INSTRUMENT. A NAME GIVEN TO A KEYED INSTRUMENT OF WHICH THE STRINGS WENT FROM SIDE TO SIDE AS IN THE OBSOLETE SQUARE PIANOFORTE, THE KEY-BOARD BEING IN THE MIDDLE.
INVENTIONS. THE FIFTEEN INVENTIONS AND SYMPHONIES WERE ENTITLED BY BACH “A GENUINE INTRODUCTION WHEREBY A CLEAR METHOD IS SHOWN TO LOVERS OF THE CLAVIER, AND ESPECIALLY TO THOSE WHO ARE EAGER TO LEARN, NOT ONLY (1) OF PLAYING IN TWO VOICES CLEARLY, BUT ALSO, ON MAKING FURTHER PROGRESS, (2) OF PLAYING THREE OBBLIGATO PARTS PROPERLY AND WELL; SO THAT THEY AT THE SAME TIME WILL LEARN TO MAKE GOOD INVENTIONS AND PLAY THEM THEMSELVES, AND WILL ALSO LEARN WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT, THE ART OF CANTABILE PLAYING; AND WILL ACQUIRE A GOOD TASTE IN COMPOSITION. PREPARED BY J. S. BACH, 1723.”
KEISER, REINHARD, WAS FOR FORTY YEARS THE CELEBRATED COMPOSER AND CONDUCTOR OF OPERAS AT HAMBURG. HE HAD AS COLLEAGUES TELEMANN AND MATHESON. HE WROTE 116 OPERAS, AND PRODUCED MANY BY OTHER COMPOSERS, PARTICULARLY HANDEL’S RINALDO. BORN NEAR LEIPSIC, 1673, DIED 1739.
KUHNAU, JOHANN, 1667-1722, BACH’S PREDECESSOR AS CANTOR AT THE THOMAS-SCHULE, WAS A PROLIFIC WRITER ON MUSICAL SUBJECTS. AMONGST HIS COMPOSITIONS ARE SIX BIBLE SONATAS, REPRESENTING SCENES FROM SCRIPTURE ON THE CEMBALO. HE WAS THE FIRST TO WRITE CHAMBER SONATAS FOR THE CLAVIER INSTEAD OF FOR SEVERAL INSTRUMENTS. HE WAS ALSO LEARNED IN LANGUAGES, MATHEMATICS, AND LAW. HE WROTE PASSIONS, CANTATAS, &C., BUT HIS STYLE SEEMS TO HAVE SOON BECOME ANTIQUATED, AND HIS WORKS COULD NOT HOLD THEIR OWN AGAINST THE OPERA AND THE YOUNGER SCHOOL.
LITUUS. THE CANTATA NO. 118, “O JESU CHRIST MEIN’S LEBEN’S LICHT,” IS SCORED FOR TWO LITUI, CORNET AND THREE TROMBONES. THERE ARE NO STRING OR ORGAN PARTS, AND THE WORK IS EVIDENTLY INTENDED FOR THE OPEN AIR, PERHAPS FOR A FUNERAL. THERE IS NO REASON GIVEN FOR CALLING THE TRUMPETS BY THEIR LATIN NAME IN THIS INSTANCE.
LUTE. THIS INSTRUMENT APPEARS IN THE SCORE OF THE ST JOHN’S PASSION. IT WAS SOMETIMES USED INSTEAD OF A CLAVECIN TO ACCOMPANY CONCERTED MUSIC.
LUTE-HARPSICHORD. A KEYED INSTRUMENT WITH GUT STRINGS MADE AFTER BACH’S DESIGN BY ZACHARIAS HILDEBRAND, AN ORGAN BUILDER. SEE P. 157.
MATHESON, 1681-1764, WROTE 89 VOLUMES CHIEFLY ON MUSICAL SUBJECTS, BESIDES BEING A COMPOSER. HE WAS A CLASSICAL SCHOLAR, A STUDENT OF MODERN LANGUAGES, LAW, AND POLITICAL SCIENCE, A GOOD MUSICIAN, DANCER, AND FENCER. HE APPEARED ON THE HAMBURG STAGE AS A SINGER, COMPOSED AND CONDUCTED OPERAS THERE, BECAME A GREAT FRIEND OF HANDEL, WAS MADE SECRETARY OF THE ENGLISH LEGATION, AND CANTOR AND CANON OF THE CATHEDRAL. BY HIS WRITINGS HE MATERIALLY HELPED FORWARD THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHURCH CANTATA.
