CHAPTER IX

.

The fact of Bach’s death was registered by the Town Council in the following terms: _The Cantor at the Thomasschule, or rather the Capelldirector, Bach, is dead_. They proceeded to resolve that _the school needed a Cantor, and not a Capellmeister, although he must understand music too_. Such was the public recognition of Leipzig’s greatest man. His widow was suffered to live on in need, and to die a pauper ten years after her husband. The youngest daughter was at last relieved by a public subscription, in which Beethoven was proud to join; but not by the town. The last infamy of Leipzig was achieved when S. John’s churchyard, in which Bach had been laid to rest, was rooted up and made into a road. His bones were scattered, no man knew or cared where.

The boys of the Thomasschule, of course, followed their cantor’s funeral, and one of his colleagues published a short memorial upon his friend. But Bach was very soon forgotten in his own school. His works were doubtless performed, more or less frequently; but cantatas and motets were required for the church service, and it was easier to fall back upon the stores of music he had left, than to buy or transcribe new pieces. How little the treasure was valued we may learn from the circumstance that in 1803 over a hundred church compositions existed there in autograph, while seven years later there remained but three in score and forty-four in parts.

Nevertheless the name, only the name, of Bach continued powerful in Leipzig. When the Gewandhaus was opened, in 1781, it was painted in great letters upon a screen behind the orchestra; but nothing of his was performed there until the concerts had existed for more than half a century. It was his feeblest son, Johann Christian, whose compositions were admired. The visit of Mozart, in 1789, of which I have before spoken, did something to revive the interest in Bach’s music; but the process was a slow one. His works became known among an increasing number of scattered admirers; then they came to be partially published; but it was not until 1842 that he had a monument on the Promenade, behind the windows of his old house, not until 1850 that a worthier monument was begun in the establishment of the Bach Society, whose collection of the master’s works has hardly an equal in critical accuracy or magnificence of form. The erection of the first was due to the efforts of Mendelssohn; the second, in great measure, to Schumann.

From these two monuments we turn again to their original. Of Bach’s figure we know nothing but the head and the square shoulders. His countenance was one of singular dignity and refinement. The thick eyebrows that stood out beneath his great forehead, knotted above his long firm nose, seemed to denote a force, if not a severity, of character; but the impression was softened by the sweet, sensitive lines of his mouth. Both traits are true of the man. He had a strong self-dependence, which was reflected in his sense of duty, the consistency, the uprightness of his life, but which was liable to exaggeration in self-will, even obstinacy. Partly this was owing to his irritable temperament, the other side of his nature, born of an acute sensibility, which might reveal itself either so or more often in the tender charities of his family life. These double tendencies, the fine and the strong, had their ground in his active and contemplative religious faith; they find their testimony in his music. Only here we see a third factor, not so manifest in his own life, in the boundless flexibility of mind to which it points. If, however, one is asked the dominant characteristics of it, there is but one reply,—manliness and melody, the one never too vigorous to overpower the melody, the other restrained by it from any approach to effeminacy.

It is these qualities that adjudge Bach the same place among musicians as Milton holds among our own poets; and the thought has a touching suggestion in the lack of recognition of his later years, and in his blindness. But the likeness goes deeper into their work. Each is in his craft the most learned of artists; each is ruled by an absorbing religious sense. They are equals in chastened grace, in balance and ear; and equally wanting in two special gifts, humour and dramatic power.

This is not the place to pursue the parallel more closely; but the statement of it may help us to realise how little popularity can be taken as an index of artistic worth, it may also serve as a warning to those who insist on comparing Bach with other masters. He can as little be compared with Beethoven, for instance, as Milton with Shakespeare. That he should have been constantly brought into comparison with Handel was, perhaps, inevitable; but to see the unfairness to both, it is only necessary to observe that neither produced his best work in the same fields as the other. Bach wrote nothing more than distantly akin to the Oratorio; Handel attempted nothing great in Masses or in Passion Music. Wherever they do enter into comparison, only ignorance can excuse the claim of superiority often made for Handel. So it is remarkable when they are set side by side as organists. With his prodigious brilliancy Handel was untrue to the nature of the organ; he made it a concert-instrument. Bach, on the other hand, developed its powers to the utmost extent possible while preserving its church character. Accordingly, it is not strange that no single work for organ _solo_ by Handel is known to exist, while among contemporaries Bach was hardly known except as an organ-master, and his works have remained to organists the most precious of possessions. Mattheson, no unqualified judge, courteously decided that in this sphere their names must stand in alphabetical order.

To complete the picture of Bach as a performer, we must add to his command of the organ and clavichord the skill he acquired as a violinist. In both his appointments at Weimar this was his instrument, and to have written and played the sonatas for violin solo, he must almost have attained perfection in its technicalities. But his favourite stringed instrument in later years was the viola, because it placed him, “as it were, in the middle of the harmony, whence he could best hear and enjoy it, on both sides;”[78] and, when he was in the vein, he would extemporize an additional part to a trio or whatever was being played. In the same way he would at sight combine scores on the clavichord with astonishing fluency. That he could readily expand a figured bass is only to say that he was proficient in the ordinary training of an accompanist; but there are some details noticed by Forkel in this connexion, which bear in an interesting manner upon a vexed question of the present day, namely, the lawfulness of writing “additional accompaniments” to his vocal works, and must not be passed over.

