Bach’s salary--He borrows a cart from the Consistory for
his furniture--The agreement is made verbally--Bach’s
first marriage--His duties at St Blasius--The festival
compositions--Repairs to the organ--Difficulties with the
Pietists--He resigns his post--Is appointed chamber-musician at
Weimar--His duties there--His relations with Walther--Studies
instrumental music--His journeys--His competition with Marchand.
The competition took place at Easter 1707, and terms were arranged
a month later. An organist is rarely a highly paid individual: but
modern organists may well be astonished at the meagreness of the
salary for which the greatest of their predecessors was content to
work. The request for the loan of a cart to bring his modest furniture
from Arnstadt brings the matter very plainly before us. One sees in
Thuringia, even at the present day, the clumsy four-wheel carts which
have not varied in shape for centuries, drawn by a cow and a pony,
rarely by two horses; and one can easily imagine such a cart conveying
the household goods of the young musician across the plain from
Arnstadt to Gotha, and from Gotha to Mühlhausen.
The terms were eighty-five gülden (about £8, 10s.); three malter
(twelve bushels) of corn, two cords of wood, six trusses of brushwood;
the last in place of some arable land formerly held by the organist.
The cost of conveyance to his door was to be borne by the Council.
In addition, he was to receive annually three pounds of fish, and he
asked that a cart might be lent him for transporting his furniture from
Arnstadt, to which request the Council agreed.
A fire had, a fortnight before, destroyed a large portion of the parish
of St Blasius, and when the clerk brought the agreement to the Council
to sign, pens and ink were not forthcoming, so that a verbal agreement
was made to all the terms.
The actual appointment took place on June 15th; and a fortnight later
he was again in Arnstadt, where he thanked the Council for past
favours, announced his resignation, and gave up the key of the organ.
A sum of five gülden was due to him as salary, but he requested the
Consistory to pay this to his cousin Ernst,[23] who had formerly
assisted him, but who was now ill and poor.
[Sidenote: _Work at Mühlhausen_]
His duties at St Blasius were to play the organ on Sundays, saints’
days and festivals. He was anxious to raise the whole of the church
music to a higher level, and mentioned this wish to the Council in an
address. His predecessor Ahle had left a number of compositions which
were frequently performed, but Bach, not being satisfied with them,
as quickly as possible made a good collection of music and had it
performed, paying for it out of his own pocket. He also made efforts to
improve the choir and orchestra.
He received considerable assistance in these endeavours from his pupil
Johann Martin Schubart (who afterwards succeeded him in his post at
Weimar), and from his choir leader, Johann Sebastian Koch, afterwards
Capellmeister to Count Reuss, and a Bachelor of Theology at Jena
University.
In October 1707, Bach returned to Arnstadt for his wedding, which
took place on the 17th of that month, and it is evident that he had
parted on good terms with the Consistory, for the prescribed fees were
remitted. In September of the same year Tobias Lämmerhirt, of Erfurt, a
maternal uncle of Sebastian, had died, and left 50 gülden (about £5) to
each of his sister’s children, and this legacy must have been welcome
to Sebastian at the time of his wedding.
Among the duties expected of the organist of St Blasius, was the
composition of a cantata for the yearly change of Town Council
(Rathswahl); and it was customary to have the music printed after the
performance, at Mühlhausen.
The first of the cantatas thus composed by Bach is preserved; it was
for the festival of 1708, and was performed in the Church of the Holy
Virgin on February 4 of that year. The text is taken from the Old
Testament, together with part of a hymn or a chorale, and Bach called
it a motet. It was accompanied by three trumpets, drums, two flutes,
two oboes, a bassoon and strings, the band being divided into four
groups of brass, wood-wind (with cello), reed, and strings. The form is
in imitation of some of Buxtehude’s church cantatas.[24]
[Sidenote: St Blasius Organ]
Bach found the organ of St Blasius in very bad condition. It had not
sufficient bellows, and there was insufficient pressure on the bass
pipes, owing to there being too small a wind passage. There was no 32
feet stop and the trombone was too weak. Moreover the choir-organ had
become useless, as had also several stops in the great.
[Sidenote: _Repairs the organ_]
He drew up a list of deficiencies which he presented to the Council,
and asked for the addition of a “Glockenspiel” or peal of bells, to be
acted on by pedals, an invention of his own. The latter addition was
at once subscribed for by the parishioners. There was a smaller organ
in the church, which he proposed to sell and apply the proceeds to
repairing the principal organ. The Council placed the entire management
of the matter in his hands, and he obtained an estimate from Wender the
organ-builder who agreed to do the work for 230 thalers,[25] and to
allow 40 thalers for the small organ.
