, its
lack of sympathy eventually drove him from Miihlhausen,
in hope, in his own words, ' to realise my views upon the
right ordering of Church music without vexation from
others.' ' Eilmar, on the other hand, though he admitted
the aesthetic value of music, conspicuously lacked the
warmth and emotionalism of Bach's religious tempera-
ment. To him undoubtedly we must attribute the cold
austerity of the three Miihlhausen libretti and the sup-
pression of the personal note already sounded in Bach's
Amstadt Cantata. Nor did Eilmar's influence pass with
Bach's departure from Miihlhausen.' It is to be traced
in the early libretti of the Weimar period.
The Weimar Cantatas are twenty-two in number, of
which all but three were written subsequently to Bach's
appointment as Concertmeister early in 1714. He had
been organist to the Ducal Court of Weimar since June
1708, a position which did not require him to compose for
the Ducal Chapel. On the other hand, three Cantatas
are attributed to the early Weimar years. But they
^ See Spitta, L 359 ff.
* Ihid., i. 374. On the other hand, Baoh's art was viaibly affected by
PietiBtio inflnenoee, as Sohweiteer» i. 169» shows.
• Eilmar died in 1716 (Spitta, i. 361).
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168 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
cannot be positively dated, and their libretti bear Buoh
dear traoee of EUmar's influence that their compoeition
may belong rather to the Muhlhauaen period. Their
texts display Eilmar's preference for strictly Biblical
material and a disinclination to employ secular forms.
The first of them ^ is a paraphrase of the Magnificat. The
second ' consists of four Terses of Fisalm 25, along with
three simple rhymed stanzas which we have no difficulty
in attributing to Bach himself. The third, ' Gottes Zeit
ist die aUerbeste Zeit ' (No. 106), was composed, Spitta
conjectures,' for the funeral of Philipp Orossgebauer,
Bector of Weimar School, in 1711. But more recently,
and more probably, Pino ^ has expressed the opinion
that Bach wrote it for the funeral of his uncle, Tobias
Lanmierhirt, who was buried at Erfurt in September
1707. The theory accords with the suggestion that all
three Gantatas belong to the Miihlhausen period. If so,
it is probable that the Ubretto, a very ing^ous mosaic of
Scripture texts, was written by Eilmar for the occasion.
It is the last in which we detect his influence.
Bach's appointment as Ducal Concertmeister at Weimar
can be placed between 14th January and 19th March
1714 ^ and, it is probable, was nearer the former date.
He seems to have produced the first Cantata his new
post required him to write on Sexagesima Sunday, which
fell on 4th February in that year. From thence to the end
of 1716 he produced nineteen Cantatas and collaborated
with a writer whose libretti at length gave him a satis-
factory literary medium.
The new poet, Erdmann Neumeister, four of whose
libretti Bach set to music immediately after his appoint-
> No. 189 : ' Meine Seele riihmt and pieiBt.*
* No. 160 : ' Naoh dir, Herr, verlanget mioh.'
* VoL I 466.
* •J.-S.Badh,'p.87.
* The oondanon is baaed on letteia printed by SpiUa, L 617.
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THE CHURCH CANTATAS 169
ment, and a fifth a year later,^ was considerably Bach's
senior.' As iax hack as 1700 he had begun to write a
cycle of Cantata texts for the Dacal Chapel at Weissenfels,
and published it in 1704, with an explanatory Preface
referred to later.' In 1708 he issued a second cycle for
the Court of Rudolstadt, while in 1711 and 1714 third
and fourth cycles were written for the Ducal Chapel
at Eisenach. All four cycles were reissued in 1716,^ with
the addition of a fifth and a Preface, which lauded
Neumeister as ' the first German to give sacred music its
fitting position by introducing and perfecting the Church
C^tata.' ^
Spitta has dealt exhaustively ^ with the evolution and
construction of the Neumeister Ubretto. It need only
be remarked that it adapted a secular or operatic
apparatus to the service of religion, and that the innova-
tion, hateful to many, triumphed because of Neumeister's
deUcate handling of it. He perfected the new form, how-
ever, in stages. 'A Cantata,' he insisted in his 1704
Preface, 'is simply a fragment of Opera made up of
Aria and Becitativo.' But the restriction excluded from
the Cantata its most appropriate material. In his 1708
cycle he found a place for the chorus. [FinaUy, he
admitted the Bible stanza and congregational hjqnn.
With their inclusion the Cantata libretto assumed the
form familiar to us in Bach's use. It represents a com-
bination of secular Opera and ecclesiastical Motet. The
free Arias and Becitativi are derived from the one, the
Bible stanzas and congregational hynms perpetuate the
traditions of the other. Unity of design is stamped on
1 Nos. 18, 61, 142, 160, and 59. See TaUa
> He was bom May 12, 1671 (Spitta, i. 470).
* The volume is entitled * Erdmann Neumeisten GeiBtlidbe Gbntaten
Btatt einer Evehen-Muaik. Die zweyte Anflage.'
« Entitled 'Heim Erdmann NeomeifltezB Fdnffaohe Kiidhen-
Andaohten,* Leipcig, 1716.
< Spitta, L 474. • VoL i. 466 ff.
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170 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
the whole by its general subordination to the Gospel
for the Day. Thus, at the moment when Bach was about
to devote his genius to the Cantata, Neumeister oppor-
tunely provided him with a libretto singularly adapted
to the end Bach had in view, and appropriate to the
musical expression by which he proposed to secure it.
He adhered to it almost to the end of his life, and found
unfailing inspiration in Neumeister's sincerity, delicacy,
and uniformly religious outlook. Neumeister's Arias,
with a single exception,^ are hymn-like in mood and metre.
His Becitativi are reflective and prayerful, rarely oratorical
or pictorial, simple communings upon the Gospel themes
which the libretto handles.'
Bach's early introduction to Neumeister's texts is
explained by the close relations between the Courts of
Weimar and Eisenach, by his associations with his own
birthplace, and his intimacy with Georg Philipp Telemann,
Kapellmeister there, for whose use Neumeister's third and
fourth cycles ^ere written.' Bach set, in all, seven of the
libretti — four from the fourth cycle,* one from the third,*
and two from the first,^ one of which (No. 142) differs so
much from the publis^ied version as to raise the question
whether Bach did not receive it direct from Neumeister
in the form in which he set it.^
That Bach should have set no more than seven of
Neumeister's texts ' is strange. He shrank, perhaps,
from appropriating libretti on which his friend Telemann
had a prior claim.' But the reason is found rather in the
fact that at Weimar Bach discovered in 1716 a local
1 See the Aria (Duetto) of Cantata No. 28.
* See particularly the Litanei in Cantata No. 18.
* Telemann was Carl Philipp Emmanuel Baoh*8 godfather (Spitta, L
486).
« Nos. 24, 28, 69, 61. * No. 18,
• Noe. 142, 160. * See Spitta, i. 630.
■ His influence is also detected in Noe. 27, 66, 199.
• Telemann also set the libretti of Bach's Nos. 18 and 142. See
Spiita, L 487.
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THE CHURCH CANTATAS 171
poet of first-rate ability who, with perhaps but one
exception, wrote the libretti of all the Cantatas he com-
posed during the last two years of his Weimar appoint-
ment.
Salomo Franck, Bach's new collaborator, was Curator
of the Ducal Museum of Coins and Medals at Weimar. He
was twentynaix years older than Bach. But Spitta's
conjecture,^ that the two men were not acquainted, is
hardly tenable. Both resided in the same small provincial
town, both were in the Duke's service, and throughout
1715 and 1716 collaborated in at least ten Cantatas
performed in the Ducal Chapel. Moreover, though the
Preface of Franck's first cycle is dated 4th June 1715,'
Bach had already set one of its libretti for Easter of that
year. A second cycle of texts, of which Bach made little
use,' was published by Franck in 1717.*
Schweitzer, no doubt, is correct in his conclusion^
that Bach was drawn to Franck by his poetic insight, his
mysticism, and innate feeling for nature. It must be
remembered, too, that his libretti were, in some degree,
official. On the other hand, Franck was Neumeister's
inferior in ability to conceive a picture fit to express
Bach's larger moods, and on occasion could descend to
sheer bathos.' But his texts have a rhythmic swing and
melody which Bach found agreeable. He set at least
sixteen of them, and returned to them even after he
settled at Leipzig.
The circiunstances which terminated Bach's service at
1 VoL i. 630.
* Wustmann, 'Job. Seb. Baob's Kantaten-Tezte * (1913), p. zzii n.
The oyole is entitled ' Evangeliacbes Andaobts-Opffer.'
* Only Nob. 70, 147, and 186 are taken from it.
* Entitled ' Evangelisohe Bonn- and Feet-Tages Andaobten.'
* VoL ii. 131.
* For InBtance, the Aria in Cantata Ko. 168, beginning :
* Kapital nnd InteteBsen
Metoer SohiildAn gro« nnd Uein*
MiiMwa einat verreohnet sein.*
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172 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BAC5H
Weimar are familiar, and need not be restated. He re-
ceived a new appointment at Cothen on Ist August 1717,
and took up his duties there, probably at Clhiistmas, that
year.^ His position was that of QetpeUmeister to the
princely Court. He never styles himself Court Organist,'
and his duties severed him for five years from the service
of the Church, to which he had declared his particular
dedication in 1708. The Cothen Court was unpretentious.
The Prince was a Calvinist. Figurate music was not
permitted in the Court Chapel, and its Organ was small
and inadequate. Hence Bach devoted himself chiefly
to chamber music, and only two genuine Church Cantatas
belong to this period of his career. Both must have
been written for performance elsewhere, possibly in con-
nection with Bach's frequent Autumn tours as a
performer.*
For both Cantatas Bach employed a librettist, other-
wise little known, named Johann Friedrich Helbig, State
Secretary to the Eisenach Court. In March 1720,^ more
than two years after Bach's arrival at Cothen, Helbig
published a cycle of ' Musical Texts on the Sunday and
Saints' Day Gospels throughout the year,' for performance
' in God's honour by the Prince's Kapelle at Eisenach.' '^
How they came into Bach's hands we do not know, but
can readily conjecture. They are indifferent poetry,
judging them by the two specimens Bach made use of,
and are uniform in construction. The first movement
invariably is a Chorus upon a text from the Gospel for
the Day, or a Scripture passage closely related to it.
Two Arias separated by a Recitativo foUow. A Choral
brings the libretto to an end.*
The first of the two Cantatas written to Helbig's words
^ Spitta, ii 5 ; Schweitzer, i. 106. * 8pitta» li. 8.
* The two OaatotM are Nob. 47 and 141.
« Wustmann, p. zziii. * Spitta, ii. 12 n.
* The Choral is absent from No. 141. It ahoald be ' Ghriste, da
Lamm Gottes.*
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THE CHURCH CANTATAS 173
was deedgiijed for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity,
which fell in 1720 on September 22.^ Spitta oonjeotnres '
that Bach intended it for performance at Hamburg. In
fact> his wife's death postponed Bach's visit to that town
nntil November, by which date the Sunday appropriate
to the Oantata had passed. Spitta holds that the
Gantata may have been performed, after all, during the
visit. Schweitzer is sceptical.' But Bach certainly
expended great pains upon the score.
The second Helbig Cantata ^ is for the Third Sunday
in Advent, and the date of it would appear to have been
1721. It is one of the least agreeable of Bach's works.
Spitta ^ declares it a juvenile composition hastily adapted
to a new libretto. Schweitzer ® expresses the same
opinion, and Sir Hubert Parry ^ finds the work * rather
commonplace.' Its genuineness is discussed by Max
Schreyer in the ' Bach-Jahrbuch ' for 1912, and more
recently Rudolf Wustmann has insisted that it does not
bear the stamp of Bach's genius.^ If it actually was
composed in 1721, its production must have coincided
with Bach's second marriage on December 3 of that year.'
In that case, his resort to old material is explicable.
Only these two Cantatas were composed at Cothen.
But later, at Leipzig, two others were manu&ctured out
of secular material written there.^® It is unnecessary to
refer to them, except to remark that in each case Bach
appears to have been the author of the new libretto. In
the first of them ^^ it is clear that he was handicapped by
the frankly secular metre of the original stanzas. The
^ Sohweitser, ii. 147. The Cantata is No. 47, ' Wer sich selbat
erhohot.'
• Vol. ii. 18. • Vol. ii. 147.
« Ko. 141 : ' Das ist je gewiariich wahr.*
• Vol. ii. 16. • Vol. ii 148.
• ' Johaon Sebaatian Baoh/ p. 108. • Op. oiL, Note 195.
• Spitta, ii. 147. ^ Nob. 134 and 173.
" No. 134 : ' Ein Hen, daa seinen Jemm lebend weiaa.'
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174 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
second of them,^ originaUy a Birthday Ode to Priiioe
Leopold of Anhalt-Cothen, is a masterly conversion into
a Whit-Monday text which, ajssuming that Bach wrote
it, puts his Uterary facility beyond question.
Bach made the last move in his professional career on
May 31, 1723, when he was inducted Cantor of St.
Thomas' School at Leipzig, with particular charge of the
Churches of St. Thomas and St. Nicolas. Here by far
the greater number of his Cantatas appeared, and 172
of them survive. They are too numerous to be con-
sidered individually, and their classification is rendered
difficult by the fact that the authorship of most of their
libretti is conjectural and not ascertained. They fall,
however, into two large categories, each of which exhibits
characteristics of its own.
The dividing year, clearly but not arbitrarily, is 1734.
Before it and after it Bach was aided by new writers.
But the earUer period pre-eminently was one of experi-
ment, out of which emerged the glorified hymn-libretto,
or Choral Cantata, of Bach's last years. That it sprang,
in some degree, from the difficulty of finding good original
texts in sufficient number may be granted. That it was
adopted as an avenue of escape from Picander's coarser
work is a conjecture based, aj^rently, upon a prevalent
exaggeration of Bach's dependence on that writer. The
fundamental reason which led Bach to the hymn-libretto
undoubtedly was the fact that it most closely fulfilled
the ideals which informed his work.
The first Cantata performed during Bach's Cantorship '
reveals a new author, whose assistance, if the conclusion
is well grounded, was at Bach's disposal throughout the
whole of the earlier Leipzig period. Spitta's keen insight
failed him in this instance. He betrays no recognition of
1 No. 173 : ' Erh5teB Fleisoh und Bint.'
* No. 75 : ' Die Elenden soUen eaaen,' sung on May 30» the day
preoeding Bach's formal indaction.
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THE CHURCH CANTATAS 176
the new writer, and occasionally ^ attribntee his libretti
to Picander. The credit of the discovery belongs to
Rudolf Wustmann, though he fails to work it out to its
fullest conclusions.'
No one can read the early Leipzig libretti without
being struck by the number of them that are not only
uniform in structure, but similar in tone and point. They
all begin with a Bible text, chosen frequently, but not
invariably, from the Gospel for the Day. Every one of
them ends with a hymn-stanza. Their Arias, with hardly
an exception,' are written in what, compared wilii
Picander's rollicking dactyls, may be held hymn-metres.
Their Recitativi, almost invariably, are didactic or
exegetical.^ They do not display the vapid rhetoric of
Picander. Nor do they express the reflective or prayerful
mood that reveals Bach. They are essentially expositive
and, it is noticeable, are studded with direct or veiled
references to Bible passages which expand or enforce the
lesson of the initial text. In a word, they suggest the
work of a preacher casting his sermon notes into lyrical
form, an impression which is strengthened by the fact
that the libretto invariably opens with a Scripture passage
and frequently blends the Gospel and Epistle for the
Day in one harmonious teaching. Spitta detected
this characteristic. But he failed to follow up the clue.
He speaks ^ of one of these texts * as a ' moralising
homily,' a phrase concisely appropriate to them all.
Moreover, a remark of his,^ pointing the significance of
1 For iDBtanoe, Nos. 07 and 102.
* Wttftmann, by implioation, only AMooiatM eig^t libretti (CantatM
Nos. 37, 44, 76, 76, 86, 104, 166, 179) with Weias. All of them belong
to the euly yean, 1723-27. ' See Noa. 75 and 106.
* See Noa. 26, 42, 77. Aa an extreme illoatration, the fint ReoitatiTo
of No. 26 begins with the words, * Die ganae Welt iat nur ein Hospital. '
* Vol. ii. 388.
* Cantata No. 66 : ' Sie warden aua Saba Alle konmien.'
» Vol. i. 361.
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176 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
the god-parents choeen by Bach for his childzen — ^EOmar,
for instance — as revealing Bach's intimate associates at
the moment, affords €knother cine to the personality of
the new writer.
Among the clergy of St. Thomas' during Bach's
Cantorate were two men, father and son, each of whom
bore the name Christian Weiss. The elder was Pastor
of the Church from 1714 till his death in 1737. He waa
a cultured man, in touch with the University, and
possibly formed a link between it and Bach, to whom he
showed greater cordiality than the Cantor received from
other clerical colleagues. In 1732 his daughter, Dorothea
Sophia stood godmother to Bach's son, Johann Christoph
Friedrioh, afterwards famous as the ' Buckeburg Bach.' ^
In 1737 his son stood sponsor to Bach's daughter, Johanna
Caroline.^ Nor can it be altogether without significance
that the names Dorothea, Sophia, Christian, are borne by
others of Bach's children by his second marnage. There
is sufficient evidence, therefore, that Bach's relations with
the elder Weiss were intimate enough to support a
literary partnership. Moreover, circumstances lend
weight to the inference. For some years before Bach's
arrival in Leipzig, Weiss suffered from an affection of the
throat which kept him from the pulpit. But, during the
first year of Bach's Cantorate, he was able to resume his
preaching. If he was, in fact, the author of the Ubretti,
we can have little difficulty in concluding that they and
his sermons were built on the same text.
So far as they can be identified — ^the attempt is
somewhat speculative — Weiss provided Bach with at
least thirty-three hbretti. He set five of them in 1723,
three in 1724, nine in or about 1725, one in 1727, two in
1730, six in 1731, three in 1732, and four in the later
Leipzig period.^ Fourteen others bear a constructional
*■ Wnstmaim, p. zziv. ' IbidL
* See the Table.
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THE CHURCH CANTATAS 177
reeemhiance to Weiss's texts,^ but their oharaoter lefera
them lather to Bach or Picander. Even so, if we do not
exaggerate his activity, Weiss seems^ to have iwritten at
least one-sixth of the Leipzig libretti and more than a
quarter of those of the earlier period. * Without a doubt
he eased a difficult situation in Bach's experience before
his regular association with Picander began.
Apart from their revelation of CSiristian Weiss, the
libretti of Bach's first year at Leipzig do not call for
comment. Franck and Neumeister appear among them,
and we trace Bach's hand in nine.' But at Easter, 1724,
he broke new gn>und with a libretto whence de^oped
the Cantata form of his latest period.
The Cantata for Easter Day 1724,^ is Bach's earliest
setting of an entire congregational hymn. Spitta suggests*
that he felt the fitness of giving the Hbretto €m antique
character to match the hymn's melody. However that
may be, Bach would appear aheady to have been grop-
ing towards the Choral Cantata of the late '30's. And
though he did not repeat the experiment until the Easter
of 1731,^ he tseated three hymn-libretti in the interval
in a manner which shows him already to have worked
out the essentials of the Choral Cantata form.*
Another landmark meets us a yeear and a half after the
Easter experiment. On September 23, 1725(?)--«he
Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity — ^Bach produced a
Cantata' whose Arias are set to words which had appeared
in print in the preceding year. Their author was a hack
writer named Christian Fiiedrich Henrici, or, as he
preferred to style himself, Picander. His hand probably
1 Tfa^ are NO0. 6, 17, 22, 43, 48, 67, 144, 148, 167, 160, 171, 100, 106,
ftnd the inoomplete Cantata, ' £hra adi Qott in der Hohe.*
• NO0. 16, 23, 63, 81, 83, 163, 164, 184, 104. See the Table.
• No. 4 : ' Christ lag in Todeabanden.* « Vol. ii. 303.
■ See the Table : No. 112, ' Derr Herr iat main getrauer Hirt.'
• Noa. 8, 20, 03.
• No. 148 : ' Bringet dem Herm Ehie sainea Naadtaa.'
M
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178 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
is also traced in the libretto used by Bach on the preceding
Sunday ^ and again in that for Sexagesima in the same
year.^ But the evidence is only inferential. That he
collaborated with Bach on September 23, 1725 (?), is
incontestable, and the work defines the beginning of a
long and fruitful partnership.
Spitta,' who tells us all that is known of Picander, has
sufficiently exposed his superficial literary facility. He
commenced to write sacred poetry in 1724, and on Advent
Sunday of that year began a cycle of ' Profitable Thoughts,'
so he termed them, upon the Sunday and Saints' Day
Gospels. He published them in 1725, when the cycle was
complete.^ Three years later he issued a cycle of Cantata
texts for 1728-29 in the Neumeister form.^ That he
intended them for Bach's use is apparent in the fact
that he expressly dedicated them to the service of * our
incomparable Capellmeister.' But Bach made the sparest
use of them and of the earlier ' Profitable Thoughts ' alike.
From the latter he took not one libretto.* Of the 1728-29
cycle he used only eight texts.^ One more libretto can be
referred to Picander's later publications,^ and of six others
we can be sure that they are based upon his texts.* In
other words, of the original libretti of the Leipzig period
we can trace Picander's hand positively in no more than
fifteen.
It is necessary to emphasise this point. For Spitta ^*
has stated positively that Picander wrote ' most ' of the
Leipzig hbretti, and his opinion has been generally
^ No. S : ' Liebster Qott, waim word* ioh sterben.'
> No. 181 : ' Leiohtgesizmte Flattergeister.* * Vol. ii. 340 ff.
* The volume is entitled ' Sammlung Erbaulidher Qedanoken, Bey
und iiber gewdhnliehen Bonn- und Feettags-Evangelien,* Leipzig.
* ' Gantaten auf die Sonn- und Feet-Tage duroh das gantce Jahr,'
Leipsig, 1728. He reprinted them in 1732 in his ' Satyrisohe Qediohte.*
• But see Cantata No. 148 and Spitta, ii. 693. Also No. 19.
' Cantatas Nos. 146, 156, 159, 171, 174, 188, 190 (one veiBion), and
the Cantata ' Ehre sei Gott.' • No. 157.
• Nos. 19, 30, 36, 84, 148, 197. i« VoL u. 346.
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THE C5HURCH CANTATAS 179
accepted. Bnt its correctness may be contested. It is
suspicious, to begin with, that Picander never published
the texts which Spitta asserts him to have poured out in
such profusion. ' He placed no value/ Spitta answers
readily, 'on these manufactured compositions, put
together hastily to please his friend.' But the argument
cannot stand. Why should Kcander have thought less
of libretti actually used by his 'incomparable Capell-
meister ' than of those published for and rejected by
him ? — ^for Spitta does not venture to declare that as
literature the rejected were superior to the accepted texts.
If out of a published cycle of Hbretti expressly written
for him Bach chose only eight texts, are Picander's
' manufactured compositions,' as Spitta calls them, likely
to have attracted him to a greater degree 1 We can
deteet his hand perhaps in six Cantatas ^ besides those
already mentioned, and Bach relied on him exclusively
for his secular texts. One concludes, none the less, that
Bach rarely accepted an original Cantata hbretto from
Picander, and employed him chiefly on the Choral
Cantatas of his latest period. Excluding them, and
adding the probable to the actual original Picander texts,
they total only twenty-one, a fraction inadequate to
support Spitta's sweeping statement.
I^m the advent of Picander in 1726, to the end of the
fibrst Leipzig period nine years later. Bach does not seem
to have gone outside the circle of familiar authors for his
regular Cantata texts. On October 17, 1727, however,
he produced a funeral Cantata, or ' Trauer-Musik,' in
memory of the late Queen of Poland, the libretto of which
was written by Professor J. C. Gottsched. The partner-
ship, in fact, was accidental : the libretto was supplied
to Bach with the commission to set it to music, and, so
far as is known, Gottsched and he did not collaborate
again.
> No0. Z2, 48, 67, 00, 144, ISL «
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180 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
So, levjewing Bach's activitiee during hk first eleven
yearn at Leipzig, wb find that of the hundred libretti eet
by him to muBio Christian Weiss heads the list as the
pcesumed author of twenty-nine. Bach follows him with
eighteen.^ Picander's hand appears in fifteen, Franck's in
ei^t,' Neumeister's and Gottsohed's in one each. Fifteen
lifaretti aie ocMogregational hymns in their <»iginal or
pacaphrased form. One is the ' Oloria in Ebccelsis ' of
the B minor Mass adapted as a Christmas Cantata
(No. 190). Twelve are by authors not identified.
Passing to the later Lieipsig period, seventy-two sur-
viving Cantatas are attributed to the years 1736-50.
niey reveal one, perhaps two, new writers. The first
of them, Marianne von Ziegler, was identified by Spitta in
1892. She was the widow of an officer, resident in
Leipzig, a cultured woman, in touch with University life,
hw house a salon for music and musicians.' Thete is
no reason to suppose Bach to have been of her circle,
or that he was acquainted mth her literary gifts. Indeed
the contrary is to be infeized from the fact that, though
she published her poems in 1728,^ he does not seem to
have known them until seven years later, wh^i he used
them for nine consecutive Sundays and Festivals in
1736, beginning on the Third Sunday after Easter, and
ending on Trinity Sunday.
In addition to these nine libretti, both Spitta^ and
Schweitzer * attribute to her the text of Bach's Cantata
for the Second Sunday after Easter in the same year.''
It is uniform in construction with the authentic nine, but
is not among the authoress's published works. Wustmann^
1 Noe. 16, 22, 23, 27, 35, 61, 66, 68, 63, 66, 81, 82, 83, 163, 164, 194,
196. No. 184 10 an adaptation. See also Nos. 19, 36, 64, 144, 145,
148, for Baoh'fl ooUaboration with Pioander.
• Besides No. 80, a Choral Cantota. * SchveitBer, iL 332 (L
• Entitled * Versuoh in gebundener Sohreibart.* * Vol. iii. 71.
• Vol. iL 331 n. ' No. 86 : ' Idh bin ein guter Hiri.*
• Note 60^
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THE CHURCH CANTATAS 181
finds the Ume of the libretto leee aident and its rhythm
rougher than those published under her name. Admit-
ting the soundness of Wustmann's criticism, one hazards
the opinion that the challenged text was written at the
period when Bach set it, namely, in 1736, eight years
after the poetess published her earlier texts. The differ-
ence of time may account for the difference of texture to
which Wustmann draws attention, but leaves undecided
the question whether Bach was drawn to the earlier
through the later and unpublished texts or vice versa.
It is quite probable thai he set other libretti by the
same writer, though Schweitzer's^ attribution to her
of a second text for Ascension Day, 1735, must be
rejected.*
It IS worth noticing, since it certainly reveals Bach's
preference, that Marianne von Ziegler's libretti are eon-
structed almost invariably in the Weiss form. Every one
of them but three ' opens with a Bible passage, invariably
taken from St. John's Gospel, which provides the Gospel
for the Day from the First Sunday after Easter down to
Trinity Simday, excepting Ascension Day. All but one
(No. 68) of the libretti conclude with a CSioral, and their
Arias are hymn-like in metre. The tone of them, how-
ever, is warmer, more personal, less didactic than the
Weiss texts. That Bach regarded them with particular
favour is apparent in the circumstance that he took the
trouble to revise all but one of them.* That they stirred
his genius deeply is visible in the setting? he gave them.
After 1736 the chronology of the Cantatas is not
certainly ascertained. Of those that fall after the Ziegler
year, as we may term it, the majority can only be dated
approximately as cirea 1740, that is, anjrwhere between
1785 and 1744. Nor, except rarely, can we detect in
their libretti the work of those on whom Bach elsewhere
> Vol. iLSSln. 9 No. 88: * Ckytt filuet snf mit Jauehna.*
* See Table. « No. 74.
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182 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
relied. Weiss, who died late in 1737, is only an occasional
contributor. The texts of this period, in fact, are the
outcome of Bach's oi;m experiments in libretto form.
Thirty-three of them are Cihoral Cantatas, whose evolution
it remains to trace concisely.
That Bach should have turned to Lutheran hynmody,
chiefly of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and that the
Cantatas built upon it should be his most perfect religious
work is not surprising. The hymns and their melodies
were the foundations upon which the temple of German
Protestantism had been reared. They appealed vividly
and powerfully to Bach's spiritual nature, and profoundly
influenced his musical utterance. His whole career, as
Sir Hubert Parry points out,^ was an effort to widen his
means for self-expression. And the Choral Cantata, in
effect, was the reconciliation or blending of this self-
discipline. It was the supreme achievement of Bach's
genius to assert the faith and idealism of Lutheran
hynmody with the fullest resources of his technique.