MIZLER, VON KOLOF, DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY AND HISTORIAN, BORN 1711 AT WURTEMBERG, WAS A GOOD AMATEUR MUSICIAN. IN 1731 HE WENT TO LEIPSIC TO STUDY DIVINITY AND AFTERWARDS PHILOSOPHY AND MUSIC. HERE HE FOUNDED A “SOCIETY FOR MUSICAL SCIENCE,” AND BECAME ON FRIENDLY TERMS WITH BACH, WHO SEEMS TO HAVE GIVEN HIM SOME LESSONS. HE WROTE VARIOUS WORKS DEALING WITH THE PHILOSOPHY OF MUSIC; AND HIS CHIEF IMPORTANCE IN CONNECTION WITH BACH WAS HIS “NECROLOGY” IN WHICH HE GIVES VALUABLE INFORMATION CONCERNING HIM. THE WORK IS IN SEVERAL NUMBERS; UNFORTUNATELY THAT PORTION OF IT WHICH DEALS WITH BACH IS NOT IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY.
MOTET. THE CHARACTER AND SCOPE OF THE GERMAN MOTET ARE THUS DESCRIBED BY SPITTA, VOL. I. P. 54. “IT IS IN SEVERAL PARTS; IT ADMITS OF NO OBBLIGATO INSTRUMENTS, AND ITS SUBJECTS ARE SET TO A TEXT OF THE BIBLE, OR TO A VERSE OF A HYMN. THE PERIOD OF ITS FULLEST BLOOM WAS ABOUT 1600, WHEN MUSIC WAS ESSENTIALLY POLYPHONIC, VOCAL, AND SACRED.” UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF HARMONY IT GRADUALLY CHANGED ITS FORM, INTRODUCING SOLO VOICES AND INSTRUMENTS, ESPECIALLY THE ORGAN.
OBOE DA CACCIA. HUNTING OBOE, BENT LIKE A KNEE, AND DIFFERING BUT SLIGHTLY FROM THE MODERN COR ANGLAIS, OR ENGLISH HORN. IT OCCURS VERY FREQUENTLY IN BACH’S SCORES. IT IS DESCRIBED IN GROVE’S DICTIONARY AS A BASSOON RAISED A FOURTH, CARRYING THE BASS TONE OF THE LATTER UPWARDS RATHER THAN LOWERING THE TREBLE TONE OF THE OBOE A FIFTH. IT IS ALSO CALLED BY BACH, TAILLE DE BASSON, OR TENOR OF THE BASSOON.
OBERWERK. THE GREAT ORGAN.
OBERPOSITIV. A CHOIR ORGAN OF WHICH THE WIND-CHEST IS PLACED ABOVE THE OTHERS.
ORGEL-BÜCHLEIN, “LITTLE ORGAN-BOOK.” THE FIRST COLLECTION WAS MADE, ACCORDING TO BACH HIMSELF, AT CÖTHEN BETWEEN 1717 AND 1723. THE SECOND COLLECTION, CONSISTING OF SIX CHORALES, WAS PUBLISHED AND SOLD BY BACH AND HIS SONS AT LEIPSIC, HALLE, AND BERLIN. THE THIRD COLLECTION WAS CONTINUED TILL HIS DEATH AND WAS NOT PUBLISHED. THE LAST PORTION WAS DICTATED DURING HIS BLINDNESS TO HIS SON-IN-LAW ALTNIKOL. THE TWO UNPUBLISHED PARTS WERE WRITTEN ON TWO STAVES ONLY. THE PEDAL COMPASS IN THE CHORALES EXTENDS TO HIGH F AND F-sharp. THESE NOTES WERE FOUND ON THE ORGAN OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH AT CÖTHEN ONLY. THIS ORGAN IS DESCRIBED BY HARTMANN IN 1803 AS “AN UNCOMMONLY POWERFUL AND EXCELLENT INSTRUMENT.” IT HAD 8 STOPS ON THE PEDALS, 10 ON THE GREAT, 10 ON THE CHOIR. IT IS NOW REDUCED IN SIZE AND RUINED IN ORDER TO OBTAIN MORE ROOM IN THE CHURCH.
PARTITA. A NAME GIVEN TO SETS OF VARIATIONS FOR ORGAN OR CEMBALO, AND APPROPRIATED FROM THE TOWN PIPERS.