The requirements were:--
Three new bellows; stronger wind to the four old ones,[26] a new
32 feet stop with a separate wind chest for it; renewal of the old
bass wind chests; new and larger pipes, with differently arranged
mouthpieces for the bass trombone; the addition of the new glockenspiel
of twenty-four bells; the trumpet on the great to be removed and a 16
feet bassoon to take its place; the gemshorn to be changed for a viol
da gamba of 8 feet; a 3 feet nassat to be put in instead of the quint;
revoicing of all the rest of the pipes; sundry alterations in the
choir-organ; and a coupler to connect it with the third manual; the
tremulant to be put in working order.
Unfortunately, however, difficulties soon began to arise. He was looked
upon as an outsider, for the post had previously always been held by a
native; and obstacles which appeared insurmountable soon began to beset
him. Religious differences arose between the “Pietists” and the “Old
Lutherans,” the former being led by J.A.Frohne, dean of Mühlhausen,
and the latter by G.C. Eilmar, archdeacon of the Church of the Blessed
Virgin.
[Sidenote: _Pietist view of music_]
Bach sided with the orthodox Lutherans, and Eilmar was godfather to
his first child. The Pietists conceived of art as part of “the world,”
and therefore absolutely hostile to a Christian life: it could only be
rightly used in religion, and then only in the narrowest possible of
“spiritual songs” from which all expression must be excluded. Hence
any attempt to introduce higher forms or new ideas must be sinful.
It is easily seen, therefore, that Frohne would naturally place what
obstacles he could in the way of Bach’s endeavours to raise church
music to the highest possible artistic standard. Moreover, the Pietists
were opposed to the doctrine of regeneration by baptism, and to the
whole of the simple but truly religious views which Bach had inherited
from generations of his family, dedicated to the work of the church as
organists and cantors. He was no theologian, and was perfectly content
with the faith of his fathers.
The most beautiful and deeply religious of his church cantatas were
a sinful abomination in the eyes of the Pietists. What wonder then
that he should have found difficulties and obstacles and want of
appreciation in carrying out his aims. Even while he was in the midst
of the interesting work of repairing his organ, the situation began to
become intolerable, and a post at Weimar falling vacant, he took steps
to obtain it.
[Sidenote: _Resigns his post_]
On June 5 he went to Arnstadt for the second wedding of his friend
Pastor Stauber, who had performed the service a year before at Bach’s
own wedding, and on June 25th 1708 he sent in his resignation to the
Council at Mühlhausen, a year after he had received the appointment.
He had always been on the best of terms with them, and it is evident,
from the tone of his letter of resignation, that he was sorry to leave
them. The Council on their side also regretted the step, but granted
his dismissal, only requiring that he should supervise the repairs to
the organ, which were not completed till 1709.
[Sidenote: _Third appointment_]
The post at Weimar, which he now obtained, was that of Court-organist
and chamber-musician to Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Saxe-Weimar. Forkel says
that he made a journey to Weimar, and so pleased the Duke with his
organ-playing, that the post was at once offered to, and accepted by
him. “Here,” says Hilgenfeldt, “he devoted himself to acquiring that
overwhelming mastery of the organ for which his fame is assured for all
time: and he also laid the foundation for his future greatness as a
composer.”
His circumstances were now very favourable. His employer was a man
of wide culture and refinement, deeply interested in music and other
branches of art, but more particularly in church music. He was
religious, and took much interest in religious matters; and in all
things he and Bach were in the closest sympathy. Bach’s position at
Weimar was much the same as that of Franz Liszt at the same Court in
the nineteenth century.[27] It is interesting to observe how this small
and poor Court for such a long period was famous for its encouragement
of art and literature. Bach in the first decades of the eighteenth
century, Goethe and Schiller in the last quarter of the eighteenth
and first part of the nineteenth, Liszt and Wagner later on, besides
many lesser men, received help and encouragement at this remarkable
Thuringian “Residenz.”
Bach, as we have seen, was appointed organist and “Kammermusikus”
(chamber-musician)--his salary for the first three years being 156
gülden, 15 groschen (£15, 13s. 3d.), which was always punctually paid,
but in 1711, 1713, and 1714 it was considerably increased.
The organ of the castle was small, but had a good pedal. There were 9
stops on the Great, 8 on the Choir, and 7 on the Pedal. The pitch was a
minor third below the kammerton or ordinary pitch.
