The Last of Earth
It was only natural for the old master, weighed down with official and
other burdens in Leipsic, to recall the delightful days in Potsdam and
live them over; but the recollection of them was not a mere idle, dreamy
revery; all his deeper feelings were so engrossed with the realities of
his art that he did not hesitate to respond to its exacting demands. He
decided to reset the theme which the King had given him with all the
skill of which he was capable. He completed the task in a few weeks. In
its new form the work had thirteen numbers, finished with masterly
ability. He engraved it upon copper and dedicated it to the King, with
the title, “Musical Offering, humbly dedicated to His Majesty, King of
Prussia.” He sent it to the King with the following characteristic
letter:
“All Gracious King:—Herewith I present to Your Majesty, with deepest
respect, a musical offering, the noblest part of which is from your
own hand. I recall with the highest pleasure the particular kingly
grace with which, during my stay in Potsdam, Your Majesty condescended
to give me a theme for a fugue on the piano, and to set me the task of
working it out at once in your presence. As a subject, it was my duty
to obey Your Majesty’s command. I soon realized, however, that because
of lack of necessary preparation, the execution was not up to the
standard demanded by such a theme. I then determined, and at once set
about it, to work out this royal theme more perfectly, and then give
it to the world. I have done this to the extent of my ability, and
with no other purpose than the exaltation, though only in one small
particular, of the glory of a sovereign who must be admired by all in
music, as well as in war and the arts of peace. I make bold to add the
following respectful request,—that Your Majesty will deign to honor
this small work by graciously accepting it, and continue Your
Majesty’s favor to Your Majesty’s most loyal subject and obedient
servant,
The Author.
“Leipsic, July 7, 1747.”
While engaged upon this remarkable work, a new joy brightened his home.
His daughter Frederica[48] was engaged to Altnikol, one of his best
beloved scholars, who, upon Bach’s warm commendation, was given the
lucrative position of organist and musical director by the Council of
Naumburg. This enabled them to marry and have a home, thus lifting
another burden from the loving father. He could contemplate the evening
of life with serene hope. His own were all provided for, and he now
devoted himself with all his powers to a work he had long contemplated.
The evening of life might end in darkness, but now he was ready to go
before the throne of the All Highest, to whose service he had devoted
his art piously and faithfully all his life.[49]
The great work which he had so much at heart was “Kunst der Fuge” (“The
Art of Fugue”), a wonderful creation, unsurpassed in the abundance of
its contents and their development. In completely elaborated numbers,
not in dry theoretical rules, he shows what a skilful composer may
accomplish with a single theme, and how it may be developed in the form
and according to the rules of strict counterpoint in every possible way.
So far as harmonious combinations are concerned, each part is
exhaustively treated.[50] In the closing fugue, beside the two parts of
the original theme, he introduces a short but very striking theme of
only four notes; but those four notes represent the whole life of the
composer, with all its joys and sorrows, its divine inspiration, and its
deep soul-sadness—the four notes, “B-A-C-H.”[51]
Bach’s labor upon this colossal work exhausted what little strength he
had. His eyesight began to fail. His creative faculty was impaired. He
could no longer work. The “Art of Fugue” remained unfinished. Philipp
Emanuel added to the last bars of his father’s manuscript the sad words:
“While engaged on this fugue, in which the name of ‘Bach’ is introduced
in counterpoint, the author died.”
It was true. The old master did not live to finish the work. The end was
near at hand. Two operations were performed upon his eyes, but they
failed to help him. His life passed into darkness before death.
But he never lost courage. His spiritual vision remained clear to the
last, so that he beheld the glory of his God whom he was so soon to
meet. In those last days, so full of pain and of sorrow over the thought
that he might lose his faculties completely, he triumphed over sickness
and death with the help of that lofty, unwavering faith which had been
the inspiration of all his work. Almost with his dying voice he dictated
to his beloved Altnikol the majestic chorale (“Wenn wir in höchsten
Nöthen sein”):
“When, sunk in deepest misery,
To make escape we vainly try,
When earthly help in vain is sought,
And earthly counsels come to nought,
There still remains this one relief—
That Thou dost hear our cry of grief,
And that our faithful trust in Thee
From earthly ills will set us free.”[52]
This trust, this deliverance did not fail him in those last days of pain
and sorrow, in the last hard struggle. He rose triumphant over them, and
the Almighty Father’s hand led him to a place in the choir of angels and
holy spirits who stand before the throne in adoration, singing, “Holy!
Holy! is the Lord! Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving,
and honor, and power, and might be unto our God, forever and ever.
Amen.”—_Spitta’s_ “_Life of Bach_,” Vol. III, p. 274.
