Johann Sebastian Bach

by Christoph Wolff

  Works that may be assigned to the transitional years 1702–3 are marked by a strong north German influence and are characterized by an original take on traditional compositional approaches. At the same time, these pieces exhibit a youthful exuberance that here and there borders on exaggeration. Among the organ works with these characteristics is the chorale “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern,” BWV 739 (the same piece is also transmitted in a fair copy, among the earliest extant Bach autographs). Another example is the Prelude in C major, BWV 531, which opens with a brilliant pedal solo and fugue yet narrow harmonic design. The Prelude in G minor, BWV 535a, entered by Bach into the Möller Manuscript, begins with a concise virtuosic manualiter opening that leads into a well-focused, ambitious synthesis of north German figurative and harmonic gestures, on the one hand, and the central German type of prelude with fugue, on the other. Finally, the Prelude in D minor, BWV 549a, features an unprecedented eight-measure solo pedal opening of considerable complexity, followed by a rhetorico-dramatic section full of harmonic surprises, an elaborate fugue, and a finale section of virtuosic figurative material. Works such as these four would have made up an ideal recital program designed to demonstrate mastery of the instrument, introduce original thoughts, and impress an audience. Whatever the pieces were that Bach actually prepared for the Sangerhausen and Arnstadt recitals, they date to the period immediately following his graduation from St. Michael’s in Lüneburg, a time free of specific obligations and opportune for concentrated creative and technical work.

  Among the works that figure most prominently in the chronology of Bach’s early compositions is the Capriccio on the Departure of the Beloved Brother (Capriccio sopra la lontananza de il fratro dilettissimo) in B-flat major, BWV 992, which has traditionally been connected with the departure of Johann Jacob from Thuringia for Poland, where in 1704, according to the Genealogy, “he entered the service of the Royal Swedish Army” of King Charles XII, “as oboist in the Guards.”66 However, this conclusion, resulting in a widespread but inauthentic adjustment to the title (—del suo fratello, to make it conform to the Italian term for full brother), is at best questionable. The individual musical movements describe, in an expressive and illuminating manner, a farewell scene with the “fratro dilettissimo,” from the “coaxing by his friends to dissuade him from his journey” and a “picturing of various calamities that might overtake him in foreign parts” to a concluding fugue “all’ imitazione di Posta,” with a countersubject imitating a post horn. But not only does the piece fail to display any martial characteristics (such as “alla battaglia”), which occur frequently in seventeenth-century instrumental pieces, the picturesque departure of a recruit by postal coach is simply too fanciful. The Latin “frater” more likely pertains to a different kind of fraternal relationship, such as the one revealed by Bach’s manner of addressing his former schoolmate Georg Erdmann, after a hiatus of more than two decades: “Noble and most honored Sir and (if still permissible) esteemed Mr. Brother.”67 Indeed, Erdmann is a most plausible dedicatee of the piece, whose chronological place, on musical grounds, fits much better before 1704 and whose origin may actually go back to Lüneburg, where it could have been written for some kind of graduation party among friends. The immediate post-Lüneburg career of Erdmann, who later entered the diplomatic service, remains unknown, but he may have left St. Michael’s School as an adjutant to one of the academy noblemen.

  The dating to 1702 of the Capriccio BWV 992 clarifies at the same time the origin and function of a sister piece, the Capriccio in E major (Capriccio in honorem Joh: Christoph Bachii), BWV 993. The more condensed, musically more abstract, and somewhat more sophisticated E-major piece may be best understood as a tribute to the Ohrdruf brother on the occasion of Sebastian’s return to Thuringia. It certainly would have been a proper expression of devotion and gratitude to his foster brother and first keyboard teacher, and also would have made manifest Sebastian’s progress since leaving Christoph’s tutelage.68 The charmingly pretentious concoction of Latin and Italian, not only in the titles of the two capriccios but also in the various subheadings and author indications of other pieces from about the same period (for instance, BWV 535a: Praeludium. cum Fuga. ex Gb. Pedaliter. per Joan. Sebast: Bachium; BWV 549a: Praeludium ô Fantasia. Pedaliter. ex Db. di Giovanne Seb. Bach), point to a self-conscious search for artistic identity on the part of the young and ambitious keyboard virtuoso, who probably never saw himself as an apprentice and now tried to place himself in the company of other masters.