As Kammermusikus Bach played the harpsichord and violin, and afterwards
became “Concertmeister” or leader. The number of musicians was about
twenty-two, including singers, but the latter could also play some
instruments, and many members of the band performed on several. The
orchestra would also be occasionally strengthened by the addition of
the town musicians. Johann G. Walther was organist of the town church,
and a great friendship sprang up between the two men. He was connected
with Bach by marriage, his mother being a Lämmerhirt. One of his
chorales has been erroneously ascribed to Bach. It is Peters, vol. 245,
Book vi., No. 24--“Gott der Vater wohn’ uns bei.”
Bach stood godfather to Walther’s eldest son, and a friendly rivalry
in composition arose between them. Later on, however, some unfortunate
disagreement seems to have arisen between the friends, for Walther, in
his Lexicon, omits the mention of events and compositions during the
nine years’ period at Weimar, which must have been well known to him.
[Sidenote: Sight-Reading Poser]
Forkel tells the following anecdote:--Bach, while still at Weimar, had
advanced so far in clavier playing that he said to a friend that he
believed he could play anything at first sight. His friend invited him
to breakfast in a week’s time, and for a joke placed on the harpsichord
a newly composed piece which looked simple enough. While the friend was
preparing breakfast in the next room, Bach instinctively began playing
what he saw on the harpsichord, but was not able to advance very far.
He tried several times, but always with the same result. On joining his
friend, he laughingly acknowledged that no one could play everything at
first sight, it was not possible.
Amongst other things Bach began to study Italian instrumental music at
Weimar, especially with regard to the forms then in use, the concerto,
the suite and the sonata. To this period may therefore perhaps be
assigned some of the concertos for clavecin and other instruments, the
suites for violin, etc., and the sonatas for harpsichord and violin.
The sonata of this date was usually performed by two violins and
a violoncello, with a figured bass part for a harpsichord or organ
(_e.g._ the twelve sonatas of Purcell in Italian style, and the four
sets of twelve sonatas each by Corelli op. 1, 2, 3, 4). These sonatas
had nothing in common with the modern sonata as begun by Emanuel Bach
and perfected by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.
Bach has left some examples in the sonatas for two violins and clavier
(Peters, 237); for flute, violin, and clavier (Peters, 237): by clavier
must be understood here a part for figured bass, which would be played
by violincello or double bass and harpsichord. Besides this, he adopted
the form for other combinations, such as violin and figured bass, flute
and figured bass (Peters, 232 to 235) viola da gamba and figured bass,
etc. (Peters, 239).
Bach and Walther had plenty of encouragement in this kind of music,
since the Duke’s nephew Joh. Ernst (who unfortunately died young)
had considerable skill on the violin, and also was a fair composer.
They vied with one another in arranging Italian concertos for the
harpsichord and organ. Sixteen of Vivaldi’s violin concertos were
arranged by Bach for the harpsichord (Peters, 217) and three for the
organ (Peters, 247).[28] Walther arranged thirteen for organ from the
works of Torelli, Taglietti, Albinoni, etc., and they are preserved in
MS. in the Royal Library at Berlin. The arranging of these concertos
led Bach to the use of the new form for clavier compositions, of which
the well-known Italian concerto is an example. Is it possible that the
friendly rivalry was the commencement of the estrangement with Walther?
[Sidenote: _Artistic journeys_]
Bach was in the habit of making expeditions to try different organs, or
for other musical purposes, and his reputation began to spread through
North and Central Germany. He invented a peculiar form of fingering
for keyboard instruments in order to increase his facility, and his
use of the pedal rose to unheard-of heights. He also became an expert
in questions of organ construction, and was often called upon to give
his opinion in this respect. He was very ingenious in his use of the
stops and of artistic combinations, but, unfortunately, with one small
exception, none of his registering has come down to us. He was never
in command of a really fine instrument, and the above exception, which
consists of the chorale “Ein feste Burg,” Peters, vol. vi., No. 22,
seems to have been written for the newly arranged organ at Mühlhausen.
It is for three manuals--the left hand has to play on a “fagott,” and
over the right hand is written “sesquialtera.” These directions are
omitted in Peters’ edition, but are given in Walther’s collection at
Königsberg.
[Sidenote: Halle Incident]
In 1713 he went to Halle, where a large organ of sixty-three stops
had recently been placed in the Liebfrauenkirche. Here he won laurels
by his magnificent playing, and, since the post was vacant through
the death of F. W. Zachau, he offered his services to the Council as
organist. He remained long enough to go through the prescribed test of
composing and conducting a cantata, after which he returned to Weimar
in haste to fulfil his engagements. The authorities of the church
wrote to him stating the salary and conditions, but Bach, considering
that the payment was inadequate to the amount of work, returned the
agreement they had sent him to sign. The Halle authorities then said
that Bach had only opened the negotiations in order to obtain an
increase of salary at Weimar. This naturally annoyed him, and drew from
him a firm and dignified answer to the affront.