Bach was able, we are told, “if a single bass part, often ill-figured, was laid before him, immediately to play from it a trio, or a quartet; nay, he even went so far ... as to perform extempore, to three single parts, a fourth part, and thus to make a quartetto of the whole.”[79] The plain meaning of this is that, when he pleased, he did not play simple chords to the given bass, but extracted from them two or three strains of independent melody. The principle has been applied to many of Bach’s compositions, especially by Robert Franz, whom a close study of the master led to the opinion that, when Bach had left a vocal piece accompanied only by a single bass, the natural way of making the accompaniment satisfactory was to treat it polyphonically, in the same style as Bach is recorded to have done sometimes himself; in other words, to write new parts over it in counterpoint and imitation. The necessity for some such treatment is argued from the decay, in modern times, of the art of expanding even the common harmonies of a figured bass. The real reason against it is that we may be thus obscuring the relief of light and shade which Bach designed to produce by leaving some pieces barely accompanied, as in contrast to the elaborate orchestration of others. This is more weighty than the argument drawn from the absence of any authoritative example of it; as for instance, that it is not to be found in some exercises in figured bass by a pupil which Bach corrected. It is obvious to answer that a master would probably be content with accuracy in his scholar’s work, and would not apply to it the same standard of elaboration, or allow the same freedom of treatment, as he would desire in his own. No doubt Bach employed, probably he preferred for teaching purposes, a simple accompaniment of three or four-part harmonies. But side by side with this must be placed the testimony of a pupil, that _he had never heard anything more excellent than the singing of the voices among each other_, when Bach accompanied: _the accompaniment was in itself so beautiful that even the principal voice could not withdraw from the pleasure he received from the accessory_. Failing this faculty now-a-days, it is probably wisest to adopt the judgment of Mendelssohn and limit the additional accompaniment to the writing out of the implied organ part.[80]

Two other facts demand notice in reference to the production of Bach’s music in modern times. One is the non-existence of distinctive _solo_ singers. When an _aria_ was to be sung, a single member stood up out of the body of the choir. This will explain the almost equal difficulty of each. The other fact relates to the proportion of the choir to the orchestra. In the last century the latter regularly outnumbered the former; and Bach’s own scheme for the organisation of the music at S. Thomas’s desiderated only twelve singers to a band of eighteen, exclusive of the organ—the organ, be it remembered, being entrusted by Bach with a very important part. Such a distribution must have given the performances which he conducted a different colour from that which they present now. He did not separate the voices and the instruments so broadly as we are accustomed to do. The voice was to him hardly more than any other instrument; and if we are to judge his music fairly, we must consider the two elements of his band, not as choir and accompaniment, but as one mass of sound, composed of two balanced and co-ordinate parts.

It remains to give a brief sketch of the reception which Bach has had in England. Probably Dr. Burney, the learned historian of music, was the first to introduce him here; but he afterwards confessed that his

## partial verdict was based solely upon a copy of the first half of the

Forty-Eight Preludes and Fugues—“a vile and most diabolical copy,” as it turned out, fall of mistakes—and had never heard one played. The first serious steps to promote the knowledge of Bach in England were taken by a company of three enthusiastic worshippers at his shrine; to one of whom is due the honour of the first publication anywhere of the _Wohltemperirte Clavier_. It was brought out in London by A. F. K. Kollman in 1799. The impulse thus given was carried on by two leading musicians, Horn and Wesley, who planned a complete edition of Bach’s works. The series was begun in 1809, but, although well received, did not proceed very far. Eleven years later appeared a translation of Forkel’s _Life of Bach_. The most interesting record, however, of this movement, lies in a recently published collection of letters by Samuel Wesley,[81] the greatest organist of his time.

The little band of enthusiasts set out as the apostles of a new religion. Wesley proclaimed his championship of _Saint Sebastian_, as a sacred mission, in the defence of truth and justice, against the idolaters of Handel—quite unconscious how necessarily such a combat must resolve itself into mere partisanship, and the very bigotry which he opposed. He has, however, the credit of having convinced the redoubtable Burney of the injustice of his published opinion of Bach, and also of being the first in England to observe, what Forkel had seized upon independently abroad, that of his “characteristic beauties” “air” was “one of the chief and most striking.”[82] No doubt his wonderful playing of the organ did something to make Bach known in England; but it was long before he was really accepted. The movement, in fact, for a time subsided; it was roused again into life by the energetic work of Mendelssohn, who declared it was high time that the “immortal master, who is on no one point inferior to any master, and in many points superior to all, should no longer be forgotten.” He prepared the road for the successful labours of Sterndale Bennett, who, as the most prominent English musician, was able to force Bach into notice in London. In 1849, a year before the foundation of the German Bach-Gesellschaft, he established the Bach Society, with the main object, however, not of publishing, but of producing the works of Bach. By this the _S. Matthew Passion_ was performed in 1854 and 1858, to be followed by part of the _High Mass_, and lastly by the _Christmas Oratorio_. Moreover, as musical professor at Cambridge, Sir William extended the study of Bach in a wider circle; and it was taken up by many provincial associations. In the meanwhile Schumann’s widow was asserting, by her wonderful playing, the rightful place of Bach’s clavichord works among the treasures of the pianist. At length in 1871, the _S. Matthew Passion_ was produced at Westminster Abbey, and since that time, there, or in S. Paul’s Cathedral, the _Passion Music_ and the _Christmas Oratorio_ have taken their constant position as the special services of Holy Week and the new year. Other churches in London, notably S. Anne’s, Soho, have taken up the example, and the formation of the Bach Choir has added a new zeal to the cultivation of the master. If England was late in acknowledging his greatness, nowhere now are his works performed more regularly, and nowhere does he stand in so wide and so assured a popularity.

PEDIGREE OF MUSICIANS IN THE BACH FAMILY.

[rest of family tree cont’s on next 2 pages]

(_Composers are distinguished by_ +spaced+ _type_.)

VEIT BACH, d. 1619 (_Cithara_), Wechmar. │ │ ┌──────────────┴──────────────┐ │ │ │ │ Lips HANS, (_See page 130_). d. 1626 (_Der Spielmann_), Arnstadt. │ │ ┌─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ Johann, CHRISTOPH, +Heinrich+, 1604-1673 1613-1661 1615-1692 (_Town Musician (_Town Musician_), (_Organist_), and Organist_), Erfurt and Arnstadt. Erfurt. Arnstadt. (_See page 131_). (_See page 132_). (_See page 133_).