  4

  Building a Reputation

  ORGANIST IN ARNSTADT AND MÜHLHAUSEN, 1703–1708

  AT THE NEW CHURCH IN ARNSTADT

  Bach’s later years at the Weimar ducal court “fired him with the desire to try every possible artistry in his treatment of the organ.”1 Experimentation, however, was already deeply rooted in Bach’s mental attitude. As the driving force in his youthful and enthusiastic musical endeavors, his daring won him considerable recognition and an outstanding reputation at an early age and led to his first professional position. There can be no doubt that the lackey Bach gladly exchanged his Weimar livery uniform for the civilian clothes of a town organist.

  Bach’s appointment to the newly created position of organist at the New Church in Arnstadt could only have resulted from his having made a superb impression on the town and church authorities when he tried out the Wender organ. Actually, he may have been offered the job before he returned to Weimar on or shortly after July 3, 1703: his certificate of appointment was dated August 9, and Bach accepted it “by handshake” five days later.2 It has been suggested that the position was held open for him from the start of the organ construction,3 but although the Bach family was well-known in Arnstadt, the organist Sebastian was not—at least not until his return from Lüneburg. Moreover, if a job had been waiting for him, why would he seek appointments in Sangerhausen and Weimar? And finally, Andreas Börner, who played for the services at the New Church before Bach’s arrival, may have had prior claims on the post: after all, he was the son-in-law of the court organist Christoph Herthum, who in turn was related by marriage to the Bach family. For a variety of reasons, then, Sebastian could not have been a serious candidate before he had demonstrated his superior qualifications in public.

  Arnstadt, the oldest city in Thuringia, was granted a city charter in 1266, five and a half centuries after its earliest documented existence, in 704, and it served in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as the capital of a small principality governed by the counts of Schwarzburg.4 Scenically located at the edge of the mountainous Thuringian Forest, it embraced three churches within its walls. The Lower, or Our Lady’s, Church, a Gothic basilica with a three-tiered nave, built in the late thirteenth century, was the oldest, largest, and architecturally most distinguished of the three.5 The fourteenth-century Upper, or Barfüsser, Church, where the superintendent and head of the consistory preached, served as the town’s principal church. St. Boniface’s Church, a medieval edifice in the center of town, had fallen victim in 1581 to a ferocious fire. The modest and plain building erected between 1676 and 1683 on the site of the ruin—with crucial financial support provided by Countess Sophia of Schwarzburg and hence also referred to as Sophienkirche—was commonly called the New Church. Situated on the market square and adjacent to the town hall, the New Church with its wooden double galleries could accommodate over a third of Arnstadt’s population of 3,800. The other two churches, especially the Lower Church, could hold far fewer.

  With the completion of the organ for the New Church in 1703, the Arnstadt organist duties had to be reorganized. Previously, one town organist took charge of both Upper and Lower Churches, and a deputy organist provided the necessary assistance, mainly in the Lower Church. Christoph Herthum had been the town and court organist since the death in 1692 of Heinrich Bach (6), his predecessor and father-in-law, although his main job was kitchen manager at the court. As Herthum also functioned as organist of the court chapel at Neideck
Castle, a position held earlier by both of Heinrich Bach’s sons—first Johann Christoph (13) and then Johann Michael (14)—he could not take on additional obligations at the New Church. So Herthum continued as town and court organist, responsible for the Upper Church and the court chapel, and Andreas Börner was officially given the post at the Lower Church, with additional functions as a regular assistant to his father-in-law at the Upper Church and the court chapel. Börner received his certificate of appointment from the consistory of the count of Schwarzburg on August 14, 1703, the same day as Bach, whose duties lay exclusively in the New Church.

