151
Forkel alludes to the Goldberg Variations (P. bk. 209).
152
P. bks. 205, 206.
153
P. bks. 203, 204.
154
P. bk. 207.
155
Bach wrote three Suites (Partita) and three Sonatas for Solo Violin. They date from about 1720 and are in the keys of G minor, B minor, A minor, D minor, C major, and E major (P. bk. 228). The six Violoncello Suites date from the same period and are in G major, D minor, C major, E flat major, C minor, and D major (P. bks. 238a, 238b).
156
Reinhard Keiser, b. 1673, d. 1739; scholar of the Leipzig Thomas-schule; settled at Hamburg, 1694; composed a number of Operas, and for a time had a great vogue.
157
It was precisely 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 With rare exceptions that branch of his work is obsolete and his cult survives mainly in the Messiah, which supports his quite posthumous reputation as “musician in ordinary to the Protestant religion.” See Mr. R. A. Streatfield’s Handel, Introduction.
158
Schweitzer advances the opinion, which may perhaps be challenged, that inevitable and natural as Bach’s melodies 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 independent of the theme. With Bach everything springs with mathematical certainty from the theme itself. See Schweitzer (i. 211) on Bach’s methods of working.
159
Johann Sebastian Bach’s Vierstimmige Choralgesänge were published in 1765 and 1769. C. P. E. Bach was concerned only with the first volume. Forkel perhaps refers to an edition of the Choralgesänge issued by Breitkopf in four parts at Leipzig in 1784, 1785, 1786, and 1787, and edited by C. P. E. Bach.
160
Forkel indicates the period 1720-1750. But in 1720 Bach had already completed the Orgelbüchlein and the greater part of his Organ works.
161
* There are people who conclude that Bach merely perfected harmony. But if we realise what harmony is, a means to extend and emphasise musical expression, we cannot imagine it apart from melody. And when, as in Bach’s case, harmony is actually an association of melodies, such a view becomes the more ridiculous. It might perhaps be reasonable 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 harmony has influenced the whole, whereas the melodist has left his mark only on a fraction of his art.
162
As has been pointed out already (supra, p. 14) Bach’s earliest church Cantatas date from the Arnstadt period.
163
The statement certainly needs a caveat. No composer of his period studied his text more closely or reverently than Bach. No one, on the other hand, was more readily fired by a particular word or image in his text to give it sometimes irrelevant expression.
164
Of Bach’s church Cantatas 206 have survived. In only 22 of them does Bach fail to introduce movements based upon the Lutheran Chorals.
165
We must attribute to Forkel’s 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 remarkable as Wagner’s innovations in operatic form a century later.
166
It was not the imperfections of the choir but the indifference 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.
167
The Trauer-Ode was performed on October 17, 1727. Bach finished the score two days before the performance! A parallel case is that of Mozart, who finished the overture of Don Giovanni on the morning of the first performance of the Opera, and actually played it unrehearsed that evening.
168
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”!
169
Of the 206 surviving Cantatas, 172 were written for the Leipzig choir.
170
Forkel’s knowledge is very incomplete.
171
Elsewhere Forkel mentions only one of the secular Cantatas.
172
There is a tradition that Bach wrote a comic song, Ihr Schönen, höret 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. xxxix. sec. 4.
173
Bach’s method has come down to us in treatises by two of his pupils, C. P. E. Bach’s Essay and Kirnberger’s Die Kunst des reinen Satzes in der Musik, to which reference has been made already.
174
Supra, p. 60.
175
Bach wrote eighteen Preludes for Beginners. They are all in P. bk. 200.
176
Most of these movements, which Bach called indifferently “Inventions” (ideas) and “Praeambula” (Preludes), were written in 1723. They are in P. bk. 201.
177
Heinrich Nikolaus Gerber, who was Bach’s pupil from 1724 to 1727, particularly emphasises this feature of Bach’s teaching.
178
See on the whole matter Spitta, iii. 117 ff. Bach’s method is illustrated by his Rules and Instructions (1738) printed by Spitta, iii. 315 ff., and also by the Einige höchst nöthinge Regeln at the end of A. M. Bach’s Notenbuch (1725).
179
Mozart wrote as follows to a correspondent who asked him what his method of composition was: “I can really say no more on this subject 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 cheer — say, travelling in a carriage, or walking after a good meal, or during the night when I cannot sleep; it is on such occasions that my ideas flow best and most abundantly. Whence and how they come, I know not; nor can I force them. Those ideas that please me I retain in memory, and am accustomed, as I have been told, to hum them to myself. If I continue in this way, it soon occurs to me how I may turn this or that morsel to account, so as to make a good dish of it, that is to say, agreeably to the rules of counterpoint, to the peculiarities of the various 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 glance. Nor do I hear in my imagination the parts successively, but I hear them, as it were, all together. What a delight this is I cannot tell!…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” (Life, ed. Dent, p. 255).