Johann, 1604-1673 (_Town Musician and Organist_), Erfurt. │ │ ┌───────────────────────┴─────────┬─────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ Johann Johann Johann Christian, Aegidius, Nikolaus, 1640-1682 1645-1717 1653-1682 (_Viol_), (_Viol_), (_Viola-da-Gamba_), Erfurt and Erfurt. Erfurt. Eisenach. │ │ │ │ │ ┌──┴───────────┐ ┌─────┴──────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Johann Johann +Johann Johann Jakob, Christoph, Bernhard+, Christoph, 1668-1692 1673-1727 1676-1749 1685-post (_Town (_Cantor and (_Organist_), 1735 Musician_), Organist_), Eisenach. (_Town Eisenach. Gehren. │ Musician_), │ Erfurt. │ │ +Johann Ernst+, 1722-1777 (_Capellmeister_), Weimar.

[Transcriber’s note: Forward slashes indicate horizontal listing, that is, brothers]

CHRISTOPH, 1613-1661 (_Town Musician_), Erfurt and Arnstadt. │ ┌───────────────────┼─────────────────────┐ │ │ │ +Georg JOHANN Johann Christoph+, AMBROSIUS, Christoph, 1642-1697 1645-1695 1645-1693 (_Cantor_), (_Viol_), (_Viol_), Schweinfurt. Eisenach. Arnstadt. │ │ │ │ │ JOHANN │ │ Ernst, │ │ 1683-1739 │ │ (_Organist_), │ │ Arnstadt. │ │ │ ├─────────────────┬───────────────┐ │ │ │ │ Johann Johann +JOHANN Johann Valentin, Christoph, SEBASTIAN+, JAKOB, 1669-1720 1671-1721 1685-1750 1682-1722 (_Town (_Organist_), (_Director (_Haut-boy_), Musician_), Ohrdruf. Musices_), Stockholm. Schweinfurt. │ Leipzig. │ │ │ │ │ ├───────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ Johann Tobias +Wilhelm, +Johann Lorenz, Friedrich, Friedemann+, Christoph 1695-1773 b. 1695 1710-1784 Friedrich+, (_Organist_), (_Cantor_), (_Organist_), 1732-1795 Lahm. Uttstädt. Halle (_Concertmeister_), / / / │ Johann Johann +Carl Philipp Wilhelm, Elias Bernhard, Emanuel+, 1753-1846 1705-1755 1700-1744 1714-1788 (_Court (_Cantor_), (_Organist_), (_Capellmeister_), Musician_), Schweinfurt. Ohrdruf. Berlin. Berlin. / / Johann Johann Christoph Gottfried b. 1702 Bernhard, (_Cantor_), 1715-1739 Ohrdruf. (_Organist_), / Muelhausen Johann / Heinrich, +Johann b. 1707 Christian+, (_Cantor_), 1735-1783 Uehringen. (_Court / Musician_) Johann Andreas, b. 1713 (_Organist_), Ohrdruf.

+Heinrich+, 1615-1692 (_Organist_), Arnstadt. │ ┌─────────────────┼──────────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ +Johann +Johann Johann Christoph+, Michael+, Guenther, 1642-1703 1648-1694 1653-1683 (_Organist_), (_Organist_), (_Organist_). Eisenach, Gehren. Arnstadt. │ ┌───┴──────────┬───────────────┬─────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ +JOHANN JOHANN JOHANN JOHANN Nikolaus+, Christoph, Friedrich, Michael, 1669-1753 b. 1674 d. 1730 (_Organ (_Organist_), (_Music (_Organist_), Builder_), Jena. Master_), Muehlhausen. abroad. Erfurt and England.

LIPS BACH, d. 1620; presumably a son of Veit. │ │ ┌──────────────────┴────────────────────┐ │ │ _Wendel_, Jonas and two 1619-1682. other sons │ (_Musicians in │ Italy_). │ Jakob, 1655-1718 (_Cantor_), Ruhla. │ │ ┌───┴─────────────────────┬─────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ +Johann Nikolaus _Georg Ludwig+, Ephraim Michael_, 1677-1741 (_Organist_), 1703-1771. (_Capell-director_), Gandersheim. │ Meiningen. │ │ │ │ │ ┌──┴────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ Samuel Gottlieb Johann Anton, Friedrich, Christian, 1713-1781 1714-1785 1743-1814 (_Court Organist_), (_Court Organist_), (_Music Master_), Meinigen. Meiningen. Halle. │ │ Johann Philipp, d. 1846 (_Court Organist_), Meiningen.

A LIST OF CHURCH CANTATAS IN PRESUMED ORDER OF PRODUCTION.[83]

(An obelus indicates that the date to which it is affixed is not absolutely certain. The numbers following the titles are those of the edition published by the Bach-Gesellschaft; those to which no number is attached remain in manuscript, with few exceptions, at Berlin.)