  The organization of the Arnstadt church services (see Table 4.1) resulted in rather unequal workloads for the organists, not entirely reflected in their salaries. Herthum earned 57 florins as town organist and an additional 20 as court organist; Börner, who made 20 florins, had to play for a total of ten services each week;6 and because of overlapping services, both needed their pupils’ assistance in order to manage their assignments. Bach, however, received 50 florins for only four services per week in one and the same place—an extraordinarily favorable treatment (indicating the high esteem in which he was held from the outset), especially in light of the mere 30 florins Börner had received as interim organist7 and the 40 florins paid in 1708 to Bach’s successor at the New Church, his cousin Johann Ernst Bach.

  Bach’s contract required him to be “industrious and reliable in the office, vocation, and practice of art and science” assigned to him,

  not to mix into other affairs and functions; to appear promptly on Sundays, feast days, and other days of public divine service in the said New Church at the organ entrusted to you; to play the latter as is fitting; to keep a watchful eye over it and take faithful care of it; to report in time if any part of it becomes weak and to give notice that the necessary repairs should be made; not to let anyone have access to it without the foreknowledge of the Superintendent; and in general to see that damage is avoided and everything is kept in good order and condition.8

  His annual salary came in four installments, on the traditional Thursday pay-days for each quarter: preceding Reminiscere Sunday in March, preceding Trinity Sunday in June, following the Day of the Holy Cross (September 14), and following St. Lucy’s Day (December 13). He received an additional sum of 30 talers (= 34 florins 6 groschen) for board and lodging.9 Compared with the 27 florins 9 groschen he would have earned annually as lackey and court musician in Weimar, his annual salary had now nearly doubled and his total cash compensation tripled.10 Weddings and other special services would be paid extra, and he had opportunities for further earnings at performances with the court capelle under the direction of Paul Gleitsmann, who would audition Bach’s successor and most likely played a role in Bach’s appointment as well.11

  The organ and choir loft in the New Church was built as a third gallery at the west end of the nave, with the organ displayed high and wide against the wall, filling the entire space under the barrel vault.12 The church’s interior might be regarded as an ideal organ recital hall, with both the instrument itself and the organist at the console—not hidden by a Rückpositiv—in full view, especially from the two double galleries alongside the nave. Thus, the New Church organist and his brand-new instrument commanded the kind of attention that no other Arnstadt church could offer. Moreover, Bach’s light official schedule combined with the general availability of the church for practicing provided a unique opportunity for his further musical development and artistic growth. For the first time in his life, he had free reign over a fine instrument with no technical defects, a luxury most organists of the time could only dream of.

  TABLE 4.1. Worship Services at the Arnstadt Churches

  While not large, the Wender organ, with twenty-one stops on two manuals (Oberwerk and Brustpositiv) and pedal,13 was a good-sized and resourceful instrument. The manuals extended over four octaves (CD to , forty-eight keys) and the pedal over two (CD to $$$$$$$, twenty-five keys), and, apart from the missing C-sharp, they did not feature an incomplete bottom octave (“short octave”: no chromatic keys from C to A), an old-fashioned standard of German manual keyboards. Moreover, while the unequal mean-tone scale with its nearly pure fifths prevailed in older instruments and restricted playing to the “simple” keys with no more than two sharps or flats, Wender apparently adopted Andreas Werckmeister’s new “well-tempered” tuning system, a close approximation of equal temperament (based on the principle of dividing the octave into twelve equal semitones), which allowed the organist to play in any key without spoiling its distinctive characteristics.14 But like other seventeenth-century church organs in central and northern Germany, the organ would have been tuned at “choir pitch,” which lay at least a whole tone above the then-current, modern chamber pitch (á = 415), and thus at least a half tone above modern pitch.15 Werckmeister’s innovative tuning system, which would later lend its name to Bach’s famous collection of preludes and fugues, was hailed by many musicians, most notably by Buxtehude, who wrote a poetic preface to one of Werckmeister’s books.16 Although only few authentic parts of the original Arnstadt organ have survived, Bach certainly had at his disposal an instrument that conformed to the most modern standards of the time. He was also provided with a salaried bellows operator, Michael Ernst Frobenius, who was remunerated for the divine services as well as for tunings and repairs,17 and who would have been paid by Bach himself for any additional assistance.