PACHELBEL, JOHANN, 1653-1706, BORN AT NÜREMBERG, WAS ASSISTANT ORGANIST AT THE CHURCH OF ST STEPHEN IN VIENNA, WHENCE HE MOVED TO EISENACH AS COURT ORGANIST IN 1677. FROM EISENACH HE WENT TO ERFURT AND TO GEHREN. IN 1690 HE BECAME COURT ORGANIST AT STUTTGART; AND AFTER A STAY OF THREE YEARS AT GOTHA HE BECAME ORGANIST OF A CHURCH AT NÜREMBERG TILL HIS DEATH. HE TAUGHT W. FRIEDEMANN BACH, AND BERNHARD, SON OF ÆGIDIUS. ACCORDING TO GERBER, HE IMPROVED CHURCH MUSIC, USED THE OVERTURE FORM ON THE CLAVIER, AND CONTINUED THE GOOD WORK WHICH FROBERGER HAD BEGUN IN RESPECT OF CLAVIER COMPOSITION. BACH USED HIS CHORALES AS MODELS DURING THE ARNSTADT PERIOD.
PICANDER. A POET OF CONSIDERABLE REPUTATION IN HIS TIME NAMED CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH HENRICI. BORN 1700 AT STOLPEN. WENT TO THE UNIVERSITY AT LEIPSIC, 1720. BECAME A LAWYER, BUT WAS AFTERWARDS ABLE TO LIVE BY HIS POETICAL COMPOSITIONS, THOUGH HE OBTAINED IMPORTANT POSTS IN LEIPSIC. DIED 1764. HE WROTE THE TEXT FOR MANY OF BACH’S COMPOSITIONS.
POSITIV. THE NAME GIVEN TO THAT PORTION OF AN ORGAN AND ITS MANUAL WHICH CORRESPONDS TO OUR CHOIR ORGAN. IN A THREE MANUAL ORGAN THERE ARE USUALLY TWO CHOIR MANUALS. THE SWELL SHUTTERS, IF ANY, ARE ONLY APPLIED TO A FEW STOPS, USED GENERALLY ON A FOURTH OR “ECHO” MANUAL. PROPERLY SPEAKING THE POSITIVE, CALLED IN ITALIAN ORGANS, PICCOLO, HAD ITS FOUNDATION PIPES PITCHED AN OCTAVE HIGHER THAN THOSE OF THE ORDINARY ORGAN. ITS DIAPASON WOULD THEREFORE BE A FOUR-FEET REGISTER.
REGAL. SOMETIMES USED TO ACCOMPANY SECULAR CANTATAS INSTEAD OF THE CLAVECIN. IT WAS ALSO USED FOR CHOIR PRACTICES. IN 1709 KUHNAU IN A MEMORIAL TO THE COUNCIL SAYS, “A NEW REGAL IS NEEDED, THE OLD ONE BEING CONSTANTLY IN NEED OF REPAIR.” AN INVENTORY OF THE INSTRUMENTS AT THE THOMAS-SCHULE BETWEEN 1723 AND 1750 MENTIONS, “1 REGAL, OLD AND QUITE DONE FOR”; “1 DITTO BOUGHT 1696.”
THE REGAL WAS A SMALL REED INSTRUMENT OF THE HARMONIUM CLASS, BUT WITH SMALL PIPES TO ENHANCE THE SOUND OF THE REEDS. IT COULD EASILY BE CARRIED ABOUT, AND WAS PLACED ON A TABLE WHEN PLAYED. IT COULD BE MADE SO SMALL AS TO TAKE THE SIZE AND SHAPE OF A LARGE BOOK, HENCE SOMETIMES CALLED BOOK OR BIBLE-REGAL.
SCHUBART, CHRISTIAN F. DANIEL. BORN 1739. MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY, THEATRE DIRECTOR, COURT POET OF STUTTGART, A GOOD AMATEUR MUSICIAN. WAS A GOOD ORGANIST AND HELD VARIOUS POSTS. IN 1777 TO 1787 HE WAS IMPRISONED IN A CASTLE ON ACCOUNT OF SOME VIEWS EXPRESSED IN HIS POLITICAL PAPER “DEUTSCHE CHRONIK.” BURNEY, WHO MET HIM, REMARKS ON HIS GREAT FACILITY AS A CLAVIER PLAYER. HE PUBLISHED SEVERAL COMPOSITIONS AND WORKS ON MUSIC.