On the thirtieth of July, 1750, the world’s greatest musician was buried
in St. John’s churchyard, Leipsic.[53]
Appendix
The following is a chronological statement of the principal events in
the life of Johann Sebastian Bach:
1685 Born at Eisenach, March 21.
1693 Began his studies with his brother, Johann Christoph.
1700 Chorister at the College of St. Michael’s in Lüneburg.
1703 Organist of Arnstadt Church.
1707 Organist of St. Blasius’s Church, Mühlhausen.
1707 Married Maria Barbara Bach.
1708 Court Organist at Weimar.
1720 Death of first wife.
1721 Married Anna Magdalena Wülkens.
1723 Cantor of St. Thomas’s School, Leipsic.
1725 Composed first part of “Well-Tempered Clavichord.”
1729 Composed St. Matthew Passion Music.
1734 Composed Mass in B minor.
1734 Composed the Christmas Oratorio.
1740 Composed second part of “Well-Tempered Clavichord.”
1747 Dedicated “The Musical Offering” to Frederick the Great.
1749 Partly finished the “Art of Fugue.”
1750 Died at Leipsic in his sixty-fifth year, July 28.
Footnotes
[1]Ohrdruff is a little manufacturing town in Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, about
eight miles south of Gotha.
[2]After the death of his father and mother, Sebastian Bach was adopted
by his elder brother, Johann Christoph, the organist and music master
at Ohrdruff, who gave him his earliest lessons in singing and
piano-playing.
[3]Eisenach, a little town in Thuringia, was the birthplace of Sebastian
Bach. It is also famous for the Wartburg, which stands on one of the
hills near the town, where Luther lived at one time and translated
the Bible into German, and as being the scene of many of the song
contests of the Minnesingers.
[4]George Erdmann was a schoolfellow of Sebastian Bach and an excellent
musician, though in after life he followed other pursuits.
[5]The Amatis were a world-renowned family of violin-makers living at
Cremona, Italy, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The most
famous members of the family were Andrea A., died in 1577, the maker
of the first Violin; Nicola, 1568-1586; Antonio, 1589-1627, and
Niccole, 1596-1684, the last the great violin-makers of the family.
[6]The capital of Lüneburg in the province of Hanover, Prussia.
[7]George Böhm, a countryman of Bach, was born at Goldbach in 1661. He
was one of the greatest organists of his time.
[8]Reinken was born at Deventer in 1663 and died as organist of St.
Katherine’s Church, in Hamburg, in 1722. He had remarkable talent
both as player and composer and was greatly esteemed by Bach.
[9]The term “motet” is applied to church music set to Biblical texts for
several voices, of moderate length, and without instrumental
accompaniment.
[10]A large and beautiful forest, containing a hunting-castle, within
the jurisdiction of Lüneburg.
[11]Veit Bach, the founder of the Bach family, was a baker at Presburg,
on the Danube. After leaving Hungary he settled in Wechmar,
Thuringia, and carried on his business there. He played the lute and,
it is related, was so fond of it that he used to play it while his
corn was being ground. His son, Hans, was the first of the Bachs to
make music a profession.
[12]The Silbermanns were a distinguished family of piano and organ
makers whose instruments were highly prized in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. The most famous of this name was Gottfried
(1683-1753), who lived at Freiburg. He built forty-two organs and
introduced the present piano, then known as “hammer-clavier,” into
Germany. Bartolomeo Cristofori, who died in Florence in 1731,
undoubtedly invented this instrument and gave it its present name,
piano-forte, but Silbermann greatly improved it.
[13]Certain scholars in the institution, known as “matin scholars,”
received free instruction as compensation for their singing in the
choir.
[14]An introduction to a chorale or fugue, and sometimes, as organists
frequently improvise on a chorale, a free fantasie. A fugue is
generally preceded by a prelude which stands in the same key.
[15]Reinken was born in 1623 and died in 1722. At this time he must have
been about seventy-seven years of age.
[16]Clavicembalo was the name of the usual form of the piano in the
sixteenth century. It was the successor of the clavichord and the
predecessor of the hammer-clavier. It had various forms and names. In
Germany it was called klavier and sometimes monocordo, and in England
spinet or virginal, according to its size or shape. Cembalist is the
equivalent of our word “pianist.”
[17]In its general sense, counterpoint is the art of combining melodies.
It is divided into two classes—plain and double.
[18]Spitta, in his Life of Bach, says: “In former times Bach’s
grandfather had had an appointment at the court of Duke Wilhelm IV at
Weimar. This, however, can hardly have been the cause of his
grandson’s being invited to the same town. Other ties must have
existed of which we know nothing, but which of course would easily
have been formed at Eisenach or Arnstadt.” Bitter, in his Life, says
Bach probably owed the appointment to his numerous relatives in the
Saxon state.
