began after he left Weimar in response to an invitation to become
capellmeister at the court of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen. It was
probably on account of his not having been appointed to the same office
in Weimar, after the death of the venerable Samuel Drese, a preferment
which he had every reason to expect, that he gave up his post as organist
in the town. The love and protection always bestowed by the duke upon
old and trusty servants prevailed in this instance over his interest in
art, for he allowed Drese's very incompetent son to succeed his father.
The Prince of Cöthen was allied to the ducal family of Weimar through the
marriage of his sister to the heir apparent of the reigning house, and on
the occasion of his visit at the time of the wedding festivities, it is
very likely that Bach may have attracted his attention. He was just the
man to appreciate the importance of so great a musician. Clear-sighted
and enthusiastic, unmarried and still in the spring-time of life, he was
endowed with an unbiased judgment and the ability to rule, as well as
with an unusual talent for music. He played several instruments, was an
excellent bass singer, and Bach said of him in after years that he not
only loved music but understood it. And it was precisely chamber music
that was almost exclusively cultivated in Cöthen. The province professed
the Calvinistic faith and music therefore played an entirely subordinate
rôle in ecclesiastical and social life. Bach had no official connection
with the church organs in the place. The court never possessed an opera
and seems to have been only sparingly provided with singers. Bach's
labors were therefore limited to the concerts held at the castle, in
which the prince himself took part, and which were especially signalized
by the musician's own appearance as performer and composer. There was in
Cöthen no opportunity for stepping before the public, and it testifies
to the genuineness of Bach's nature and his devotion to instrumental art
that he could spend with enjoyment six of the best years of his life in
this position, so devoid of all external attraction. During this time he
wrote the greater part of his chamber works, including the first part
of the "Wohltemperirte Clavier," the "Inventionen und Sinfonien," the
sonatas and suites for violin and violoncello without accompaniment,
and also with the clavier; finally, the six great concertos dedicated
to Margrave Christian of Brandenburg. The prince manifested the warmest
attachment for Bach, treated him as a friend in every way, and at last
could so little dispense with his society that the two undertook frequent
journeys together, in the course of which they twice made a prolonged
stay at Carlsbad. Bach meantime did not relinquish his independent
professional tours and was often summoned in different directions for the
inspection of organs. In December, 1717, he tested the newly-constructed
instrument in the Pauliner-Kirche at Leipsic; in 1719 he was once more
in Halle and here very narrowly missed meeting Handel, who had travelled
thither from London in search of singers for his newly-organized
operatic academy and was spending a short time with his relatives before
returning. Bach had been informed of this and went to call upon Handel,
who, however, had already started on his return journey. Ten years later,
he again came to Germany, but Bach was prevented by illness from paying
his respects in person and therefore despatched his oldest son with an
invitation for Handel to visit him. Although this was declined with an
expression of regret, there is little, if any, ground for the assumption
that Handel purposely avoided an acquaintanceship with Bach. Yet it may
be said in favor of the latter that he always showed a lively interest in
Handel's compositions, which was by no means fully reciprocated, and that
it was not his fault if the two greatest musicians of their age never saw
each other face to face.
In November, 1720, Bach paid a visit to Hamburg, which city, so far as
we know, he had not seen since leaving Lüneburg, unless he stopped there
on his way from Lübeck in 1706. The celebrated Johann Adam Reinken,
almost a centenarian at this time, was still attached to St. Catharine's
Church in Hamburg, and Bach very naturally felt a desire to again meet
the master with whom he had studied as a boy. An appointment was made
for him to play before the assembled magistrates of the city and many
other illustrious personages, including Reinken. The venerable artist was
greatly moved at Bach's performance (which lasted nearly half an hour) of
the choral "By the waters of Babylon," which Reinken himself had long ago
arranged for the organ after the manner of the Northern composers. At the
close, he went up to Bach and said: "I thought this art was dead, but see
that it still lives in you." It is possible that Bach also produced in
Hamburg a church cantata of his own composition: "Whoso humbleth himself
shall be exalted." A longing for his favorite instrument, of which he
had been deprived in Cöthen, was certainly awakened in him by the great
number of fine organs here at hand. It chanced that the post of organist
at St. Jacob's Church was just then vacant, and a prize competition for
the same was to take place on the 28th of November, but Bach was called
home by his prince and could not delay so long. He departed on the 23d of
November, leaving behind him the assurance that he would gladly accept
the place, if offered him. The strongest desire to secure his services
was shown by many influential persons, but the church authorities decided
in favor of a native of Hamburg, a certain Joachim Heitmann, who, to be
sure, was a very insignificant performer, but who had promised to pay
into the church treasury a premium of 4000 Hamburg marks, in case of his
election. The leading clergyman of the church, Erdmann Neumeister, was
so enraged over this affair, that he soon after referred to it in his
Christmas sermon, and summed up the expression of his sentiments with the
pithy remark that if one of the angels of Bethlehem, divinely gifted as a
musician, should desire to become organist at St. Jacob's, but possessed
no money, he would be allowed to fly away again.