It is not our task to consider the hynm hbretto in its
relation to the structure of Bach's latest Cantatas.
Necessarily it tied him to a stereotyped design, which he
clung to with greater persistency because it exactly
fulflUed his devotional purpose. But experience com-
pelled him, after a brief trial, to discard the simple hymn
libretto. In the earlier Leipzig years as many as eight
Choral Cantatas ^ are set to the unaltered text of a
congregational hynm. In the later Leipzig period only
two ' hbretti are of that character. Bach, in fact, soon
realised that, while the unaltered hynm-stanza, with its
uniform metre and balanced rhyme, was appropriate to
the simple Choral or elaborate Fantasia, it was unmalle-
able for use as an Aria or Becitativo. Hence, retaining
the unaltered Hymn-stanza for the musical movements
^ Op. ciL, p. 877. ' See Table.
* Nos. 100 and 107, both of them e. 178ff.
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THE CHURCH CANTATAS 183
coDgnious to it> he was led to paraphrase, in free madrigal
form, those stanzas which he selected for the Arias and
Becitativi.
As early as September 16, 1726,^ Bach was moving
towards this solution. And it is significant that Picander's
hand is visible in the hbretto. The next example ^
occurs three years later, and again reveals Picander's
authorship. Two other instances also occur in the early
Leipzig period.' To that point, however, it is clear that
Bach was not satisfied as to the most effective treatment
of the hynm-libretto. But in the second Leipzig period,
after his collaboration with Marianne von Ziegler, he
arrived at and remained constant to a uniform design.
Of the thirty-nine Choral Cantatas of the whole period
only two exhibit the earlier form. Of all the others the
hbretto consists partly of unaltered hymnnstanzas — in-
variably used for the first and last movements, and
occasionally elsewhere — but chiefiy of paraphrased stanzas
of the hynm, whose accustomed melody, wherever else
it may be introduced, is associated invariably with the
hynm when the text is used in its unaltered form. We,
to whom both words and melody are too frequently
unfamiliar, may view the perfections of the Choral
Cantata with some detachment. But Bach's audience
listened to hymns and tunes which were in the heart of
every hearer and a common possession of them all. The
appeal of his message was the more arresting because it
spoke as directly to himself as to those he addressed.
It would be satisfactory and interesting to point
positively to Bach's own handiwork in these libretti, of
which he set fifty-four in the period 1724-44. Un-
fortunately it is impossible to do so, except, perhaps, in a
single case,^ where we can reasonably infer that the
^ No. S» for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity.
• Ne. 93, for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity (1728).
• No9. 9 (T 1731), 99 (c 1733). « No. 122.
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184 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
libfretto is his. Of the re8t> one is by Franck.^ Iq
eighteen of them the hand of Picander is more or less
patent.* Nineteen' we can only venture to mark
* anonymous,' though Picander is probably present in
most of them. Ten are unaltered congregational
hymns.^ There remain, however, five^ in which, per-
haps, we detect another, and the last, of Bach's literary
helpers.
Wustmann draws attention * to the libretto of Cantata
No. 38, a paraphrase of Luther's Psalm 130. He finds
in it, and reasonably, an expression of ' Jesus religion '
very atien to Picander's muse, and suggests the younger
Christian Weiss as the author of it. like his father, he
was Bach's colleague, the godfather of his daughter, and
undoubtedly on terms of close friendship with him. But
if he wrote the libretto of Cantata No. 38, probably it is
not the only one. The same note rings in four more of
the Choral Cantatas,^ which may be attributed tentatively
to Weiss, though their ascription to Bach would be
equally congruous.
Returning, however, to the seventy-two libretti of the
later Leipzig period we reach this result : More than half
of them (thirty-nine) are congregational hymns, all but
two of which are of the paraphrased type in which we
detect the work of Picander, Bach himself, and perhaps
the younger Weiss. Of the remaining thirty-three
original libretti Marianne von Ziegler heads the hst with
nine, and perhaps ten.^ Bach follows with a problematical
^ No. 80.
• Nob. 1, 2, 6, 8, 20, 26, 62, 78, 91, 92, 93, 96, 115, 121, 124, 127,
138, 140.
• Nob. 7, 9, 10, 14, 33, 41, 94, 99, 101, 111, 113, 114, 116, 125, 126,
ISO, 139, 178, 180.
• Nob. 4, 97. 100, 107, 112, 117, 129, 137, 177, 192.
• Nos. 3, 38, 128, 183, 135.
• P. xiiv.
' Nob. 3, 123, 133, 135. •See mspra, p. 180.
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THE CHURCH CANTATAS 186
siz,^ Picander with five,* the elder Weias with four,'
Neumeister with one.^ One text is taken from the Bible.*
Another oonsists of a single stanza of a hymn by Martin
Behm.* Five are by authors unknown or undetected.^
But, as was said at the outset, the attribution of
particular libretti to individual writers is conjectural,
except in comparatively few cases. Yet, unsatisfying as
it is, this guess-work reveals with approximate correctness
the extent to which Bach drew upon his own and other
people's abilities for the texts he needed. Summarising
our conclusions, we discover that about one-quarter
(fifty-four) of the 202 libretti set by Bach between the
years 1704 and 1744 were provided by the hymn-book.
It is shown elsewhere * that all but eleven of them are
taken from P^ul Wagner's volumes. The elder Weiss
comes next with thirty-three libretti. Bach follows with
thirty, Salomo Franck with twenty-one, Picander with
twenty (exclusive of his arrangements of Choral Cantata
texts). Marianne von Ziegler contributes ten, Neumeister
seven, Eilmar and Helbig two each, Gottsched and
Martin Behm one each. Three libretti are taken from
the Bible or Church liturgy. Eighteen remain anonymous.
The literary qualities of the libretti are not under
discussion here. They have a characteristic, however, on
which one cannot forbear from remarking. Indifferent
literature as, for the most part, they are — children of
their period and blemished with its imperfections — they
enshrine an extraordinarily interesting anthology of the
religious poetry of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth
centuries. They expose the evangelical thought of Ger-
many from the age of Luther to that of Bach, and are
1 Nob. 17» 34, 43, 151, 197, ftnd ' Herr Qott, Behonsoher aUer
Dinge.'
• Km. 30, 82, 48, 67, 00. • NO0. 45, 79, 110, 148.
« No. 28. • No. 60. • No. 118.
' Nob. 6, 11, 18, 146, 193.
• See ' Baoh'B GhoralB,* Part IL, Introdnotion.
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186 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
particularly rich in the lyrical fervour of the Reformation
itself. Of the seventy-eeven hymn-writers whom Bach
includes in his collection, so many as forty-four belong
to the sixteenth century. Only thirteen of them touch
Bach's own period. And a similar bias to the Reformation
epoch is observable in his choice of the tunes of the
Chorals, which are absent from only twenty-one of the
Cantatas. By fax the greater number of them are coeval
with the hymns themselves ; that is, they date from the
Reformation and behind it.
Here clearly is the source of Bach's inspiration, the
master-key of his art. He touches Luther, is in a sense
his complement, his art builded on the foundations
Luther laid, consecrated to the ends Luther vindicated,
inspired by a dedication of himself to God's service not
less exalted — a great artist, a great Protestant, a great
man.^
^ The above artide and the Table that f oUowa were oommtmicated
originally to the MuBical Aasooiation on Maioh 2S, 1918.
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APPENDIX III
THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS OP BACH'S
WORKS
Thb Bachgesellschaft was founded on December 16, 1860,
issued its first volume in 1861, and was dissolved on
January 27, 1900, upon the publication of its sixtieth and
concluding volume. The Society had fulfilled its funda-
mental purpose — the publication of Bach's works — and on
the very date of its dissolution the Neue Bachgesellschaft
was founded with the object of popularising Bach's
music by publishing it in practicable form and by holding
Bach Festivals. A secondary object, the foundation of
a Bach Museum at ESsenach, in the house in which Bach
was bom, already has been achieved. Bach Festivals
have been held at regular intervals — at Berlin in 1901,
Leipzig in 1904, Eisenach — in connection with the
opening of the Museum — ^in 1907, at Chemnitz in 1908,
Duisburg in 1910, Breslau in 1912, Vienna in 1914.
The publications of the new Society necessarily are
unimportant by the side of those of its predecessor.
It has, however, brought to light and published a Can-
tata overlooked by the old Bachgesellschaft. (See
New B.G. xm. (2),)
The publications of both Societies are quoted here by
their year of issue — ^i., n., m., and so forth. When more
than one volume has been published in a single year they
are differentiated thus : xv.(l), xv.(2). When a volume
appeared upon a date subsequent to the Vereizisjahr it
p
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226 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
bears, the date of the Preface is indicated in a bracket,
e.g. 1872[1876].
The editorial work of the original Bachgesellschaft was
undertaken, in unequal proportions, by ten editors during
fifty years. Of the Society's sixty volumes three were
edited by Moritz Hauptmann (1851-58), one by Carl F.
Becker (1853), two by Julius Rietz (1854-56), twenty-
seven by Wilhehn Rust (1855-81), one by Franz Kroll
(1866), eleven by Alfred Dorfiel (1876-98), six by Paul
Graf Waldersee (1881-94), five by Ernst Naumann (1886-
94), two by Franz WiiDner (1887-92), and two by Hermann
Kretzschmar (1895-1900).
(A) PUBLICATIONS OF THE BACHGESELI^CHAFT
1.1851. Eirchencantaten. Erster Band. Ed. Moriti
Hauptmann.^
No. *1. Wie schon leuchtet der MbrgeDBtem.
*2. Ach Qott, vom Himmel sieh darein.
*3. Aoh Qott, wie manches Herzeleid (c. 1740).
*4. Christ lag in Todesbanden.
5. Wo soil ich fliehen bin.
*6. Bleib* bei uns, denn es will Abend weiden.
7. Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam.
*8. liebster Gk>tt, wann weid' ich sterben ?
9. Es ist das Heil uns kommen her.
♦10. Meine SeeP erhebt den Herren !
Frontispiece : O. Haussmann's portrait of Bach, in the
possession of St. Thomas' School, Leipzig.
^ The Church CantataB are published by Peters and also by Breitkopf
and Haertel. A prefixed asterisk indicates that an English edition
of the Cantata or Oratorio is published by Novello or Breitkopf and
Haertel.
The Organ music is published by Novello, to whose edition references
are given (N.)> Peters, and Breitkopf and Haertel. A collation of the
Peters and Novello editions is given in Appendix V.
The Clavier and Instrumented music is published by Peters, to whose
edition references are given (P.).
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 227
n. 1862. KiTffihfflcaptiiten. Ziraiter Band. Ed. Moriti
Hauptmaon.
*No. 11. Lobet Gott in seinen Beiohen.
*12. Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen.
13. Meine Seufzer, meine Thranen.
14. War' Gott moht mit mus diese Zeit.
16. DeimdawiiBtmeineSeelemohtinderHoUelaaaeii.
16. Herr Gott dich loben wir.
17. Wer Dank opfert, der pieiflet mioh.
1 8. Gleich wie der Begen und Sohnee vom Hunmel f aUt.
19. Eb erhub sioh ein Streit.
20. Ewigkdt, da Donnerwort (c. 1726).
in. 1863. COaTierwerke. Erster Band. Ed. Oarl F. Beckvr.
(1) Fifteen Inventions and Fifteen Symphoniee (Sinfonie)
(P. bk. 201).i
(2) Clavieriibung, Part I. : —
Ftotiten 1-6 (P. bks. 206, 206).
(3) Claviertibung, Part II. :—
Obneerto, in F major, in the Italian style (P bk. 207).
Partita (Overture) in B minor (P. bk. 206).
(4) COavieriibnng, Part III. :—
Organ Ptelude and Fugue in B flat major (N. bk. 16
pp. 19, 83).
Four Duetti (P. bk. 208 p. 78).
Oateohism Cboral Pzeludes (Organ) : —
1. Kyrie, Gott Vater in Ewigkeit (N. bk. 16 p. 28).
Ghriste, aller Welt Trost (ib. p. 30).
Kyrie, Gott heiliger Geist {ib. p. 33).
2. Kyrie, Gott Vater in Ewigkeit (alio modo) (ib.
p. 36).
Ghriste, aller Welt Trost (ib. p. 37).
Kyrie, Gott heiliger Geist {ib. p. 38).
3. Allein Gott in der Hob' sei Ehr* {ib. p. 30).
4. Ditto {ib. p. 40*).«
^ A Variant of the flnt InTention is on p. 342 of the Tolome. A
Variant of Binfonia iz. is on p. vi. of the Nachtrag.
* A Variant is in B.O. zu
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228 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
5. AUein Gott in der Hob' sei Ehr' (Fughetta)
(N. bk. 16 p. 41).
6. Dies Bind die beU'gen zehn Gebot' (ib. p. 42).
7. Ditto (Fugbetta) {ib. p. 47).
8. Wir glauben all' an einen Gott (ib. p. 49).
9. Ditto (Fugbetta) (tb. p. 52).
10. Vater unfier im Himmelreiob (ib. p. 53).
11. Ditto (ib. p. 61).i
12. CSbiist nnser Herr zum Joidan kam (ib. p. 62).
13. Ditto (ib. p. 67).
14. Aus tiefer Notb scbrei icb sra dir (ib. p. 68).
16. Ditto (ib. p. 72).
16. Jesus GbristuB unser Heiland (ib. p. 74).
17. Ditto (Fugue) (ib. p. 80).
(6) Ckvieriibung, Part IV. :—
Alia and tbirty Variations (Goldberg) (P. bk. 209).
(6) Toccata in F sbarp minor (P. bk. 210 p. 30).
Ditto. G minor (P. bk. 210 p. 40).
Fugue (witb Fantasia) in A minor (P. bk. 207 p. 16).
rV. 1854. ♦PaasJonsmnak nach dem Evangelisten XatOuiiia.
Ed. Julius Bieti.
V(l). 1866. KiTchnnr^ntaten. Dxitter Band. Ed. WDhelm
Bust.
No. *21. Icb batte viel Bekiimmemiss.
22. Jesus nabm zu sicb die Zwolfe.
*23. Du wabrer Gott und Davids Sobn.
24. Bin ungefarbt Gemiitbe.
*25. Es ist nicbts Gesundes an meinem Leibe.
26. Acb wie fliicbtig, acb wie nicbtig.
*27. Wer weiss, wie nabe mir mein Ehide.
*28. Gottlob ! nun gebt das Jabr zu Ehide.
29. Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir.
*30. Freue dicb, erloste Scbaar.
V (2). 1856 [1866]. ^Weihnachts-Oratorium. Ed. Wilhelm
Bust.
i A Vsmnt is in P. bk. 244 p. 109.
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 229
VI. 1866. ^Mease. H moll. Ed Julius Bieti.
Vn. 1857. Eirchencantaten. VierterBand. Ed.WilhelEmBust.
No. 31. Der Himmel lacht, die Erde jubiliret.
*32. liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen.
33. Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Chiist.
*34. O ewigee Feuer, O Ursprung der liebe.
35. Geist und Seele wild verwirrt.
36. Schwingt freudig euch empor.
37. Wer da glaubet und getauft wild.
'^38. Au8 Uefer Noth schrei ioh zu dir.
'^39. Biich dem Hungrigen dein Brod.
*40. Dazu ist ersohienen der Sohn Gottes.
Vm. 1858. Viar Messen. F dur, *A dur, O moll, O dur.
Ed. Moritz Hauptmaim.
IX. 1859 [I860]. Eammermusik. Erster Band. Ed. Wil-
helm Bust.
Three SonataB, in B minor, E flat major, A minor (and
Variant), for Clavier and Flute (P. bk. 234).
Suite in A major, for Clavier and Violin (P. bk. 236).
Six Sonatas, in B minor, A major, E major, C minor,
F minor (and Variant), G major (and Variants), for
Clavier and Violin (P. bks. 232, 233).
Three Sonatas, in G major (or 2 Flutes), D major, G minor
for Clavier and Viok da Gamba (P. bk. 239).
Sonata in G major, for Flute, Violin, and Clavier (P. bk. 237).
Sonata in C major, for two Violins and Clavier (P. bk. 237).
Sonata in G minor, for Clavier and Violin (not in P.).^
X. 1860. Eirchencantaten. FfinfterBand. Ed. Wilhefan Bust.
No. HI. Jesu, nun sei gepreiset.
42. Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbaths.
*43. Gott fahret auf mit Jauchzen.
*44. Sie weiden euch in den Bann thun (c. 1725).
> < If genuine, the Sonata la a youthful work,* remarks Sohweitwr,
i« 401 n.
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230 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
45. Eb iflt djr geaagt, Hensch, was gat ist.
46. Schauet doch imd sehet, etc.
47. WersichselbsteiiiohetydersollerniedrigetwerdeD-
48. leh elender Menaehy wer wild mich erioBen 7
40. Ich geh' nnd soohe mit Verlangen.
*50. Nun i0t das Heil nnd die Kxaft.
XI (1). 1861 [1862]. nCagmfical, D dor, mid liar Sanctos,
dnr, D dur, D midl, O dnr. Ed. WUhalm Bnst.
The Appendix contaiius four additional numben which
axe found in one of the two Autograph sooieB of the
Magnificat.
XI (2). 1861
[1862]. Eammennusik fOr Oesang. Erstar
Band.
Ed.
WilhelmBuat.
Secular Cantata
: ^Phoebus und Pan.
Do.
Weichet nur, betrubte Schatten.
Do.
Amore traditore.
Do.
Von der VergniigHamkeit, or» Ich bin in
mir vergnugt.
Do.
Der zufiiedengestellte Aeolus, or, Zer-
leisset, zersprenget, zertrununert die
Graft.
Xn (I) . 1862 [1863]. *Passimigmu8tk nach dam Eraagalisten
Johannes. Ed. Wilhelm Bust.
xn (2). 1862 [1863]. Ejichencantaten. Sechster Band. Ed.
WOhahnBust.
No. 61. JauohsEet Gott in alien Landen.
62. Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht.
*63. Schlage doch, gewunschte Stunde.
*64. Widerstehe doch der Siinde.
66. Ich armer Mensch, ich Siindenknecht.
*66. Ich will den Ereuzstab geme tragen.
67. Selig ist der Mann.
68. Aoh Gott, wie manches Herzeleid (1733).
69. Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten (1716).
60. O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort (1732).
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 231
Zin(l). 1863 [1864]. Traaungs-Canteten. Ed. Vrahelxn
Bust.
No. *I95. Dem Gerechten muss das licht.
196. Der Herr denket an uns.
197, Qott ist uns're Zuversicht.
Drei GhorSle zu Trauungen : (1) Was Gott thut,
(2) Sei Lob und Ehr', (3) Nun danket alle Gott.
XTTT (2). 1863. COaYierwerke. Zweiter Band. Ed. Vrahelm
Bust.
Six Great Suites, in A major, A minor, G minor, F major, E
minor, D minor, known as the ' English Suites ' (P. bks.
203,204).
Six Small Suites, in D minor, C minor, B minor, E flat
major, G major, E major, known as the 'French
Suites ' (P. bk. 202).i
Xm (3). 1868 [1865]. *Trauer-Ode. Ed. Wilhdm Bust.
XIV. 1864 [1866]. ClaTierwerke. Dritter Band. Das wohl-
temperirte Clavier (P. bks. 2790 a-b.). Ed. Fraas
EroU.^
Erster Theil, 1722.
Zweiter Theil, 1744.
XV. 1865 [1867]. Orgelwerke. Erster Band. Ed. Wilhelm
Bust.
Six Sonatas, in E flat major, C minor, D minor, E minor,
G major, G major (N. bks. 4, 6), for 2 Claviers and Pedal.
Eighteen Preludes and Fugues : —
Prelude and Fugue in C major (N. bk. 7 p. 74).
Do. do. D major (N. bk. 6 p. 10).
Do. do. E minor (N. bk. 2 p. 44).
^ Additional movement of the seoond, third, and fourth Suites are
in Appendix II. of B.O. zxzvi.
' The volume contains an Appendix of Variants, etc. See cdso
B.G. XT.y. (1) Appendix. Variants of Nos. 1, 3, 6 of Part II. are in
Appendix I. of B.O. xxxvi.
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232 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Prelude and Fugue in F minor (N. bk. 6 p. 21).
Do. do. 6 minor (N. bk. 8 p. 120).
Do. do. A major (N. bk. 3 p. 64).
Do. (Fantasia) do. C minor (N. bk. 3 p. 76).
Do. (Toooata) D minor (N. bk. 10 p. 196).
Do. do. D minor (N. bk. 9 p. 160).
Do. (Toccata) do. F major (N. bk. 9 p. 176).
Do. do. the Great, O major (N. bk. 8 p. 112).
Do. (Fantasia) do. do. 6 minor (N. bk. 8 p. 127).^
Do. do. do. A minor (N. bk. 7 p. 42)*
Do. do. do. B minor (N. bk. 7 p. 62).
Do. do. do. C minor (N. bk. 7 p. 64).
Do. do. do. G major (N. bk. 9 p. 166).
Do. do. do. E minor (Ni bk. 8 p. 98).
Do. do. C major (N. bk. 3 p. 70).
Three Toccatas and Fugues, in C major, the ' Great * (N.
bk. 9 p. 137).
Do. do. D minor (N. bk. 6 p. 2).
Do. do. E major (N. bk. 8 p. 88,
as Prelude and Fugue
in G major).
Passacaglia, in G minor (N. bk. 10 p. 214).
XVI. 1866 [1868]. Eirchencantaten. Siebenter Band. Ed.
Vtnihelm Bust.
No. '^61. Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (1714).
62. Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (c. 1740).
63. Christen, atzet diesen Tag.
64. Sehet, welch' eine liebe.
'^66. Sie werden aus Saba Alle kommen.
66. Erfreut euch, ihr Herzen.
*67. Halt' im Gedachtniss Jesum Ghrist.
*68. Also hat Oott die Welt geliebt.
69. Lobe den Herren, meine Seele.
*70. Wachet, betet, seid bereit allezeit.
* See publioatioQB of the N.B.O. znr. (2) no. 6.
' See publioationB of the N.B.Q. vn. (3) no. 3.
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 233
XVn. 1867 [1869]. Kaxnmermusik. Zweiter Band. Ed.
Wilhelm Bust.
Seven Oonoertos, in D minor (and Variant),^ E major (and
Variant), D major (and Variant), A major (and Variant),
F minor, F major, O minor, for Glavier and Orchestra
(Stiings ; two flutes added in Concerto vi. (P. bks. 248-
264).«
Triple Cionoerto in A minor, for Flute, Violin, Cflavier, and
Orchestra (Strings). (P. bk. 265).
XVm. 1868 [1870]. Kircheneaataten. Achter Band. Ed.
V^nihelm Bust.
No. 71. Gott ist mein Konig.
72. Alles nur naoh Gottes Willen.
73. Herr, wie du willt, so Schick's mit mir.
^4. Wermioh]iebet,derwirdmeinWorthalten(TI736).
76. Die Elenden sollen essen.
76. Die Himmel erzahlen die Ehre Gottes.
77. Du sollst Gott, deinen Henen, lieben.
78. Jesu, der du meine Seele.
♦79. Gott, der Herr, ist Sonn' und SchiU.
♦80. Ein' feste Burg ist linser Gott.
XIX. 1869 [1871]. Blammermusik. Dritter Band. Ed.
V^mhelm Bust.
Six Concertos C Brandenburg ') for Orohestia and
Continue : —
No. I. in F major (Strings, 3 Ob., Fag., 2 Cor. (P. bk. 261).*
No. II. in F major (Strings, Flute, Oboe, Tromba) (J?.
bk. 262).
* For this work, in its origiiiAl form as a Violin Concerto, see N.B.O.
zvin. (1 and 2).
* The D noiajor (No. 8) and O minor (No. 7) Concertos are identical
with the Violin Concertos in E major and A minor. See B.O. xzz. (1).
No. 6 (F. major) is the fourth Brandenburg Concerto (in O.). See
B.O. YTT. no. 4.
* In a shortened form this work appears also as a Sinfonia in F major.
See B.a. zxzi. (1) no. 6, and N.B.Q. z. (2).
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234 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
No. m. in O major (Strings) (P. bk. 263). [N.B.G. iz. (3)].
No. IV. in 6 major (Strings and 2 Flutes) (P. bk. 264).
No. V. in D major (Strings, Flute, Clayier) (P. bk. 266).
No. VI. in B flat major (2 Violas, 2 Violas da Gamba,
Viobnoello, Ciontrabasso) (P. bk. 266).
XX (1). 1870 [1872]. Kirchencantaten. Neunter Band. Ed.
WilbelmBust.
No. *81. Jesus schlaft, was soil ioh hoffen ?
*82. Ich babe genug.
83. Erfieute Zeit im neuen Bunde.
84. Ich bin veigniigt mit meinem Gliioke.
85. Ich bin ein guter Hirt. [Score, N.B.O. ix. (I)].
86. Wahrlich, wahrlich, ich sage euoh.
87. Bisher habt ihr nichts gebeten in meinem Namen.
88. Siehe, ich will viel Fischer aussenden. [Score,
N.B.a vn. (1)].
89. Was soil ioh aus dir machen, Ephraim 7
90. Es reifet euch ein schrecklich Ende.
XX (2). 1870 [1878]. Eammermusik fOr Gesaog. Zweitor
Band. Ed. Vrabdm Bust.
Secular Oantata : Schleioht, spielende Wellen.
Do. Verefaiigte Zwietracht der weohsehideQ
Saiten.
Do. Aui, schmettemde Tone der muntem
Trompeten. [See B.O. xzxiv].
XXI (1). 1871 [1874]. Eammermusik. Viarter Band. Ed.
VrahelmBust.
Three Concertos for Violin and Orchestra (Strings) : —
No. I. in A minor (P. bk. 229).^
No. n. in E major (P. bk. 230).>
> Identioal with the O minor Clavier Concerto. See B.O. zm.
no. 7» and also B.O. zlv. (1)» Appendix, p. 233.
* Identioal with the D niajor Clavier Conoerto. See B.O. zvn. no. 3,
and N.B.a vm. (1)
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 235
No. m. in D minor (two Violins) (P. bk. 231).»
Symphonic movement, in D major, for Violin and Orchestra
(Strings, 2 Ob., 3 Trombe, Timp.).«
XXI (2). 1871 [1874]. Eammermusik. FOnfter Band. Ed.
WUhebnoL BxtaX.
Three Concertos for two Claviers and Orchestra (Strings) : —
No. I. in C minor (P. bk. 257).
No. II. in C major (P. bk. 256).
No. m. in C minor (P. bk. 257b).»
XXI (3). 1871 [1874]. *Oster-Oratoriiim : ' Kommt.eilet mid
laufet.' Ed. Wilhelm Bust.
XXn. 1872 [1875]. Eirchencantaten. Zehnter Band. Ed.
Wilhelm Bust.
No. 91. Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ.
92. Ich hab' in Gottes Herz und Sinn.
*93. Wer nur den lieben Gott lasst walten.
94. Was frag ich nach der Welt.
95. Christus, der ist mein Leben.
96. Herr Christ, der ein'ge Gottes-Sohn.
97. In alien meinen Thaten.
98. Was Oott thut, das ist wohlgethan, in B major
(c. 1732).
99. Was Gott thut, das ist wohlgethan, in G major
(c. 1733).
100. Was Gott thut, das ist wohlgethan, in G major
(c. 1735).
^ Identioal with the Conoerto for two Claviers in C minor. See
B.O. zxi. (2) no. 3.
' The movement is deeoribed as being from 'einer unbekannten
Kirohencantate ' for four voices and Orchestra. The Autograph is
incomplete. The movement is not published elsewhere than In the
B.Q. edition.
* Identical with the Concerto for 2 Violins, in D minor. See
B.a. ZXI. (1) no. 3. Also pp. 131, 168, ISO, mpra.
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236 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
XXm. 1873 [1876]. Eirchencantaten. Elfter Band. Ed.
WUhdm Bust.
No. 101. Nimm von uns, Herr, du treuer Qott,
102. Herr, deine Augen sehea nach dem Olauben,
103. Ihr werdet weinen und heolen.
*104. Du Hirte Israel, hore.