SCHÜTZ, HEINRICH. 1585-1672. BROUGHT OPERA FROM ITALY TO GERMANY AND ALSO COMPOSED PASSIONS. HE WAS CONSIDERED THE BEST GERMAN COMPOSER OF HIS CENTURY. HE WROTE MUSIC TO THE PASSIONS OF MATTHEW, LUKE AND JOHN FOR THE COURT OF DRESDEN, WHERE HE WAS CAPELLMEISTER. THESE ARE THE GREATEST WORKS OF THE KIND NEXT TO THOSE OF BACH. HIS COMPOSITIONS ARE IN THE OLD CHURCH TONES, BUT STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY THE COMING TONALITY OF MODERN MUSIC.
SOLO CANTATAS. THOSE WRITTEN FOR ONE OR MORE SOLO VOICES WITHOUT A CHORUS. THEY SOMETIMES CONCLUDE WITH THE CHORALE IN FOUR PARTS.
SPINET. IS DEFINED BY HIPKINS (“THE PIANOFORTE,” P. 121) AS “A JACK KEYBOARD INSTRUMENT WIT
H ONE STRING TO A NOTE,” AS OPPOSED TO THE CEMBALO, HARPSICHORD, &C., WHICH HAD SEVERAL STRINGS TO A NOTE. ADLUNG SAYS THE SPINET WAS OF LIMITED COMPASS, ITS LOWEST OCTAVE BEING “SHORT” AND IT WAS TUNED A FIFTH ABOVE CHORUS PITCH. IT WAS SOMETIMES TRIANGULAR IN SHAPE AND COULD BE PLACED ON A TABLE; ITS STRINGS RAN FROM RIGHT TO LEFT OF THE PERFORMER, AS IN THE “INSTRUMENT.”
RÜCK-POSITIV. THE NAME GIVEN TO THE CHOIR MANUAL WHEN ITS PIPES STAND BEHIND THE REST OF THE ORGAN.
TELEMANN, G. PHILIPP. 1681-1767. A POET AND MUSICIAN WHO COMPOSED NO LESS THAN 600 OVERTURES, 12 COMPLETE YEAR COURSES OF CANTATAS, 44 PASSIONS, 32 COMPOSITIONS FOR THE INSTALMENT OF PREACHERS, 32 SO-CALLED ORATORIOS, 20 CORONATION PIECES, 40 OPERAS, AND A MASS OF OTHER MUSIC. BESIDES ALL THIS HE IS DESCRIBED BY WALTHER AS THE “GREATEST POLYGRAPH THAT GERMANY CAN SHOW,” HAVING WRITTEN A NUMBER OF BOOKS ON MUSIC, BESIDES A QUANTITY OF BAD POETRY. HE WAS SUCCESSIVELY ORGANIST AND DIRECTOR OF THE NEW CHURCH AT LEIPSIC (DURING WHICH TIME HE MASTERED THE ENGLISH, ITALIAN AND FRENCH LANGUAGES), CAPELLMEISTER IN SORAU, CONCERTMEISTER IN EISENACH, KAPELLMEISTER AT FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAINE, MUSIC DIRECTOR AT HAMBURG, WHERE HE FORMED ONE OF THE TRIO OF MUSICIANS, KEISER AND MATHESON BEING THE OTHERS. HE WAS ON VERY FRIENDLY TERMS WITH BACH AND HANDEL. HE WAS A CANDIDATE FOR THE POST OF CANTOR AT ST THOMAS, HAVING DURING HIS PREVIOUS RESIDENCE IN LEIPSIC (1701-4) FOUNDED A FLOURISHING “COLLEGIUM MUSICUM” AMONG THE STUDENTS. HE HAD A GREAT REPUTATION THROUGHOUT GERMANY. BACH COPIED SOME OF HIS MUSIC, AND THE INFLUENCE OF TELEMANN, AT THAT TIME VERY POPULAR, IS SEEN IN BACH’S CANTATA “HERR GOTT DICH LOBEN WIR.”
THEORBO. A LUTE WITH AN EXTRA NECK BEARING THE BASS STRINGS.
TROMBA DA TIRARSI. A SLIDE TRUMPET, THE SOPRANO OF THE TROMBONE. OFTEN USED IN BACH’S SCORES.
VIOLA D’AMORE. A TENOR VIOL OF A SPECIALLY AGREEABLE AND SILVERY TONE (WALTHER). IT SOMETIMES HAD SYMPATHETIC STRINGS, THOUGH THESE WERE NOT A NECESSARY ADJUNCT.