Not only was Bach awaited in Cöthen by his prince, but family affairs
of urgent importance demanded his attention. A heavy loss had befallen
him in the summer of this year--his wife had unexpectedly died while
he was absent in Carlsbad with the prince. No news of the event had
reached him and her remains had long since been committed to the earth
when he returned and learned what had happened. In the next year
another calamity followed hard upon the first: his oldest brother died
at Ohrdruf, and two years later still the second brother, Johann Jakob,
ended his eventful career. Sebastian Bach, meantime, was approaching
the period of his second marriage, an event which took place in 1721.
At the court in Cöthen, there lived a singer named Anna Magdalena
Wilke, twenty-one years of age, the daughter of the court trumpeter at
Weissenfels. Upon her Bach now fixed his choice, founded a new household
with her help, and in their twenty-eight years of wedded life thirteen
children were born to them. The unusual talent for music possessed by
Anna Magdalena was developed under her husband's direction to such a
degree that she was able to participate in his labors, and is known to
have written out the different parts of many of his church cantatas.
Two books of music still exist which Bach prepared for her, filled with
songs and clavier compositions, mostly of his own writing. Judging from
these books, he would seem to have composed his so-called "French Suites"
especially for her; she must therefore have distinguished herself highly
as a performer on the clavier. Notwithstanding the happy turn now given
to Bach's life, his position in Cöthen was becoming uncomfortable for
him. A week after his wedding the prince was also married. His bride had
no taste for music, and therefore the prince's own interest in it was
temporarily diminished. Bach could but clearly perceive that ultimately
he would not be able to endure existence in Cöthen--the field of his
usefulness was here too limited. Through the death of Johann Kuhnau, the
position of cantor at St. Thomas' school in Leipsic had recently become
vacant. Bach sought and obtained it, entering upon his duties on the 1st
of June, 1723. He continued, however, in the service of the prince as
capellmeister "von Haus aus," a title given to the incumbent of an office
when not required to reside in the town. Bach was only called upon to
appear at court occasionally in the capacity of musical conductor and
to furnish compositions for extra occasions. Of this character was the
festival cantata produced by him on the 2d of July, 1725, in celebration
of the prince's second marriage. But his appreciative friend and patron
was not destined to enjoy a long life; he died on the 14th of November,
1728. Bach composed for him a magnificent requiem, the performance of
which he conducted in person.
[Illustration: ST. THOMAS' SCHOOL IN LEIPSIC.]
Regarded from an external point of view, the change now made by Bach was
a step downward, and he himself once wrote to Erdmann that he did not
relish the descent at first. But the office of cantor at the Leipsic
Thomas-Schule was by no means of the common order. It seldom happens
that a position is filled so uninterruptedly by men of the highest
importance, who, in many cases, were as eminent in science as in music,
thus imparting to their office a twofold distinction. In this instance,
the long list of especially famous names begins with Sethus Calvisius. He
was followed in 1615 by Johann Hermann Schein, and the latter in 1630 by
Tobias Michael. Sebastian Knüpfer succeeded to the office in 1657, Johann
Schelle in 1676, Johann Kuhnau in 1701. Kuhnau died in 1722, having come
into personal contact with Bach in the years 1714, 1716 and 1717.