105. Herr, gehe nioht in's Geiicht.
*106. Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeete Zeit (Aotos
tragicus).
107. Was willst du dich betriiben.
108. Es ist euch gut, dass ioh hingehe.
109. Ioh glaube, lieber Herre.
110. Unser Mond sei vol! Lachens.
XXIV. 1874 [1876]. Eirchencantaten. Zwdlfter Band. Ed.
Alfred DdrfFel.
No. 111. Was mein Gott Tvill, das g'scheh' allzeit.
*112. Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt.
113. Herr Jesu Christ, du hoohstes Gut.
114. Ach, lieben Christen, seid getrost.
*116. Maohe dich, mein Geist, bereit.
me. Du Friedefiirst, Herr Jesu Oirist.
117. Sei Lob und Ehr' dem hochsten Gut.
118. Jesu Christ, mein's Lebens lioht.^
*119. Preise, Jerusalem, den Herm.
120. Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille.
XXV (1). 1875 [1878]. Die Ennst der Fuge : 1749-1750
Ed. Wilhdm Bust.
Contrapunctus 1-14
Four Canons
Two Fugues for two Claviers
Fugue on three subjects
(P. bk. 218).
^ Also in N.B.G. zvn. (1 and 2).
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 237
XXV (2) 1875 [1878]. Orgelwerke. Zweiter Band. Ed.
Wilhdm Bust.
(1) Orgelbuchlein (N. bk. 16), containing Preludes on the
f oUowing melodies : ^
AdvefU —
1. Nun komm der Heiden Heiland.
2. Gott, durch deine Giite, or, Gottes Sohn ist
kommen.
3. Herr CSuist, der ein'ge Gottes-Sohn, or, Herr
Gott, nun sei gepreiset.
4. Lob sei dem alhnachtigen Gott.
Chnstmas —
6. Puer natus in Bethlehem.
6. Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ.
7. Der Tag, der ist so freudenreiGh.
8. Vom Himmel hooh, da komm' ioh her.
9. Vom Himmel kam der Engel Schaar.
10. In dulci jubilo.
11. Lobt Gott, ihr Christen, allzugleich.
12. Jesu, meine Freude.
13. Christum wir soUen loben schon.
14. Wir Christenleut'.
New Year —
16. Helft mir Gottes Giite preisen.
16. Das alte Jahr vergangen ist.
17. In dir ist Freude.
Feast of the PvrificaHon of the B. V.M,—
18. Mit Fried' und Freud' ioh fahr' dahin.
19. Herr Gott, nun sohleuss den Himmel auf .
PaarionHde —
20. O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig.
21. Christe, du Lamm Gottes.
22. Christus, der uns selig macht.
23. Da Jesus an dem Ereuze stund.
> For an exposition of Baoh's design in the ' OrgelbQohlein,* see the
present writer's artioles in 'The Musioal Times' for January-Maich
1917, and < Baoh*s Ghorala,' Part IIL See N.B.O. n. (1) for an acraage-
ment of the Preludes for two pianofortes.
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238 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
24. O Menaoh, bewein' dein' Siinde gross.
25. Wir dauoken dir, Herr Jesu Ghxifit.
26. Hilf Gott, dass mir's gelinge.
Easter—
27. Christ lag in Todesbanden.
28. Jesus Ghiistus, unser Heiland, der den Tod.
29. CJhrist ist erstanden (three verses).
30. Erstanden ist der heil'ge Christ.
31. Erschienen ist der herrliohe Tag.
32. Heut' triumphiret Gottes Sohn.
Whitsunday —
33. Komm, Gott, Schopfer, heiliger Geist.
Trinity Sunday —
34. Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend'.
36-6. liebster Jesu, wir sind hier (two settings).
The Cateckiam—
37. Dies sind die heil'gen zehn Gebot.
38. Vater unser im Hinunebdoh.
Penitence and Amendment —
39. Duroh Adam's Fall ist ganz verderbt.
40. Es ist das Heil uns kommen her.
Christian Conduct and Experience —
41. Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu CSirist.
In Time of Trouble—
42. In dich hab' ich gehoffet, Herr.
43. Wenn wir in hoohsten Nothen sein.
44. Wer nur den lieben Gott lasst walten.
Death and the Grave —
46. AUe HJenschen miissen sterben.
The Life Eternal^
46. Ach wie nichtig, aoh wie fliichtig.
(2) Six Chorals (SohuUer) (N. bk. 16) on the following
melodies:
Wachet auf , ruft uns die Stimme.
Wo soil ich fliehen hin, or, Auf meinen lieben Gott.
Wer nur den lieben Gott lasst walten.
Meine Seele erhebt den Herren.
Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ.
Kommst du nun» Jesu, vom Himmel henmter.
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 239
(3) Eighteen Choiak (N. bk. 17) on the following melodies :
I, 2. Elomm, heiliger Geist, Herre Gott (two settings).
3. An Wasserfliisflen Babylon.
4. Schmxioke dich, liebe Seele.
6. Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend'.
6. O Lamm Gottes imschnldig (three verses).
7. Nun danket AUe Gott.
8. Von Gott will ich nioht lassen.
9, 10, 11. Nun komm der Heiden Heiland (three settings).
12, 13, 14. Allein Gott in der Hoh' sei Ehr' (three settings).
15, 16. Jesus Ghristus, unser Heiland, der von uns (two
settings).
17. Komm, Gott, Schopfer, hriliger Geist.
18. Vor deinen Thron tret* ich, V>r, Wenn wir in
hoohsten Nothen sein.
(4) Older texts of the ' Orgelbuohlein ' and 'Eighteen'
Chorals:
1. Christus, der uns selig macht (Orgelbiichlein
No. 22) (P. bk. 244 p. 108).
2. Komm, Gott, Schopfer, heiliger Geist (Orgel-
buchlein No. 33) (P. bk. 246 p. 86A).
3. Komm, heiliger Geist, Herre Gott (Eighteen No. 1)
(P. bk. 246 p. 86).
4. Ditto (Eighteen No. 2) (P. bk. 246 p. 88).
5. An Wasserfliissen Babylon (Ei^teen No. 3) (P.
bk. 246 p. 103).
6. Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend' (Eighteen
No. 6) (P. bk. 245 pp. 107, 108 prints two of
the three Variants).
9. Lamm Gottes unschuldig (Eighteen No. 6)
(P. bk. 246 p. 97).
10. Von Gott will ich nicht lassen (Eighteen No. 8)
(P. bk. 246 p. 102).
II. Nun komm der Heiden Heiland (Eighteen No. 9)
(P. bk. 246 p. 92).
12. Ditto (Eighteen No. 10) (P. bk. 246 pp. 93, 94).
14. Ditto (Eighteen No. 11) (P. bk. 246 p. 96).
16. Allein Gott in der Hoh' sei Ehr' (Eighteen No. 13)
(R bk. 246 p. 100).
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240 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
16. Allein Gott in dor Hoh' sei Ehr' (Eij^teea No. 14)
(P. bk. 246 p. 97).
17. Jesus Christus unser Heiland (Eighteen No. 16) (P.
bk. 246 p. 112).
XXVI. 1876 [1878]. Kirchencantaten. Dreimhnter Band.
Ed. Alfred DdrfEd.
No. 121. CSuistom wir sollen loben schon.
122. Das nengebor'ne Kindelein.
123. liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen.
124. Meinen Jesum lass' ich nioht.
126. Mit Fried' and Freud' ich fahr' dahin.
126. Erhalt' uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort.
127. Herr Jesu Cihrist, wahr'r Mensch und Gott.
128. Auf Ghristi Himmelfahrt allein.
129. Gelobet sei der Herr.
130. Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir.
XXVII (1). 1877 [18791. Eamxnermusik. Sechster Band.
Ed. Alfred DdrfFel.
Three Sonatas (Suites), in 6 minor, A minor ,^ C major,^ for
Violin Solo (Nos. 1, 3, 6 in P. bk. 228).
Three Partitas (Suites, Sonatas), in B minor, D minor, E
major,^ for Violin Solo (Nos. 2, 4, 6 in P. bk. 228).
Six Suites (Sonatas), in G major, D minor, C major, E flat
major, C minor, D major, for Violoncello Solo (P. bks.
238a, 238).
XXVn(2).1877 [1878]. Thematisches Verzeichmss der
Kirchencantaten No. 1-120. Ed. Alfred DdrfFel.
[Note. — ^The Thematic Catalogue is completed in B.G. ZLVi.
(P. bk. 270b).]
XXVni. 1878 [1881]. Kirchencantaten. Yiimieimisr Band
Ed. Wilhelm Bust.
No. 131. Aus der Tiefe rufe ich, Herr, zu dir.
132. Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn.
133. Ich freue mich in dir.
> See B.O. xuz. for a Clavier Tenioii,
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 241
134. Bin Hens, das seinen Jesum lebend weiss [and
Variant].
135. Ach Herr, mich armen Sunder.
136. Erfoische mich, Gott.
137. Lobe den Herren, den machtigen Konig.
138. Warum betriibBt dn dich, mein Herz ?
139. Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott.
*140. Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme.^
Mit Onaden bekrone der Himmel die Zeiten (No.
134 adapted).
XXIX. 1879 [1881]. Eammermusik fOr Gesaag. Dritter
Band. Ed. Paul Graf Waldersee.
Secular CSantata : Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd.
Do. Non sa ohe sia doloie.
Do. O holder Tag, erwiinachte Zeit (Wedding).
Ghuroh Oantata No. 194 : HdchBterwimsohtes iWdeofest.
Secular Cantata : Sohweigt stille, plaudert nicht.
Do. Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet.
Do. Mit Onaden bekrone der Himmftl die
SSeiten.
Do. O angenehme Mekxlei.
Instrumental Piece for VioUn, Flute, and Continue. (Not
in P.).
XXX. 1880 [1884]. Kirchencaatalen. Fftnfttehnter Band.
Ed. Paul Graf Waldersee.
No. 141. Das ist je gewisslioh wahr.
142. Uns ist ein Kind geboren.
143. Lobe den Herren, meine Seele.
144. Nimm, was dein ist, und gehe hin.
145. So du mit deinem Munde bekennest Jesum.
146. Wir mussen durch viel Trtibsal in das Reich
Gottes eingehen.
147. Herz und Mund und That und Leben.
148. Bringet dem Herm Ehre seines Nomens.
*140. Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg.
160. Nach dir, Herr, verhuiget mioh«
* Booaey and Co. alio publish an Thngliah aditioo.
Q
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242 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
XXXI (1). 1881 [1885] Qrchesterwerke. Ed. Alfred DdrfEd.
Overture in C major (Stnngs, Ob. 1 and 2» Fagotto) (P.
bk. 267).
Do. B minor (Strings, Mauto traverso) (P. bk. 268).
Do. D major (Strings, Ob. 1 and 2, Trombe 1, 2, 3,
Timpani) (P. bk. 269).
Do. D major (Strings, Ob. 1, 2, 3, Fagotto, Trombe
1, 2, 3, Timpani) (P. bk. 2068).
Sinfonia in F major (Strings, Ob. 1, 2, 3, Fagotto, Gomo da
caccia 1 and 2).^
XXXI (2). 1881 [1885]. Hnsikalisches Opfer. 1747. Ed.
Alfred DdrfEd.
Rioercaie a tre voci.
Canon perpetuus super thema regium.
Ganones diversi 1-6.
Fnga canonica in Epidiapente.
Rioercare a sei vooi.
Two Canons.
Sonata in C minor, for Flute, Violin,
Qavier.
Canone perpetuo (Flute, Violin,
Clavier).*
XXXI (3). 1881 [1885]. Eammermufidk. Siebenter Band.
Ed. Paul Oraf Waldersee.
Two Concertos for three Gaviers and Orchestra (Strings) :
No. 1 in D minor (P. bk. 258).'
No. 2 in C major (P. bk. 269).»
1 ThiB 18 a shortened form of th^ first Brandenburg Conoerto (see
B.O. nz. no. 1). It oonsists of the Allegro, Adagio, Miniiet, Trio L
and Trio 11. of the latter, and omits its seoond Allegro and Polaooa.
* The Appendix contains Job. Pbilipp Kimbeiger's solutioDS of the
Canons and his expansion of the figured bass of the Clavier part of the
(P. bk. 219)
* See publioations of the N.B.O. zzv. (2) no. 2.
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 243
XXXII. 1882 [1886]. Erchgncantaten. Seduohnter Band.
Ed. Ernst Nanmann.
Ijlo. 161. Susser Trost, mein Jesus kommt.
*152. Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn.
153. Schau', lieber Gott, wie meine Feind'.
154. Mein liebster Jesus ist verloren.
155. Mein Gott, wie lang', ach lange.
156. Ich steh' mit einem Fuss im Orabe.
157. Ich lasse dioh nicht.
158. Der Friede sei mit .dir.
159. Sehet, wir geh'n hinauf gen Jerusalem.
160. Ich weiss, das mein Erloser lebt.
XXXTTT. 1883 [1887]. Kirchencaatalen. Siebiehnter Band;
Ed. Frani WtUlner.
No. 161. Komm, du susse Todesstunde. <
162. Ach, ich sehe, jetzt da ich zur Hoohzeit gehe.
163. Nur Jedem das Seme.
164. Ihr, die ihr euch von Ghristo nennet.
165. O heil'ges Geist- und Wasserbad.
166. Wo gehest du hin ?
*167. Ihr Menschen, ruhmet Gottes liebe.
168. Thue Bechnung ! Donnerwort.
169. Gott soU allein mein Herze haben.
170. Vergnugte Ruh% beliebte Seelenlust.
XXXIV. 1884 [1887]. Eammermusik fOr Gesang. Vkrter
Band. Ed. Paul Oraf Walderaee.
Secular Oantata : Durohlaucht'ster Leopold.
Do. Sohwingt ireudig euch empor, ar^ Die
Freude reget sich.
Do. Hercules auf dem Scheidewege, or^
Lasst uns sorgen, lasst uns waohen.
Do. Tonet, ihr Pauken ! ErsohaUet, Trom-
Do. PMise dein GliiokDy gesegnetos Saohsen.
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244 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Secular Cantata : Angendimee Wiederau.
Do. Anf, schmettezDde Tone der muntem
Trompeten.*
XXXV. 1885 [1888]. Kirebencantaten. Achtzehnter Band.
Ed. Alfred DdrfM.
No. 171. Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auoh dein Ruhm.
172. Ersohallet, ihr lieder.
173. Erhotes Fleisch imd Blut.
174. loh liebe den Hoohsten von ganzem Qemiithe.
176. Er rafet seinen Sohafen mit Namen.
176. Eb ist ein trotsdg und verzagt Ding.
177. loh ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu CShrist.
178. Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns halt.
179. Sidle zu, dass deine Gottesfuroht nidit Heuehdei
sei.
*180. Schmucke dioh, O liebe Seele.
XXXVI. 1886 [1^90]. OaTierwerke. Vierter Band. Ed.
Ernst Naumann.
1. Suite in A minor (Appendix version in P. bk. 214).
2. Do. E flat major (P. bk. 214).*
3. Suite (OYerture)» in F major (P. bk. 216).
4. Sonata in D major (P. bk. 216).
5. Toccata in D major (P. bk. 211).
6. Do. D minor (P. bk. 210).
7. Do. E minor (P. bk. 210).
8. Do. G minor (P. bk. 211).
9. Do. G major (P. bk. 216).
10. Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor (P. bk. 207).
11. Fantasia and Fugue in A minor (P. bk. 208).
12. Prelude and Fugue in E flat major (not in P.).
13. Do. do. A minor (P. bk. 211).
14. Do. do. A minor (P. bk. 200).
16. Prelude and Fughetta in D minor (P. bk. 200).
16. Do. do. E minor (P. bk. 200).
^ Text and musio are identical with the Taraioii in 6.G. xz. (2).
> Aaothar AHamaiMie to the Suite is in B.a zxzvz. 217 (also in P.).
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 245
17. Prelude and Pughetta in P major (P. bk. 214) .^
18. Do. do. G major (P. bk. 214).«
19. Twelve Preludes for Beginners (P. bk. 200).
20. Six Little Preludes (P. bk. 200).
21. Prelude in G major (for Organ, N. bk. 12 p. 04).
22. Do. (Fantasia) in C minor (not in P.).
23. Do. do. in A minor (P. bk. 216).
24. Fantasia in 6 minor (P. bk. 215).
25. Do. C minor (P. bk. 207).
26. Do. (on a Rondo), in C minor (not in Pj).
27. Do. C minor (P. bk. 212).
28. Fughetta in C minor (two-parts) (P. bk. 200).
29. Fugue in E minor (P. bk. 212).
30. Do. A major (P. bk. 212).
31. Do. C major (for Organ, N. bk. 12 p. 100).
32. Do. A minor (P. bk. 212).
33. Do. D minor (P. bk. 212 p. 61).
34. Do. A major (P. bk. 215 p. 62).
35. Do. A major (P. bk. 215 p. 67),
36. Do. B minor (Theme by Albinoni) (P. bk. 214).
37. Do. C major (P. bk. 200 p. 64).
38. Do. C major (P. bk. 200 p. 66).
39. Do. D minor (P. bk. 212 p. 69).
40. Capriccio in B flat major, sopra la lontananza del suo
fratello dilettissimo (P. bk. 208).
41 . Do. E major, in honorem J.C. Bach (P. bk. 216).
42. Aria variata in A minor (P. bk. 215).
43. Three Minuets, in 6 major, 6 minor, G major (P. bk.
215).
44. Fragment of a Suite in F minor (P. bk. 212).
45. Do. do. A major (P. bk. 1969, p. 3).
46. Prelude, Gavotte II, and Minuet in E flat major.'
^ The subject of the Fughetta is the same as that of Fugue No. 17
in the second part of the ' WeU-tempered Clavier.*
* The Prelude is No. 11 in Peters (B.O. xxxvi. 220). The Fughetta
is his No. 10. It is the same subject as that of Fugue 16 in the
second part of the * Well-tempered Clavier." An alternative Prelude
(P. 214 p. 78) is in the Appendix (p. 220).
* They are described as ' zur vierten franzosisohen Suite.* The
Prelude is in P. bk. 1969 p. 67.
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246 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
47. Two Minuet-Trios, in C minor and B minor.^
48. ' Applicatio ' in C major.*
49. Prelude in A minor (not in P.).
50. Do. (unfinished) in E minor (not in P.).
61. Fugue (unfinished) in C minor (P. bk. 212 p. 88) .'
XXXVII, 1887 [1891]. Eirchencantaton. Neunsehnter
Band. Ed. Alfred DdrfEel.
No. 181. Leichtgesinnte Flattergeister.
182. Himmelskonig, sei willkommen.
183. Sie werden euch in den Bann thun (? 1735).
184. ErwiinschteB Freudenlicht.
185. Baimherziges Herze der ewigen liebe.
186. Aergre dich, O Seele, nicht.
187. Es wartet Alles auf dioh.
188. Ich habe meine Zuversicht.*
189. Meine Seele nihmt und preist.
*190. Singet dem Herm ein neues lied.
XXXVin. 1888 [1891]. Orgelwerke. Dritter Band. Ed.
Ernst Naumann.
1. Prelude and Fugue in C minor (N. bk. 2 p. 48).
2. Do. do. 6 major (N. bk. 7 p. 80).
3. Do. do. A minor (N. bk. 10 p. 208).
4. Eight Short Preludes and Fugues in C major, D minor,
E minor, F major, 6 major, G minor, A minor, B flat
major (N. bk. 1).
5. Fantasia and Fugue in A minor (N. bk. 12 p. 60).
6. Fantasia oon Imitazione in B minor (N. bk. 12 p. 71).
^ Written respectively for the second and third French Suites (not
in P.).
* A fingered ezeroise.
* The Appendioee of the volume contain variant readings of move-
ments elsewhere contained in it, and of the first, third, and 8i3Eth
Preludes and Fugues in the second part of the ' Well-tempered
Clavier.'
* Bee B.Q. xhv, (1) Appendix.
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 247
7. Fantasia in C major (N. bk. 12 p. 92).
8. Do. C minor (N. bk. 3 p. 67).
9. Do. G major (N. bk. 12 p. 76).
10. Do. G major (N. bk. 9 p. 168).
11. Prelude in C major (N. bk. 12 p. 91).
12. Do. G major (N. bk. 2 p. 30).
13. Do. A minor (N. bk. 10 p. 238).
14. Fugue (Theme by Legrenzi) in C minor (and Variant)
(N. bk. 10 p. 230).
16. Do. in C minor (N. bk. 12 p. 96).
16* Do. G major (N. bk. 12 p. 86).
17. Do. G major (N. bk. 12 p. 66).
18. Do. G minor (N. bk. 3 p. 84).
19. Do. B minor (Theme by Corelli) (N. bk. 3 p. 60).
20. Canzona in D minor (N. bk. 2 p. 34).
21. Allabreve in D major (N. bk. 2 p. 26).
22. Pastorale in F major (N. bk. 12 p. 102).
23. Trio in D minor (N. bk. 2 p. 64).
24. Four Concertos after Antonio Vivaldi : *
No. 1, in Q major (N. bk. 11 no. 1).«
2, in A minor (N. bk. 11 no. 2).'
3, in G major (N. bk. 11 no. 3).
4» in C major (N. bk. 11 no. 4).
26. Fantasia (incomplete) in C major (not in N. or P.).^
26. Fugue (incomplete) in C minor (not in N. or P.).
27. Pedal Exercise in G minor (not in N. or P.).
28. Fugue (authenticity doubtful) in C major (not in N.
or P.).
29. Do. do. in D major (N. bk. 12 p. 83) .»
30. Do. do. in G minor (N. bk. 2 p. 41).
31. Trio in C minor (N. bk. 12 p. 108).
32. Aria in F major (N. bk. 12 p. 112).
33. Kleines harmonisches Labyrinth (authenticity doubtful)
(P. bk. 2067 p. 16) (not in N.).
^ Only nos. 2 and 3 are derived from Vivaldi.
> A variant text is in B.O. xlh. 282.
* Vivaldi's text of the first movement is in the Appendix
(p. 229). * See B.G. xltti. (2) sec. 1 no. 2.
* The f ugal subject is taken from the Allabreve.
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248 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
XXXIX. 1889 [1892]. Hotsttn, Ghorile and Uadn. Ed.
Fraai Wiilhiar.
(1) Motet : ^Singet dem Heim em neues lied.
Do. ^Der Geist hilft unaier Schwachheit auf .^
Do. *Je0a, meine Freude.
Do. *Fuichte dich nicht, ich bin bei dir.
Do. *Komm, Jesu, komin.
Do. ^Lobet den Herm, alle Heiden.
Do. *Ich lasse dich nicht, du segnest mich denn
(by Johann Chiistoph Bach).
Do. ^Sd Lob und Preis mit Ehren (the second
number, Nmi lob' mein' Seel' den Heim» of
Oantata 28).
(2) 185 Ghoialfl harmonised by Bach, from the coUection
made by Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach : '
1 (1). Ach bleib' bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ.
2 (2). Ach Gott, erhor' mein Seufzen und
Wehklagen.
3 (3). Ach Gott und Herr, wie gross und schwer.
4 (386). Ach lieben Christen, seid getrost (Wo Gott
der Herr nicht bei uns halt).'
6 (388). War^ Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit (Wo Gott
der Herr nicht bei uns h<).
6 (383). Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns halt.
7 (10). Ach, was soil ich Siinder machen.
8 (12). Allein Gott in der Hoh' sei Ehr.
9 (16). Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ.
10 (17). Alle Menschen miissen sterben.
11 (19). AUes ist an Gottes Segen.
^ Baoh's insfenimental aooompaniments are in the Appendix
(p. 143).
* 0. P. E. Baoh*8 collection of his father's Choral settings was pub-
lished by Immanuel Breitkopf in four volumes between the years
1784-87. They are all included in Breitkopf and Haertel's edition (1898)
of Baoh's ' Choralgee&nge ' ; the numerals in brackets in the above
list indicate the position of each Choral in that collection. The latter
includes also the simple four-part Chorals from the Oratorios and
Cantatas ; hence the numeration of that volume and B.Q. zxxiz.
is not uniform.
• Tl^e bracket states the title by which the tune is better known.
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 249
12 (20). Ais der giitige Gott.
13 (21). AIs Jesus Ghristos in der Naoht.
14 (22). AIs Tierzig Tag' nach Ostein war'n.
15 (23) . An Wasserfliissen Babylon.
16 (24). Auf, auf mein Herz.
17 (30). Aus meines Hiarzens Gfaninde.
18 (157). Befiehl du deine Wege (Herzlioh thut mich
veriangen).
19 (168). Ditto.
20 (32). Befiehl du deine Wege.
21 (33). Christ, der du bist der helle Tag.
22 (34). Cbriste, der du bist Tag und licht.
23 (35). Ghriste, du Beistand deiner Kreuzgemeinde.
24 (36). Ouist ist erstanden.
25 (38). Christ lag in Todesbanden.
26 (39). Ditto.
27 (43). Christ, unser Herr, zum Jordan kam.
28 (46). Christus, der ist mein Leben.
29(47). Ditto.
30 (48). Christus, der uns selig maoht.
31 (51). Christus ist erstanden.
32 (52). Da der Heir zu Tisohe sass.
33 (53). Danket dem Henen, denn er ist sehr
ireundUch.
34(64). Dank sei Gott in der HeShe.
35 (55). ^ Das alte Jahr vergangen ist.
36 (56). ' Ditto.
37 (58). Das wait' Gott Vater und Gott Sohn.
38 (59). Das wait' mein Gott, Vater, Sohn.
39 (60). Den Vater dort oben.
40 (61). Der du bist drei in Einigkeit.
41 (62). Der Tag, der ist so freudenreioh.
42 (63). Des heU'gen Geistes reiche Gnad'.
43 (64). Die Nacht ist kommen.
44 (65). Die Sohn' hat sioh mit ihrem Glanz.
45 (66). Dies sind die heil'gen zehn Gebot.
46(67). Dir, dir, Jehovah, will ioh singen (Bach's
melody).
47 (70). Du grosser Sofamerzensmann.
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260 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
48 (71). Du, O sohoaeB Weltgebaade.
49 (74). Ein' feste Buig ist unser Gott.
60 (76). Ditto.
61 (77). Eins ist noth, aoh Herr, dies Eine.
62 (78). Erbann' dioh mdn, Herre Gott.
63 (86). Erstanden ist der heil'ge Christ.
64 (262) . JSst ist gewisslich an der Zeit (Nun freut euch»
lieben Christen g'mein).
66 (92). Es spiloht der Unweisen Mond wohl.
66 (93). Es steh'n vor Gottes Throne.
67 (94). Es wird schier der letzte Tag herkommen.
68 (96). Es woll' nns Gott genadig sein.
69 (96). Ditto.
60 (106). Fur Freuden lasst uns springen.
61 (107). Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ.
62(111). Gieb dich zufrieden und sei stille (Bach's
melody).
63 (112). Gott, der du selber bist das licht.
64 (113). Gott der Vater wohn' uns bei.
66 (116). Gottes Sohn ist kommen.
66 (116). Gott hat das Evangehum.
67 (117). Gott lebet noch.
68 (118). Gottlob, es geht nunmehr zum Ende.
69 (119). Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet.
70 (120). Gott sei uns gnadig und barmherzig.
71 (121). Meine Seele erhebet den Herm.
72 (123a). Heilig, Heilig, Heilig !
73 (129). Herr Qott, dioh loben alle wir.
74 (132). Fiir deinen Thron tret' ich hiermit (Herr
Gott dich loben alle wir).
76 (133). Herr Gott dich loben wir.
76 (136). Herr, ich denk' an jene Zeit.
77 (137). Herr, ich habe mis^ehandelt.
78 (138). Ditto.
79 (139). Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend'.
80 (140). Herr Jesu Christ, du hast bereit't.
81 (141). Herr Jesu Christ, du hochstes Gut.
82 (146). Herr Jesu Christ, mein's Lebens lioht.
83 (146). Herr Jesu Christ, wahr* Mensch und Gott.
Digitized by
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 261
84 (148). Herr, nun lass in Friede.
85 (149). Herr, straf mioh nioht in deinem Zom.
86 (161). Herr, wie du willst, so Schick's mit mir.
87 (162). Herzlioh lieb hab* ich dich, O Herr.
88 (170). Heut' ist, O Mensoh, ein grosser Trauertag.
89 (171). Heut' triumphiret Oottes Sohn.
90 (172). Hilf, Gott, dass mir's gelinge.
91 (173). Hilf, Herr Jesu, lass geHngen.
