At Mühlhausen, in Thuringia, the death of Johann Georg Ahle, in
December 1706, left a void in the organ loft of the Church of St.
Blasius. It was not long before Bach was asked on what terms he would
take over the post of his renowned predecessor. He asked a larger sum
than the salary paid to Ahle but substantially the same as he had been
earning at Arnstadt; also, a quantity of firewood “to be delivered at
his door,” some corn, and a conveyance to move his household goods.
By June 1707, the appointment was his, the town obviously so eager to
secure him that it wasted no time in negotiations. Conceivably the
Arnstadt Consistory was not dissatisfied to be so conveniently rid of
an irascible and troublemaking hothead.
Mühlhausen had an impressive background of musical traditions but
Bach entertained nobler aims for the Church of St. Blasius than the
more easygoing ideals of Ahle. For this purpose he went to a not
inconsiderable private expense to improve the organ and enlarge the
musical library of Mühlhausen’s churches. The town council seconded his
efforts in many ways even if some people resented the independence and
progressive though disturbing projects of a young man of twenty-two.
At this period he inherited a respectable sum of money from a maternal
uncle in Erfurt, and the chances are that the magnificent cantata
numbered 106 and entitled _God’s Time is the Best_, was composed for
the funeral of this Tobias Lämmerhirt, which Bach dutifully attended.
Soon afterwards he retraced his steps to Arnstadt and there, on October
17, 1707, in the neighboring village of Dornheim he married Maria
Barbara. Their honeymoon was devoted to visiting different members of
the Bach family scattered through the neighboring countryside.
The good will of the community made it possible for Bach to demand
repairs and improvements on the organ of St. Blasius. Moreover, he
was called upon to compose a work for a highly important Mühlhausen
civic function, the annual election of the town councilors. It was for
this event that he wrote a grandiose _Ratswahl Kantate_, whose music
exhibits the influence of Buxtehude heightened by his own incomparable
genius. In a burst of generosity the city fathers voted to publish the
work. It was the only one of Bach’s cantatas printed in his lifetime.
Otherwise, there is no record that, aside from the cantata _God is my
King_, a single such work of his was given in the Mühlhausen churches,
though from the creative standpoint he can scarcely have been idle.
Despite the high esteem Bach enjoyed in Mühlhausen he remained there
only a year. The municipal heads and the authorities of the Church
of St. Blasius regretted his going but were unable to prevent it. He
conceded frankly that he wanted to improve his material position. Yet,
a deeper reason lay at the back of his departure. It was at the bottom
the byproduct of a religious question. For some time a reaction had
been developing against certain dogmatic formularies in the Lutheran
body. The dissidents, known as Pietists, gradually came to sword’s
points with the orthodox sect, and Mühlhausen, especially, became a
hotbed of Pietism, whose adherents strongly opposed the use of music
in public worship. This, of course, flew violently in the face of
Bach’s ideal, which was the betterment of music in the church and its
heightened employment to sacred ends. It became solely a question of
time when such a situation would render his position at St. Blasius
untenable. The Consistory was so well disposed to Bach that it promptly
agreed to a variety of modifications in the organ which he had
recommended. Before these were carried out he had given notice of his
departure and his employers realized they could do nothing about it.
He promised, however, to come over to Mühlhausen from nearby Weimar in
order to see how the alterations were being executed.