I. Denn du wirst meine Seele (15) _Easter day_, 1704† II. Meine Seele soll Gott loben[84] 1707-8† III. Aus der Tiefe rufe ich: Psalm cxxx. (131) ” IV. Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit (106)(_Actus tragicus_) ” V. Gott ist mein König (71) (_Municipal_) _4th February_, 1708 VI. Der Herr denket an uns[85] (_Wedding_) ” VII. Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich 1708-12† VIII. Uns ist ein Kind geboren _Christmas day_, 1712-14† IX. Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee (18) _Sexagesima_, 1713-14† X. Ich weiss, dass mein Erlöser lebt _Easter day_, 1713-14† XI. Nun komm’, der Heiden Heiland (61) _1st in Advent_, 1714 XII. Ich hatte viel Bekümmerniss (21) _Per ogni tempo_, ” XIII. Himmelskönig, sei willkommen[86] _Palm Sunday_, 1714-15 XIV. Der Himmel lacht, die Erde jubiliret (31) _Easter day_, 1715 XV. Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe[87] _4th after Trinity_, ” XVI. Komm, du süsse Todesstunde _16th after Trinity_, ” † XVII. Ach ich sehe, jetzt da ich _20th after Trinity_, ” XVIII. Nur jedem das Seine _23rd after Trinity_, 1715† XIX. Bereitet die Wege (132) _4th in Advent_, ” XX. Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn _Sunday after Christmas_, ” XXI. Mein Gott wie lang, ach lange _2nd after Epiphany_, 1716† XXII. Alles was von Gott geboren[88] _3rd in Lent_, ” XXIII. Wer mien liebet, der wird mein Wort (59) _Whitsunday_, ” XXIV. Wachet, betet, seid bereit (70) _2nd in Advent_, ” XXV. Herz und Mund und That _4th in Advent_, ” XXVI. Der Friede sei mit dir _Candlemas or Easter Tu., before_, 1717 XXVII. Wer sich selbst erhöht (47) _17th after Trinity_, 1720 XXVIII. Das ist je gewisslich wahr _3rd in Advent_, ” † XXIX. Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe (22) _Quinquagesima_, 1723 XXX. Du wahrer Gott und Davids sohn[89] (23) ” ” XXXI. Die Elenden sollen essen (75) _1st after Trinity_, ” † XXXII. Die Himmel erzählen (76) _2nd after Trinity_, ” XXXIII. Ein ungefärbt Gemüte (24) _4th after Trinity_, ” † XXXIV. Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht _7th after Trinity_, ” XXXV. Ihr die ihr euch von Christo nennet _13th after Trinity_, ” † XXXVI. Preise, Jerusalem (119) (_Municipal_) _24th August_, ” XXXVII. Höchsterwünschtes] Freudenfest (_Church festival at Stoermthal_) _2nd November_, ” XXXVIII. Christen, ätzet diesen Tag (63) _Christmas day_, ” † XXXIX. Dazu ist erschienen (40) _2nd Christmas day_, ” † XL. Sehet, welch’ eine Liebe (64) _3rd Christmas day_, ” † XLI. Gottlob, nun geht das Jahr zu Ende (28) _Sunday after Christmas_, 1723-7† XLII. Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied _New Year’s day_, 1724† XLIII. Schau, lieber Gott. _Sunday after New Year_, ” † XLIV. Sie werden aus Saba (65) _Epiphany_, ” XLV. Mein liebster Jesus ist verloren _1st after Epiphany_, ” † XLVI. Jesus schläft (81) _4th after Epiphany_, ” XLVII. Erfreute Zeit im neuen Bunde (83) _Candlemas_, ” XLVIII. Christ lag in Todesbanden (4) _Easterday_, ” † XLIX. Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (12) _4th after Easter_, ” † L. Erschallet, ihr Lieder _Whitsunday_, 1724† LI. Erwünschtes Freudenlicht _Whitsun Tuesday_, ” † LII. O heilges Geist und Wasserbad _Trinity Sunday_, ” † LIII. Siehe zu, dass deine Gottesfurcht _2nd after Trinity_, ” LIV. Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele, No.I.(69) _12 thafter Trin._, ” LV. Herr Gott, dich loben wir (16) _New Year’s day_, 1721-7[90] LVI. Alles nur nach Gottes Willen (72) _3rd after Epiphany_, ” LVII. Herr, wie du willt (73) _3rd after Epiphany_, ” LVIII. Nimm, was dein ist, und gehe hin. _Septuagesima_, ” LIX. Leichtgesinnte Flattergeister _Sexagesima_, ” LX. Halt im Gedächtniss Jesum Christ (67) _1st after Easter_, ” LXI. Du Hirte Israëls (104) _2nd after Easter_, ” LXII. Wo gehst du hin _4th after Easter_, ” LXIII. Wahrlich, ich sage euch (86) _5th after Easter_, ” LXIV. Sie werden euch in den’ Bann thun (44) Sunday after Ascension_, ” LXV. O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort (20) _1st after Trinity_, ” LXVI. Ihr Menschen, rühmet GottesLiebe _S. John Baptist_, ” LXVII. Erforsche mich, Gott (136) _8th after Trinity_, ” LXVIII. Thue Rechnung _9th after Trinity_, ” LXIX. Herr, gehe nicht in’s Gericht (105) ” ” LXX. Schauet doch und sehet (46) _10th after Trinity_, ” LXXI. Du sollst Gott, deinen Herren lieben (77) _13th after Trinity_, ” LXXII. Liebster Gott, wann werd’ ich sterben (8) _16th after Trinity_, ” LXXIII. Es erhub sich ein Streit (19) _Michaelmas_, 1725† LXXIV. Ich lasse dich nicht (_Mourning at Pomssen_) _6th February_, 1727 LXXV. Wünschet Jerusalem Glück (_Municipal_) _25th August_, ” LXXVI. Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht (52) _23rd after Trinity_, 1727-34 LXXVII. Widerstehe doch der Sünde (53) ” ” LXXVIII. Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde (54) ” LXXIX. Meine Seele rühmt und preiset ” LXXX. Wer nur den lieben Gott (93) _5th after Trinity_, 1728† LXXXI. Gott, man lobei dich (120) (_Municipal_) _before_, 1730 LXXXII. Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe[91] _Christmas day_, 1729-30† LXXXIII. Gott, wie dein Name _New Year’s day_, ” † LXXXIV. Sehet, wir gehen hinauf gen Jerusalem _Quinquag._, ” † LXXXV. Auf, mein Herz _Easter Tuesday_, ” † LXXXVI. Ich steh mit einem Fuss im Grabe _3rd after Epiph._, 1730† LXXXVII. Herr Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge (_Wedding_), ” † LXXXVIII. Ein’ feste Burg (80) (_Reformation Festival_) _31st Oct._, 1730† LXXXIX. Erhöhtes Fleisch und Blut[92] _Whitsun Monday, about_, ” XC. Schwingt freudig euch empor (36) 1st in Adv., about_ ” XCI. Ich habe meine Zuversicht _21st after Trinity_, 1730-31 XCII. Wer da gläubet und getauft wird (37) _Ascension_, 1731† XCIII. Dem Gerechten muss das Licht (_Wedding_), ” † XCIV. Es ist das Heil (9) _6th after Trinity_, ” † XCV. Herr, deine Augen sehen (102) _10th after Trinity_, ” † XCVI. Geist und Seele wird verwirret (35) _12th after Trin._, ” † XCVII. Wir danken dir, Gott (29)(_Municipal_) _27th Aug._, ” XCVIII. Es ist nichts Gesundes (25) _14th after Trinity_, ” † XCIX. Wer weiss, wie nahe mir mein Ende (27) _16th after Trinity_, ” C. Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg _Michaelmas_, ” CI. Ich glaube, lieber Herr (109) _21st after Trinity_, ” † CII. Ich armer Mensch (55) _22nd after Trinity_, ” † CIII. Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (140) _27th after Trin._, ” CIV. Ich habe genug (82) _Candlemas_, 1731-2 CV. Ich bin vergnügt (84) _Septuagesima_, ” CVI. Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt (112) _2nd after Easter_, ” CVII. Ich liebe den Höchsten _Whitsun Monday_, ” CVIII. Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen (51) _15th after Trin._, ” CIX. Gott soll allein mein Herze haben _18th after Trin._, ” CX. Ich will den Kreuzstab (56) _19th after Trinity_, ” CXI. Ich geh’ und suche (49) _20th after Trinity_, ” † CXII. Was Gott tut, das ist wolgetan, No I. (98) _21st after Trinity_, ” † CXIII. Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott _Trinity Sunday_, 1732 CXIV. Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ _4th after Trinity_, ” CXV. Siehe, ich will viel Fischer (88) _5th after Trinity_, 1732 CXVI. Vergnügte Ruh _6th after Trinity_, ” † CXVII. Es wartet alles auf dich _7th after Trinity_, ” CXVIII. Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König (137) _12th after Trinity_, ” CXIX. Christus, der ist mein Leben (95) _16th after Trin._, ” † CXX. Was soll ich aus dir machen (89) _22nd after Trin._, ” † CXXI. O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort (60) _24th after Trinity_, ” † CXXII. Ach Gott wie manches Herzeleid (58) _Sunday after New Year_, 1733 CXXIII. Was Gott thut, das ist wohlgethan, No. II. (99) _15th after Trinity_, ” † CXXIV. In allen meinen Thaten (97) 1734 CXXV. Nun danket alle Gott (_imperfect_) _about_ ” CXXVI. Lobet Gott in seinem Reichen (11) (_Oratorium_) _Ascension, about_ ” CXXVII. Was willst du dich betrüben (107) _7th after Trinity, about_ ” CXXVIII. Sei Lob und Ehr’ dem höchsten Gut (117) _about_ ” CXXIX. Was Gott thut, das ist wohlgethan, No. III.(100) _about_ ” CXXX. Es ist ein trotzig und versagt Ding _Trinity, after_ 1732 CXXXI. Unser Mund sei voll Lachens (110) _Christmas, after_ 1734 CXXXII. Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal (_Jubilee music_) _after_ ” CXXXIII. Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brod’ (39) _Trinity, after_ ” CXXXIV. Es ist dir gesagt, Mensch (45) _8th after Trin., after_ ” CXXXV. Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele, No. II. _New Year’s day_, 1735 CXXXVI. Wär’ Gott nicht mit uns (14) _4th after Epiphany_, ” CXXXVII. Erfreut euch, ihr Herzen (66) _Easter Monday_, ” CXXXVIII. Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum[93] (134) _Easter Tuesday_, ” CXXXIX. Ich bin ein guter Hirt (85) _2nd after Easter_, ” CXL. Ihr werdet weinen (103) _3rd after Easter_, ” CXLI. Es ist euch gut, dass ich hingehe (108) _4th after Easter_, ” CXLII. Bisher habt ihr nichts gebeten (87) _5th aft. Easter_, ” CXLIII. Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen (43) _Ascension day_, ” CXLIV. Auf Christi Himmelfahrt allein (128) _Ascension day_ (_second service_), ” CXLV. Sie werden euch in den Bann tun _Sunday after Ascension_, 1735 CXLVI. Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort (74) _Whitsunday_, ” CXLVII. Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt (68) _Whitsun Mon._, ” CXLVIII. Er rufet seine Schafe mit Namen _Whitsun Tuesday_, ” CXLIX. Was frag’ ich nach der Welt (94) _9th after Trinity_, ” CL. Wo soll ich fliehen hin (5) _19th after Trinity_, ” CLI. Gott, der Herr, ist Sonn und Schild (79) _21st after Trinity_, ” † CLII. Ich freue mich in dir (133) _3rd Christmas day_, ” CLIII. Jesu, nun sei gepreiset (41) _New Year’s day_, 1736 CLIV. Bleib’ bei uns (6) _Easter Monday_, ” CLV. Wer Dank opfert (17) _14th after Trinity, before_ 1737 CLVI. O Jesu Christ, mein’s Lebens Licht (118) ” CLVII. Gott ist unsere Zuversicht[94] (_Wedding_), 1737-8 CLVIII. Freue dich erlöste Schaar (30) _S. John Baptist_, 1738 CLIX. O ewiges Feuer, o Ursprung der Liebe (34) _Whitsunday_, 1740-1 CLX. Du Friedefürst, Herr Jesu Christ (116) _25th after Trinity_, 1744 CLXI. Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (62) _1st Sunday in Advent_, 1736-44 CLXII. Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ (91) _Christmas day_, ” CLXIII. Christum wir sollen loben schon _2nd Christmas day_, ” CLXIV. Selig ist der Mann (57) ” ” † CLXV. Süsser Trost, mein Jesus kommt _3rd Christmas day_ ” † CLXVI. Das neugeborne Kindelein (122) _Sunday after Christmas_, ” CLXVII. Liebster Immanuel (123) _Epiphany_, ” CLXVIII. Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen (32) _1st after Epiphany_, ” † CLXIX. Meinen Jesum lass ich nicht (124) ” ” CLXX. Meine Seufzer, meine Tränen (13) _2nd after Epiphany_, ” † CLXXI. Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid (3) ” ” CLXXII. Was mein Gott will, das g’scheh’ allzeit (111) _3rd after Epiphany_, 1736-44 CLXXIII. Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin (125) _Candlemas_, ” CLXXIV. Ich hab’ in Gottes Herz und Sinn (92) _Septuag._, ” CLXXV. Herr Jesu Christ, wahr’ Mensch und Gott (127) _Quinquagesima_, ” CLXXVI. Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbaths (42) _1st after Easter_, ” † CLXXVII. Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein (2) _2nd after Trinity_, ” CLXXVIII. Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele ” ” LXXIX. Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam (7) _S. John Baptist_, ” CLXXX. Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort (126) _6th after Trinity_, ” CLXXXI. Meine Seele erhebet den Herren (10) _Visitation of S. Mary_, ” CLXXXII. Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz (138) _15th after Trinity_, ” † CLXXXIII. Nun ist das Heil and die Kraft (50) _Michaelmas_, ” CLXXXIV. Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir (130) ” ” CLXXXV. Ach lieben Christen, seid getrost (114) _17th after Trinity_, ” CLXXXVI. Herr Christ der ein’ge Gottessohn (96) _18th after Trinity_, ” CLXXXVII. Ich elender Mensch (48) _19th after Trinity_, ” CLXXXVIII. Aus tiefer not schrei ich zu dir (38) _21st after Trinity_, ” CLXXXIX. Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit (115) _22nd after Trinity_, ” CXC. Ach wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig (26) _24th after Trinity_, ” CXCI. Es reifet euch ein schrecklich Ende (90) _25th after Trinity_, ” CXCII. Ihr Pforten zu Zion (_Municipal_) _composed in Leipzig_.[95] CXCIII. Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder (135) _3rd after Trinity._ CXCIV. Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält _8th after Trinity._ CXCV. Nimm von uns, Herr (101) _10th after Trinity._ CXCVI. Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut (113) _11th after Trinity._ CXCVII. Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ (33) _13th after Trinity._ CXCVIII. Jesu, der du meine Seele (78) _14th after Trinity._ CXCIX. Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott (139) _23rd after Trinity._ CC. Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (1) _Annunciation._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The lines on this print are given by Spitta, vol. i. p. 9:—