92 (174). Ich bin ja, Herr, in deiner Maoht (Bach's
melody).
93 (176). Ich dank' dir, Oott, fiir aU' Wohlihat.
94 (176). Ich dank' dir, lieber Herre.
96 (177). Ditto.
96 (179). Ich dank' dir schon durch deinen Sohn.
97 (180). Ich danke dir, O Gott, in deinem Throne.
98 (182). Ich hab' mein' Sach' Gott heungestellt.
99 (186). Jesu, der du meine Seele.
100 (186). Ditto.
101 (187). Ditto.
102 (189). Jesu, der du selbst so wohl.
103 (190). Jesu, du mein liebstes Leben.
104 (191). Jesu, Jesu, du bist mein (Bach's melody).
106 (196). Jesu, meine Freude.
106 (363). Jesu, meiner Seelen Wonne (Werde munter,
mein Gemtithe).
107 (364). Ditto.
108 (202). Jesu, meines Herzens Freud'.
109 (203). Jesu, nun sei gepreiset.
110 (206). Jesus Ghristus, unser Heiland, der von uns.
111 (207). Jesus Ghristus, unser Heiland, der den Tod.
112 (208). Jesus, meine Zuversicht.
113 (210). Ihr Gestim', ihr hohlen Liifte.
114 (211). In alien meinen Thaten.
116 (216). In dulci jubUo.
116 (217). Keinen hat Gott verlassen.
117 (218). Komm, Gott, Schopfer, heiliger Geist.
118 (226). Kyrie ! Gott Vater in Ewigkeit.
119 (226). Lass, O Herr, dein Ohr sich neigen.
120 (228). liebster Jesu, wir sind hier.
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252
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
121 (232).
122 (233).
123 (234).
124(237).
126 (240).
126 (241).
127 (242).
128 (248).
129 (249).
130 (262).
131 (263).
132 (264).
133 (267).
134 (280).
136 (261).
136 (269).
137 (270).
138 (273).
139(298).
140 (289).
141 (290;
142 (291
143 (274
144 (276;
146 (277;
146 (282;
147 (284;
148 (286;
149 (286;
160 (287
161 (288;
162 (299;
163 (300;
164 (301
166 (303;
Lobet den Herren, denn er fst aehr fieundlioh.
Lobt Gott, ihr Ghikten allzugleioh.
Ditto.
Maoh's mit mir, Gott, naoh deiner Gut.'
Mein' Augen sohlieBs' ioh jetzt.
Meinen Jeeum lass' ich nioht, Jesus.
Meinen Jesum lass' ich nioht, weal.
Meines Lebens letzte Zeit.
Mit Fried' und Freud' ioh fahr' dahin.
Mitten wir im Leben sind.
Nicht so traurig, nicht so sehr (Bach's
melody).
Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist.
Nun danket Alle Gott.
Nun freut euoh, Gottes JElnder all.
Nun freut euch, lieben CShristen g'mein.
Nun k)b', mein' Seel', den Herren.
Ditto.
Nun preiset alle Gottes Barmherzigkeit.
Nun ruhen alle Walder (O Welt, ioh muss
dioh lassen).
O Welt, sieh' hier dein Leben (O Welt, ioh
muss dich lassen).
Ditto.
Ditto.
Nun sioh der Tag geendet hat.
O Eiwigkeit, du Donnerwort.
O Gott, du frommer Gott (1679 tune).
Ditto (1693 tune).
O Herzensangst, O Bangigkeit und Zagen
(Bach's melody).
O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig.
O Mensch, bewein' dein Siinde gross.
O Mensch, schau' Jesum Christum an.
O Traurigkeit, O Herzeleid.
O wie selig seid ihr doch, ihr Frommen ( 1649) .
Ditto (1666).
O wir armen Siinder.
Schaut, ihr Sunder.
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 253
166 (306). Seelenbrautigam, Jesu, Gottes Lamm.
157 (307). Sei gegrusset, Jesu gtitig.
158 (309). Singt dem Herm ein neues lied.
159 (310). So giebfit da nun, mein Jeeu, gate Nacht.
160 (311). SoUt' ioh meinem Gott nioht edngen.
161 (313). Unfi ist ein Eindlein heat' gebor'n.
162 (314). Valet will ioh dir geben.
163 (316). Vater anser im Himmelreich.
164 (324). Von Gott wiU ioh nioht laasen.
165 (325). Ditto.
166 (326). Ditto.
167 (331). Waram betrabet da dioh» mein Hen.
168 (332). Ditto.
169 (334). Waram sollt' ioh mioh denn gramen.
170 (336). WaB betrubet du dieh, mein Heize (Baoh's
melody).
171 (337). WaB bist da doeh, O Seele, so betrdbet.
172 (349). WaB willst du dioh, O meine Seele.
173 (351). Weltlioh Ehr' and zeitlioh Gut.
174 (352). Wean ich in Angst and Noth.
175 (353). Wenn mein Stiindlein vorhanden ist.
176 (354). Ditto.
177 (355). Ditto.
178 (358). Wenn wir in hoohsten Nothen sein.
179 (359). Ditto.
180 (366). Wer Gott vertiaat, hat wohlgebaut.
181 (367). Wer nur den lieben Gott laast walten.
182 (374). Wie bist da, Seele» in mir so gar betriibt.
183 (375). Wie sohon leaohtet der Morgenstem.
184 (382). Wir glauben all' an einen Gott, Sohdpfer.
185 (389). Wo Gott zum Haas nioht gibt sein'
Gunst.
(3) Seventy-five Chorals harmonised by Baoh : ^
*l (S). Aeh, dass ich nioht die letete Stande.
2 (S). Auf, auf ! die reohte Zeit ist hier.
3 (S). Auf, auf ! mein Herz, mit Fieuden.
4 (S). Begliiokter Stand getreaer Seelen.
^ The GhoralB are taken from two souroea, Anna Magdalena Bach's
* Hotenbooh ' (1726 ; see B.O. xuxl (2)), and SobemeUi's ' Musical-
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254
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
•6(S)
6(8)
7(8).
8(8)
9(8)
10(8)
•11 (8)
12(8)
13(8)
*14(S)
♦16(8)
16(8)
17(8)
18(8)
19(8)
20(8)
21(8)
*22.
*23.
24(8)
26(8)
♦26(8)
27(8)
♦28(8)
29(8).
♦30(8).
31 (8).
32(8).
Besohrankt, ihr Weisen dieeer Welt.
Brich entzwei, mein amies Herze.
Brunnquell aller Oiiter.
Der lieben Sonne licht und Piacht.
Der Tag ist hin, die Sonne gehet nieder.
Der Tag mit seinem lichte.
Dich bet' ich an, mein hdchster Gott.
Die bitt're Leidenszeit b^innet.
Die gold'ne Sonne, veil Freud' und Wonne.
Dir, dir, Jehova, unll ich edngen.
Eins ist noth, ach Herr, dies Eine.
Ermuntre dich, mein sohwacher Geist.
Erwiirgtes Lamm, das die verwahrton Si^gel.
Es glanzet der CSuisten inwendigqs Leben.
Es ist nun aus mit meinem Leben.
Es ist vollbraoht ! Veigiss ja nioht dies Wort.
Es kostet viel, ein Cihrist zu sein.
Oieb dich zufrieden und sei stiUe (erste Com-
position).
Ditto. (zweite Composition).^
Ditto. (diitte Composition).
Gott lebet noch ! Seele, was veizagst du
doch ?
Gott, wie gross ist deine Giite.
Herr, nioht schricke deine Bache.
Ich bin ja, Herr, in deiner Macht.
Ich freue mich in dir.
Ich halte treuUoh still.
Ich lass' dich nicht.
Ich liebe Jesum alle Stund'.
iflohes GeBang-Buoh* (1736), of whioh Bach was the musieal editor.
The latter oontainB sixty-nine melodies (with figuxed bass), the former
seven : one melody (No. 14) is in both ooUectioDS. The Sohemelli
tunes are indicated by an 8 within a bracket after the numeral. One
melody (No. 71) is indubitably by Bach himself. It and others, which
may be attributed to him on good evidence, are marked by an asterisk.
The seventy-five settings are published in practicable form by the
N.B.O. I. (l)andi. (2).
^ Nos. 22 and 23 are the same tana.
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 256
'*'33 (S). loh steh' an deiner Krippen hier.
*M (S). Jesu, Jesu, du bist mein.
35 (8). Jesu, deine liebeswunden.
36 (8). Jesu, meines Glaubens Zier.
37 (8). Jesu, meines Herzens Freud'.
38 (8). Jesus ist das schonste Idoht.
39 (8). Jesus, unser Trost und Leben.
40 (8). Ihr Gestim', ihr hohlen Liifte.
41 (8). Kein 8tundlein geht dahin.
*42 (8). Komm, siisser Tod, komm, seFge Ruh' !
*43 (8). Kommt, 8eelen, dieser Tag.
*44 (8). Kommt wieder aus der finst'ren Oruft.
46 (8). Lasset uns mit Jesu Ziehen.
46 (8). liebes Herz, bedenke doch.
47 (8). liebster Gott, wann werd' ioh sterben.
*48 (8). Liebster Herr Jesu, wo bleibst du so lange.
49 (8). Liebster Immanuel.
60 (8). Mein Jesu, dem die Seraphinen.
*61 (8). Mein Jesu, was fiir 8eelenweh.
62 (8). Meines Lebens ietzte Zeit.
*63 (8). Nicht so traurig, nioht so sehr.
64 (8). Nur mein Jesus ist mein Leben.
56 (8). O du Liebe, meiner liebe.
66. O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort.
'*'67 (8). O finst're Naoht, wann wirst du doch vergehen.
68 (8). O Jesulein suss, O Jesulein mild.
*59 (8). O liebe 8eele, zieh* die 8innen.
60 (8). O wie selig seid ihr doch.
*6L 8chafrs mit mir, Gott, nach deinem Willen.
62 (8). 8eelenbrautigam, Jesu, Gottes Lamm.
63 (8). Seelenweide, meine Freude.
64 (8). 8eUg, wer an Jesum denkt.
66 (8). 8ei gegriisset, Jesu giitig.
66 (8). So gehest du nun, mein Jesu, hin.
67 (8). So giebst du nun, mein Jesu, gute Naoht.
68 (8). So wiinsch' ich mir zu gnter Letzt.
69 (8). Steh' ich bei meinem Gott.
70(8). Vergiss mein nioht, date ioh dein nicht
Tergesse.
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256 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
*71 (S). Veigiss mem nioht, mein aUerliebster Gott.
*72. Waram betriibBt du dioh mid beugest.
73 (8). Was biflt du doch, O Seele, ao betrubet.
*74. Wie wohl ist mir, O Fremid der Seden.
75 (8). Wo ist mem Sohaflein, das ich liebe.^
(4) Five Arias from Amia Magdalena Bach's 'Noten-
buch ' (1726) : *
*1. 8o oft ich meine Tabakspfeife.
*2. Bist bu bei mir.
*3. Gedenke doch, mein Geist, zmrucke.
4. Oieb dich zufrieden mid sei stiUe.
6. Willst du dein Herz mir sohenken (Aria di
Oiovamuni).
XL. 1890 [1893]. Orgtfwwke. VMrter SMid. Ed. Enurt
Haumaim.
(1) Choral Preludes, from Kimberger's collection.'
1. Wer nur den lieben Gott lasst walten (N. bk« 19
p. 21).
2. Ditto (N. bk. 19 p. 22).
3. Ach Gott und Herr (N. bk. 18 p. 1).
4. Ditto (N. bk. 18 p. 2).
5. Wo soU ich jSiehen hin (N. bk. 19 p. 32).
6. Cbrist lag in Todesbanden (Fantasia) (N. bk. 18
p. 16).
7. Oiristum wir sollen loben schon, or^ Was fiiroht'st
du, Feind Herodes, sehr (N. bk. 18 p. 23).
8. Gelobet seist du, Jesu Qirist (Fughetta) (N. bk. 18
p. 38).
9. Herr CShrist, der ein'ge Gottes-Sohn (Fughetta)
(N. bk. 18 p. 43).
^ For ft diBOusBion of Baoh*8 original hymn-tunes see tlie present
writer's ' Baoh*s Chorals,* Part 11. IntrodnoUon, pp. 67 ff. Six more
of Bach*s original hymn-tunes are printed there.
* The first three Arias are published by Xovello, and also by the
N.B.G. I. (1).
* In the Boyal Library, Berim. Kimberger was a papil of Baoh.
Eoe section on Variants tn/ro.
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 257
10. Nun komm der Heiden Heiland (Fughetta) (N.
bk. 18p.83).
11. Vom ELimmel hoch da komm ioh her (N. bk. 19
p. 16).
12. Ditto. (Fughetta) (N. bk. 19 p. 14).
13. Das Jesulein soli doeh mein Troet (Fughetta)
(N.bk. 18p.24).
14. Qottee Sohn ist kommen (Fughetta) (N. bk. 18
p. 41).
15. Lob sei dem aUmachtigen Gott (Fughetta) (N.
bk. 18 p. 73).
16. Duroh Adams Fall ist ganz Teiderbt (N. bk. 18
p. 28).
17. liebster Jesu wir sind hier (N. bk. 18 p. 72a).
18. Ditto. (N.bk. 18 p. 72b).
19. Ioh hab' mein' Saoh' Gott heimgeetellt (N. bk. 18
p. 64).i
20. Ditto. (N. bk. 18 p. 58a).
21. Herr Jesu Cihiist, dioh zu uns wend' (N. bk. 18
p. 60).
22. Wir C3iristenleut' (N. bk. 19 p. 28b).>
23. AUein Gott in der Hoh' sei Ehr (Bioinium)
(N. bk. 18 p. 6).
24. In dioh hab' ioh gehoffet, Herr (N. bk. 18 p. 59).
25. Jesu, meine Freude (Fantasia) (N. bk. 18 p. 64).
(2) Twenty-eight other Choral Preludes : *
1. Aoh Gott und Herr (Canon) (N. bk. 18 p. 3).
2. Allein Gott in der Hoh' sei Ehr' (N. bk. 18 p. 4).
3. Ditto. (Fuga) (N. bk. 18 p. 7).
4. Ditto. (N.bk. 18 p. 11).
6. An Wasserflussen Babylon (N. bk. 18 p. 13).
6. Christ lag in Todesbanden (N. bk. 18 p. 19).
7. Der Tag der ist so freudenreioh (N. bk. 18 p. 26).
8. Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott (N. bk. 18 p. 30).
9. Erbarm' dioh mein, O Herre Gott (N. bk. 18 p. 35).
10. Gebbet seist du, Jesu Christ (N. bk. 18 p. 37). g
> Novello omits the oonoluding four-part Choral.
* The Prelude la also attributed to J. L. Krebe, a pupil of Bach.
* See section on Variants infra.
B
Digitized by
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268 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
11. Oelobet seist du, Jesu Christ (N. bk. 18 p. 39).
12. Gottee Sohn ist kommen (N. bk. 18 p. 42).
18. Herr Gott, dich loben wir (N. bk. 18 p. 44).
14. Herr Jesu CihriBt, dich zu mis wend' (N. bk. 18
p. 52).
16. Herzlioh thut mich yerlangen (N. bk. 18 p. 63).
16. Jesus, meine ZuTersicht (N. bk. 18 p. 69).
17. In dulci jubilo (N. bk. 18 p. 61).
18. liebster Jesu, wir sind hier (N. bk. 18 p. 70).
19. Ditto. (N.bk. 18p.71).
20. Lobt Gott, ihr Christen aUzugldoh (N. bk. 18
p. 74).
21. Meine Seeleerhebt den Herrai(Magnifioat)(Fuga)
(N.bk. 18 p. 76).
22. Nun freut euch, lieb^i Christen g'mein, or, Es ist
gewisslioh an der Zeit (N. bk. 18 p. 80).
23. Valet will ich dir geben (Fantasia) (N. bk. 19 p. 2).
24. Ditto. (N. bk. 19 p. 7).
26. Vater wiser im Himmebeioh (N. bk. 19 p. 12).
26. Vom Himmel hoch da komm ioh her (N. bk. 19
p. 19).
27. Wie schon leuchtet der Morgeostem (N. bk. 19
p. 23).
28. Wir glauben all' an einen Gott (N. bk. 19 p. 30).
(3) Choral Variations :
1. Christ, der du bist der helle Tag (N. bk. 19 p. 36).
2. O Gott, du frommer Gott (N. bk. 19 p. 44).
3. Sei gegriisset, Jesu gtitig (N. bk. 19 p. 65).
4. Vom Himmel hoch da komm ioh her (N. bk. 19
p. 73).
(4) Valiant texts and fnqiments :
1. Variant of Eimbeiger's No. 2 (P. bk. 244 p. 111).
2. Do. No. 3 (not in N. or P.).
3. Ioh hab' mein' Saoh' Gott heimgestellt (N. bk. 18
p. 58b).
4. Variant of Eimbergei^s No. 6 (P. bk. 246 p. 104).
6. Do. No. 26 (P. bk. 246 p. 110).
6. Variant of No. 10 of the Twenty-eight supra (not
in N. or P.).
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8.
Do,
9.
Do,
10.
Do,
11.
Do,
12.
Jesu,
THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 269
7. Variant of No. 17 (not in N. or P.).
No. 20 (not in N. or P.).
No. 26 (not in N. or P.).
No. 22 (P. bk. 246 p. 91).
No. 23 (P. bk. 246 p. 100).
meine Freude (fragment) (P. bk. 244
p. 112).
13. Wie sohon leuchtet der Morgenstem (fragment)
(not in N. or P.).
(6) Choral Preludes and Variations of faulty text or doubt-
ful authenticity :
1. Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh' darein (P. bk. 2067
p. 44).
2. Auf meinen lieben Gott (P. bk. 2067 p. 39).
3. Aus der Tiefe rufe ich (P. bk. 2067 p. 54).
4. Christ ist erstanden (not in N. or P.).
6. Christ lag in Todesbanden (P. bk. 2067
p. 66).
6. Gott der Vater wohn' uns bei (P. bk. 246 p. 62)
(by J. G. Walther).!
7. O Vater, albnachtiger Gott (not in N. or P.).
8. Schmuoke dioh, liebe Seele (not in N. or P.)
(also attributed to G. A. Homilius).
9. Vater vaiaet im Himmelreioh (not in N. or P.)
(also attributed to G. Bohm).
10. Ditto.
11. Wir glauben all' an einen Gott, Schopfer (P.
bk.2067p.40).«
12. Variations on Ach, was soil ich Sunder maohen
(not in N. or P.).
13. Do. Allein Gott in der Hob' sei Ehr*
(not in N. or P.).
(6) Addendum to B.G. m. :
Allein Gott in der Hoh' sei Ehr' (an eariy version
of N. bk. 16 p. 40*) (P. bk. 246 p. 96).
1 Variant. P. bk. 245 p. 106.
* Emat Xaiunann remarks, * Daa Stiiok kann feoht gut von 8eb.
Baoh henriihreii.' The text is complete, and the omifliioii ol the
Preltide firom ibe Kovello edition is to be regretted.
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260 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
XU. 1891 [1894]. Kirchenmusikwerke. Erg&nzungsbaad.
Ed. Alfred Dorffd.
Cantata No. 191 : Gloria in exoelsis (the B minor Mass
•Gloria').
192 : Nun danket Alle Gott (incomplete).
193 : Ihr Pforten zu Zion (incomplete).
Ehie eel Gott in der Hohe (incomplete).
Wedding Cantata : O ewigee Feuer, O Uisprong der liebe
(incomplete).
Do. Herr Gott, Beherrsoher aller Dinge
(incomplete).
SanctoB in D major.
K3rrie eleison (Christe, dn Lamm Gottee).
Ghriste eleison (Johann Ludwig Bach).
Jesnm lass' ioh nioht Ton mir (the original concluding
Choral of the first Part of the ' St. Matthew Passion '
(Breitkopf and Haertel's ' Choralgesange/ No. 247).
Four Cantatas of doubtful authenticity :
Gedenke, Herr, wie es uns gehet.
Gott der Hoffnung erftOle euoh.
Siehe, es hat iiberwunden der Lowe.
Lobt ihn mit Herz und Munde.
XLn. 1892 [1894]. OlaTierwerke. FOnfter Band. Ed.
Ernst Naumann.
Sonata in D minor (P. bk. 213 p. 24).^
Suite in E major (not in P.).'
Adagio in G major (P. bk. 213 p. 1).*
Sonata in A minor (P. bk. 213 p. 2).«
Do. C major (P. bk. 213 p. 16).*
Fugue in B flat major (P. bk. 1969 p. 75) .>
^ A tranacription of the second Sonata for Solo Violin, in A minor,
See B.G. xxm. (1).
* A transcription of the third Partita, in E major, for Solo Violin.
SeeiMd.
* From the third Sonata for Solo Violin, in C major. See ibid.
* Both Sonatas are anrangemente of instrumental Sonatas in
J. A. Beinken's ' Hortus Mnsiotis.* See Spitta, L 480.
* After a Sonata movement by J. A. Reinken.
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 261
Fugue in B flat major (P. bk. 1959 p. 90).^
Sixteen Concertos after Antonio Vivaldi (P. bk. 217).^
Fifteen CSompositions of probable authenticity :
1. Prelude and Fugue in A minor (P. bk. 1959 p. 84).
2. Fantasia and Fugue in D minor (P. bk. 1959 p. 80).
3. Fantada in O minor (P. bk. 1959 p. 94).
4. Concerto and Fugue in C minor (not in P.).
5. Fugato in E minor (P. bk. 1959 p. 24).
6. Fugue in E minor (P. bk. 1969 p. 72).
7. Do. G major (P. bk. 1959 p. 68).
8. Do. A minor (not in P.).
9. Do.
10. Prelude in B minor (and Variant) (not in P.).
11. Suite in B flat major (P. bk. 1959 p. 54).
12. Andante in O minor (P. bk. 1959 p. 63).
13. Scherzo in D minor (and Variant) (P. bk. 1959 p. 62).
14. Sarabande con Partite in C major (P. bk. 1969 p. 26).
15. Passacaglia in D minor (P. bk. 1959 p. 40).
Ten Compositions of doubtful authenticity :
1. Fantasia in C minor (not in P.).
2. Toccata quasi Fantasia con Fuga in A major (not
in P.).»
3. Partie in A major (not in P.).
4. AUemande in C minor (not in P.).
6. Oigue in F minor (not in P.).
6. AUemande and Courante in A major (not in P.).
7. AUemande in A minor (not in P.).
8. Fantasia and Fughetta in B flat major (P. bk. 212
p. 58).
9. Do. D major (P. bk. 212 p. 60).
10. Fugue (unfinished) in E minor (not in P.).
Concerto in 6 major by Antonio Vivaldi (original of the
second Clayier Concerto mt^pra)}
^ After ft Fugue by J. C. Enelius. The original ib given in Anhang n.
of the volume.
* Only Noe. 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 14 are derived from Vivaldi. The
others are founded on Benedetto Maroello (Ko. 3), Duke Johann Ernst
of Weimar (Nos. 11, 16, and perhaps 13).
■ The Toccata is by Henry Puroell. See Qrove, voL iii. p. 867.
* The volume also contains a Variant ef the first Organ Concerto
(B.Q. xxzvm.).
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262 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
XLni(l). 1893 [1894]. Kammenniisik. AchtarBaod* Ed.
Panl Graf Waldersee.
Three Sonatas for Flute and Clavier :
1. In major (P. bk. 235 p. 33).
2. In E minor {ib. p. 39).
3. In E major {ib. p. 51).
Sonata in E minor, for Violin and Clavier (P. bk. 236).
Fugue in O minor for Violin and Clavier (P. bk. 236).
Sonata in F major for two Claviers (by Wilhelm Friedemann
Bach).
Concerto in A minor for four Claviers and Orchestra (Strings)
(P.bk.260p.3).i
XLHI (2) . 1893 [1894]. Musikstacke in den Holenbiichen der
Anna Magdatena Bach. Ed. Paul Graf Waldersee.
(1) The Notebook of the year 1722 contains :
1. The French Suites (incomplete) (see B.G. xm. (2)).
2. Fantasia in C major for the Organ (see B.G.
xxxvni. No. 25).
3. Air (unfinished) in C minor (not in P.).
4. Choral Prelude, 'Jesus, meine Zuversicht^ (see
B.6. XL. sec. 2 No. 16).
6. Minuet in G major (see B.G. xxxvi. and P. bk. 215
p. 62).
(2) The Notebook of the year 1725 contains : *
1. Partita m. (A minor) from the ' CIavierubun|[/
Part I. (see B.G. m.).
2. Partita VI. (E minor) from the same (see B.G. m.).
3 (P). Minuet in F major.
4 (P). Do. G major.
5 (P). Do. G minor.
^ The Concerto is an arrangement of one by Antonio Vivaldi for
four Violins, the original of whioh (in B minor) is given in the Appendix
to the volume.
' Omitting the vooal numbers, movements printed elsewhere, and
the 'Menuet fait par Mens. Bohm,* Peters' Bk. 1959 contains the
remaining twenty numbers of the Notebook. They are indicated in
the above index by a P in a bracket.
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAPT EDITIONS 263
6 (P). Rondeau in B flat major (by Gouperin).
7 (P). Miniiet in O major.
8 (P). Polonaise in F major (two veRdons).
9 (P). Minuet in B flat major.
10 (P). Polonaifie in G minor.
11. CSboral Pzeiude, ' Wer nur den lieben (3ott lasst
walten ' (see B.G. xl., Kimbeiger's Collec-
tion, no. 2).
12. Oioral, 'Qieb dioh sulrieden und set stille'
(see B.G. xxzix. see. 4 no. 4).
13. Aria, ' Gieb dioh zufrieden un sei stiUe ' (see
B.G. XXXIX. sec. 2 no. 62).
14 (P). Minuet in A minor.
16 (P). Do. C minor.
16 (P). Match in D major.
17 (P). Polonaise in G minor.
18 (P). March in A major.
19 (P). Polonaise in G minor.
20. Aria, *So oft ich meine Tabakspf eif e ' (see
B.G. XXXIX. sec. 4 no. 1).
21. Minuet in G major, * fait par Mons.
Bohm.'
22 (P). Musette in D major.
23 (P). Maich in E flat major.
24 (P). Polonaise in D minor.
26. Aria, ' Bist du bei mir ' (see B.G. xxxix. sec.
4 no. 2).
26. Aria in G major (the Aria of the Goldberg
Variations. See B.G. m.).
27 (P). Solo per il Cembalo in E flat major.
28 (P). Polonaise in G major.
29. Prelude in C major (Pzelude i. of the first Part
of the ' Well-tempeied Clavier.' See B.G.
XIV.).
80. Suite in D minor (the first of the French Suites.
See B.G. xm (2)).
31. Suite in C minor (the first three movements of
the second French Suite. See B.G. xm (2)).
32. Qioral (wordless) in F. major.
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264 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
33. Alia, 'Wanun betrubst du dioh' (see B.6.
XXXIX. sec. 3 no. 72).
34. BecitatiTO and Aria, 'loh habe genug,' and
'Schlmnmert ein,' for Basso (from Can-
tata 82, nos. 2 and 3), transposed.
36. Aria, 'SchafTs mit mir, Gott, nach deinem
Willen ' (see B.O. xxxix. see. 3 no. 61).
36 (P). Minuet in D minor.
37. Aria, ' Willst dn dein Herz mir schenken ' (di
GioTannini) (see B.O. xxxix. see. 4 no. 5).
38. Aria, No. 34 stipra.
39. CSioral, 'Dir, dir Jehovah, will ich singen'
(see B.O. xxxix. see. 2 no. 46).
40. Aria, ' Wie wohl ist mir, O Fremid der Seeien '
(see B.O. xxxix. see. 3 no. 74).
41. Aria, *(3edenke dooh, mein Geist, zoruoke'
(see B.O. xxxix. see. 4 no. 3).
. 42. Choral, * O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort * (see
B.G. XXXIX. see. 2 no. 144).
XUV. 1894 [1895]. Handsehrift in zeifUch geordneten
Nachbildungen. Ed. Hermann Eretsschmar. Con-
tams facsimiles of Baoh's handwriting and autograph
MBS.
XLV(l). 1895 [1897]. OlaVifirwerke. Zweiter Band (neae
berichtigte Ausgabe). Ed. Alfred Ddrffd.^
The Six English Suites (see B.G. xm. (2)). (P. bks. 2794,
2795.)
The Six French Suites (see B.G. xm. (2)). (P. bk. 2793.)