Wagner, writing in 1851 to Uhlig, who could not understand how the libretto of Young Siegfried could be set to music, expresses the same idea as Mozart: “What you cannot possibly imagine is a-making of itself! I tell you, the musical 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, iii. p. 243).
180
Angela Berardi’s Documenti armonici. Nelli quali con varii discorsi, regole, ed essempii si dimonstrano gli studii arteficiosi della musica was published at Bologna in 1687.
181
Giovanni Maria Buononcini, b. c. 1640, d. 1678; Maestro di Capella at Modena; published his Musico prattico at Bologna in 1673, 1688.
182
Johann Joseph Fux, b. 1660, d. 1741; Kapellmeister at Vienna; published his Gradus ad Parnassum at Vienna in 1725.
183
See supra, p. 74.
184
* I speak here only of those pupils who made music their profession. But, besides these, Bach had a great many other pupils. Every dilettante in the neighbourhood desired to boast of the instruction of so great and celebrated a man. Many gave themselves out to have been his pupils who had never been taught by him.
185
See Spitta, i. 522; Schweitzer, i. 214 for farther details regarding Vogler, who died circ. 1765.
186
Gottfried August Homilius, b. 1714, d. 1785; pupil of Bach, circ. 1735. Cantor of the Kreuzschule, Dresden.
187
Christoph Transchel (1721-1800) taught music at Leipzig and Dresden; Bach’s pupil and friend, circ. 1742. See Spitta, iii. 245.
188
Johann Gottlieb (or Theophilus) Goldberg, clavicenist to Count Kaiserling (infra, p. 119) for whom Bach wrote the so-called Goldberg Variations. He was born circ. 1720 and was a pupil of Bach from 1733-46.
189
Johann Ludwig Krebs, b. 1713, d. 1780; Bach’s pupil, 1726-35. Bach said of him that he was “the best crab (Krebs) in the brook (Bach).”
190
Johann Christoph Altnikol, d. 1759.
191
Johann Friedrich Agricola, b. 1720, d. 1774; pupil of Bach circ. 1738-41; Director of the Royal Chapel, Berlin.
192
Pier Francesco Tosi, b. circ. 1650; singing master in London. His Opinioni de’ canton antichi e moderni, o sieno osservazioni sopra il canto figurato was published at Bologna in 1723.
193
Johann Gottfried Müthel, b. circ. 1720, d. circ. 1790; pupil of Bach in 1750 and resident in his house at the time of his death; organist of the Lutheran Church, Riga.
194
Johann Philipp Kirnberger, b. 1721, d. 1783; Bach’s pupil, 1739-41.
195
Louisa Amalia, of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, wife of Frederick the Great’s brother, and mother of his successor, Frederick William II. (1786-97).
196
The second work was published in 1773 at Berlin. For the first, see supra, p. 74.
197
Johann Christian Kittel, b. 1732, d. 1809; one of Bach’s latest pupils; Organist of the Predigerkirche, Erfurt. He is said to have possessed a portrait of his master and to have rewarded his pupils for good playing by drawing the curtain which usually covered the picture and permitting them to look upon it. It is, perhaps, the portrait, recently discovered by Dr. Fritz Volbach, which is reproduced at p. 92 of this volume.
198
Nothing seems to be known of him.
199
Johann Martin Schubart succeeded Bach at Weimar in 1717. He was born in 1690 and died in 1721. See Spitta, i. 343.
200
In addition to those mentioned by Forkel, the following pupils of Bach are known: Johann Gotthilf Ziegler, of St. Ulrich’s Church, Halle; J. Bernhard Bach, of Ohrdruf; Heinrich Nikolaus Gerber, Organist at Sondershausen; Samuel Anton Bach, of Meiningen; Johann Ernst Bach, of Saxe-Weimar; Johann Elias Bach, Cantor at Schweinfurt; Johann Tobias Krebs, organist at Buttelstädt, and his sons, Johann Ludwig, Johann Tobias, and Johann Carl; Johann Schneider, organist of St. Nicolas’, Leipzig; Georg Friedrich Einicke, Cantor at Frankenhausen; Johann Friedrich Doles, Bach’s second successor in the Cantorate of St. Thomas’; Rudolph Straube, who afterwards settled in England; Christoph Nichelmann, cembalist to Frederick the Great; Christian Gräbner, and Carl Hartwig.
For full information upon Bach’s pupils see Spitta, i. 522 ff., ii. 47 ff., iii. 116 ff., 239 ff., and the relative articles in Grove’s Dictionary.
201
Forkel does not do justice to his friend. C. P. E. Bach is recognised as the immediate precursor of Haydn and as the link between the latter and J. S. Bach.
202
Mozart had a very particular regard for him. See Schweitzer i. 220 on his brothers’ abilities as composers.
203
Spitta (iii. 262) quotes a characteristic anecdote. To some one who praised his skill on the Organ Bach replied: “There is nothing wonderful about it. You merely strike the right note at the right moment and the Organ does the rest.”
204
See supra, p. 19. Bach himself certainly was the challenger.