VIOLA DA GAMBA. LEG VIOL, THE BASS OF THE VIOL FAMILY, HELD BETWEEN THE KNEES, LIKE THE VIOLONCELLO, WHEN PLAYED. IT HAD SIX STRINGS, THE LOWEST OF WHICH WAS THE D BELOW THE BASS STAVE, AND ITS FINGER-BOARD WAS FRETTED. ITS TONE (LIKE THAT OF ALL THE VIOL CLASS) WAS WEAK COMPARED TO THE VIOLONCELLO.
VIOLA POMPOSA, AN INSTRUMENT INVENTED BY BACH. SEE P. 157.
VIOLETTA. THIS INSTRUMENT OCCURS IN THE CANTATA “HERR GOTT DICH LOBEN WIR” AS AN ALTERNATIVE OF THE “OBOE DI CACCIA.” IT IS DESCRIBED BY WALTHER AS A FIDDLE (GEIGE) PLAYING AN INNER PART, CONSTRUCTED LIKE A VIOLA, OR SMALL VIOLA DA GAMBA.
VIOLINO PICCOLO. A SMALL VIOLIN WHOSE LOWEST STRING WAS A FOURTH HIGHER THAN THAT OF THE VIOLIN. ITS TUNING WAS THEREFORE C, G, D, A, AN OCTAVE ABOVE THE VIOLA. IT FREQUENTLY OCCURS IN BACH’S SCORES.
VIOLONCELLO PICCOLO, WITH FIVE STRINGS. THIS INSTRUMENT OCCURS IN THE SCORE OF A TENOR ARIA IN CANTATA NO. 41, “JESU NUR SEI GEPREISET.” THE ADDITIONAL STRING WAS TUNED TO E, AND ENABLED THE PERFORMER TO EXECUTE THE VERY FLORID HIGH PASSAGES WHICH BACH WRITES.
ZIEGLER, CHRISTIANE MARIANE VON, WHO WROTE WORDS FOR SOME OF THE CANTATAS WAS BORN IN 1695 AT LEIPSIC. BEGAN TO PUBLISH POEMS WHEN SHE WAS FIFTEEN. LEFT A WIDOW IN 1722, SHE DEVOTED HERSELF TO WRITING POETRY AND THE PRACTICE OF THE KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS AND LUTE, AND FLUTE, AND WAS HELD IN HONOUR BY THE MOST ARTISTIC SOCIETY OF HER TIME. SPITTA GIVES AN ACCOUNT OF HER LIFE IN CURTIUS’ HISTORISCHE AUFSÄTZE, 1884. SEE P. 197.
Endnotes.
1 See Glossary, “College of Instrumental Musicians.”
2 The violas were divided into alto, tenor and bass, as the trombones are now. The leading stringed instrument was called discant-viola or discant-violin.
3 Spitta, vol. i. p. 162.
4 Spitta, vol. i. p. 52.
5 Spitta.
6 During a visit to Ohrdruf in August 1899, Herr Landrathamts-Secretär Kellner kindly gave me the following information. The descendants of J. S. Bach’s eldest brother continued to live in Ohrdruf until 1863, as cantors, clergymen, schoolmasters, lawyers, etc. There are at present living in direct descent Herr Herrmann Julius Bach, Merchant, of Budapest, Herr Alfred Wilhelm Bach, Apothecary, of Witten, and two young sons of the latter.
7 See Spitta, “Life of Bach,” vol. i. p. 181, note.
8 The Lyceum is now the Burgerschule. It is shown in the photograph on the left hand side.
9 The custom of singing in the streets is still kept up. The writer heard one Sunday morning this year at Ohrdruf, excellent singing by the choir-boys, in four parts, two treble and two alto.
10 Spitta, vol. i. p. 195.
11 In a MS. collection in possession of F. A. Roitzsch of Leipsic.
12 MS. in Lib. of R. Inst. for church music, Berlin.
13 Peters, vol. 244.
14 See Glossary, Positiv.
15 The above list, which slightly differs from that of Spitta, was taken from the existing stop handles.
16 Spitta, vol. i. p. 231.
17 i.e. like many of Handel’s songs, which have a da capo after the change of key.
18 For an account of these see J. G. Shedlock, “The Pianoforte Sonata,” London, 1895.
19 The organ had fifty-four stops, three manuals, and pedal; and the post of organist at this church was one of the best in Germany. It had one drawback, however; on the resignation or death of an organist, the person appointed to succeed him was obliged to marry his daughter. Mattheson and Handel in 1704 and Bach in 1706 had thought of applying for the post, but were all frightened away by this condition. Buxtehude’s successor was Johann Christian Schieferdecker, who had been harpsichord player in the opera at Hamburg.