RTe Canons in 4, 6, 7, 8 parts.
Prelude and Fugue in E flat major (P. bk. 214 p. 40).
Suite in E minor (P. bk. 214 p. 68).
Suite in C minor (not in P.).
Sonata (first movement) in A minor (not in P.).^
^ A.separate Prefaoe to the reprinted Suites is by Ernst Nftumann.
It is dated 1895.
* Perhaps an arrangement of an orchestral piece. See Schweitcer,
i. 342 n.
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 266
Foui InventionB, in B minor, B flat major, C minor, D major,
for Violin and Clavier (P. bk. 2957).
Overture in 6 minor for Strings and Clavier (not
in P.).
The ' Clavier-BiiQhlein ' of Wilhehn Friedemann Bach
oontaina :
1. Applicatio in G major (see B.O. xxxvi. no. 48).
2. Prelude in G major (liie first of the Twelve Little
Pzeludes) (see B.6. xzxvl no. 19).
3. Choral Prelude, 'Wer nur den lieben Gott lasst
walten' (see B.G. xl., Kimberger's Collection,
no. 2).
4. Prelude in D minor (the fifth of the Little Preludes)
(see B.O. xxzvi. no. 19).
6. Choral Ptelnde, ' Jeeu meine Freude ' (fragment) (see
B.O. XL. seo. 4 no. 12).
6. Allemande in O minor (not in P.).
7. Allemande (fragment) in O minor (not in P.).
8. Prelude in F major (the eighth of the little Preludes)
(see B.O. xxxvi. no. 19).
9. Do. O minor (the eleventh of the Little Pre-
ludes) (see B.G. xxxvi. no. 19).
10. Do. F major (the ninth of the Little Preludes)
(see B.O. xxxvi. no. 19).
11. Minuet in O major (the first of the three Minuets)
(see B.O. xxxvi. no. 43).
12. Do. O minor (the second of the three Minuets)
(see B.O. xxxvi. no. 43).
13. Do. O major (the third of the three Minuets)
(see B.O. xxxvi. no. 43).
14. Prelude in C major (the first Prelude of the first Part
of the 'Well-tempered Clavier.' See
B.O. XIV.).
15. Do. C minor (the second Prelude of the first
Part of the same. See B.G. xiv.).
16. Do. D minor (the sixth Prelude of the first Part
of the same. See B.O. xiv.).
17. Do. D major (the fifth Prelude of the first
Part of the same. See B.O. xiv.).
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266 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
18. Prelude in E minor (the tenth Prelude of the first
Part of the same. See B.G. xiv.)*
19. Do. E major (the ninth Prelude of the first
Part of the same. See B.G. ziv.).
20. Do. F major (the eleventh Prelude of the first
Part of the same. See B.G. xrv.).
21. Do. G sharp major (the third Prelude of the
first Part of the same. See B.G. xiv.).
22. Do. C sharp minor (the fourth Prelude of the
first Part of the same. See B.G. Xrv.).
23. Do. E flat minor (the eighth Prelude of the
first Part of the same. See B.G. xiv.).
24. Do. F minor (the twdfth Prelude of the first
Part of the same. See B.G. xrv.)^
26. Allemande and Ck>urante in major, by J. C. Richter.
26. Prelude in C major (first of the Little Prriudes. See
B.G. XXXVI. no. 19).
27. Do. D major (fourth of the little Preludes.
See B.G. xxxvi. no. 19).
E minor (see B.G. xxxvi. no. 50).
A minor (B.G. xxxvi. no. 49).
G minor (not in P.).
31. Fugue in C major (see B.G. xxxvi. no. 38).
Prelude in C major (Invention i. See B.G. m.).
D minor (Invention iv. See B.G. m.).
E minor (Invention vn. See B.G. m.).
F major (Invention vm. See B.G. m.).
G major (Invention x. See B.G. m.).
A minor (Invention xm. See B.G. m.).
B minor (Invention xv. See B.G. m.).
B flat major (Invention xiv. See
B.G. m.).
A major (Invention xn. See B.G. m.).
G minor (Invention xi. See B.G. m.).
F minor (Invention rx. See B.G. m.).
E major (Invention vi. See B.G. m.).
E flat major (Invention v. See B.G. m.).
D major (Invention m. See B.G. m.).
C minor (Invention n. See B.G. m.).
28.
Do.
29.
Do.
30.
Do.
31.
Fugue i
32.
Prelude
33.
Do.
34.
Do.
35.
Do.
36.
Do.
37.
Do.
38.
Do.
39.
Do.
40.
Do.
41.
Do.
42.
Do.
43.
Do.
44.
Do.
46.
Do.
46.
Do.
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 267
47. Suite in A major (fragment) (see B.6. xxxvi. no. 45).
48. Partita in G minor by Steltsel, including a Minuet-
Trio by J. 8. B. (Minuet in P. bk. 1959 p. 8).
49. Fantasia in C major (Sinfonia i. See B.6. m.).
50. Do. D minor (Sinfonia iv. See B.G. m.).
51. Do. E minor (Sinfonia vn. See B.G. m.).
52. Do. F major (Sinfonia vm. See B.G. m.).
53. Do. G major (Sinfonia x. See B.G. m.).
54. Do. A minor (Sinfonia xm. See B.G. m.).
55. Do. B minor (Sinfonia xv. See B.G. m.).
56. Do. B flat major (Sinfonia XIV. See B.G. m.).
57. Do. A major (Sinfonia xn. See B.G. m.).
58. Do. G minor (Sinfonia xi. See B.G. m.).
59. Do. F minor (Sinfonia ix. See B.G. m.).
60. Do. E major (Sinfonia vi. See B.G. m.).
61. Do. E flat major (Sinfonia v. See B.G. m.).
62. Do. D major (Sinfonia m. See B.G. ni.).>
XLV (2) . 1895 [1898]. Passionsmasik nach dem Evangelisten
Lucas. Ed. Alfred D6rffel.
Though the Score is in Bach's autograph, the work is
generally held not to be his.
XLVI. 1896 [1899].* Schlussband. Bericht ond Verzekh-
nisse. Ed. Hermann Kretzschmar.
The volume contains : —
Historical retrospect of the Society and its activities.
Thematic Index to Cantatas 12M91 (see B.G. xxvn(2)),
unfinished Cantatas, Cantatas of doubtful authenticity,
Christmas Oratorio, Easter Oratorio, St. Matthew Passion,
St. John Passion, St. Luke Passion, Mass in B minor,
the four Masses in F major, A major, G minor, G major,
^ The Appendix to the voliime oontains addenda to the Violin
Conoecto in A minor (see B.O. xxi. (1)) and Cantata 188 (see
B.G. zzxvn.). AI0O the Zurioh and London texts of the ' WeU-
tempered Clavier ' (B.O. xiy.), with critical notee.
* The Preface is dated 1899. The volume was iflsued in 1900.
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268 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
the four Saactns in C majot, D major, D minor, G major.
Magnificat in D major, the * Trauer-Ode ' Wedding
Cantatas and Chorals, Motets, Secular Cantatas (P.
bk. 270b).
Alphabetical Index of the movements throughout the vocal
works.
Thematic Index to the Clavier music.
Do. CSiamber music.
Do. Orchestral music. (P. bk.
Do. Organ music. 270a).
Do. ' Musikalisches Opfer.'
Do. ' Die Kunst der Fuge.\
Do. W. F. Bach's and A. M. Bach's
Notebooks.
Index to the several movements throughout the instru-
mental works.
Index of names and places occurring in the Prefaces of the
B.Q. volumes.
Bach's vocal and instrumental works arranged (1) in the
order of the yearly volumes, (2) in groups.
(B) PUBLICATIONS OP THE NEW
BACHGESELLSCHAFT
1(1). 1901. Lieder ond Arien. FQr eine Singstimme mit
Pianoforte (Orgel oder Hannonium). Ed. Ernst Nau-
mann.
The seventy-eight Songs are those contained in B.6. xxxix.
sees. 3 and 4 (first three only) supra.
1(2). 1901. Lieder und Arien. FQrTierstimmigengemischten
Chor. Ed. Franz Wiillner.
The seventy-five Songs are those contained in I (1), omitting
those in sec. 4 of B.Q. xxxix. supra.
1(3). 1901. Erstes deutsches Bach-Fest in Berlin 21 Us
23MSrzl901. Festschrift.
The frontispiece is Carl SefEner's bust of Bach.
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 269
n (1) . 1902. Orgelbiichlem. 46 kiirzere Choralbearbeitungen
ftr ElETier zu Tier Hfinden. Ed. Bdrnhard Fr. Sichter.
The origixial forty-dz Organ Preludes, here ananged for
two pianofortes (see B.O. xxv (2), see. 1).
n (2). 1902. Eirchen-Eaataten. ElaTierausziig. Erstes
Heft. Ed. GhistaT Schreck and Ernst Nanmann.
Contains Bieitkopf and HAertel's vocal scores of —
Cantata 61 : Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland.
Do. 64 : Sehet, welch' eine Idebe.
Do. 28 : (Jottlob ! nun geht das Jahr zu Ende.
Do. 65 : Sie werden aus Saba Alle kommen.
Do. 4 : Christ lag in Todesbanden.
III (1). 1903. Eirchen-Eaataten. Elavierauszug. Zweites
Heft. Ed. Ernst Naumann.
Contains Breitkopf and Haertel's vocal scores of —
Cantata 104 : Du Hirte Israel, h5re.
Do. 11 : Lobet Gott in seinen Beichen.
Do. 34 : O ewiges Fener.
Do. 45: Es ist dir gesagt.
Do. 80 : Ein' feste Burg.
ni(2). 1903. Drei Sonaten fOr Elavier und VioUne. Ed.
Ernst Naumann.
Sonata i. in B minor.^
Do. n. in A major. WSee B.G. ix.)
Do. m. in E major.]
IV (1). 1904. Drei Sonaten fOr Elavier und Tioline. Ed.
Ernst Naumann.
Sonata iv. in C minor.*|
Do. V. in F minor wSee B.6. iz.)
Do. VI. in O major.J
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270 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
IV (2) . 1904. Joh. Sab. Bach, BOdnis in HeliograTiiie.
A print of the portrait diaooveied by Dr. Fritz Volbach ;
reprodaoed at p. 92 of this present volume.
IV (3). 1904. Zweitos deutsches Bach-Fest in Leipzig 1 bis
3 0ktoberl904. FeslBchrifk.
y(l). 1905. Fest-Oottasdienst nun deutschen Bachfeste in
dor ThomaaUrche su Leipzig. Ed. Oeorg BietBchel.
Contains the order of service and music sung on the occasion.
y (2). 1905. Ansgewfthlte Arien nnd Dnette mit einem obli-
gaten Instnunenfc nnd Elavier- oder Orgelbegldtung.
I Abteilnng : Arien flir Sopran. Ed. EuseUns Mandyc-
zewsld. .
1. Auoh mit gedampften sohwaohen Stimmen (Cantata 36 :
Violin).
2. Die Armen will der Herr unarmen (Cantata 186 :
Violin).
3. Es halt' es mit der blmden Welt (Cantata 94 : Oboe
d'amore).
4. Oereohter Gott, aoh, rechnest du (Cantata 89 : Oboe).
6. Gott versorget alles Leben (Cantata 187 : Oboe).
6. Hoohster, was ich habe, ist nur deine Gabe (Cantata 39 :
Flauto).
7. Hort, ihr Augen, auf zu weinen (Cantata 98 : Oboe).
8. Ich bin vergniigt in meinem Leiden (Cantata 68:
Violin).
9. Ich ende behende mein irdisches Leben (CSantata 57 :
Violin).
10. Ich nehme mein Leiden mit Freuden auf mich (C!an-
tata 76 : Oboe d'amore).
11. Ich will auf den Henen sdiau'n (CJantata 93 : Oboe).
12. Seufzer» Thranen, Kummer, Noth (Cantata 21 : Oboe).
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 271
V(3). 1905. Bach-Jahrbuch 1904. l^ravsgegeben yon der
Heuen BachgesellschAift.
In addition to seimons and addresses on the occasion of the
second Bach Festival at Leipzig in 1904, the volume contains
the following articles :
1. Bach und der evangelische Oottesdienst. By Karl
Grenlich.
2. Praktische Bearbeitungen Bachscher Kompoaitionen*
By Max Seiffert.
3. Bachs Bezitativbehandlung mit besonderer Beriick-
sichtigung der Passionen. By Alfred Heuss.
4. Veischwiindene Traditionen des BachzeitaHers. By
Arnold Scheiing.
VI (1). 1906. Ansgewfihlte Arien und Duetto mit dnem
obligaten InBtnunent und Elavier- oder Orgelbegleitung.
n Abtttlung : Arien fOr Alt. Ed. Eusebiui Mandy-
ciewdd.
1. Ach, bleibe doch, mein liebstes Leben (Oeuitata 11 :
Violin).
2. Ach, es blelbt in meiner liebe (Oantata 77 : Tromba).
3. Ach Herr ! was ist ein MenschenMnd (Oantata 110 :
Oboed'amore).
4. Ach, unaussprechlich ist die Noth (Cantata 116 : Oboe
d'amore).
6. Christen miissen auf der Erden (Cantata 44 : Oboe).
6. Christi Glieder, ach, bedenket (Cantata 182 : Violin).
7. Es konimt ein Tag (Oantata 136 : Oboe d'amore).
8. Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott (Cantata 129 : Oboe
d'amore).
9. Ich will dooh wohl Rosen brechen (Cantata 86 : Violin).
10. Jesus macht mich geistlich reich (Cantata 76 : Violin).
11. Eein Arzt ist ausser dir su finden (Oantata 103:
Flauto)
12. Was Gott thut, das ist woUgothaa (Cantata 100: Oboe
d'amore).
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272 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
VI (2). 1906. AusgewUilte Alien lud Daetie mit mnem
oUigaten Inrtmiiient imd iOayier- oder Qrgelbegteitung'
m AbteQung : Dnette fOr Sopraa und Alt. Ed.
Eiuebiiis Mandyczewski.
1. Die Aimuthy so Gott auf sioh nimmt (Cantata 91 :
Violin).
2. Wenn Soigan auf mich dringen (Cantata 3 : Violin or
Oboe d'amore).
3. Er kennt die leohten Freadenstnnden (Cantata 93 :
Violin).
VI (3). 1906. Bach-Jahrbach 1905. Heraosgegeben Ton dor
Nenen BachgeseUschaft.
Contains the following articles :
1. Jobann Sebastian Baohs Kapelle zu Cothen und deien
nachgelassene Xostromaite. By Rudolf Bunge.
2. Geleitwort. By Arnold Scheting.
3. Die Wahl Job. Seb. Baohs zum Eantor der Thomas-
sohule i. J. 1723. By Bemhard Fr. Bichter.
4. ESn' feste Buig ist unser Qott. Eantata von Job.
Seb. Bach. By Fritz Volbach.
6. Verzeiohnis der bisher erscbienenen literatur uber
Jphann Sebastian Bach. By Max Schneider.
6. Reviews of books.
Vn (1). 1907. Kaatate No. 88 : ' Siebe, ich will viel Fiflcher
auflsenden.' Partitor. Ed. Has Seiffert.
Vn(2). 1907. Kaatate No. 88 :* Siebe, i€h will viel Fischer
aussenden.' Elavieraussog mit Text. Ed. Has Seiffart
und Otto Taubmann.
vn (3) • 1907. Bach-Jahrbuch 1906. Haraosgegeben von der
Neuen Bachgesellschaft.
Contains the following artioles :
1. Erfahmngen und Ratsohlager beziiglich der Auffiih-
mng Bachsoher Eizobenkantaten. By Wilhehn
Voigt.
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 273
2. Uber die Schickfiale der der Thomassohub zu Leipzig
angehorenden Kantaten Joh. Seb. Bachs. By
Bemhaid Fr. Bichter.
3. Die giosse A-moU Fuge f iir Oigel [Novello bk. 7 p. 42]
und ihre Vorlage. By Beinhaidt Oppel.
4. Zur Kiitik der GeBamtausgabe von Baohs Werken.
By Max Seiffert.
5. VerzeichniB der bis ziun Jahre 1861 gedraokten (and
der gesohriebeii im Handel gewesenen) Werke von
Johainn Sebastian Bach. By Max Schneider.
6. (Jbendcht der Auffiihrongen J. S. Bachsoher Werke
von Ende 1004 bis Anfang 1907.
8. Notes.
Vn(4). 1907. Drittes deatsehes Bach-Fest lor EinweilLiing
von Johann Sebastian Bacfas GebnrtduMis als Bach-
Hnseum [at Eisenaeh]. Fest- nnd Programinbiieh
[26-28 May 1907].
The frontispiece is Oarl SeSner's bnst of Bach*
Vm(l). 1908. Viol]nkoniertNo.2]nEdiir. Partitar. Ed.
HazSeiffBrt.
See B.G. xxi (1) no. 2.
Vm(2). 1908. Violiiilroniert Ho. 2 in E dnr fttr VUJina md
Elavier. Ed. Has Seilfcrt and A. Saran.
Vm (3). 1908. Bach-Jahrbuch. 4 Jatargang 1907 : Im
Auftrage der Neoen Baehgesellschaft heransgegeben von
Arnold Schering.
In addition to a sermon by Professor Georg Rietschel and
an obituary notice of Joseph Joachim, the volume contains
the following articles :
1. Sebastian Bach and Paal Gerhaidt. By Wilhehn
Nolle.
2» Stadtpfeifer and Alumnen der Thomasschule in
Leipzig za Baohs Zeit. By Bemhard Fr. Richter.
8
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274 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
3. Augeblioh tou J. S. Bach komponierte Oden von C3ir.
H. Hoffmannswaldau. By — . Landmann.
4. Die neaen deutsohen Ausgaben der zwei- und diei-
stimmigen Inyentionen [Peters bk. 2792]. By
Bernhardt Oppel.
5. Thematisches VerzeiohDis der musikalischen Werke
der Familie Bach. i. Theil. By Max Schneider.
6. Notes and Reviews of books.
IX (1). 1909. Kantate No. 85 : ' Ich bin ein goler Hirt.*
Partitar. Ed. Has SeifEort.
IX (2). 1909. Kantate No. 85 : ' Ich bin ein guter Hirt.'
Elavieranssug mit Text. Ed. Has SeifBert and Has
Schneider.
IX (3). 1909. BrandenbnrgischoB Konaert No. 3. Partitar.
Ed. Max SeifFert.
See B.G. xix. no. 3.
IX (4). 1909. Brandenborgisches Konzert No. 3 ftr Elavier
za vier Hftnden. Ed. Max Seifhrt and Max Schneider.
IX (6). 1909. Viertes deutsehes Baofa-Fest in Chemniti 3-5
Oktober 1908. Pest- und Progranunbuch.
The frontispiece is a photograph of Carl SeSner's statue
of Bach, unveiled at Leipzig May 17, 1908.
IX (6). 1909. Bach-Jahrbuch. 5 Jahrgang 1908 : Im Auf-
trage der Neuen Bachgesellschaft herausgegeben von
Arnold Schering.
Contains the following articles :
1. Zu Bachs Weihnachtsoratorium, Theil 1 bis 3. By
_^ Woldemar Voigt.
2. Uber Seb. Bachs Eantaten mit obligator Pedal. By
Bemhard Fr. Richter.
3. Cembalo oder Pianoforte ? By I^ohaid Buchmayer.
4. Bearbeitung Bachscher Kantaten. By Max Schneider.
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 276
5. Naohiichten iiber das Leben Geoi^ Bohms mit
spesdeller Beruckaiohtigaiig semer Beziehungen zor
Bachsohen Familie. By Richard Buohmayer.
6. ESn interessantes Beispiel Bachfloher Teztauffassung.
'By Alfred Heiiss.
7. Edgar Tinel fiber Seb. Bach.
8. Notes.
X(l).1910. Ansgew&hlte Arien und Duetto mit einem
obligaten Inatnunent lud ElaTier- oder Orgelbegleitung.
IV Abteilung : Arien fiir Tezior. Ed. Etuebiiu
Mandyczewski.
1. Dein Bhit, so meine Schuld durohstreit (Cantata 78
Flauto).
2. Die liebe zieht mit sanften Sohritten (Cantata 36
Oboe d'amore).
3. Etgiesse dich reiohlich, du gottliche Qnelle (Cantata 6
Viola).
4. Handle nioht nach deinen Bechten mit nns (Cantata
101: Violin).
6. Ich will an den Hinunel denken (Cantata 166 : Oboe).
6. Ja, tansendmal Tausend (Cantata 43 : Violin).
7. Mich kann kein Zweifel storen (Cantata 108 : Violin).
8. Seht, was die Liebe that ! (Oeuitata 86 : Violin or
Viola).
9. Tausendfaches Ungliick, Schreoken, Triibsal (Cantata
143: Violin).
10. Wir waren sohon za tief gesunken (Gkntata : Violin).
11. Wofeme da den edlen Frieden (Cantata 41 : Violon-
cello).
12. Wo wird in diesem Jammerthale (Cantata 114 :
Flaato).
X (2). 1910. Braad0nbaq;iBcfae8 Eonzert No. 1. Partitar.
Ed. Has Seiflnrt.
See B.G. zix. no. 1.
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276 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
X(3). 1910. BrandenburgiBclias Konsert No. 1 fOr Elavier
m Tier Handan. Ed. Max SeifEBrt and Has Schneider.
X(4). 1910. Baeh-Jahrbuch. 6 Jalirgang 1909 : Im Anf-
trage der Neuen Bachgesellschaft herausgegeben von
Arnold Schering.
The volume oontains the foUowing artdoles :
1. Zum linearpiinzip J. 8. Baohs. By Robert Handke.
2. Baohs Veifaaltnis zur Klaviermuaik. By Karl Nes.
3. Zur Tenorarie [' Ich mil an den EQmmel denken ' :
See X (1) no. 6, mtpra] der Eantate 166. By Rein-
hard Oppel.
4. Die Verzierungen in den Werken von J. 8. Bach.
By E. Dannrenther.
6. Konnte Baohs Gemeinde bei seinen einfachen CSioral-
satzen mitaingen ? By Rudolf Wustmann.
6. Buztehudea musikaliBcher Naohruf beim Tode seines
Vaters (mit einer Notenbeilage). By Reinhard
Oppel.
7. ' Matthauspassion/ erster Theil. By Rudolf Wust-
mann.
8. Zu den Beschliissen des Dessauer EirohengeBangver-
einstages. By Arnold 8chering.
9. Notes.
X (6). 1910. Ftlnftos deatsehea Bach-Fest in Duisbnrg 4 Us
7 Juni 1910. Fast- und Programmbaeh.
Frontispiece, 8t. Thomas' Qiuroh and School, Leipzig, in
1723. Reproduced at p. 28 of the present volume.
XI (1). 1911. AusgewShHe Arien und Dnefete mit einem oUi-
gaten Inatrument und Elavier- odar Orgelbegleitung.
V Abteilung : Arian fOr Bass. Ed. EuseUna Uan-
djciewski.
1. Aohzen und erbaimlich Weinen (Oantata 13 : Viohn
or Flute).
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THE BACHGESELLSC5HAFT EDITIONS 277
2. Die Welt mit alien Kdnigreiohen (Cantata 59: Violin).
3. Endlicb, endlich wild mein Joch (Cantata 66 : Oboe).
4. Erleucht' auoh meine finstre Sinnen ('Christmas
Oratorio,' Part V. no. 6 : Oboe d'amore).
6. Gleichwie die wilden Meeres-Wellen (Cantata 178 :
Violin or Viola).
6. Greifet zn, fasst das Heil (Cantata 174: Violin or
Viola).
7. Herr» nun lassest du deinen Diener (Cantata 83 :
Violin or Viola).
8. Hier, in meines Vaters Statte (Cantata 32 : Violin).
9. Komm, siisses Kreuz (' St. Matthew Passion,' no. 57 :
Violoncello).
10. Lass', O Welt, mich aus Veraohtung (CSantata 123 :
Flauto).
11. Tritt anf die Olaubensbahn (Cantata 152 : Oboe
d'amore).
12. Wenn Trost nnd Hulf' ermangeln muss (Cantata 117 :
Violin).
XI (2). 1911. Bach-Jahrbuch. 7 Jatargang 1910 : Im Auf-
trage der Neuen BachgesellschAift herausgegeben Ton
Arnold Schering.
The volume contains the following articles :
1. Die Diatonik in ihrem Einfluss auf die thematische
Gestaltung des Fugenbaues. By Robert Handke.
2. Bach und die franzosische Klaviermusik. By Wanda
Landowska.
3. Sebastian Baohs Eirchenkantatentezte. By Rudolf
Wustmann.
4. Uber Job. Kasp. Fred. Fischers Einfluss auf Job. Seb.
Bach. By Reinhard Oppel.
5. Hans Bach, der Spielmann. By Werner WolfEheim.
6. Vom Rhythmus des evangelischen Chorals. By
Rudolf Wustmann.
7. W. Friedemann Bach und seine hallische Wirksamkeit.
By C. Zehler.
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278 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
8. Seuw M iiiiii l i i imVceMidhiikdgrbMhet e ne lii c
IMenim fiber Jbhaim SebMlaaa VmA. By Max
9. Benews of IkmAs.
Xn(l). 1912*
dUicirtw InilniiiMt iind Kbrnar-
n MhUOuag: Ann fBr Sopnoi. 2 Haft. Bd
1. Beieite dir, Jeea, noch itso die Bdin (Outata 147
Violm).
2. Eite,flirS«WMleii,koiiimtlierbei(C3Mitftta30: VioIid)
3. EifuUety flir himmliHchfyi, gottlichen Hammen (Oan
tata 1 : Oboe da caoda).
4. QenngpBamkfflt ist ein Schatz in diesem Leben (Gaotata
144: Oboe d'amoie).
6. Hdrt, ihr Vdiker, Gottee Sfamme (Cantata 76 : Violin).
6. Ich folge dir glfiichfallB {* St. John Paflsion,' no. 9 :
Flanto).
7. Jettu ioll mein entes Wort (Cantata 171 : Violin).
8. liebster Jesn, mein Veriangen (Cantata 32 : Oboe).
9. Ifeinem Hirten bleib' ich tren (Guitata 92 : Oboe
d'amoie).
10. Seele, deine Spezereien soUen nicht (' Eaater Oratorio/
no. 4 : Flauto or Violin).
11. Waa Gott that, das ist wohlgethan (Cantata 100:
Flaato).
12. Wie zittem und wanken der Sunder Gedanken (C!an-
tata 106 : Oboe).
Xn(2).1912. Bach-Jahrbuch. 8 Jabrgang 1911 : Im Anf-
trage der Neuen Bachgeselkchaft herausgegeben von
Arnold Schering. Hit 2 Bildnissen und 8 Faksimiles.
The volume oontainB the following articles :
1. * Ifein Herze schwimmt im Bhit* [eee infra xm (2)].
By Werner Wolfiheim.
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 279
2. Das sogenaiinte Orgelkonzert D-moU, von Wilhelm
Friedemann Bach [Peteis bk. 3002]. By Max
Schneider.
3. Bachiana. By Werner WoIfiOieim.
4. Zur Geschichte der Pasfiionsauffiihningen in Leipzig.
By Bemhaid Fr. Biohter.
6. Tonartensymbolik zu Bachs Zeit. By Rudolf Wust-
mann.
6. Uber die Viola da Qamba und ihre Verwendung bei
Joh. Seb. Bach. By CSuistian Dobereiner.
7. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach und Joh. Gottl. Ln.
Breitkopf . By Hermann von Hase.
8. Zur ' Lukaspaasion.' By Max Schneider.
9. Verzeiohnis der Sammlung alter Musikinstruznente im
Bachhaus zu Eisenach. By 6. Bomemann.
The illustiations are, portraits of W. Friedemann Bach
(aet. 72) and Johann Sebastian Bach (son of Carl P. E. Bach) ;
facsimiles of Bach's arrangement of the D minor Vivaldi
Organ Concerto (attributed to W. F. Bach) and 'Lukas-
passion,' and of a letter written to J. G. I. Breitkopf by
C. P. E. Bach, dated 28th February 1786.
XII (3). 1912. Sechstes Deutsches Bach-Fest in Breslau
15 bis 17 Juni 1912. Fast- und Progranunbuch.
Frontispiece, J. S. Bach after the oil-painting by 6. Hauss-
mann in possession of St. Thomas' School, Leipzig (see Spitta,
vol. i. frontispiece and xvi (1) infra).
