This particular incident was the death, half a year after Bach’s second
marriage, of Johann Kuhnau who, for more than twenty years, had held
the Cantorship of St. Thomas’s School in Leipzig. Whether or not the
post seemed to Bach himself as desirable as a Kapellmeistership, the
sudden vacancy attracted a flock of candidates, some of them men of
distinction. Most preferable in the eyes of the Leipzig civic council
was George Philipp Telemann who in Bach’s day ranked higher in the
esteem of many musicians than Bach himself. Another was Christoph
Graupner of Darmstadt. We need not pursue in detail the complicated
negotiations and the extensive intrigue the choice of Kuhnau’s
successor involved. Telemann was offered the job and things progressed
so far that the authorities debated whether the address welcoming
him should be in Latin or in German. But Telemann, who already held
a lucrative position in Hamburg, determined to find out which town
would offer him the better inducement. Hamburg increased his already
considerable stipend, so in Hamburg he remained. Graupner, on the other
hand, would have come gladly. But his Darmstadt masters declined to
release him.
Before the final decision was made, Bach made it his business to be
on hand at Leipzig. When it became clear to Graupner that he was
out of the running he heartily recommended Bach. The latter was
requested, in order to prove his fitness for the post he sought, to
conduct in the Church of St. Thomas on Good Friday, 1723, a work
of his own composition, appropriate to the day. That work was the
_Passion according to St. John_ which, though it may have been written
hurriedly, is a creation of such transcendent grandeur that only the
later _Passion according to St. Matthew_ can be said to excel it in
lyric splendor and sublimity.
As soon as Graupner’s decision was known, Bach asked Prince Leopold
for his official leave. The letter of dismissal was couched in most
friendly and flattering terms. At Leipzig Bach executed a document
binding himself to discharge all the duties of the Cantorship,
undertaking to teach a variety of subjects and even to give private
lessons in singing without extra pay. The only thing he balked at was
taking charge of Latin classes. For this chore he agreed to provide a
substitute at his own expense. Then he took leave of Prince Leopold,
with whom he remained on terms of the closest friendship till the
prince’s death five years later. On May 5, 1723 he received from the
burgomaster of Leipzig the ceremonious notification of his unanimous
appointment. On May 30 he conducted at the Church of St. Nicholas
(which he served alternately with the Church of St. Thomas) the cantata
_The Hungry Shall Be Fed_. Therewith he inaugurated his office.