20 A preacher in the New Church.
21 No. 14 in the Genealogical Table.
22 This Walther was the author of the “Musikalisches Lexicon,” Leipsic, 1732.
23 No. 27 in the Genealogical List.
24 This is, according to the Bachgesellschaft, the only cantata published in Bach’s life-time. Its title is “Gott ist mein König,” No. 71 of the Bachgesellschaft edition.
25 The thaler = 3 shillings. Bitter says 200 thalers was offered for the work and 50 thalers to be allowed for the small organ.
26 The organ in the Nicolai Church at Leipsic had in 1885 ten bellows, requiring four men to manipulate them.
27 This is pointed out by G. H. Lewes in his “Life of Goethe,” vol. i. p. 314.
28 Vivaldi takes an important place as one of those who studied and brought forward form. He wrote concertos for one, two, three and four solo violins, improved the orchestra, and invented new means of expression. He died in 1743 at Venice. See Spitta, vol. i. p. 411.
29 According to Bitter.
30 Vol. i. p. 585.
31 No. 45 in the Genealogy.
32 Spitta, vol. ii. pp. 6, 7.
33 Hilgenfeldt, p. 26.
34 Spitta, vol. ii. p. 18.
35 In “Der Musicalische Patriot,” 1728, quoted by Spitta, vol. ii. p. 20.
36 Scheibe Kritikus Musicus, 1745, pp. 839, 875.
37 Vollk. Capellmeister, 1739, quoted by Spitta, vol. ii. p. 26.
38 After leaving Cöthen, Bach still held the title of honorary Capellmeister to the Prince, until the death of the latter in 1728. Bach composed a “Trauer Musik” for his funeral, which is unfortunately lost.
39 The three fairs, called “Messe,” are held at Easter, Michaelmas and New Year. Leipsic is at these times crowded with merchants from all parts of the world.
40 i.e. the Church of St Matthew.
41 Spitta, vol. ii. p. 186.
42 i.e. the University Church. In Bach’s time there were six churches at Leipsic — St Thomas, St Nicholas (or Nicolai), St Paul (or University Church), St Matthew (or New Church), St Peter (or Petri), and St John.
43 According to Spitta, vol. ii. p. 223. But Görner’s name appears in the “Chronicle” far more often than that of Bach in connection with the music for these festivals.
44 See Glossary.
45 Spitta quotes it in full, vol. ii. p. 253.
46 Spitta, vol. ii. p. 242.
47 Quoted by Bitter,
vol. i. p. 303. This appreciation of the skill required to conduct a musical performance is remarkable as coming from one who, not being musical, might be expected to think, with the majority of non-musicians, that the conductor merely has to “beat time.”
48 A rough estimate of this difference may be made thus: The Council paid 60 thalers = £9 a year for a “dwelling” for Bach during the alterations to the Thomas School. Such a “dwelling” or “flat” would now cost about £60 a year. An income of £100 in those days would therefore represent the purchasing power of about £630 now: not a large sum on which to give nineteen children a first-class education, and send two to the university.
49 For his installation Bach composed a cantata “Thomana sass annoch betrübt”— “St Thomas School was still in grief.” From the Leipsic Chronicle, 1734, quoted in Centralblatt, 1884.
50 See Glossary.
51 These pianos were made in the years 1746-7 after the invention of Cristofori of Florence, who was the first to use the hammer action. This action, however, did not suit Bach’s touch, and though he praised the tone, he does not appear to have become possessed of one. The writer was shown one of the above-mentioned Silbermann pianos in the Palace of Sanssouci at Potsdam in 1884.
52 See page 79.
53 It can be found in Bitter, vol. ii. p. 317, Spitta, vol. iii. p. 231, and elsewhere.
54 h being the German term for B♮.
55 This story may or may not be true — we give it for what it is worth.
56 Burney devotes nearly a whole volume to Handel, and only one paragraph to Bach.
57 The original tune would be, with the above words —
58 See Griepenkerl’s Introduction to Peters, vol. 244.
59 According to Gesner the keyboard of the Rück-positiv (back choir) of the St Thomas’ organ stood apart from the chief organ, and was used by Bach to conduct from (see the frontispiece of Walther’s Lexicon, 1732). If there was an organ obbligato part, it would be played on this manual, while another person played the continuo on the chief organ.
Delphi Masterworks of Johann Sebastian Bach Page 77