Xm (1). 1913. AuggewSUte Arien mit obUgaten Instru-
menten und Elavierbegleitung. VII Abteilung :
Arien fOr Sqpraa. 3 Heft. Welfliche Arien. Ed.
Eusebius Mandyczewski.
1. Wenn die Fruhlingsliifte streichen ('Weichet nur
betrubte Schatten ' : Violin).
2. SichiibenimIieben('Weichet nur betrubte Schatten':
Oboe).
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280 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
3. DeB Beiohtums Glanz (' Ich bin in mir vergniigt ' :
Violin).*
4. Meine Seele, sei vergnugt (* loh bin in mir vergniigt ' :
Flauto).
6. Angenehmer Zephryns ("Der zufriedengeBtelite
Aeolus ' : Violin).
6. Schweigt, ihr Floten (' O holder Tag ' : Flauto).
7. £i ! wie schmeokt der Coffee siisse (' Schweigt stUle,
plaudert nioht ' : Flauto).
8. Buhig und in sich zufrieden (' Ich bin in mir vergnugt ':
2 Oboi).
9. Sohafe konnen sicher weiden ('Was mir behagt':
2 Flauti).
10. Buhet hie, matte Tone (' holder Tag ' : Violin and
Oboe d'amore).
11. Jagen ist die Lust der Ootter (' Was mir behagt ' :
2 Horns).
12. Hort doch ! der sanften Floten Ghor C Sohleicht, spiel-
endeWellen': 3 Flauti).
Xin(2). 1913. Solo-Eaatate fOr Sopraa, ' Mein Herze
schwimmt im Blut/ ausgefunden und heraosgegeben
▼on C. A. Martiensen« Partitiir.
Xin(3). 1913. Sdo-Eaatate fOr Sopraa, * Main Herze
schwimmt im Blut/ Elavierauszug mit Text Ton Max
Schneider.
XIII (4). 1913. Bach-Jahrboch. 9 Jahrgang 1912: Im
Auftrage der Neuen Bachgesellschaft heraosgegeben Ton
Arnold Schering. Hit 2 Noten-Anhlingen.
The volume contains the folloidng articles :
1. t7ber die Motetten Seb. Bachs. By Bemhaid Fr.
^^ Bichter.
2. tJber die F-dur Toccata [N. bk. 9 p. 176] von J. S.
Bach. By Woldemar Voigt.
^ The origiiial words are * Die Soh&tab«rkeit der weiten Erden.'
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 281
3. Die MoUersohe Handschrift. Ein unbekanntes G^;en-
stiick zum Andreas-Bach-Buche (mit einem Noten-
anhange). By Werner WolfQieim.
4. Baohs Bearbeitungen und Umarbeitungen eigener und
fremder Werke. By Karl Granfiky.
6. IJber die Eiichenkantaten vorbachisoher Thomas-
kantoien (mit einem Notenanhange). By Arnold
Scheiing.
6. Beitrage zur Baohkritik. By Arnold Scheiing.
7. Auffiihrungen von Job. Seb. Bachs Kompositionen.
By Th. Biebrich.
8. Notes.
XIV (1). 1914.1 Job. Seb. Bachs Kantatentezte. bnAuftrage
der Neuen Bachgesellschaft herausgegeben von Rudolf
Wustmann.
Contains the hteraiy texts of the Ghuroh Ganta^tas, with
ciitioal notes.
XIV (2). 1914. Bach-Jahrbuch. 10 Jahrgang 1913. Im
Auftrage der Neuen BachgeseUschalt herausgegeben von
Arnold Schering. Hit einem Titelbilde und einer
Beilage.
The volume contains the following articles :
1. Studien zu J. S. Bachs Elavierkonzerten. By Adolf
Aber.
2. Uber Job. Seb. Bachs Konzerte fiir drei Elaviere. By
Hans Boas.
3. Die ICantata Nr. 150, ' Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich.*
By Arnold Schering.
4. tlber die C-dur-Fnge aus dem i. Theil dee ^ Wohltem-
perierten Klaviers.' By Wanda Landowska.
5. Die Varianten der grossen 6-moll-Fuge fiir Orgel
[Novello bk. 8 p. 127]. By Hermann Keller.
6. Ein Bachkonzert in Kamenz. By Hermann Kretz-
schmar.
^ The title-page ia dated 1013 and the Preface ' Im Advent aul
1914.*
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282 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
7. BxeUkopbche Textdnioke za Leipziger Mnsikaiif-
fcihniiigeii SQ Bachfl Zeiten. ByHennaonvoiiHafle.
8« J. S. Baohfl Aria, * Erbauliche Gedankeii eineB Tabak-
xancheiB.' By Alfred Heuss.^
9. Johaon Seb. BaohB and CSiristoph Giaupneis Kom-
podtioneii zur Bewerbang nm das Thomaskantoiat
in Leipog 1722-23. By Bemhaid Fr. Bichter.
10. Register za den ersien 10 Jahigangen des Bach-
Jahrbaohs 1904-13. By Arnold Scheting.
The frontispieoe is a portrait of Bach, about thirty-five
years old, after the original in the Eisenach Mnseom by Joh.
Jak. Thle. See frontispiece of this volume.
XIV (3), 1914. Fest- nnd Programmbuch sun 7 Deutschen
Bachfest der Keuen BachgeseUschaft. Wien. 9 bis
11 Hay 1914.
The frontispieoe is a picture of St. Thomas' Qiurch and
School in 1723 (see p. 28 supra).
XV (1). 1914. Ausgewihlte Arien und Diiette mit einem
obligaten Instrument und Elavier- oder Qrgelbegleitung.
Vm Abteilung : Arien fOr Alt. 2 Heft. Ed. Eusebius
Handycze wski •
1. Bethorte Welt (Oantata 94 : Flauto).
2. Em ungefarbt Gemiite (Cantata 24 : Violin or Viola).
3. Ermuntert ench (Oantata 176 : Oboe).
4. Gott ist unser Sonn' und Schild (Cantata 79 : Oboe
or Flauto).
6. In Jesu Demuth (Cantata 161 : Oboe d'amore or
Violin).
6. Jesus ist ein guter Hirt (Cantata 85 : Violin or Violon-
cello).
7. Kieuz und Krone (Cantata 12 : Oboe).
8. Schame dich, O Seele, nioht (Cantata 147 : Oboe
d'amore).
1 The Aria is no. 20 of A. M. Baoh'e ' Notenbuofa ' for 1725. See
B.Q. XTiin. (2) no. 20.
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT EDITIONS 283
9. Von der Welt veriang' ioh niohtB (Cantata 64 : Oboe
d'amore).
10. Weh der Seele (Cantata 102 : Oboe).
11. Willkommen! will ich sagen (Cantata 27: Cor
Anglaifi).
12. Zum reinen Wasser (Cantata 112 : Oboe d'amore).
XV (2). 1916. Bach-Jahrbuch. 11 Jahrgang 1914: bn
Auftrage der Neuen Bachgesellschaft herausgogeben von
Arnold Schering (Leipng). ICt einem Titelbilde und
einer Bilderbeilage.
The volume oontainB the f oUowing articles :
1. Neues uber das Baohbildnis der Thomasschnle mid
andere Bildnisse Johann Sebastian Bachs. By
Albrecht Kurzwelly.
2. Zmr Geechichte der Bachbewegmig. Berioht uber eine
bisher mibekannte friihe Auff iihnmg der Matthans-
passion. By Karl Anton.
3. Johann Chiistoph Friedrich Bach. By Georg Schiine-
mann.
4. Die Wiederbelebmig der Knnende in Eisenach. By
W. Nioolai.
5. AuJEfiihrmigen von Joh. Seb. Bachs Kompositionen in
der Zeit vom Oktober 1912 bis Jul! 1914. By Th.
Biebrich.
6. Bachauffiihningen im ersten Jahre des deutschen
Eri^ges. By Th. Biebrich.
7. MitghederverBammlmig der Neuen Bachgesellschaft.
Montag, den 11 Mai 1914.
8. Reviews.
The frontispiece is a picture of Bach by Daniel Greiner.
XVI (1) « 1916. Das Bachbildnis der Thomasschnle m Leipzig,
nach seiner Wiederherstellung im Jahre 1913. Oemalt
von E. O. Haussmann 1746.
A print of the renovated picture is at p. 48 of this
volume.
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284 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
XVI (2). 1916. Baeh-Genealogie mxt swei Biiefen von Carl
Philipp Emanuel Bach. Herausgegeben Ton Professor
Max Schneider in Brealau.^
XVI (3). 1916. Bach-Jahrbuch. 12 Jahrgang 1915. Im
Auftrage der Neuen Bachgesellschaf t herausgegeben von
Arnold Schering (Leipsig). Hit dem Bildnisse J. 8.
Bachs nach der Oedenkbtiste in der Walhalla.
The volume oontains the following articles :
1 . Johann Sebastian Bach im Gottesdienst der Thomaner .
By Bemhard Friediich Richter.
2. Karl Philipp Emanuel Bach und der Dresdner Kreuz-
kantor Gottfried August Homihus im Musikleben
ihrer Zeit. Ein Beitrag zur Geschiohte der Stil-
wandlung des 18 Jahrhunderts. By Rudolf Steglich*
3. Eine Umdichtung des ' Zufriedengestellten Aeolus'
(Mit einem Anhang iiber die Kantata 'Schleicht,
spielende Wellen '). By Woldemar Voigt.
4. Eine alte, unbehannte Skizze von Sebastian Bachs
Leben. By Arthur Priifer.
5. Bachauffiihrungen im zweiten Jahre des deutschen
Krieges. By Th. Biebrich.
6. Reviews.
The frontispiece is a photograph of Professor F. Behn's
bust of Bach in the Walhalla.
XVII (1). 1916. Hotette '0 Jesu Christ, mein's Lebens
Licht.' Nach Bachs Handschrift sum ersten Kale
herausgegeben von Uaz Schneider. Partitur.
[See B.Q. xxiv.]
XVn(2), 1916. Hotette '0 Jesu Christ, mein's Lebens
Licfat/ Elavierauszug mit Text von Max Schneider.
[See B.G. xxiv.]
^ This publioation, annoonoed for 1016, appean under a different
title as the third iaaue for 1017. See mfrot zvn. (3).
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THE BACHGESELLSCHAIT EDITIONS 286
XVII(3). 1917. Bach-Urkundfin. Ursprung dar mnflikal-
isch-BaduBcfaen Familie. Nacbzichten fiber Johaxm
Sebastian Baeh Ton Oarl Pbilipp Emanuel Bach.
Herausgegeben von Max Schneider.
The Yolume oontains a facsimile of the Bach Genealogy
compiled by Joh. Seb. Bach and fonnerlyin Carl Phihpp
Emanuel's possession, and two letters from the latter to
J. N. Porkel.
XVII (4). 1917. Bach-Jahrbuch. 13 Jahrgang 1916. bn
Auftrage der Neuen Bachgesellschaft herausgegeben von
Arnold Schering (Leipzig) .
The yolume contains the following articles :
1. Die F.-Trompete im 2 Brandenburgischen Eonzert
von Joh. Seb. Bach. By Richard Hofmann.
2. Zur Frage der Ausfuhrung der Omamente Eei Bach.
Zahlzeit oder Notenwert ? By Hans Joachim
Moser.
3. Friedrich Bachs Briefwechsel mit Gerstenberg und
Breitkopf. By Georg Schiinemann.
4. Bachauffiihrurgen im dritten Jahre dee deutschen
Krieges. By Th. Biebrich.
6. literarische Beigabe: 'Der Thomaskantor.' Ein
Gemiith-eifreuend Spiel von deme Herren Gantori
Sebastian Bachen, vorgestellt in zween Auffziigen
durch Bemhard Ghiistoph Breitkopfen seel. Erbeo :
Breitkopf und Hartel 1917. By Arnold Schering.
XVin (1)« 1917. Konsert in D moll nach der ursprflngHchen
Fassung fOr Vidine wiederhergesteUft Ton Bobert Beiti.
Partitur.
[See B.G. xvn.]
XVin (2). 1917. Ecmiert in D moll nach der nrsprBugHfthen
Fassung f&r ^^oline wiederbergestellt von Bobert Beiti.
Ausgabe f&r Vicdine und Elavier.
[See B.G. xvn.]
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286 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
XVm(3). 1918. Bach-JahrbQch. 14 Jahrgaag 1917 : Im
Auftrage d^r JSmmi Bachgesellschaft haraosgegeben von
Arnold Schering (Leipnig). ICt einam Bildnis.
The volume contains the following artideB :
1. Gnfitav Schreck [d. 22 Jan. 1918].
2. Das diitte kleine Baohfest zn Wifwiach :
L Der Festgottesdienst in der St. Geoigenkirche zn
Eisenach am 30 September 1917.
n. Vortrage und Verhandlnngen der MitgliedeiVer-
aammlnng des dritten kleinen Bachf estes in
Eisenach am 29 September 1917.
3. Seb. Bachs Stellnng zur Cihoralrhythmik der Lnther-
zeit. By Hans Joachim Moser.
4. Zur Motivfaildmig Bachs. Ein Bdtrag zur Stilpsycho-
logie. By Ernst Kurth.
6. Ein Programmtrio Karl Fhilipp Emanuel Bachs.
By Hans MftTHTWfi.ff p ■
6. Hermann Kietzschmar [b. 19 Jan. 1848].
7. Review.
The frontispiece is a copy of the oil portrait of Bach after
Haussmann, copied by J. M. David in 1746.
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APPENDIX IV
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BACH LITERATURE
Tee following list does not include magazine articles or
technical works. A comprehensive bibliography, com-
piled by Max Schneider, will be found in the Bach-
Jahrbuch for 1905 and 1910. Shorter lists are in
C. F. Abdy Williams' ' Bach ' (1900) and Andr6 Pino's
' J.-S. Bach ' (1906). Titles within square brackets in
the following list are inserted upon the authority of the
* Bach-Jahrbuch/ but are not discoveraUe in the annual
Book Catalogues. Since the absence of an Italian section
may be remarked, it should be said that the ' Ciatalogo
generale della libreria Italiana, 1847-1899 ' (published in
1910) contains no reference to Bach. Nor does the
Supplement of 1912.
I. OXBMAKY
Johann CSuistoph W. Kiihnau, ' Die blinden Tonkunstler.'
Berlin. 1810.
J. E. Grosser, ' Lebensbesohreibung des KapeUmeisten
Johann Sebastian Bach.* Breslau. 1834.
Albert SohifEner, 'Sebastian Bachs geistige Nachkommen-
sohaft.' Leipzig. 1840.
Johann T. Mosewius, 'Johann Sebastian Bach in seinen
Kiroh-Eantaten und CSioralgesangeQ.' Berlin. 1845.
Johann CSarl Schauer, ' Johann Sebastian Bachs Lebenshild :
Bine Denkschrift auf seinen lOQjahxiDgen Todestag.'
Jena. 1860.
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288 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
G. L. Hilgenfeldt, ' Johann Sebastian Baohs Leben, Wirken
und Werke.' Leipzig. 1860.
[W. Naumann, ' Johann Sebastian Baoh. Eine Biographie.'
GasseU. 1866.]
[Anon., * Biographien undCSiarakteristiken der groBsenMeuster :
Bach, Handel, Qluok, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, mit
PorfcratB.' 2nd ed. Leipzig. I860.]
C. H. Bitter, 'Johann Sebastian Baoh.' 2 vols. Beriin.
1866. 2nd ed. 1880.
C. Albert Ludwig, ' Johann Sebastian Bach in seiner Bedeu-
tung fur Oantoien, Oiganisten, nnd SohnUehrer.* Bleich-
roder. 1866.
Alfred Dorffel, ' Thematisohes Verzeichnifis der Instnunentai-
werke von Joh. Seb. Bach. Auf Grund der Gesammt-
ausgabe von G. F. Peters. Leipzig. 1867. 2nd ed.
1882.
Garl Tamme, ' Thematisohes Verzeiohniss der Vooalwerke von
Joh. Seb. Bach. Auf Grund der Gesammtausgaben von
G. F. Peters und der Bach-GeeeUsohaft.' Leipzig. n.d.
G. H. Bitter, ' G. P. E. und W. F. Bach und deren Bnider.'
2 vols. Berlin. 1868. New ed. 1880.
[Anon., ' J. S. Bach. Biograidiie.' Leipzig. 1869.]
L. Bamann, ' Bach und Handel.' Leipzig. 1869.
W. Junghans, 'Johann Sebastian Baoh als Sohuler der
Partikularschule zu St. Michaelis in Liineburg.' Liine-
burg. 1870.
Emil Naumann, ' Deutsche Tondiohter von Sebastian Bach
bis auf die Gegenwart.' Berlin. 1871. 6th ed. 1882.
M. Schick, ' J. S. Baoh : ein musikalisches Lebensbild.'
Beutlingen. 1873.
Philipp Spitta, ' Johann Sebastian Bach.' 2 vols. Leipzig.
18734880.
E. Fiommel, ' Handel und Bach.' Berlin. 1878.
Elise Polko, 'Unsere Musikklassiker. Sechs biographische
LebensbUder ' [Bach, etc.]. Leipzig. 1880.
[Anon., ' J. S. Bach. Biographic/ [In ' Meister der Ton-
kunst,' no. 2.] Leipzig. 1880.]
August Belssmann, ^Johann Sebastian Bach. Sein Leben
und seine Werke.' Berlin and Leipzig. 1881.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 289
Otto Gnmimoht, ' Waram treiben tdr Masik 7 ' [Bach and
otheiB.] Leipzig. 1883.
G. H. Bitter/ Die SohneSeb.Bachs.' Leipadg. 1883.
Jul. Schdmann, ' Job. Seb. Baoh, der Kantor dor Thomas-
flchnle zu Leipzig.' Leipzig. 1884.
A. L. Grabner, ' Johaon Sebastian Bacb.' Dtesden. 1885.
Ft. Spitta, 'Haendel iind Baoh. Zwei Festreden.' Bonn.
1884.
E. Heinrioh, ^ Johann Sebastian Bach. ESn katzee Lebens-
bild.' Beriin. 1886.
E. Namnann» 'Deutsche Tondiohter von J. S. Bach bis
Richard Wagner.' Leipzig. 1886. Oth ed. 1896.
Paul Meyer, ' Job. Seb. Bach. Vortrag.' Basel. 1887.
Ludwig 2Siemssen, 'Johann Sebastian Bach. Lebensbild.'
Glogau. 1889.
Richard Batka, ' J. S. Bach.' Leipzig. 1893.
Wilhelxn His, 'Johann Sebastian Bach. Foischungen fiber
dessen Giabstatte, Gebeine und Antlitz.' Lripzig. 1895.
Wilhehn His, ' Anatomisches Forschungen uber J. S. Bach's
Gebeine und Antlitz, nebet Bemerkungen fiber dessen
Bilder.' Leipzig. 1895.
Annin Stein, 'J. S. Bach. Ein Ktmtstlerleben.' Halle.
1896.
Hans von Wolzogen, ' Bach ' [In ' Grossmeister deutscher
Musik']. Berlin. 1897.
[W. EJeefeid, ' Bach und Giaupner.' Leipzig. 1898.]
[Fr. Thomas, ' Der Stammbaum des Ohrdruffer Zweigs der
Familie von J. S. Bach.' Ohrdruf . 1899.]
[Fr. Thomas, ' Einige Ergebnisse fiber J. S. Bachs Ohrdruffer
Schulzeit.' Ohidmf. 1900.]
B. Stein, 'Johann Sebastian Bach imd die Familie der
"Bache."' Bielefeld. 1900.
Fr. von Haus^gger, ' Unsere deutschen If eister ' [Bach and
others]. Munich. 1901.
Arnold Schering, ' Bachs Teztbehandfamg.' Leipzig. 1901.
[W. Tappert, ' Sebastian Bachs Kompositionen f fir die Laute.'
Berlin. 1901.]
K. Sohle, 'Sebastian Bach in Amstadt' Berlin. 1902.
2nd ed. 1904.
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290 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Arthur Priif er, ' Sebastian Baoh und die Tonkonst dee xix.
JahrhundertB.' Leipzig. 1902.
H. Barth, ' Job. Sebastian Baoh : Lebensbild.' Berlin. 1902.
Gustav Hooker, ' Johann Sebastian Baoh.' Gotha. 1903.
Paul Yon Bojanowski, ' Das Weimar Johann Sebastian Bachs.'
Weimar. 1903.
Jul. Schumann, ' Baoh, Handel, Mendelssohn. Die protes-
tantisohe Eirohenmuaik in Lebensbildem.' Calw and
Stuttgart. 1903.
[— . Weissgerber, ' J. S. Bach in Amstadt.' Amstadt. 1904.]
[K. Storck, ' J. S. Bach : Qiarakter und Lebensgang.' Berlin.
1906.]
[A.Pi8chinger, 'J. S. Bach.' Munich. 1906.]
Phihpp Wolfmm, ' Job. Seb. Bach.' Berlin. 1906.
Albert Schweitzer, ' J. S. Bach.' Berlin. 1908.
Friedrich Hashagen, "Job. Sebastian Bach als Sanger und
Musiker des Evangeliums.' Wismar. 1909.
Max Triimpelmann, ' Job. Sebastian Baoh und seine Bedeut-
ung f iir die Qioralkomposition unserer Zeit.' Magdeburg.
1909.
August Wildenhahn, "Job. Sebastian Bach.' ESsenach.
1909.
Philipp Wolfrum, ' Johann Sebastian Bach.' 2 vols. Leipzig.
1910.
Anclr6 Pirro, ' Johann Sebastian Baoh. Sein Leben und seine
Werke.' [Tianslated from the French by Bemhard
Engelke.] Berlin. 1910.
Johannes Schreyer, 'Beitrage zur Baoh-Eritik.' Leipzig.
1911.
Martin Ealck, ' Wilhehn Friedemami Bach. Sein Leben und
seine Werke, mit thematischem Verzeichnis seiner Kom-
positionen und zwei Bildem.' Leipzig, c. 1911-14.
K. Glebe, ' Johann Sebastian Baoh.' Halle. 1912.
La Mara, ' Johann Sebastian Bach.' 6th edition. Leipzig.
1912.
H. Beimann, ' Johann Sebastian Bach.' 1912.
Armin Stein, ' Johann Sebastian Bach.' Halle. 1912.
Rudolf Wustmami, ' Job. Seb. Bachs Kantatentexte.' Leip-
zig. 1914.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 291
Max Bitter, * Der Stil Job. Seb. Bacbs in seinem GboifJsatze.'
BremoD. 1913.
Hmst Kurtb, ' Grundlagen des linearen Kontrapxuikts.
Einfiibmng in Stil und Tecbnik von Baobs melodiscber
Polypbonie.' Bern. 1917.
II. Fbancb
Jobann Nikolaus Forkel, ' Vie, talents et tiavanx de Jean-
S^bastien Bacb.' [Translated from tbe Geiman by F6Ux
Grenier.] Paris. 1876.
Ernest David, ' La vie et les oeuvres de J.-S. Baob, sa famille,
ses ^Idves, ses oontemporains.' [An abridged translation
of Spitta.] Paris. 1882.
William Cart, ' Un maitre deux fois centenaire : 6tude sur
J.-S. Bacb, 1686-1760.' Paris. 1884. New ed. 1898.
Andr6 Pirro, 'L'Orgue de Jean-S6bastien Bacb.' Paris.
1896.
[G. Eink, '£tude biograpbique sur Jean-S^bastien Bacb.'
Angouldme. 1899.]
[— . Daubresse, ' Haendel et Bacb.' Paris. 1901.]
Albert Sobweitzer, * J. S. Bacb, le musicien-podte.' Leipsdg.
1906.
Andr6Pino, 'J.-S. Bacb.' Paris. 1906. 4tb edition. 1913.
Andr6 Pirro, ' L'Estb^tique de Jean-S6bastien Bacb.' Paris.
1907.
ni. Great BniTAm
Jobann Nikolaus Forkel, 'life of Jobn Sebastian Baob.
Translated from tbe German' [by — Stepbenson].
London. 1820.
G. H. Bitter, ' Tbe Life of J. Sebastian Bacb. An abridged
translation from tbe German.' [By Janet Elizabetb Kay
Sbuttlewortb.] London. 1873.
R. Lane Poole, ' Sebastian Bacb.' London. 1881.
Sedley Taylor, ' Tbe Life of J. S. Bacb in relation to bis
work as a Cburcb musician and composer.' Cambridge.
1897.
Pbilipp Spitta, ' Jobann Sebastian Bacb : His work and
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292 JOHANN SE^AS^ttAS BACH
inflaenoeonihemiisioofCleniiaiiy, 1686-1760.' Tmndated
from the Gennan by CSaia BeU and J. A. lUler Maftland.
3 vols. LcmdoiL. 18M.
G. F. Abdy WBSamB, ' Bach.' London. 1900.
A. MaozewBki and F. 6. Edwaids, art. * Bach ' in ' Cave's
Dictionary/ vol. i. 1904.
E. H. Thome, ' Bach.' London. 1904.
C. H. H. Parry, *' Johann Sebaatian Bach.' London and New
York. 1909.
Donald F.Tovey, art. 'J. S. Bach,' in ' EncyolopsBdia Britan-
nica.' Vol.iii. 1910.
Albert Schweitzer, 'J. S. Bach. VHtii a Pteface by C.
M. Widor. Wngli»h translation by Ernest Newman.' 2
▼ols. London. 1911.
C. Sanfoid Teny, 'Bach's Chorals.' 3 vols. Cambridge.
1916, 1917, 1920.
W. G. Whittaker, ' Fugitive Notes on certain Cantatas and
Motets by J. 8. Bach.' London. 1920.
IV. United States of Ame&ioa
Andr6 Pirro, ' Johann Sebastian Bach, the Organist, and his
worlLs.' [Translated from the French by Wallace Good-
rich.] New York. 1902.
Elbert Hubbard, * Little voyages to the homes of great
musicians.' New York. 1902.
Ludwig Ziemssen, * Johann Sebastian Bach.' [Translated
from the German by G. Patnam Upton.] Chicago. 1905.
Rutland Boug^ton, ' Bach.' New York. 1907.
V. Holland
A. M. Oordt, ' Een koort woord over Bach.' Leiden. 1873.
VI. Bblgium
Charles Martens, * Un liyre nouveau but J.-S. Bach.' Brussels.
1906.
Victor Hallut, * Les Mattres classiques du diz-huitidme sidcle.'
[Bach and others.] Brussels. 1909.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 293
VII. Russia
[Kusohenaw DmitroTsky, * Das Uyxisohe (Museum ' (no. 26).
[The oldest Russian biograi^y of Bach.] Peto>grad.
1831].
[W. Th. Odoewsly, * Sebastian Bach.' Petrograd. 1890.]
[O. M. BaKunow, ' J. S. Bach.' Petrograd. 1894.]
[S.M.Hal]utin, 'J.S.Bach.* Minsk. 1894.]
[Adolf C!hyUnski/J^S. Bach.' Warsaw. 1910.]
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APPENDIX V
A COLLATION OF THE NOVELLO AND PETERS
EDITIONS OF THE ORGAN WORKS
Novello : Book I. Eight Short Preludes and Fugues.
Page 2. Prelude and Fugue in G major (P. bk. 247 p. 48).
6. Do. do. D minor {ib. 61).
8. Do. do. E minor (f&. 64).
11. Do. do. F major (f&. 67).
14. Do. do. G major (i&. 60).
17. Do. do. G minor (»&. eS).
20. Do. do. A minor {ib. 66).
23. Do. do. B flat major (i&. 69).
Novello : Book H. Preludes, Fugues, and Trio.
Page 26. Allabreve in D major (P. bk. 247 p. 72).
30. Ptelude in G major (ib. 82).
34. Oonzona in D minor (P. bk. 243 p. 64).
38. Fugue (The Giant) in D minor (P. bk. 246 p. 78).
41. Fugue in G minor (P. bk. 247 p. 86).
44. Prelude and Fugue (the Short) in E minor (P.
bk. 242 p. 88).
48. Prehide and Fugue in G minor (P. bk. 243 p. 32).
64. Trio in D minor (ib. 72).
No^eUo : Book in. Fantasias, Preludes, and Fugues.
Page 67. Fantasia in G minor (6 parts) (P. bk. 243 p. 66).