The occupations of a cantor were not exclusively musical in character.
From time immemorial he had been required to give scientific instruction,
the third class in the school being allotted to him, while the conrector
assumed the charge of the second class and the rector of the first. The
city council of Leipsic, however, was fain to acknowledge that this
arrangement was a difficult one to maintain. Capable musicians, as a
rule, even if possessed of the requisite knowledge, took no pleasure in
scientific teaching, and this was very decidedly the case with Bach. He
soon confined himself wholly to the musical duties of his position and
the supervision of the alumni, a care which was exercised alternately by
the teachers. These alumni, fifty-five in number, who were supported and
educated, free of expense, from the surplus funds of the institution,
formed the vocal choir of the town. Bach attended to the daily training
of these singers and generally officiated as leader at their public
concerts. In the two principal churches of the city, the St. Thomas
and the St. Nicholas, sacred music with instrumental accompaniment was
given every other Sunday and, on great festival days, in both churches
together. Exceptions to this custom were made during Lent and at the
Advent season, when motets were sung, without accompaniment, and the
leadership of these could be entrusted to an especially gifted member of
the highest class in school, which was called the "praefectus chori."
As the cantor had nothing further to do with the church services beyond
conducting the music in the University Church on certain festal occasions
and when wedding or funeral music was commanded, it cannot be said that
Bach was overburdened with official duties. On the contrary, he was able
to devote a considerable amount of time to composition, and made frequent
journeys in the interest of his profession.
It would, however, be going too far to say that Bach's position at St.
Thomas's was in every way a congenial one. On the contrary many of its
duties were irksome to him, and he did not always find it agreeable to
be brought into close contact with pupils who, in part at least, were
wild and undisciplined. During the first part of his stay, under the
lenient rule of the rector, Johann Heinrich Ernesti, the situation was
very trying. We must remember that Bach was an artist, and, as such, of
an irritable and capricious disposition, hence little adapted to the
training of unruly youths. For the rest, although there was indeed no
lack of musical interest in Leipsic, the performers engaged by the town
authorities bore no comparison with those in the service of the princes'
courts, and the proximity of Dresden, where the most eminent singers and
instrumentalists were in active co-operation, was unfavorable, on account
of easily-instituted comparisons. The town council of Leipsic could not
and would not imitate the lavish generosity of the Saxon court in musical
matters, and there is no doubt that it often failed to supply what was
strictly necessary. A decided want of tact was also shown in dealing with
a great artist, revered by the whole musical world, in precisely the
same manner as with any other government official. That Bach was often
oppressed with discontent is not to be wondered at, and the feeling seems
to have reached its culminating point in the year 1730. After discharging
the duties of his office for seven years and composing works of such
magnitude as the St. John and St. Matthew Passions, numerous church and
jubilee cantatas, including three of the latter order in celebration
of the second centenary anniversary of the Augsburg Confession in
1730, it was nevertheless said in a council meeting held on the 2d of
August, that the cantor was lazy, did not give proper attention to the
singing lessons, and, had taken all sorts of unwarrantable liberties,
in punishment for which a diminution of his fees had been resolved
upon. The "liberties" consisted in his having once sent a member of the
choir into the country without previously informing the Burgomaster
and having himself made a journey without asking leave. So far as the
singing-lessons were concerned, it had for a hundred years been customary
for the cantor to give up the charge of them to the prefect of the
choir, except on unusually important occasions. By way of response to
this incredible proceeding on the part of the council, Bach drew up a
memorial with the following title: "A brief but necessary Statement of
what constitutes well appointed church music, with a few unprejudiced
observations on its present state of decay." In this document he makes a
statement of the amount of money he would require in order to organize
church music according to his wishes, and contrasts with this the very
insufficient sum actually at his command. Since the council did not
afford him what he considered necessary, he began to entertain the idea
of leaving Leipsic, and on the 28th of October, 1730, he wrote to Erdmann
in Dantsic upon the subject. But no action was taken in the matter; Bach
remained in Leipsic, and although vexations and annoyances were not
wanting in after years, there seems to have been no recurrence of such
a crisis. He always lived in friendly relations with the aged rector of
the school, Johann Heinrich Ernesti, and found a warm friend and admirer
in his successor, the distinguished philologist, Johann Matthias Gesner
(1730-1734), whom he had known ever since the Weimar days. With the third
incumbent of the office, however, Johann August Ernesti, he fell into
a violent controversy, on account of the removal of a chorus prefect.