_Hier siehst du geigen Hansen Bachen, Wenn du es hörst, so mustu lachen. Er geigt gleichwohl nach seiner Art Und trägt einen hübschen Hans Bachens Bart._

[2] Spitta, i. 160. The genealogist, however, in a list of thirty-seven musicians, signalises one drunkard, Johann Friedrich, the third son of the great Johann Christoph: _ibid._ 139.

[3] _Ausdrückend_ was the distinctive title associated to his great-uncle by Philipp Emanuel Bach: Spitta, i. 50.

[4] According to the new style the day is the 31st. Handel was born a month earlier; and English notices, since the year in this country began on the 25th of March, place his birthday in 1684. That this should create a misconception in the minds of foreign writers was natural; but it is curious that they have all failed to detect the source of the confusion, and unanimously exposed an imaginary error.

[5] _Bach-Gesellschaft_, II. No. 15.

[6] They are a fugue in C minor, and a prelude and fugue in the same key, printed in Peters’ collected edition of the instrumental works, series v. pt. 4. 9 and 5.

[7] Dr. Spitta analyses the characteristics of Bach’s pedal-use in these early fugues as (1) incidental, for a single emphasis, (2) in cadences, and (3) as a pedal-point to strengthen a prolonged fundamental harmony: i. 243 f.

[8] To the latter part of the stay at Arnstadt are attributed the preludes and fugues in C and A minor (Peters, v. 3. 7, 9) and a fantasia in G (v. 4. 11). Another fantasia and a fugue, both in G and presumably of the same period, remain in MS., one in the Berlin library, the other in the possession of the present cantor of S. Thomas’s, Leipzig, Dr. Wilhelm Rust.

[9] Besides the pieces mentioned below, a prelude and fugue in E flat (a MS. in Dr. Rust’s possession), and a fugue in E minor seem to belong to the Arnstadt period, if indeed this latter does not date as far back as Lueneburg. It appears at No. 212, p. 12, of Peters’ cheap edition, to which, as the most generally accessible, I always refer for the clavichord works.

[10] Another _capriccio_, which may be even earlier than the preceding, has in one copy the interesting heading, _In honorem Joh. Christoph. Bachii_, his brother and old preceptor at Ohrdruf (No. 216, p. 2).

[11] Bach’s appointment is dated 14th June, 1707. The signatures of three members of the consistory are absent; they offer a pathetic excuse. Their houses had just been burnt to the ground in a great fire that had laid waste much of the town, and they were destitute even of the means of signing their names, _hätten keine Feder oder Tinte, wären wegen des Unglücks so bestürzet, dass sie an keine Music dächten; wie es die anderen Herren machten wären sie zufrieden_: Spitta, i. 851 f.

[12] The description of the scene, in somewhat sesquipedalian Latin, is quoted by Spitta, i. 801.

[13] Note to Quintilian, _Inst. Orat._ i. xii. 3, in Spitta ii. 89.

[14] Forkel, _Life of J. S. Bach_, pp. 30 f., _E. T._, London, 1820.

[15] The early works for organ have already been enumerated, above pp. 21 f.

[16] An excellent catalogue of this edition is contained in Alfred Doerffel’s _Thematisches Verzeichniss, u.s.w._, Leipzig, 1867.

[17] He might indeed just go too far, as we may see from the complaints made against Bach when at Arnstadt (above p. 25).

[18] Handel too was a student of Legrenzi, as a motive in one of his oratorios bears witness.

[19] Mattheson proposed the theme some years later, without stating its derivation, to a candidate for examination on the organ: Spitta, i. 634 f.

[20] This fugue is based upon the G minor violin-sonata, and possibly was composed at Coethen.

[21] To this period belongs also a fragmentary _Fantasia_ in C minor, preserved in MS. at Berlin.