[19]This organ was in use until 1863, when a fine new one took its place
as a memorial to Bach.
[20]Antonio Vivaldi, a distinguished violinist and composer, was born at
Venice and died as director of the Conservatorio della Pietà in that
city in 1743. His works are very highly esteemed.
[21]Johann Pachelbel, a distinguished organist and one of the foremost
promoters of the organ style before Bach, was born at Nuremberg in
1653 and died there in 1706 as organist of St. Sebastian’s Church.
[22]Dietrich Buxtehude, born at Helsingör in 1637, was organist in 1668
at the Marien Church, Lübeck, and remained in that position until he
died, May 9, 1707. He was one of the most learned organists and
composers of the seventeenth century, but most of his works have been
lost.
[23]Maria Barbara was the youngest daughter of Johann Michael Bach. She
was at this time about twenty years of age and was a good musician.
It is somewhat singular that in the numerous family of Bachs,
Sebastian was the only one who took a Bach to wife.
[24]The following notice was inserted by Stauber himself in the parish
register:
“On October 17, 1707, the respectable Herr Johann Sebastian Bach, a
bachelor and organist to the church of St. Blasius at Mühlhausen, the
surviving lawful son of the late most respectable Herr Ambrosius
Bach, the famous town-organist and musician of Eisenach, was married
to the virtuous maiden, Maria Barbara Bach, the youngest surviving
daughter of the late very respectable and famous artist, Herr Johann
Michael Bach, organist at Gehren; here in our house of God, by the
favor of our gracious ruler, after the banns had been read in
Arnstadt.”
[25]In the original:
“Jetzt komm ich, Herr, vor Deinen Thron
Mit loberfülltem Munde,
Und danke Dir durch Deinen Sohn
In dieser Abendstunde.
Nimm an das Opfer, das ich Dir
Mit meinen Lippen bringe,
Und höre gnädig was ich Dir
Zu Deiner Ehre singe.”
[26]Weimar is on the Ilm.
[27]This appointment was made in 1714.
[28]Cöthen was at that time the capital of the Duchy of Anhalt-Cöthen,
which was united to Anhalt-Dessau in 1853.
[29]So called because they are dedicated to the Margrave of Brandenburg.
[30]The suite was originally a succession of various national dances.
The four most characteristic parts are the Allemande, Courante,
Sarabande, and Gigue. Sometimes they also include the Gavotte,
Passepied, Branle, Bourrée, and Minuet.
[31]The Sonata (sounding piece) originally was the general term for
instrumental pieces, as opposed to Cantata (singing piece). The
present form was definitely established by Haydn, Mozart, and
Beethoven. Its parts are Allegro, Andante or Adagio, Minuet with trio
or a Scherzo, and Rondo or Presto.
[32]Inventions, a term first used by Bach in the sense of impromptus.
They were small pieces for the piano, written in two or three parts,
each developing a single idea.
[33]Symphony (with sound) is a large musical work for full orchestra, in
the form of the sonata, with much fuller development of the single
parts and richer development of true color in particular instruments.
[34]The title which Bach gave to this work is as follows:
“The Well Tempered Clavier, or Preludes and Fugues in all the Tones
and Semi-tones, both with the major third or ‘Ut, Re, Mi’ and with
the minor third or ‘Re, Mi, Fa.’ For the Use and Practice of Young
Musicians who desire to learn, as well as for those who are already
skilled in this study by way of amusement. Made and composed by
Johann Sebastian Bach, Chapelmaster to the Grand Duke of
Anhalt-Cöthen and Director of his Chamber Music. In the year 1722.”
The first part of the “Well Tempered Clavier,” or “Clavichord,” as it
is usually called, was written in 1722, probably during some of his
journeys with Prince Leopold. The second part was finished in Leipsic
about 1740.
[35]June 25, 1722.
[36]The “Alumni” were charity children, who were provided with food and
lodging in the schoolhouse and a small allowance of money in
consideration of their singing in church and at funerals.
[37]There were two organs in St. Thomas’s Church, a large and a small
one. When Bach’s great Passion music was given there, both were used.
[38]Anna Magdalena was the youngest daughter of the court-trumpeter,
Johann Casper Wülkens. She was at this time twenty-one years of age.
They were married December 3, 1721.
[39]Wilhelm Friedemann was an accomplished musician, but in his later
years he was addicted to drinking, which in time reduced him and his
family to poverty, and eventually killed him.
[40]Bach had eight children, five sons and three daughters, by the first
wife. The eldest daughter, Caroline Dorothea, born in 1708, survived
her father. The eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann, was born in 1710.