This was fought out with much obstinacy by Bach because he knew he was
right in the principal point at issue. He seems, moreover, to have come
off victorious after a two years' struggle, but the consequence was an
enduring bitterness between cantor and rector, which tended neither to
the advantage of the school, nor of its music.
But if the drawbacks connected with Bach's stay in Leipsic are
undeniable and deserving of the conspicuous mention which they have
heretofore received, the question on the other hand might well be
raised in what locality of the Germany of that day he could have found
a position commensurate with his genius. He was not adapted by nature
for a brilliant princely court like that of Dresden; there the opera
and Italian singing were all in all; appreciation was lacking both
for his organ music and his church cantatas--at the very most he was
recognized as a virtuoso. And this would have been equally the case
if his compositions had been less profound and earnest. He belonged
in a place where he would come into constant communication with the
Protestant church, and where, in case of need, he had means at hand for
giving expression to his grand ideas. So far as such a place was to be
found at all, Leipsic offered him perhaps a better field than any other
of the larger German towns, and a wider sphere of action had become
imperatively necessary for him, after the limitations imposed upon him
at Weimar and Cöthen. The liturgy in the Leipsic churches, which even
at the present day is comparatively rich, was then characterized by a
fulness and variety scarcely inferior to that of the Catholics, and
music was called into requisition in corresponding measure. Here was
sufficient encouragement for the development of a many-sided activity.
Bach's compositions, to be sure, were far above the comprehension of the
Leipsic public. But a traditional respect for church music and their
strong love for the Thomas choir furnished him at least with willing
ears. As cantor of the institution, too, Bach was incontestably the first
musical authority of the town, and the proud consciousness of this fact
experienced by the artist, could not be even disturbed by the influence
of the opera, then already established in Leipsic.[1]
The position occupied by Leipsic as a centre of traffic, especially at
the time of the "Messen," or great fairs, heightened the importance of
his office, and the strangers who poured into the town at such seasons
bore away with them the fame of Bach. Few musicians came hither without
seeking the acquaintance of the master, playing before him and begging
the privilege of hearing him perform. If one reckons, in addition to
these advantages, the material benefits derived from the position, which
were sufficient to relieve a man of his simple habits from all wearing
anxieties, a very comfortable picture is presented, the darker side of
which is to be attributed rather to the deficiencies of the age than to
the condition of affairs in Leipsic.
The twenty-seven years passed by Bach in the famous university town
cover a period of prodigious activity in the composition of sacred
vocal music. Works for the organ became more rare, since his calling
brought him into no direct communication with that instrument. On the
other hand, a series of magnificent works in the department of chamber
music was written in Leipsic. For this his own home and the family
life presented the strongest inducements, but about the year 1736, he
also conducted a musical union composed of the university students,
who assembled twice a week for practice. Journeys were at this time of
frequent occurrence, especially to Dresden, where Bach had long possessed
a wealth of friends and continually added to the number. In 1736 he
received from the court in that city the title "Hof-Compositeur," and in
1733 his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedmann, secured his first position as
organist at the Church of St. Sophia, in that city. During his travels
in 1727, Bach was twice in Hamburg; his native province of Thuringia was
not forgotten, and his relations with Weimar were renewed through the
efforts of the successor of Duke Wilhelm Ernst. It is also certain that
he paid at least one visit to Erfurt, one of the old gathering-places of
the family. Between the years 1723 and 1726, he was frequently heard at
the Saxon ducal court of Weissenfels and received from this court the
title of Capellmeister, which he bore until his death. The last journey
of which we have knowledge was undertaken in May, 1747, and directed to
the court of King Frederick II. of Prussia, where, since the year 1740,
his son Carl Philipp Emanuel had been established as chamber musician.