[22] The inventory of Bach’s property at his death mentions among his books August Pfeiffer’s _Anti-Calvinismus_. He certainly possessed it at Coethen, as witnesses the inscription on a _Clavier-Büchlein_ written for his second wife.

[23] Their intimate relations may be illustrated by the fact that a child of Bach’s, born in November, 1718, was christened after the Prince and one of his brothers, who with a sister and two courtiers all stood sponsors to the boy.

[24] Bernhard Bach came to occupy his father’s old post at Muehlhausen. He afterwards studied law at Jena, but died there of a fever in 1739.

[25] Spitta, i. 665-669.

[26] A fifth, in A minor, remains in MS. at Berlin.

[27] Dr. Spitta argues in support of its genuineness, and is inclined also to accept another one, at present unpublished, of which he quotes the opening bars: vol. ii. p. 686.

[28] Add to these three detached minuets printed at 216, pp. 30 f.

[29] An early sonata and two _capriccios_ have already been noticed above, p. 23.

[30] At Weimar he had already written a concerto in C minor, which remains in MS. The arrangements for clavichord of Vivaldi’s violin concertos (217) are of singular interest, as evidence of Bach’s view of the requirements and capacities of the clavichord; but they cannot be included in a list of his original works.

[31] The other three have been already included under the _concertante_ instruments.

[32] Three of them have been excellently transcribed for the pianoforte by Joachim Raff, and published at Leipzig by Rieter-Biedermann.

[33] Another composition for these instruments is one of the endless varieties of the _Musikalische Opfer_, but its position there removes it somewhat from the field of Bach’s chamber works.

[34] Forkel, pp. 22 f.

[35] Goerner has one claim to remembrance, since he lived to draw out the stops for Mozart when he made his historical visit to the Thomaskirche in 1789.

[36] Vol. ii. p. 52.

[37] To this class we may assign without hesitation the cantatas, _Ich bin vergnügt mit meinem Glücke_ (No. 84) and _Ich habe genug_ (No. 82). The latter is printed in a form which Bach afterwards gave to it, changing the soprano into a bass _solo_. Possibly _Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten_ (93) had a like origin: see Spitta, ii. 274 f., 302 f., 269 ff. A secular cantata of which the subject closely resembles that of the two first-named works should seem to belong to the same category: it is printed in the Bach-Gesellschaft xi. (2) p. 105.

[38] _Ein Teuflisches Geplerr und Geleyer._ The expression occurs in his treatise on Thorough Bass, printed by Spitta, ii. 913-950.

[39] Published by the Bach-Gesellschaft, xi. (2) p. 139. The music was used again for the Coronation Festival in 1734.

[40] B.-G. xx. (2) p. 73; used again for the King’s birthday.

[41] B.-G. xi. (2) p. 3.

[42] This and the two following exist in MS. at Berlin.

[43] B.-G. xx. (2) p. 3. It was revived for a royal anniversary in 1736 or 1737.

[44] Cp. below, p. 106.

[45] The _Edifying Reflexions of a Tobacco-smoker_ are printed by C. H. Bitter in his Life of Bach, vol. i. pp. 124 f. (Berlin, 1865), and the music added in facsimile at the end. The words recall entirely the old English song, _Tobacco’s but an Indian weed_, of Tom d’Urfey’s _Pills to Purge Melancholy_, 1699, or Wither’s delicious verses, with the refrain _Thus think and drink tobacco_, of which d’Urfey’s are a _réchauffé_. But the English has not the analogy of the pipe and the human soul carried into such detail as Bach’s text; witness the lines:—

Wie oft geschieht’s nicht bei dem Rauchen, Dass, wenn der Stopfer nicht zu Hand, Man pflegt den Finger zu gebrauchen? Dann denk’ ich, wenn ich mich verbrannt, O macht die Kohle solche Pein; Wie heiss mag erst die Hölle sein.

[46] The two comic cantatas have been published by S. W. Dehn in two editions; the second is issued by C. A. Klemm at Leipzig.

[47] Three are mentioned: one is lost; the second probably dates from Coethen, and is published by the Bach-Gesellschaft, xi. (2) p. 75; and the third had already been used for certainly three occasions before it was adapted to a marriage festival, it seems in 1749.

[48] Possibly we should add a cantata which seems to belong to some court festival, and exists in private hands at Dresden: Spitta, ii. 450 f.

[49] MS. at Berlin.

[50] Afterwards absorbed into the church cantata, _Erhöhtes Fleisch und Blut_.

[51] Afterwards re-written as church cantata No. 35.

[52] The _Trauer-Ode_ is published in the Bach-Gesellschaft, xiii. p. 3.

[53] Of this sort Bach is only known to have written three cantatas, of which two remain. One, _Non sà che sia dolore_, lies in MS. at Berlin; the other, _Amore traditore_, is printed by the Bach-Gesellschaft, xi. (2) p. 93.

[54] All but No. 2 have been published at Leipzig by Breitkopf and Haertel: a few others are of doubtful genuineness.

[55] Preface to the twentieth volume, first division, of the Bach-Gesellschaft.

[56] Vol. ii. pp. 335 ff.

[57] Vol. ii. pp. 338-346.

[58] Sometimes in Italy the oratorio was actually presented with all the scenic accessories of the opera, just as Liszt’s _Saint Elisabeth_ was performed at Weimar, in 1881.

[59] The only change is by way of addition, namely, of two place from S. Matthew xxvi. 75, xxvii. 51, 52, to the distinct invigoration of the somewhat colourless narrative of the fourth Gospel.

[60] G. A. Macfarren, preface to Novello’s edition of the _Passion_, p. ii.

[61] In the interval it had apparently formed part of the Passion music written for 1725, of which indeed it remains the solitary relic. See above, p. 89.

[62] This idea had already suggested itself to Telemann, in his _S. Mark Passion_; and before him it had been used by Heinrich Schuetz in his _Seven Words_. Another method had been to give Christ’s words to a chorus, as though too great for any single voice: Spitta, vol. ii. pp. 374 f.