60. Fugue in B minor (on a theme by Gorelli) (ib. 46).
64. Prelude and Fugue in A major (P. bk. 241 p. 14)
70. Do. do. G major (ib. p. 2).
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ORGAN WORKS 296
76. Fantasia and Fugue in G minor (P. bk. 242 p. 65).
84. Fugue (the Short) in G minor (P. bk. 243 p. 42).
Novello : Book IV. Sonatas or Tbios fob Two Manuals
AND Pbdal.
Page 88. Sonata in E flat major (P. bk. 240 p. 2).
97. Do. C minor (*. 11).
110. Do. D minor («&. 24).
Novello : Book V. Sonatas ob Tbios fob Two Manuals
AND Pbdal (IV.-VI.).
Page 124. Sonata in E minor (P. bk. 240 p. 36).
134. Do. C major (i&. 46).
161. Do. G major (i6. 63).
Novello : Book VI. Tocoata, Pbeludbs, and Fugues.
Page 2. Toccata and Fugue in D minor (P. bk. 243 p. 24).
10. Ptelude and Fugue in D major (ib, p. 14).
21. Do. do. F minor (P. bk. 241 p. 29).
28. Do. do. E flat major (P. bk. 242
p. 2).
Novello : Book VII. Pbbludbs and Fugues.
Page 42. Prelude and Fugue (the Great) in A minor (P. bk.
241 p. 64).
62. Do. do. B minor (ib. 78).
64. Do. do. C minor (i&. 36).
74. Pxelude and Fugue in C major (P. bk. 243 p. 2).
80. Do. do. G major («&. 8).
Novello : Book VIQ. Pbbludbs and Fugubs.
Page 88. PteludeandFugueinCmajor(P.bk.242p.62).
98. Do. (the Great) in E minor (P. bk.
241 p. 64).
112. Do. do. Gmajor(i6.p.7).
120. Do. in G minor (P. bk. 242 p. 48).
127. Fantasia and Fugue (the Great) in G minor (P.
bk. 241 p. 20).
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296 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Novello : Book IX. Pbjbludes anb Fugubs.
Page 137. Toccata apd Fugue (the Gieat) in G major
(P. bk. 242 p. 72).
150. Prelude and Fugue in D minor (•6.42).
156. Do. (the Great) in C major (P. bk.
241 p. 46).
168. Fantasia in G major (P. bk. 243 p. 58).
176. Toccata and Fugue (the Great) in F major
(P. bk. 242 p. 16).
NoveUo : Book X. Toooata, Prbludbs, akd Fuottes.
Page 196. Toccata and Fugue (the Dorian) in D minor
(P. bk. 242 p. 30.)
208. Prelude and Fugue (the Short) in A minor (»&. 84) .
214. PafisacagUa in G minor (P. bk. 240 p. 75).
230. Fugue in G minor (P. bk. 243 p. 36).
238. Prelude in A minor (i&. 68).
Novello : Book XI. Foub Gokobbtos [after Antonio
Vivaldi].
Page 1. Goncerto in G major (P. bk. 247 p. 2).
10. Do. A minor (ib. 10).
24. Do. G major {ib. 22).
49. Do. G major (i&. 44).
Novello : Book XII. Pbslubbs, Faktajsias, Fuoubs,
Trios, BTO.
Page 56. Fugue in G major (P. bk. 2067 p. 18).
60. Fantasia and Fugue in A minor (ib. 3).
71. Fantasia with Imitation in B minor (P. bk. 216
p. 41).
76. Fantasia in G major (P. bk. 2067 p. 25).
83. Fugue in D major (P. bk. 2067 p. 22).
86. Do. G major {ib. 12).
91. Prelude in G major (P. bk, 247 p. 77).
92. Fantasia in G major {ib. 78).
94. Prelude in G major {ib. 76).
95. Fugue in G minor (P. bk. 243 p. 60).
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ORGAN WORKS 297
100. Fngne in G major (P. bk. 247 p. 80).
102. Pastorale in F major (P. bk« 240 p. 86).
108. Trio in C minor (P. bk. 2067 p. 30).
112. Aria in F major (i(. 34).
[Novello's Books XTTT. and XIV. (Choral Preludes and
Variations) are superseded by Books XV^-XIX.]
Novello: Book XV. OsoaLB0OHLBiN(L]TTLBOBOAiTBooK).
Page 3. NunkDmm»derHeidenHei]and(P.bk.244p.44).
5. Gott duroh deine Gttte» or^ Gottes Sohn ist
Eommen (i&. 20).
9. Herr Christ, der ein'ge Gottes-Sohn, or^ Herr
Gott, nun sei gepreiset (i&. 24).
11. Lob sei dem allmachtigen Gott (»&. 40).
13. Pner natus in Bethlehem (•6. 60).
16. Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ (i&. 10).
18. Der Tag» der ist so freudenreioh (i&. 13).
21. Vom Himmel hooh, da komm ich her (#6. 63).
23. Vom Himmel kam der Engel Sohaar (»&. 64).
26. In dulci jubik) (»b. 38).
29. Lobt Gott, ihr Christen, aUsragleioh (•&. 42).
31. Jesu, meine Fceude (i&. 34).
33. Christum ^rir sollen loben schon (•6. 8).
36. Wir Camstenleut' (<&. 68).
39. Helft mir Gottes Oute preisen (»b. 23).
43. Das alte Jahr vergangen ist (tb. 12).
46. In dir ist Fceude (i&. 36).
60. Mit Fried' und Freud' ioh fahr' dahin (i&. 42).
63. Herr Gott, nun sohkuss den Himmel auf (<&. 20).
68. O Lanmi Gottes unsohuldig (%b. 46).
61. Ghriste, du Lamm Gottes (»b. 3).
64. Christus, der uns selig macht (i6. 10).
67. Da Jesus an dem Kreuze stund (f&. 11).
69. O Mensoh, bewein' dein' Sunde gross (»&. 48).
73. Wir danken dir, Herr Jesu Christ (i&. 69).
76. mif Gott, dass mir's gelinge (»6. 32).
79. Christ lag in Tpdesbanden (i&. 7).
81. Jesus Christus, unserHeilBDd(<i. 34).
83. Christ ist erstanden (f&. 4).
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2d8 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
89. Erstanden ist der heil'ge Christ (P. bk. 244 p. 16).
91. ErBohienen ist der herrliche Tag (i&. 17).
94. Heat' triumphiiet Ck>ttee Sohn {%b. 30).
97. Eomm, Ck>tt, Sohopfer, heiliger Geist (P. bk. 246
p. 86).
99. Herr Jeeu Christ, dich za iins wend' (P. bk. 244
p. 28).
101. Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier (ib. 40).
103. Dies sind die heil'gen zehn Gebot' {ib. 14).
106. Vater unser im Hinuneh^ich {ib. 62).
107. Durdi Adams Eall ist ganz yeiderbt {ib. 16).
109. Es ist das Heil uns kommen her {ib. 18).
111. Ich raf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ {ib. 33).
113. In dich hab' ioh gehoffet, Herr {ib. 36).
116. Wenn wir in hochsten N5then sein {ib. 66).
117. Wer nuT den lieben Gott lasst walten {ib. 67).
119. Alle Menschen miissen sterben {ib. 2).
121. Ach wie niohtig, ach wie fltiohtig {ib. 2).
Novello: Book XVI. Thb Six 'SohVelbb' Ghobaub
Pbeludbs and thb ' CiiAViBBtfBxmG/ Pabt m.
(a) The Schiibler Preludes.
Page 1. Wachetaiif,ruftmisdieStimme(P.bk.246p.72).
4. Wo soil ioh fliehen hin, or^ Auf meinen lieben
Gott {ib. 84).
6. Wer nur den lieben Gott lasst walten {ib. 76).
8. Meine Seele erhebt den Herren {ib. 33).
10. Aoh bleib bei mis» Heir Jesu Christ (P. bk. 246
p. 4).
14. Kommst du nun, Jesu, vom Hinunel henmter
(P. bk. 246 p. 16).
(6) The * Caaviertibnng/ Part m.
19. Prelude in E flat major (P. bk. 242 p. 2).
28. Kyrie, Gott Vater in Ewigkeit (P. 246 p. 18)
30. C9iriste, aller Welt Trost {ib. 20).
33. Kyrie, Gott heiliger Geist {ib. 23).
36. Kyrie, Gott Vater in Ewig^t {ib. 26).
37. Christe. aller Welt Trost {ib. 27).
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ORGAN WORKS 299
38. Kyrie, Gott hedliger Geist (P. 246 p. 28).
39. AUein Gott in der Hoh' sei Ehr' (Pk. b. 246 p. 10).
40.* Do. do. do (ib. 12).
41. Do. do. do. (i&.29).
42. DieBBmddieheil'genzehiiGebot'(»b.60).
47. Do. do. do (»6. 64).
49. Wir glaufoen all' an einen Gott, Schopfer (P. bk.
246 p. 78).
62. Do. do. do. (i&. 81).
63. Vater unser im Himmelreich {ib. 60).
61. Do. do. (P. bk. 244 p. 61).
62. Christ, unser Herr, zum Jordan kam (P. bk. 246
p. 46).
67. Do. do. do. (f6. 49).
68. Aus tiefer Noth schrei' ioh za dir {ib, 36).
72. Do. do. do. (»b. 38).
74. Jesus Qiristus unser Heiland {ib. 82).
80. Do. do. (»&. 92).
83. Fugue in E flat major (P. bk. 242 p. 10).
Novelb: BookXVII. Thb Eiohtssn Ghorau Prblubxs.
P^ 1. Komm,h6i£[ger Geist, Hene Gott (P. bk. 246 p.4).
10. Do. do. do. {ib. 10).
18. An Wasserflussen Babylon (P. bk. 246 p. 34).
22. Sohmuoke dioh, O liebe Seele (P. bk. 246 p. 60).
26. HeiT Jesu Christ, dich 2su uns wend' (P. bk. 246
p. 70).
32. O Lamm Gottes unschuldig (P. bk. 246 p. 46).
40. Nun danket alle Gott {ib. 34).
43. Von Gott Mdll ich nioht lassen {ib. 70).
46. Nun komm, der Hdddn Heiland {ib. 38).
49. Do. do. do. (i&. 40).
62. D04 do. do. (fft. 42).
66. AllemGottinderHSh'seiEhr'(P.bk.246p.26).
60. Do. do. do (ft&. 22).
66. Do. do. do. (»7>. 17).
74. Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, der von uns {ib, 87).
79. Do. do. do. (•b.90).
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300 JOHANN. SBBASTEAN, BACH
82. Eonun, Gk>tt, Sohopfer, hoiliger Gd^t (P. bk. 246
p. 2).
86. Wenn wir in hoohaten Notlran fiein, or^ Vor
deinen Thion tret' ioh allhier (i&. 74).
NoveUo : Book XVIII. MtsoxLLAVioirs Chobalb Pbelttdbs
(Pari.i,).
Page 1. Ach Gott nnd Herr (P. bk. 2067 p. 38).
2. Do. do. (P. bk. 245 p. 3).
3. Do. do. (P. bk. 2067 p. 39).
4. AUein Gott in der Hdh' aei Ehr' (not in P.).
& Do. do. do. (P. bk. 245 p. 6).
7. Do. do. do. (•6.30).
11. Do. do. do. (i6. 8).
13. An Wasaerfliissen Babykm (•&. 32).
16. Christ lag in Todesbanden (A. 43).
19. Do. do. (f&.40).
23. Ghristom wir soUenlobensohon* or, Was ftiicht'st
da, Fdnd Bfsodfls^ 6ehr.(P. bk. 244 p. 9).
24. Das Jesulein soli dock mein Trost (P. bk. 2067
p. 47).
26. Der Tag der iat so frendenreich (not in P.).
28. Doroh Adams Eall ist ganz verderbt (P. bk^ 245
p. 56).
30. Ein' feste Biiig.i9t nnaer Gott (tb. 58).
35. Erbarm' dioh main,. O Hene Gott (not in P.).
37. Gek>bet seist do, Jesn CSmst (P. bk. 244 p. 102).
38. Do. do. do. (fb. 20).
39. Do. do. do. (P. bk. 245 p. 61).
41. Gottes Sohn ist kommen (P. bk. 244 p. 22).
42. Do. do. (P. bk. 246 p. 64).
43. Heir Cbrist, der ein'ge Gott^-^hn (F;. bk. 244
p. 25).
44. Heir Gott, dioh loben wir (Te Deum Landamus)
(P.bk.245p,65).
60. Qerr Jesn Christ, dioh zu uns wend ' (P. bk. 244
p.28).
52. X|o. dp., do^ (nqtinP.).
53. Herzl]/9h that micl^ verlangen (P. bk. 2^ p. 30).
Digitized by
Googlt
OUGlAN WORKS 86l
54. loh hab' mem' Saoh Gott hdmg^stellt (P. bk. 246
p. 74).
58. Do. db. do. (not in P.).
69. In dioh hab' ich gehoffet. Heir (P. bk. 246 p. »4).
61. In dulci jubik> (P. bk. 244 p. 103).
64. Jeeii, mdne Freade (P. bk. 245 p. 78).
69. Jesus, meine Zuversicht (P. bk. 244 p. 103).
70. liebster Jem, wir sind bier {ib. 105).
71. Do. do. (». 105).
72. Do. do. (*. 39).
78. Lob sei dem aUmachtigen Gott (t&. 41).
74. Lobt Gott, ihr Ghristen, allzugleich {ib. 106).
75. Meine Seele erhebt den Herren (Magnificat)
(P. bk. 246 p. 29).
80. Nun freut euch, Beben Ghristen g^mein, or, Es
ist gewisslich an der Zeit {ib, 36).
83. Nunkomm,derHeidenHeiland (P. bk. 244 p. 45).
NoveUo: Book XIX. MisoBLLAKBOtrs Ghobalb Phblxtdbs
(Pabt n.) AND Variations.
(a) Preludes.
Page 2. Valet will ich dir geben (P. bk. 246 p. 53).
7. Do. do. (i6.56).
12. Vater unser im Himmelieioh {ib, 66).
14. Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her {ib. 67).
16. Do. do. do. {lb 68).
19. Do. do. do. (P. bk. 244
p. 106).
21. WernurdenliebenGottIa88twalten(f&.56).
22. Do. do. do. (i&.56).
23. Wie sch5n leuohtet der Morgenstem (not in P.).
28. Wir Christenleut' (P. bk. 2067 p. 52).
30. Wir glauben all' an einen Gott, Vater (P. bk. 246
p. 82).
32. Wo soil ich fliehen hin (P. bk. 2067 p. 48).
{b) Variations.
36. Christ, der du bist der helle Tag (P. bk. 244 p. 60).
Digitized by
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302 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
44. O Gott, du frommer Gott (P. bk. 244 p. 68).
56. Seigegrtisset, Jesugatig(«&.76).
73. Vom Himmel hooh, da komm ioh her (i6. 92).
The Peters volumes 244, 245, 246, 2067 contain movements
excluded from the Novello edition, viz. : —
Book 244 : the figured Choral (Herr Christ, der ein'ge
Gottes-Sohn) on p. 107, and the Variant
texts on pp. 108-112.
Book 246: the Variant texts on pp. 96-113.
Book 246 : the Variant texts on pp. 86-103 (excepting the
B version of 'Komm, Gott, Schopfer,
heiliger Geist').
Book 2067 : the Choral Preludes on pp. 39 (Auf meinen
Ueben Gott), 40 (Wir glauben all' an
einen Gott), 42 (Jesu Leiden, Pein und
Tod), 44 (Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh
darein), 64 (Aus der Tiefe ruf' ich),
56 (Christ lag in Todesbanden), and the
* Kleines harmonisches Labyrinth ' on
p. 16^
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INDEX
Abib, Adolf, 281.
Adlunff, Jakob, xir.
Agrioolk, Johftnn Friedrioh, xiv,
zxiT, 102.
Johannes, 190, 200.
AhU, Johann Oeorg, 15 n.
Albiniu, Johann Georg, 190, 192,
206.
Altenborg, Jobann Miobaal, 206.
Altenbnrg, 101.
Altnikol, Johann Ghrbtoph, 27 n.,
102, 123, 140 n., 810.
Johann Sebastian, 310.
Amalia of Prania, Prinoeee, 102,
140.
AmalienbibUoihek, the, 121, 140.
Anhalt-C5then, Prince Leopold of,
20,22,90,112,^172,174,192.
Anapaoh, 103.
Anton, Karl, 288.
Anurtadt, 7, 9, 13, 14 n., 100, 185,
187, 803, 306, 306.
Angnetna ii., King of Poland, 18,
44.
Angnatos m.. King of Poland, 28,
Bach, As&aham , 308.
AndroM, 281.
Anna Carolina, 309.
Anna Magdalena, 47, 187 n., 258
ft., 256.
Anna Sophia, 305.
Barbara Katharina, 806.
Barbara Maria, 806.
Carl P. B., xiv, zxiv, xxxi, 1 ik,
4 »., 5, 23, 47, 48, 50, 54 n., 85,
93 »., 100, 104, 121 n., 122».,
123, 124 fk, 138 n., 163, 170 ».,
248, 279, 284, 285, 286, 309.
Caspar, 303.
Christian Gottlieb, 810.
ChristianeBenedicta, 810.
Christiana Dorothea, 810.
Christiane Sophie Henriette* 810.
Ghristoph, 8(X3, 306.
Dorothea Maria, 306.
Elisabeth Jnliane Friederike,
810.
Bmestns Andreas, 310.
Georg Christoph, 6 n. , 306.
Georg Miohael, 304.
Gottfried, 308.
Gottfried Heinrieh, 810.
GottUeb Friedrioh, 804.
Hans,2fk, 8 n., 277,808.
Hans (d. 1636), 308.
Heinrieh, 5 n., 303, 808.
Jakob, 804.
Johann iEgidins (d. 1717), 806.
805.
Johann Ambrosins, 9, 806, 807.
Johann Andreas (d. 1694), 306.
(d. 1779?), 307.
Johann August Abraham, 810.
Johann Balthasar, 307.
Johann Berahard (d. 1743), 108
».,S07.
(d. 1749) 5, 6 n., 305.
Johann Caspar, 305.
Johann Christian (d. 1682), 805.
(b. 1682), 305.
(b. 1696), 805.
(d. 1707), 306.
(d. 1782), 3 n., 105, 310.
(d. 1814), 304.
^—— 308.
Johann Christoph (b. 1674), 308.
(b. 1675), 805.
(b. 1685), 305.
(d. 1693), 9, 306.
(b. 1702), 807.
(d. 1703), 4, 140, 308.
(d.1721), 11, 14ii.,807.
(d. 1727), 305.
(d. 1736), 306.
(d. 1738). 808.
ni
Digitized by
Googl(
312
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Bach {caiUd,)—
Johum Christoph Friedrioh, 105 »
176, 283, 310.
JohMin EiiM, 103 n., 306.
JohAan Ernst, (b. 1683), 12». , 306.
(d. 1777), 103 n., 305.
Johaxm Friedrich, (b. 1703), 305.
(d. 1730), 308.
Johann Georg (b. 1680), 305.
(d. 1713), 306.
Johann €k>ttfried Bemhard, 309.
[, Johann GUnther, (d. 1683), 308.
(b. 1703), 305.
Johann Heinrich, (b. 1686), 306.
(b. 1707), 307.
(b. 1711), 306.
(d. c. 1730), 308.
Johann Jakob, 10 »., (b. 1682),
Ufi.,307.
(d. c. 1686), 306.
(d. 1692), 306.
Johann Jonaa, 307.
Johann Lorenz, 306.
Johann Lndwig, 141 n., 260, 304.
Johannes Matth&us, 308.
Johann Michael (b. 1648), 5, 308.
(b. 1680-90), 308.
Johann Kikolaua (b. 1682), 306.
(d. 1682), 306.
(d. 1763), 3 tt., 6, 308.
Johann Philipp, 304.
Johann Samuel, 305.
Johann Sebastian, parentage, 9 ;
at Ohrdruf, 10; at Liineburg,
11 ; visits Hambnrg, 12 ; and
Celle, 13; appointment to
Weimar and Amstadt, 13, 14
n. ; Tisits Lilbeck, 14; appoint-
ment to Maihansen, 15; and
to Weimar, 15; visits Halle,
16 ; and Gassel, 16 n. ; oontest
with Marohand, 17; visits
Leipzig, 17 fi. ; appointment to
Cathen, 20; and Lei^g, 21 ;
Kapellmeister of Weissenfels,
22 ; Saxon Gourt Gomposer, 23 ;
visits Frederick the Great, 23 ;
illness and death, 26; titles,
29 ; duties as Gantor, ib, ; in-
come, 37, 111; relations with
authorities, 39 ; oondnctorship
of the GoUegium Musicnm, 42;
patriotic compositions, 44 ; his
friends, 45; character, 46;
portraite, 47, 270, 279, 282, 283,
284, 286 ; his Glavier method,
49 ff. ; as an organist, 61 £ ; his
registration, 66 ; methods as a
composer, 70 ff. ; indebtedness
to Vivaldi, 71 ; rules of har-
mony, 76 n. ; his melody, 80 ff. ;
his fugal writing, 86 ff. ; his
vocal works, 88 ff ; comic song
attributed to, 91 n. ; qualities
and methods as a teacher, 92 ff. ;
his pupils, 100 ff. ; his modesty,
106 ; preference for Viola, 108 ;
favourite composers, 109; re-
lations with Handel, 110;
distinctions, 1 12 ; joins Mizler's
Society, ib. ; his compositions,
114 ff. ; revision of his MSS.,
143 ff. ; use of ornaments, 145 ;
his industry, 148; indebted-
ness to Vivaldi, 149; superi-
ority to public standards, 160 ;
sublimity of his aims, 161 ;
ohronolo^cal catalogue of his
compositions, 153 ff. ; his
Gantata libretti, 163 ff. ; pro-
ductivity, 164; autbor of
libretti, 166, 174, 177, 183, 184,
185, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191,
192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197,
199, 201, 202, 205, 206, 207,
208, 211, 212, 213, 214, 216,219,
224 ; dependence on Picander,
178 ff. ; the Ghoral GanUta,
182 ff. ; his roots in the Reform-
ation, 186 ; facsimiles of MSS.,
264; bust of, 268, 274; his
KapeUe at G5then, 272; and
Paul Gerhardt, 278; Town
Musicians of Leipssig, 278 ; and
Georg B5hm. 275; Edgar Tinel
and, 275; his < linearprinzip,'
5276 ; and French Glavier mwio,
277 ; influence of K. F. Fischer
upon, 277 ; his use of the Viol
da Gamba, 279; and the
Leipzig Sunday service, 284;
his use of ornaments, 285;
and the ' Ghoralrhythmik ' of
Luther*s time, 286 ; his *Motiv-
bildung,' tb. ; bibliography of,
287 ff. ; pedigree, 307 ff.; early
notices of, ziii ff., 284; articles
on, see Bach-Jahrbuch, 272 ff.
Ghambkr Musio.
Flute and Glavier (Sonatas),
130, 157, 229, 262.
Digitized by
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INDEX
313
Baoh, Johaim Sebaatian {contd.)-^
Ohambke Musio (cania,)—
Flutes (2) and Glavier (Sonata
in G) 157, 229.
Lute Partitas, 161.
Viol da Oamba and Clavier
(Sonataa), 130, 167.229.
Violin Solo Suites (Sonatas)
82, 137, 153 »., 157, 240,
200 n.
Violin and GlaTier : —
Fugue Q. mi., 130 n., 157,
262.
Inventions, ISO »., 157,
265.
Six Sonatas (B mi., A
ma., B ma., mi., F
mi., Q ma.), 130, 157,
229,269.
Sonata B mi., 130 n., 167,
262.
Omi., 130f».,229.
Suite A ma., 130 n., 157,
229.
Two Violins, and Clavier :—
Sonata C ma., 130 n.,
157, 229.
Violin, Flute and Clavier:—
Instrumental pieoe, 241.
SonaU C mi., 130 n., 161,
242.
O ma., 130 n., 157,
229.
Violoncello Solo Suites (Son-
atas), 82, 137, 167, 240.
Clavibs Musio.
Allemande A ma. (? J. S. B. ),
261.
Ami. (?J. S. R),261.
Cmi. (?J. S. B.),261.
G mi., 266.
G mi., 266.
Andante G mi. (T J. S. B.),
261.
Applicatio C ma., 246, 265.
Aria variata, 119 n., 166,
246.
<Baoh,' fugue on, 122.
Canons, 264, see also ' Art of
Fugue.'
Capriooio (J. C. B.), 14 n.,
163,246.
(J.J. B.),14»., 163,246.
Chromatic Fantasia, 82, 127,
167, 244.
Clavier-Bflohlein (A.M.B.'s),
167,262.
(W. F. B.'s), 167, 266.
Claviertlbung, 82, 1 16 fi. , 1 16,
117, 118, 134 fi., 169, 161,
227 262.
Conoe'rto C mi. ( 7 J. S. B.),
261.
DuetU, 161, 227.
English Suites, 78, 82, 128,
157, 231, 264.
Fantasia A mi., 165, 246.
B mi., 154 f»., 166, 246.
C mi., 154, 246.
C mi., 154, 245.
(Prelude) C mi. , 127, 246.
CmL(?J. S. B.),261.
C mi. (on a Rondo), 245.
(Toooato) D ma., 166,
244.
G mi., 156, 246.
Gmi(?J. S. B.), 261.
Fantasia and Fughetto B flat
ma., 164, 261.
B flat ma. ( ? J. S. B.),
261.
D ma., 154, 261.
Dma. (?J. S. B.),261.
Fantasia and Fugue A mi.,
157, 244.
C mi., 161, 245.
DmL(?J. S. B.).261.
French Suites, 128, 157, 231,
246 n., 246, 262, 263, 264.
Fugato E mL (? J. S. B.),
261.
Fughetto C mi. , 129, 153, 246.
Fague A ma. 166, 246.
Ama., 155, 246.
A ma., 166, 246.
A mi., 166, 246.
A mi., 129, 167, 228.
Ami. (? J. S. B.),261.
B mi., 166, 246.
C ma., 154, 246.
Cma., 164,246.
C ma. 8e€ Short organ
C ma.
C mi. (inoomplete),246.
Cmi(?J. S. B.), 261.
D mi., 154, 245.
D mi., 154, 246.
E mi., 164, 245.
Emi. (?J. S. B.),261.
Emi. (TJ. S. B.),261.
Gma.(?J. 8. B.),261.
Digitized by
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314 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Baob, JohMin SehMtiaii {eemid,) —
Clatime Mdsio {comid,) —
German SnifeM (Partitaa),
159,227.
Gigne Fmi. (T J. S. B.), 261.
Goldberg VwUtioiie, S2, 1 18,
161, SSS.
InTentions, 94, 124, 125,
145, 167, 227, 266, 274.
Italiui CoBoerto, 117, 161,
227.
Utile Prelndee, 94, 124, 157,
245,265,266.
March A ma., 263.
D ma., 268.
B flat ma., 268.
Minaet A mi., 263.
B flat ma., 263.
CmL,268.
D mi., 264.
G ma., 154, 245, 262,
265.
G ma., 154,245,265.
G ma., 263.
G ma,, 263.
GmL, 154, 245,265.
Minuet-Trio, B mL, 246.
C mi, 246.
G mi., 867.
Musette D ma., 268.
Notenbuoli (A. M. B.'i), 56n. ,
159, 262.
Partie A ma. ( ? J. B. B. ), 261.
Partita B mi. 161,227.
PaaeaoagUaDmi. (?J. 8.B.),
261.
Polonaise D mi. , 268.
Fma.,263.
G ma., 263.
G mi., 263.
G mi., 263.
G mi., 268.
Prelude, A mi., 246, 266.
(Fantasia) A mi., 155,
245.
Bmi. (? J. 8. B.),261.
C ma., 245.
(Fantasia) C mi., 245.
B mi. (incomplete) 246,
266.
G mi., 266.
Prelude and Fughetta D mi. ,
153,244.
E mi., 153, 244.
F ma., 154,245.
G ma., 154,245.
Prelude and Fogtfe A bL,
155,244.
Ami(?J. 8. B.),261.
(Fn^etto) A mL, 158,
244.
Eflatma.,244.
E flat ma., 157,264.
Preludes for Beginnen, 94,
124, 157, 245.
8arabande con Partite C ma.
(TJ.8.B.).261.
8chenoDmL (? J.8.B.),261.
Solo E flat ma., 263.
Sonata A mi., 158 «., 260.
A mi. (1st moTcment),
264.
C ma., 15311., 260.
D ma., 14 n., 153, 244.
DmL,153«.,260.