205
When Handel was at Venice in 1708, Domenico Scarlatti, hearing a stranger touching the Harpsichord at a masquerade, exclaimed, “That must either be the famous Saxon or the Devil” (Rockstro’s George Frederick Handel, p. 48). Streatfield (p. 145) mentions a similar event which took place in 1737. Hearing a stranger playing a Fugue in one of the Flemish churches, the organist embraced him, saying, “You can be no other but the great Handel.”
206
Heinrich Lorenz Hurlebusch was organist of three churches in Brunswick. His visit to Bach took place in 1730, seemingly. See Schweitzer, i. 154.
207
Schweitzer prints an appreciation of Hurlebusch which suggests that he was a man of distinct ability and “a paragon of politeness.”
208
Antonio Caldara, b. circ. 1670; vice-Kapellmeister at Vienna, 1716-36; d. 1736.
209
Johann Adolph Hasse, b. 1699, d. 1783; Kapellmeister and Director of the Opera, Dresden.
210
Johann Gottlieb Graun, b. circ. 1698, d. 1771; conductor of the royal Kapelle, Berlin.
Carl Heinrich Graun, b. 1701, d. 1759; like his brother, in Frederick the Great’s service.
211
Georg Philipp Telemann, b. 1681, d. 1767; Cantor and Musik-direktor in Hamburg.
212
Johann Dismas Zelenka, b. 1679 or 1681, d. 1745; Court Composer at Dresden.
213
Franz Benda, b. 1709, d. 1786; Concertmeister to Frederick the Great upon the death of J. G. Graun.
214
On Telemann’s influence on Bach see Spitta, ii. 437.
215
Handel’s second visit to Halle took place in June 1729. His mother’s illness detained him. See Streatfield, p. 110.
216
Handel’s third visit took place in July-August 1760. He was laid up by a severe accident in the course of it, and appears to have not recovered from it at the time of Bach’s death.
217
Faustina Bordoni, b. 1693, d. 1783; m. Hasse in 1730. She was one of the most famous singers of the day.
218
The original has “Liederchen.”
219
See supra, p. 37. Compare Handel’s case. He received a royal pension of £600 per annum, and though he was twice a bankrupt, left £20,000.
220
The Duke was the nephew of, and succeeded, Duke Wilhelm Ernst in 1728.
221
The Canonic Variations on the melody are published by Novello bk. 19, p. 73. For the Mizler Society, see supra, p. xxiv.
222
Spitta (iii. 294) regards the statement as incorrect 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 Nürnberg “vers 1746.”
223
The first of Bach’s works to be engraved was the Mühlhausen Cantata, Gott ist mein König, (parts only). It was p
ublished in 1708, when Bach was twenty-three years old. Forkel refers to Partita I. in the first Part of the Clavierübung (P. bk. 205 p. 4). It was engraved in 1726, when Bach was forty-one years old. In 1731 he republished it, with five others that had appeared in the interval, in the first Part of the Clavierübung (P. bks. 205, 206).
224
Forkel’s rather casual critical axioms seem to be as follows: “Publication postulates excellence”; “An amended MS. implies that the original text was not a finished work of art.”
225
It was the first work engraved by Bach himself, though the parts of the Cantata Gott ist mein König had been published by the Town Council at Mühlhausen in 1708.
226
The work was published at Leipzig “in Commission bey Boetii Seel, hinderlassenen Tochter, unter den Rath-hause.” The Suites, or Partitas (P. bks. 205, 206), are in B flat major, C minor, A minor, D major, G major, E minor.
227
In 1801 Hoffmeister and Kühnel unsuccessfully attempted to publish Bach’s works by subscription.
228
The Partita in B minor (P. bk. 208 p. 20).
229
The work was published in 1735. The Italian Concerto in F major is published by Novello and P. bk. 207.
230
The work appeared in 1739. It was intended to contain works for the Organ only; the four Duetti are incongruous and seem to have crept in by mistake. See the scheme of the work discussed in Terry, Bach’s Chorals, Part III. The Choral Preludes are in Novello’s ed., bk. xvi.
231
The work was published circ. 1747-50. Five of the six movements certainly, and the sixth with practical certainty, are adaptations to the Organ of movements out of Bach’s Church Cantatas. See Parry, Bach, p. 535. The Chorals are in Novello’s ed., bk. xvi.
232
See supra, p. 65.
233
Thus the pedal sounds above the part given to the second manual and is often the topmost part. See Novello’s ed., bk. xvi. 4.
234
Published circ. 1742; the so-called “Goldberg Variations.” They are in P. bk. 209.
235
Variation No. 10 is a Fughetta in four parts.
236
Ten of the Variations are marked “a 2 Clav.,” that is, for two keyboards or manuals: Nos. 8, 11, 13, 14, 17, 20, 23, 25, 26, 28. Nos. 5, 7, 29 are marked “a 1 ovvero 2 Clav.”
Delphi Masterworks of Johann Sebastian Bach Page 45