[63] The smaller masses are in G major and minor, A, and F; the two former are simple adaptations of pieces from the church cantatas. All are of later composition than the _S. Matthew Passion_; those in G and A apparently dating from about 1737. The four Masses are printed in the eighth volume of the Bach-Gesellschaft. A _Christe eleison_ in C minor and four _Sanctuses_ (B.-G. xi. pt. 1) complete the list of Bach’s Latin works.

[64] As already mentioned, p. 65, the _Kyrie_ and _Gloria_ of the High Mass were written for Dresden and dedicated to the king on the 27th of July, 1733; the _Credo_ may have been composed for use at Leipzig even a year or two earlier. The completion of the whole cannot be fixed later than 1738.

[65] Bach’s thankfulness has often this same emotional tenour. In the Mass it is made conspicuous by the identity of the music of the _Dona nobis_ with that of the _Gratias agimus_. The subject is an old church one. Bach had used it before in the great chorus of his Rathswahl-Cantate of 1731, _Wir danken dir, Gott_ (No. 29), where the similar, but different and less elaborate treatment of the same subject—the second subject also is all but identical—offers an instructive study.

[66] Forkel, p. 87.

[67] See above, p. 53.

[68] One good he got from it. The town having awoke to the advantage of hearing good music, it became more liberal in the arrangements, and especially the financial arrangements of the Thomaskirche. It had slept apparently through the _S. Matthew Passion_.

[69] The title is often given in French as the _Clavecin bien tempéré_; but this is confusing, for the works were never intended for the harpsichord (_clavecin_), but for the more expressive clavichord (_clavier_).

[70] “You will then,” he adds, “surely become an able musician.”

[71] An early form of the prelude and fugue in G (in the second part) will be found in No. 214, p. 42, and yet another prelude to the same fugue at p. 44. The relation of these essays to their inimitable successor is full of suggestion. Similarly the prelude and fugue in A flat (also in the second part) were at first written in F. See 214, p. 40.

[72] It is interesting to compare the great organ-fugues, as that in G which dates from 1724-5, or that in C from 1730.

[73] Pp. 57 f, cp. 68 f.

[74] The most scholarly edition of the _Wohltemperirte Clavier_ was prepared by Franz Kroll for the Bach-Gesellschaft, and appears in the fourteenth volume. Kroll has also brought out a reprint of the text in Peters’ cheap series, by far the most convenient for students, since it is unencumbered by the additions of later pianoforte-music makers, marks of _tempo_, emphasis, &c.

[75] Not, however, by his sons’ hands, as is commonly stated. The _Kunst der Fuge_ is edited by Dr. Rust in the twenty-fifth volume of the Bach-Gesellschaft (first division): its study should be accompanied by Moritz Hauptmann’s musician-like _Erläuterungen_, published by Peters.

[76] It was published in 1752. The only works that appeared in Bach’s lifetime were the five parts of the _Clavier-Uebung_ containing clavichord and organ compositions, the _Musikalische Opfer_, and a _Canon_ written for Mizler’s Musical Society.

[77] The chorale was added in the first edition of the _Kunst der Fuge_, and its place there, though musically irrelevant, is surely justified by a fine sentiment. Forkel touchingly says, “The expression of pious resignation, and devotion in it, have always affected me whenever I have played it; so that I can hardly say which I would rather miss—this chorale, or the end of the last fugue,” p. 91. The rigour of criticism has of course relegated the piece to the category of organ-works (vii. 58).

[78] Forkel, p. 78.

[79] Forkel, p. 28.

[80] See Spitta, vol. i. 713; ii. 124f.: and compare W. S. Rockstro’s article, _Orchestration_, in Mr. Grove’s _Dictionary of Music and Musicians_.

[81] A second edition appeared in London in 1878. There are few more amusing examples of ardent hero-worship than this collection contains. Bach is first “our Demi-God,” “our grand Hero,” “our Sacred Musician,” “our Apollo,” “this marvellous Man.” At length Wesley’s rhetoric fails, and his idol becomes “THE MAN (which expression I prefer to any epithet of _great_, or _wonderful_, &c., which are not only common, but _weak_, as is every other epithet applied to one whom none can sufficiently praise),” p. 36.

[82] Curiously enough, Johann Adam Hiller, a respectable musician and a successor of Bach at the Thomasschule, admired Bach’s counterpoint and part-writing, but found his melodies “odd” (_sonderbar_).

[83] The detailed arguments in favour of this arrangement will be found in Spitta, vol. i. pp. 225-230; 339-350; 369-372; 438-461; 480-507; 525-565; 790 f.; 797-801; 803-814; vol. ii. 181-306; 545-569; 774-790; 791-810; 830-838: with which compare the various prefaces in the edition of the Bach-Gesellschaft, vols. i.-xxviii.

[84] An incomplete work discovered by Dr. Spitta in the chantry at Langula near Muehlhausen: vol. i. pp. 339 f.

[85] Printed by the Bach-Gesellschaft, xiii. (1), p. 73.

[86] Printed in J. P. Schmidt’s Kirchengesänge.

[87] Printed in the same.

[88] Rewritten as No. 80 of the _B.-G._

[89] Originally intended as the _Probe-Stück_ for his post at Leipzig, but discarded in favour of the preceding number. Perhaps it was produced on the same Sunday in the following year.

[90] The dates of Nos. LVI.-LXXIII. do not admit of an exact determination.

[91] Fragment afterwards mainly absorbed into a marriage cantata (No. XCIII.) printed by the Bach-Gesellschaft, xiii. (1), p. 3.

[92] Rewritten from a Coethen serenade: see above, p. 79, n. 3.

[93] Rewritten from a secular cantata: see above, p. 79, n. 1.

[94] Printed by the Bach-Gesellschaft, xiii. (1), p. 97.

[95] This and the eight following numbers are of uncertain date.

THE END.

LONDON: PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LTD., ST. JOHN’S HOUSE, CLERKENWELL ROAD, E.C.