Carl Philipp Emanuel, the most famous of the sons, was born in 1714.
By the second wife he had thirteen children, seven of whom were sons.
Only two of them survived their father—Johann Christoph Friedrich,
born in 1732, died in 1795, and Johann Christian, born in 1735, died
in 1782.
[41]It was Professor Gesner who wrote in one of his works upon ancient
music: “I, my Fabius, who am in other respects an admirer of
antiquity, am of opinion that my Bach and others like him unite in
their own persons many Orpheuses and twenty Arions.”
[42]Hohenfriedberg is a town in Silesia where Frederick the Great in
1745 defeated the Austrians and Saxons under Prince Charles of
Lorraine. In the same year he defeated the Austrians at Sohr, in
Bohemia; and 121 years later the Prussians defeated the Austrians at
the same place.
[43]Karl Heinrich Graun was born at Wahrenbrück, Saxony, in 1701, and
died in 1757. He was appointed chapelmaster when Frederick ascended
the throne, and was also commissioned to organize a company of
Italian opera singers in Berlin. He wrote operas for this company and
several flute concertos for the King.
Johann Joachim Quantz, born January 30, 1697, died in 1773, was not
only chamber musician and court composer, but Frederick’s flute
teacher.
Johann Friedrich Agricola, born January 4, 1720, died in 1774, was a
pupil of Sebastian Bach and later of Quantz, and succeeded Graun in
1759 as director of the royal chapel.
[44]Johann Adolf Hasse was born near Hamburg in 1699, and began his
career as a tenor singer. He wrote his first opera in 1723. In 1731
he was concert-master of the Royal Opera at Dresden. His “Artaxerxes”
was produced in 1730. He wrote over one hundred operas.
Porpora was born in 1686 and died in 1766. He was a famous composer
and singing teacher, and a rival of Handel in London.
Handel’s “Faramondo” was produced for the first time at King’s
Theatre, London January 7, 1738. It was only given five times.
[45]Frederick assisted Graun in writing “Galatea.”
[46]Count Heinrich von Brühl was a Saxon statesman under Augustus III.
He became prime minister in 1747, and induced Augustus III to take
sides against Prussia in the Seven Years’ War.
[47]“Stretto,” as applied to fugues, means the following of response to
subject at a closer interval of time than at first. The term is also
applied to lively closing passages such as are found at the end of
concerto movements and arias.
[48]Elizabeth Juliana Frederica was born in 1726. Bach’s first
grandchild, the issue of this marriage, was named Johann Sebastian.
[49]On all his important works Bach inscribed the initials, “S. D. G.”
(“Soli Deo Gloria”),—“To the glory of God alone.”
[50]“The Art of Fugue” includes fifteen solos, two duets for piano in
fugue form, and four canons, evolved from a single theme in two
parts.
[51]“H” in German represents “B natural,” “B” being reserved for “B
flat.”
[52]“By his deathbed stood his wife and daughters, his youngest son,
Christian, his son-in-law, Altnikol, and his pupil, Müthel. He had
been working with Altnikol only a few days before his death. An organ
chorale, composed in a former time, was floating in his mind, ready
as he was to die, and he wanted to complete and perfect it. He
dictated and Altnikol wrote. ‘Wenn wir in höchsten Nöthen sein’
(‘Lord, when we are in direst need’) was the name he had originally
given it; he now adapted the sentiment to another hymn and wrote
above it ‘Vor Deinen Thron tret ich hiermit’ (‘Before Thy throne with
this I come’).”
[53]“In the church which for twenty-seven years Bach’s mighty tones had
so often filled, the preacher announced from the pulpit, ‘The very
worthy and venerable Herr Johann Sebastian Bach, court composer to
His Kingly Majesty of Poland and Elector and Serene Highness of
Saxony, chapelmaster to His Highness the Prince of Anhalt-Cöthen, and
Cantor to the School of St. Thomas in town, having fallen calmly and
blessedly asleep in God, his body has this day, according to
Christian usage, been consigned to earth.’ His grave was near the
church, but when, within this century, the graveyard was removed
farther from the church and the old site opened as a roadway, Bach’s
grave, with many others, was obliterated, and it is now no longer
possible to determine the spot where his bones were laid to
rest.”—_Spitta’s_ “_Life of Bach_,” Vol. III, p. 275.
LIFE STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
_Translated from the German by
GEORGE P. UPTON_
8 Vols. Ready
Beethoven
Mozart
Bach
Maid of Orleans
William Tell
The Little Dauphin
Frederick the Great
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_BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCES
TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY_
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Johann Sebastian Bach
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