Suite A ma. (fn«ment), 245,
267.
Ami, 157,244.
Bflatma.(T J.8.B.),261.
C mi., 166 n., 284.
E ma., 161 n., 260.
E flat ma., 157,244.
E mi., 157, 161 n,, 264.
F ma., 157,244.
F mi (fragment), 157,
245.
Ssmophonies, 125, 157, 227,
ToocaU C mi, 157, 228.
(Fantasia) D ma., 155,
244
D mi, 155, 244.
Bmi., 155,244.
F sharp mi, 157, 228.
G ma., 155,244.
G mi., 155, 244.
Vivaldi Clonoertos, 71, 155,
261.
Well-tempered Clavier, 77,
Sh 125, 144, 145, 157, 161,
231, 246 n., 268,265,266,
267».,281.
OROHEflTKAL MUBIO.
Brandenburg Concertos, 137
«!., 157, 158*1., 238, 242 n.,
275, 276, 285.
Overture B mi., 187 f»., 158,
242.
Oma., 18711., 158. 242.
D ma. , 137 n., 158, 242.
D ma., 187 n., 158, 242.
Digitized by
Googl(
INDEX
316
Baoh, Johnm S«bMtiaii (emUd. )—
Obobmtral Mmno (coiod.)—
SinfoniA F ma., 187 n., 242.
Suites. See Oreitare.
OlaTier and Orohestra : —
OoBoerto A ma., ISO ».,
leO, 233, 281.
D ma., 130 n., 15811.,
160, 233, 281.
Dmi., 130 n., 16811.,
160, 233, 281, 286.
B ma., 130 »., 160,
233,281.
F ma., 130 »., 168 «.,
100, 233, 281.
F mi., 130 n., 168 n.,
160, 233, 281.
O mi, 130fi., 168 n.,
160, 233, 281.
Overtora Q mi., 131 n.,
266.
Two Olayien and Orches-
tra :—
Conoerto O ma., 131, 160,
236.
C mi., 131, 160,236.
C mi., 131, 168 ».,
160,236.
Three Claviers and Orches-
tra!—
Gonoerto C ma., 132, 160,
242,281.
D mi., 132, 160, 242,
281.
Four Glayiers and Orches-
tra: —
Concerto A mi., 138, 160,
262.
Violin and Orchestra :—
Concerto A mi., 137 «•>
168, 234, 267 n.
(2TioUns) Dmi., 137
fi., 168, 160 n., 236.
E ma., 137 n., 168,
234,273.
Gma., I6811.
lost work, 160 n.
Symphonic movement D
ma., 137 n., 236.
Violin, Flute, Clavier and
Orchestra : —
Conoerto A mi. , 160, 233.
Oroav Mvsia
Air C mi. (incomplete), 262.
Allabreve D ma., 166» 247.
Aria F ma., 156,247.
Cansona D mi., 156, 247.
Fantasia C ma., 166, 247.
C ma. (incomplete),
247,262.
C mi., 166,247.
Oma., 166, 247.
O ma., 166, 247.
Con Imitaaione, 156,
246.
Fantasia and Fngve A mt,
165,246.
mi, 156, 282.
G mi (Great), 158, 282,
281.
Fugue B mi (Coreili), 154,
247.
Gma. (Short), 166, 245.
Gma. (T J. 8. B.), 247.
Gui., 14 n., 154,247.
G mi (Legrenn), 154,
247.
G mi (incomplete), 247.
D ma., 164, 247.
D mi. (Giant) 161, 228.
G ma., 154, 247.
Gma., 154, 247.
G mi, 164, 247.
G mi (Short), 166, 247.
Kleines harmonisches Laby*
rinth, 164n.,247.
Orgelbttchlein, 20 n., 60 n.,
166, 237, 230, 269.
Fisssacaglia and Fugue, 156,
Pastorale, 136 n., 165, 247.
Pedal Exercise, 247.
Preludes :—
Catediism, 161, 227.
Choral,21,27f»., 122fk,123,
237, 266 ff., 262, 263, 266.
Eighteen, 135, 162, 230.
Schtlbler, 117, 162, 238.
Ami, 154,247.
G ma., 154, 245.
G ma., 156, 247.
Gma., 156,247.
Preludes and Fugues : —
Eight Short, 156, 246.
A ma., 166,232.
A mi (Great), 134 n., 166,
232.
A mi'(Short), 154, 246.
B mi. (Great), 134 fi., 161,
232.
G ma., 134 f»., 160,282.
Digitized by
Googlt
316
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Baob* Jolwan SetwuHin (coiKdL )—
OmaAJf Musio {cotUd,)—
Preladei uid Fiigiiea(coii<(i. >—
Cma., 154,232.
C ma., 166, 231.
ma., (Great), 134 f»., 161,
232.
Gmi., 14fi., 164,246.
Cml. (Great), 134 n., 166,
D ma., 166, 231.
D mi, 13411., 160,232.
E mi. (Great), 134 n., 161,
232.
E mi. (Short), 134 fk, 166,
231.
E flat ma., 161,227.
F mi., 166, 232.
G ma., 166, 246.
G ma. (Great), 134 f»., 160,
232.
Gmi., 134 f»., 166, 232.
G mL (Great), 168, 232,
281.
Six Sonatac (Trioe), 136,
160, 231.
Toccatas and Fugues : —
C ma. (Great), 166, 232.
Dmi., 166,232.
D mi. (Dorian), 134 n.,
166, 232.
£ ma., 164, 232.
F ma. (Great), 134 n., 166,
232 280.
Trio C mi., 136 n., 156, 247.
D mi., 136 n., 166, 247.
Variations I —
Aoh, was soil ioh, 259.
Allein Gott in der H5h,
259.
Christ, der da Inst, 166,
258.
O Gott, dn f rommer Gott,
166, 258.
Sei gecrflsset, 166, 268.
Vom Uimmel hooh, 112,
120, 162, 258.
Vivaldi Concertos, 155, 247,
279.
Vocal Music.
OantaUu:
Churoh,Ubretti, ]63ff. , 277,
281 ; in chronological
numeration, 187 ff. ; in
numerical order, 226,
227, 228, 229, 230^ 231,
232, 233, 234, 236, 236,
240, 241, 243. 244, 246,
260; N.B.G. vooalsoores,
269, 272, 274, 280,284;
thematic catalogue, 240,
268 ; incomplete or of
doubtful authentioify,
260 ; Soprano Arias (with
instrumental obbligaU),
270, 278; Alto irias
(with instrumental ob-
bUgati), 271, 282; So-
prano and Alto Duets
(with instrumental ob-
blipti), 272 ; Tenor
Anas (with instrumental
obbligati), 275; Bass
Arias (with instrumental
obbUgaU); 276; Bin'
feste Burg, xvii, 272;
Gott ist mein Kdnig, 115
n., 116 fi. ; Mein fiterze
schwimmt im Blut, 278 ;
Naoh dir, Herr, 281;
Nun komm, der Heiden
Heiland, 17 f».
Funeral, 22, 139.
ItaUan, 139, 161, 241.
Secular, 37, 43 ff., 68 n.,
142, 166, 156, 159, 161,
230, 234, 241, 243 ; So-
prano Arias from, 279;
article on, 284.
Wedding, 139, 168, 231,
260.
Choralgesiinge, editions of,
85, 123; C.P.E. Bach's
collection, 248 ff. ; in
A. M. Bach's Notenbuoh,
253 ff., 263; in Sche-
melli's Gksaaff-Buoh, 253
ff. ; arranged as Arias
andforS.A.T.B.,268.
Eyrie Eleison, 260.
Magnificat in D, xvii, 158,
230 ; lost work, 158 n.
Miute$ ;—
in A ma., 138 n., 161, 229.
in B mi., 138 n., 168, 229.
inGma., 138 fi., 161,229.
inGmL,138n., 161,229.
inFma., 138 n., 161, 229.
in G (8 parts), 141 ».
Motete, publication of, xii ;
Mosart and the, 68 ». ;
Digitized by
Googlt
INDEX
317
Baoh, Johuin Sebutiui (catOd. }—
Vocal Musio (con^.)—
Forkel'i enumeration of,
139, 158, 248 ; wtiole on,
280 ; Ich Usee dich nioht,
5 fk, 141 fi.
Oratorioa:^
ABcension, 160, 227.
Ohristmae, 138 n., 228, 274.
Easter, 138 n., 160, 215,
235.
Peuiiaru : —
8t. John, zviii, 138 n.,
158,230.
St. Luke, 138 n., 267, 279.
St. Matthew, xyu, zviii,
22 fi., 138 n., 158, 228,
260, 276, 283.
Sanettu : —
in G ma., 139, 158, 230.
in D ma., 139, 158, 230.
in D ma., 141, 260.
inDmi., 138, 158,230.
inOma., 138, 158,230.
Schemelli'sQeaang-Buoh, 160,
253.
Songs, humorous, 91 n. ; in
A. M. Bach's Notenbuch,
256, 263-268; from the
Church Cantatas, 270, 271,
272, 275, 276, 278, 282;
from the secular Cantatas,
279.
Trauer-Ode, 22 n., 90, 138,
158, 179, 231.
Art of Fuffue (Die Kunst der
Fuge), 121, 162, 236.
Musical Offering (Musikal-
isches Opfer), 26, 120, 161,
162, 242.
Johann Sebastian (b. 1748),
3 fk, 279, 309.
Johann Valentin, 306.
Johanna Caroline, 176, 310.
Johanna Juditha, 307.
Johannes, 303, 305.
Jonas, 3n.,d04.
Katharina Dorothea, 167, 309.
- Leopold Augustas, 309.
Lips (d. 1620), 2 fk, 3 n., 303
(d. 1620), 304.
Maria Barbara, 14 n., 308, 309.
Maria Katharina, 308.
Maria Salome, 307.
Marie Sophie, 308.
Nikolaus Ephraim, 304.
Baor (cofKd.)—
Regine Johanna, 310.
Regine Susanna, 48, 310.
Samuel Anton, 103 n., 304.
Tobias Friedrich, 807.
Veit, 1, 303.
Wendel, 3»., 304.
Wilhelm Friedemann, zzi, 23,
48, 61, 100, 104, 110, 111, 127,
136, 146 fk, 262, 277, 279, 809.
Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst, 285,
310.
Wilhelm Hieronymus, 305.
Bach < Archives/ 4, 5.
Festivals, 223, 268, 270, 271,
273, 274, 276, 279, 282, 286.
Genealogy, 1 fi., 284, 285.
Museum, at Eisenach, 226,
279.
BachgeseUschaft, 225 ff., 267.
Bartholom&i, Barbara Margaretha,
306.
Baurath, Anna Amalia, 308.
Becker, Carl F., 226, 227.
Cornelius, 199, 212.
Beethoven, Ludwig van, zxrilifi.,
zziz fk, 85 fi.
Behm, Martin, 185, 211, 216.
Behn, F., 284.
Benda, Franz, 109.
Berardi, Angelo, 98.
BerUn, zviL, 23, 65, 102, 109, 136,
140, 141 fk, 142 fi., 225.
Berlios, Hector, 70 fk
Biebrich, Th., 281, 283, 285.
Bienemann, Caspar, 198, 204.
Bimbaum, Johann A., 45, 68 f».
Blankenhain, 306.
Bohm, Georg, 11, 12 fi., 72, 275.
Bordoni, Faustina, 111.
Brandenburg-Culmbach, Albrecht
Margrave of, 199, 202, 217.
Brandt, Anna Margaretiia, 306.
Breitkopf, Joh. Gottlieb, 279, 285.
Breslau, 225.
British Museum, 126.
Bruhns, Nikolaus, 10, 72.
Brunswick, 108 fk
Buchmayer, Richard, 274, 275.
Bftckeburg, 310.
Bunge, Rudolf, 272.
Buononcini, Giovanni Maria, 99.
Burgolt, Sabina Katharina, 305.
Bumey, Dr. Charles, zzzi f».
Buttelst&dt, 103 fk
Buxtdiude, Dietrich, 10, 14, 72, 276.
Digitized by
Googlt
318
JOHANN sebashan bach
OaiiDABa, Amvohio, 100.
GuiMimi, GiMoao»4«.
Choral CmUU, tliA, 182.
OhristiMie Ebwliardiae, Qsmd of
PolMid, 90, 13811.
QavliMmlMlo, 52 »., 68.
GUTieliord,G2ii., 5511., 58.
GUtIw, 49 £, 03 C
CWfegtum ifiiiirwi, the Laq«ig,
30ll,42ff.
Cotiien, 22, 90, 110, 125, 128 «., 137
»., 158, 158 «., 172, 192,272, 310.
TnmqoiBt 18, 55, 56 ».,
Ovoiger, KlMahi^ths, 190, 193,
194, 221.
DACHamv, Wolpoamo, 21.
DAnnreather, E., 278.
D»Tid, J. H., 288.
Denioke, David, 198, 201, 209, 214.
' Der ThoBMUaior,' 286.
Dimpart, Charles, 128 ».
Doberdnar, Chriitian* 279.
Doles, Johann Friedrioh, 90, 104 a.
DSrifel, Alfirad,226, 236, 240, 242,
244, 246, 260, 264, 267.
Domheim, 166.
Dresden, zviii, 18, 101, 109, 110,
127, 136, 309.
Drese, Johann Samael, 20 a.
Daisharg, 225.
EBBUBBr, 308.
Eber, Paul, 195, 216, 218, 221.
Eberi, Jakob, 199, 212, 224.
Silmar, Gaorg Christian, 167, 168,
185, 187, 188.
Einicke, Qaorg Friednoh, 104 a.
Eisenach, 6, 7, 9, 47 n., 169, 170,
172, 225, 283, 286, 306, 306, 307,
308.
Efseatrant, Martha Elissbeth, 306.
Eitner, Robert, zxxi «., 25 a.
Erdmann, Oeorg, 11.
Brfort, 7, 47, 103, 303, 305, 306, 308.
Emeski, Johann Angost, 44.
— Johann Heinrich, 99.
BimiaTiM. J. C, 261.
Mns, Joseph, 20 a.
Fischer, Johann C. F., 10, 72.
Kaspar, FML» 277.
Coant,19.
.•«,200,211,216.
Fockel, Johann Nikolans, ix fl,
zzIt C 77 a., 89 a., 116 «.,
144 a., 285.
F^ranck, Johann, 195, 196, 208, 222.
Michael, 222L
SaloflMH 165, 171, 177, 180,
184, 185, 189, 190, 191, 192, 194,
197, 198, 200, 202, 204, 211.
Frankenhansen, 104 a.
Frankfort, xriii.
Frederick l. King of Sweden, 17 a.
n.. King of Praana, xzir a.,
23, 104 «., 109 «., 120, 121 «.
Frssoobaldi, Qirolamo, 72.
Freysiein, Johann Bnrchard, 222.
Friess, Heinrioh, 21.
Friteoh, Ahssnems, 216, 223.
Froberger, Johann Jakob, 10, 72.
Fnger, Gbvpar, 189, 195, 223.
Fax, Johann Jeeej^ 99, 100.
OAVDBMmM, 304.
Gehren, 5, 306, 308.
Gerber, Ernst Lndwi^ zr.
Heinrich NikolaQs, 94 a.,
103 a.
Qerhardt, Paol, 194, 196, 196, 902,
203, 212, 213, 214, 217.
Qesner, Johann M., 41.
Crigss, Johannes, 5221.
Glook, Christoph WiUibald tob,
zzviiia.
Oomer, Johann Gottlieb, 31.
Gottingen, z.
Goldberg, Johann GoUlieb, 101,
119.
Gottsohed, Pkofessor J. C, 45,
179, 185, 203.
Grabler, Maria Magdalena, 303.
Gr&bner, Christian, 104 a.
Grassi, Cecilia, 310.
GnMunann, Johann, 200, 207, 216.
Graan, Osrl Heinrieh, xxiy a., 100.
Johann Gottlieb, 109.
Graapner, Christoph, 282.
Greiner, Daniel, 283.
Grenlich, Karl, 271.
Grossgabauer, Philipp, 168, 188.
Grflenwald, Georg, 200.
Gninsky, Karl, 281.
Gvndoaleben, 305.
Hauot, 16, 17m.» 103 a., 277, 304,
309.
Digitized by
Googlt
INDEX
319
Hamburg, ix, xxi »., 12, 21, 100,
309.
Handel, Georg Friedrieh, zii, xziv
n,f xxix »., zxz, 19 n., 26 n.,
27 n., 58 n., 83, 84 »., 86, 107 n.,
109, no, 111 n.
Handke, Robert, 276, 277.
Hartwu, Carl, 104 ».
Hase, Hermaim yon, 279, 282.
Hasse, Johann Adolph, 109, 110.
Haaptmann, Morite, 226, 227, 229.
Hanaamaim, Eliaa O., 47, 279, 283,
Heerman, Johann, 187, 189, 190,
193, 194, 200, 201, 203, 204, 206,
207, 214, 215, 220.
Heitmann, Johann J., 21 n.
Helbig, Johann Friedrioh, 165, 172,
185, 192, 193.
Helmbold, Ladwig, 198, 199, 215,
224.
Henrioi, Chriaiian Priedrich, 45,
138 «., 141, 165, 175, 177 ff., 188,
184, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203,
204, 205, 206, 207, 215, 216, 217,
218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223.
Herberger, Valerins, 210.
Herda, BUat, 12.
Herman, Kikolaos, 187, 190, 199,
203, 210, 224.
Hermann, Johann, 198.
Herthum, Christoph, 808.
Heoflt, Alfred, 271, 275, 282.
Hiller, Johann Adam, xiv, xzz n,
HirwUng, Garl Gottlieb, zt.
Hof , Dorothea von, 307.
Hofman, Riohard, 285.
Hofltaiann, BMrbara, 303.
Eva, 303.
Johann G., 45.
Hoffmeitter, Fimns Anton, zi, zzt.
Hombnrg, Ernst Chriatoph, 212.
HomiUmi, Gottfried Angnat, 101,
284.
Hubert, Conrad, 220.
Hnrlebnach, Heinrioh Lorens, 106.
Ihlb, Johann Jakob, 47.
iMerrtedt, 308.
jAinni, Martin, 191, 196.
Jena, 308, 309.
Joaohim, Joseph, 273.
Jonaa, Jnstoa, 220.
KAiBSBLnro, Oovnt, 101 «., 119.
Keimann, Chriatian, 191, 195, 196,
202,217.
Keiaer, Reinhard, 83, 109.
Keller, Hermann, 281.
Kerl, Johann Oaapar, 10, 72.
Kenla, 306.
Kirohhoff, Gottfried, 17.
Kimberger, Johann Philipp, 74ii.,
93 n., 99, 102, 128 f»., 124, 142,
242 n., 256.
Kittel, Johann Chriatian, 47, 108.
Knoll, Christoph, 190.
Kdnig, Anna Margaretha, 305.
Kdnigsberg, 101.
Kolroas, Johann, 202.
Korabinaky, Johann M., 2 n.
Kortte, Gottlieb, 48.
Krebs, Johann Carl, 103 n.
Johann Ladwig, 101, 257.
— -^ Johann Ladwig (j^^ir.), 108 «.
— Johann Tobias, 108 n.
Kretsschmar, Hermann, 226, 264,
267, 281, 286.
KroU, Frana, 226.
Krttl, Anna Marf;aretha, 806.
Klihnel, Ambrosias, zi, xzy.
Kohnaa, Johann, 21, 30.
Korih, Ernst, 286.
Kurswelly, Albreoht, 288.
Lahm, 306.
LAmmerhirt, Hedwig, 306.
Elisabeth, 306, 307.
Tobias, 168, 186.
Landowska, Wanda, 277, 281.
Lange, Sibylla, 806.
Leipdg, 17 »., 91 ff. ; 29 ff. ; 101 «.,
104 »., 116 n., 119, 121 ii.,125fi.,
138 »., 141 n., 158, 168 ff., 173,
174 ff., 193 ff., 225, 279, 282, 310.
UbretH, the CanUta, 163 ff., 277,
281.
Lippe, Count Ton, 310.
Liscow, Salomo, 214.
Usaewski, C. P. Rr., 47 n.
Lobenstein, 69.
Labeek, 14.
Lftneburg, iz., 11, 12 n.
Luther, Martin, 186, 188, 189, 191,
192, 193, 195, 196, 197, 198, 204,
205, 206, 208, 210, 212, 216, 218,
219, 222, 228.
Mandtoowskx, Ensebios, 270,
271, 272, 275, 276, 278, 279, 282.
Maroallo, B«Mdetlo, 261.
Digitized by
Googlt
320
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Harebuid, Look, 17, 107.
liftrpurg, FrMdrieh Willielm, xiii,
12fi., 121.
lUrtiaDMB, C. A., 280.
ICatthMOD, Joluum, iz, xiU.
dBinrai, 103 n., 904.
nideuiohn, Felix, zriL
M«nde]
Memuim, Huis,
'Me«iah,'ihe,xxzfi.
MeuMl, Wolfgang, 206.
Mikn, 310.
Mixler, Lorens CbriBtoph* xW, xxit,
XXX.
Holler, Martin, 100, 200, 211, 217,
290,223.
Moaer, Hane Joaoliim, 285, 286.
Moiai:fc, Wolfgang Amadens, xii,
xxTmfi.,xxixfi.,68ii.,0Ofi., 96,
106 fi.
MfOfaaoaMi, 16, 115 n.. 166 ft, 187,
188, 308, 309.
Mfiller, Aa{(uatF.,43.
Heinnch, 213.
Mftthel, Johann Gottfried, 102.
Naumahv, Emit, 226, 243, 244,
246, 256, 260, 268, 260.
Nanmlmrff, 102, 310.
Keander, Joaohim, 210, 224.
< Nekrolog,' the, xxiv.
KeUe, Wfihelm, 273.
Kee, Karl, 276.
Kenmann, Caepar, 201, 203.
Nenmark, Georg, 180, 202, 200,
216.
Nenmeiater, Erdmann, 165, 168 ft,
180, 184, 185, 188, 180, 193, 208,
216.
Nichelmann, Chriatoph, 104 n.
NicoUi, PhiUpp, 189, 197, 202,
205, 208, 209, 218.
W.,.283.
OiHBnronf , 307.
Ohrdmf, 10, 306.
Olearina, Johannea, 209, 216.
el, Reinhardt, 273, 274, 276,
Paohxlbil, Johann, 10, 72, 131.
Peter, Anna Dorothea, 304.
Peters, Carl Friedrich, xxTiii.
Petrog^md, 137 fi.
Pfefferkom, Georg Michael, 195,
214.
Pioander. 8u Henrioit C. F.
PSleban, G.,lfi.,4«.
Potadam,26.
Pretttn,303.
Prfif er, Arthor, 284.
Paroell, Henry, 72 «., 261.
QuAVTZ, Johann J., 66.
QnodHbet^ 7, 118.
Rambach, Johann Jakob, 194,
205.
Reinken, Johann Adam, 12, 21,
72, 153 n., 26011.
Reiaaner, Adam, 188.
Reitz, Robert, 285.
Riohter, Bemhard P., 269, 272,
273, 274, 279, 280, 282, 284.
— ^— J C 968
Rietaoheli'Georg, 270, 273.
Biets, JoUna, 2Ss, 228, 229.
Riga, 102.
Ringwaldt, Bartholom&na, 187,
199, 201, 220.
Rinkart, Martin, 210, 215.
Riat, Johann, 200, 201, 209, 210,
, 213,214,221.
Rochlita, Johann Friedrich, rviL
Rodigaat, Samnel, 193, 197, 199,
210, 211, 215.
Rome, 309.
Rotterdam, 308.
Rube, Johann Chriatoph, 222.
Rtthla,d04.
Rust, WUhelm, 226, 228, 229, 230,
231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237,
240.
SAcn, Gottfried Wilhelmr213.
Saoha, Hans, 192, 221.
Sangerahansen, 309.
Saxe- Weimar, Duke Ernst Aagnst
of, 20 ft., ]12f».
Duke Johann Emat of, 261.
Duke Wilhelm Emat of, 16,
2011.
Scarlatti, Domenioo, 107.
SohaUing, Martin, 206, 208.
Soheibe, Johann Adolph, 68.
Sohelble, Johann Nepomnk, xriii.
Sobering, Arnold, 271, 272, 273,
274, 276, 277,278, 280, 281, 283,
284, 285, 286.
Schioht, Johann Gottfried, xi.
Schmidt, Anna Margaretha, 305.
Balthasar, 118.
— Susanna, 305.
Digitized by
Googl(
INDEX
321
Sohmied, Anna, 308.
SohneegAM, CyriMaSp 219» 2Si4.
Schneeting, JoluuuiM, 220.
Schneider, Johum, 104 n.
Max. 272, 273, 274, 276, 278,
279, 280, 284, 286.
Schnorr, Balthaaar, 201.
Sohober, Magdalena ChriBtiane,
306.
Sohreok, QosUt, 269, 286.
Schubart, Johann Martin, zr, 103.
Schiibler, Johann G., 117.
Schtinemann, Georg, 283, 285.
Schiiiz, Johann Jakob, 211.
Schnmann, Richard, 98 n.
Schweinfnrt, 103 n., 306.
Schwarsburg - Amstadt, Connt of,
3.
Behwarsburg • Rndolatadt, Emilie
JoUane of, 199, 206, 208.
Sohwerin, iz.
Se£Fner, Carl, 268, 274.
Seiflfert, Max, 271, 272, 273, 274,
276,276.
Selneoker, Nikolans, 216.
Siebigke, A. £. L., zr.
Silbermann, Gottfried, 25.
SonderehauBen, 103 ».
Sorge, Georg Andreas, 69.
Spengler, lAzams, 188, 209.
Speratna, Paul, 191, 194, 200, 207.
Stanber, Johann Lorena, 166, 188.
Steglioh, Rudolf, 284.
Steinbaoh, 304.
Steltzel, 267.
Stephenson, John, zxi n,
Rowland, zz.
Stookmann, Panl, 190, 203.
Stockholm, 307, 308.
St5rmthal, 194.
Stranbe, Rndolph, 104 n.
Stmngk, Delphm, 72.
Suhl, 303.
Swieten, Baron van, xii.
Sjrring, Jnditha Katharina, 306.
TauBMAim, Otto, 272.
Tavlor, John, 26 n.
Telemann, Georg Philipp, 30, 109,
170.
Themar, 306.
Tietse, Ghristoph, 198.
Tinel, Edgar, 276.
Tosi, Pier Francesco, 102.
Transchel, Ghristoph, 101.
UiTTKB-ZnaixBH, 306.
Uttst&dt, 307.
VUKKA, 226.
Vivaldi, Antonio, 71, 132, 149, 261,
262 n.
Vogler, Johann Caspar, 100.
Voigt, Wilhelm, 272.
Woldemar, 274, 280, 284.
103.
Volbach, Professor Frits, 47, 103,
270, 272.
Volomier, Jean-Baptiste, 18.
Waoheb, Paul, 34, 166, 186.
— Richard, zvii, 97 w.
Waldersee, Paul Graf, 226, 241,
242, 243, 262.
Walther, Johann Gottfried, zit,
67.
Wechmar, 1 n., 2, 303.
Wegelin, Josua, 213.
W^el, Christopher, 117.
Weimar, zv, 13, 16, 67, 100, 108 ».,
166, 167 ff., 188, 305.
Weing&rtner, Sigismund, 204.
Weiss, Christian, 46, 176 n., 176 ff.,
182, 185, 193, 194, 196, 198, 199,
200, 201, 202, 204, 206, 206, 207,
208, 209, 210, 212, 216, 220, 223.
Christian (jnnr.), 184, 214,
217, 219, 222.
Dorothea, 176.
Weissenf els, Duke Christian of, 22,
112, 169, 310.
Wesley, Samuel, zz.
Wiedemann, Katharina, 308.
Maria Elizabeth, 308.
Wiegand , 307.
Wildenfels, Anark of, 197.
Wolffheim, Werner, 277, 278, 279,
281.
Wolfsbehringen, 304.
WUlken, Anna Magdalena, 310.
WiUlner, Franz, 226, 248, 268.
Wustmann, Rudolf, 276, 279, 281.
Zaohau, Friedrioh Wilhelm, 16.
Zehler, C, 277.
Zelenka, Johann Disasas, 109.
Zelter, Carl Friedrich, z, zviL
Ziegler, Caspar, 203, 214.
Johann Gotthilf , 103 n.
ICariaane yon, 46, 165, 180,
184, 185, 212, 213, 214.
Digitized by
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