In 1714 Bach went to Cassel to try an organ, which had been recently
renovated. His extraordinary execution, especially on the pedals, so
astonished the Crown Prince Friedrich (afterwards King of Sweden) that
he drew a valuable ring from his finger and presented it to him.
On the first Sunday in Advent 1714 he paid his first visit to Leipsic,
where he conducted his cantata, “Nun Komm, der Heiden Heiland,” and
made the acquaintance of Kuhnau, Cantor of the Thomas Church, whose
works he much admired.
[Sidenote: _Order of church service_]
The autograph score of this cantata is still in existence, and on it
is noted, in Bach’s own hand, the order of the service in just the
same way as any modern organist, who was taking a service in a strange
church, would note it. The order on this occasion was a prelude on the
organ, then a motet, then the kyrie, which was preceded by a prelude on
the organ. Then came the epistle, the litany (which was sung), and the
prelude to the chorale. Then the gospel, and after this the cantata,
which was also preceded by a prelude. To this followed the sermon, then
the Communion, during which he had to extemporise another prelude to a
chorale, and the service concluded with a voluntary on the organ.
The organ solo portions of the service were all called “Preludes”; and
it does not seem that a concluding “voluntary” was usual. The prelude
was played at the beginning of the service, and before the chorales.
With us it is customary to simply play through the tune of a hymn or
chant, in order to let the congregation know what they are to sing,
and to give them time to find their places in the books. In Germany
an artistic and somewhat elaborate prelude, in which the organist is
expected to show his skill, precedes each chorale.
A hymn was sung between the epistle and gospel, in the place of the
“Gradual” of the Roman service, and here the most elaborate prelude was
introduced, based on the melody of the hymn.
Before the “church music,” which takes the place of our anthem, an
extempore prelude was played in order to allow the instruments to be
tuned. This was in the form of a fantasia, in which the performer had
to remain longest in the key which most coincided with the strings to
be tuned. The prelude had to stop on a sign from the conductor that the
instrumentalists were ready. It was supposed to have some connection
with the piece that was to follow, but the unhappy effusions of
incompetent organists led to occasional remonstrance from the Council.
[Sidenote: _Examination of a new organ_]
In 1716 the Council of the Liebfrauenkirche at Halle invited him
to examine their organ, which was now completed. He answered their
invitation very politely, and with Kuhnau of Leipsic and Ch. F. Rolle
of Quedlinburg began the examination in the second week after Easter.
The organ was built by Cuncius of Halberstadt, and the three examiners
reported that he had carried out the work (which had occupied three
years) in the most satisfactory way possible, the only part requiring
alteration being the bellows. After many difficulties, owing to the
smallness of the salary, the authorities eventually found an efficient
organist in G. Kirchoff, a pupil of Zachau and a man of the same age as
Bach.
About 1716 the friend of Bach’s youth, G. Erdmann, visited him. He had
held a legal post under the Russian government since 1713.
[Sidenote: _Contest with Marchand_]
In the autumn of 1717 Bach made a journey to Dresden to hear the
performances at the theatre, which was supported by Friedrich August
I. There happened to be visiting Dresden a famous French organist and
harpsichord player Jean Louis Marchand, organist at Versailles, and of
several churches at Paris. He enjoyed an immense reputation as player
and composer, though his compositions have not borne the test of time,
and are now entirely forgotten. Vain, arrogant, and conceited, the
spoilt idol of French society, he came to Dresden, where his playing
became much in favour at the Court and he was given two medals. Soon
after Bach’s arrival there arose a discussion among the artists as to
which was the greater performer. The Court musicians took the part of
Marchand, while the members of the orchestra, who were mostly Germans,
preferred Bach. The matter ended in Bach’s being persuaded by his
friends to write to Marchand, offering to go through any musical test
that Marchand might suggest, on condition that he would undergo the
same test.
[Sidenote: A Victory]
The challenge was accepted; a date was fixed for a meeting at the
house of Field Marshal von Flemming,[29] a jury of musicians was
chosen, and a brilliant company assembled. Bach and the jury arrived
punctually, but Marchand did not appear. After a time he was sent for,
when it was found that he had departed by express coach that morning
from Dresden, certain, no doubt, of being defeated. Marchand seems to
have heard Bach privately beforehand; while Bach was already familiar
with Marchand’s works, and admired them much. Spitta[30] considers
that they are not inferior to those of Couperin in variety and grace,
but are rather thin for the more solid German taste. The news of
Bach’s victory soon spread far and wide, and did much to enhance his
already great reputation. He, however, never seems to have obtained any
recognition from the Court at Dresden.
FOOTNOTES:
[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.