  In his role as organist of the New Church, Bach reported to the superintendent of churches and member of the consistory of the count of Schwarzburg, M. Johann Gottfried Olearius, a learned man from a distinguished family of Lutheran theologians and scholars. (Bach owned a five-volume biblical commentary by the superintendent’s younger brother, Johann Olearius, a professor at Leipzig University.)18 The very Reverend Olearius, in charge of the Arnstadt clergy since 1688, had surrounded himself with a highly capable group of ministers and deacons whose homilies and preachings collectively furthered Bach’s theological edification; the young organist most often heard M. Justus Christian Uthe, the main preacher of the New Church. Olearius also paid considerable attention to the quality of church music in his purview, since he had himself directed the music at Our Lady’s Church in Halle, where he served earlier as deacon. Moreover, in 1692, he had delivered and subsequently published an inspiring funeral sermon for his organist at the Upper Church, Heinrich Bach,19 whose substitute in 1689–90, Sebastian’s elder brother Christoph, was also known to him. Sebastian’s appointment would not have been possible without the superintendent’s active support.

  The primary duty of the organist of the New Church was to lead and accompany the congregational singing of hymns and to play an appropriate chorale prelude introducing each tune. He also had to play preludes and postludes at the beginning and end of the service as well as music, preferably chorale-based, during Communion. The liturgical structure of the main service for all Arnstadt churches related closely to the standard Lutheran format (see Table 4.2) and followed the Agenda Schwartzburgica of 1675, the ceremonial formulary for the Schwarzburg counties.20

  In 1705, Arnstadt received a new version of its own hymnbook, Neuverbessertes Arnstädtisches Gesangbuch (without melodies), edited by M. Johann Christoph Olearius, the superintendent’s son. Its core contents resembled other circulating Lutheran hymnals, which rarely varied from the “classic” sixteenth-and seventeenth-century hymn repertoire dating from Martin Luther and other Reformation theologian-poets through Paul Gerhardt and his generation. The liturgically prescribed hymns (as in Table 4.2) were always taken from the earliest Reformation hymns.

  The Figuralstück, a polyphonic piece with or without instrumental accompaniment, was featured in the main and Vespers services at the Upper Church, the city’s principal church, attended by the more privileged citizens and court officials. Here was where the superintendent preached, and also where the princely family members worshipped when they went into town, which they frequently did, especially on feast day
s. On those latter occasions, court capellmeister Gleitsmann had charge of the church music and usually presented a work of his own composition.21 The Upper Church was also home base for the Arnstadt Lyceum’s chorus musicus, directed by the cantor, Ernst Dietrich Heindorff, a respected musician and close friend of the Bach family. Heindorff provided choristers for liturgical functions at the other churches as well, in particular the New Church, which kept its own substantial choir library. This collection contained the traditional sixteenth-century motet repertoire of Heinrich Isaac, Josquin, Jacob Obrecht, Pierre de la Rue, Ludwig Senfl, and others, but also more recent literature, such as Andreas Hammerschmidt’s Musicalische Gespräche über die Evangelia of 1655, motets for four to seven voices and basso continuo for occasions falling throughout the church year. An even newer anthology, Nicolaus Niedt’s Sonnund Fest-Tags-Lust of 1698, comprised seventy-three small cantatas covering every Sunday and feast day across the year. Since Niedt was court organist and chancery clerk at Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, this last big publication of seventeenth-century German church music probably received much use at Schwarzburg-Arnstadt as well.

  TABLE 4.2. Order of the Divine Service at Arnstadt

  Congregation and Organ

  Choir

  Preacher and Ministrantsa

  Prelude

  Antiphon “Komm, Heiliger Geist, erfüll die Herzen”

  Kyrie and Gloria choraliter