The king resided in Potsdam and held here his regular "Musikabende," at
which he himself played the flute in the circle of his musical friends.
Hither Bach repaired on the 7th of May, accompanied by his son Wilhelm
Friedemann, and here, through his playing, he aroused the admiration of
the king, who himself gave a theme to work out on the clavier. The next
day he performed before a crowded audience in the Church of the Holy
Ghost, and on the same evening appeared again before the king at his
palace, where, at Frederick's request, he improvised a six-part fugue.
From Potsdam he went to Berlin and, among other objects of interest,
visited the opera-house, built in 1743. After his return to Leipsic he
employed the theme given him by the king as the basis of a series of
artistic compositions of varying length, which he caused to be engraved
and dedicated to Frederick, under the title: "_Musikalisches Opfer_."
During the last years of his life, Bach was several times drawn into
literary controversies. One of his adversaries was Johann Adolf Scheibe,
who, born in Leipsic in 1708, resided there as music-teacher till 1735
and then went to Hamburg, where he published a periodical to which he
gave the title of "Critische Musikus." In this he attacked Bach on
account of his confused and turgid style, which he characterized as
both painful and ineffective, because it was opposed to common sense.
Scheibe cherished a personal resentment against Bach, believing that
he had judged him unjustly on the occasion of his candidacy for the
position of organist at St. Thomas's Church in 1727. The attack caused
great excitement and called forth a polemical discussion between Scheibe
and Bach's friend, the university teacher, Johann Abraham Birnbaum, in
which the former was finally worsted. After the lapse of some years, he
seems to have realized that he had gone too far, and endeavored in his
later works to efface the unfavorable impression produced by his immature
criticism of the great artist. In 1749 the school rector, Biedermann,
of Freiburg in Saxony, published a Latin treatise containing a warning
to youth against an excessive devotion to music, as "easily leading to
a dissipated life." In illustration of his theory, he cites a number
of profligate characters, belonging to antiquity, and also dwells upon
the small esteem in which the musicians of those days were held. The
effect of this tirade was to excite the animosity of the whole musical
profession, and Bach, whose pupil, Johann Friedrich Doles, was cantor of
the Freiburg school, felt himself called upon to retaliate. He induced
the organist Schröter to write a reply, which, however, did not appear
in print until it had undergone a number of unwarrantable alterations,
falsely attributed by the author to Bach himself. As a result of this,
the latter was subjected to all sorts of annoyances, and though he did
not defend himself with his pen, he was driven to do so through the
medium of music. A Latin cantata, "Phöbus und Pan," which evidently
referred to Scheibe's hostility, was composed by him in 1731 and
performed by a society of musical students. At the time of the Birnbaum
controversy, he again brought it to light, inserted a few appropriate
allusions in the text, and produced it anew. He was not the man to suffer
insult or see his cherished art defamed.
Bach had been nearsighted from his childhood and was afflicted in later
years with a weakness of the eyes, which was doubtless occasioned by the
strain of his night labors as a youth. An English oculist named Taylor,
the same who afterwards treated Handel in London, came to Leipsic in
the winter of 1749, and, yielding to the advice of his friends, Bach
submitted to an operation, which proved unsuccessful and he became
totally blind. Nor was this the only sad result, for the medical
treatment prescribed at the same time completely undermined his hitherto
unfailing strength. On the eighteenth of July he suddenly found his sight
restored, but was, however, stricken with apoplexy immediately afterward,
and on the evening of the 28th of July, he died. His work was continued
until within a few days before the event, and a choral "Vor deinen
Thron tret ich hiermit" ("Before Thy throne herewith I come"), which
he dictated to his son-in-law, was his last composition. His funeral
took place on the morning of the 31st of July in St. John's Church. Of
the children left behind, two of the sons were taken in charge by their
brothers and sisters, the others were already established in independent
positions outside of Leipsic. The widow, who had three daughters to
support, fell into poverty and lived finally upon public benevolence. It
is an indelible stain upon the honor of the town of Leipsic that this was
permitted.
[Illustration: BACH BEFORE FREDERICK THE GREAT.
From a painting of an ideal scene.]