William Buckley said “If Bach is not in Heaven.....I am not going!”

William Buckley said “If Bach is not in Heaven.....I am not going!”

Johann Sebastian Bach1685-1750

Ohrdruf 1695-1700 • 1695-1700: Ohrdruf • Johann Sebastian and his brother Jacob become members of the household of their brother, Johann Christoph • J.S. is enrolled at the lyceum and receives music instruction from his brother, Johann Christoph

Luneburg 1700-1702 • 1700-1702: Lüneburg • Johann Sebastian becomes a member of St. Michael’s Church Choir and a scholarship student at St. Michael’s School

Weimar 1703-1703 • 1703 (March through August): Weimar • Johann Sebastian served as a servant and musician to the Duke, Johann Ernst

Arnstadt 1703-1707 • 1703-1707: Arnstadt • Organist at the New Church • Becomes acquainted with Maria Barbara Bach, youngest daughter of organist and town clerk, Johann Michael Bach. Maria Barbara was living with relatives in Arnstadt at the time • Geyserbach affair August 4, 1705 • Traveled to Lübeck to visit Dietrich Buxtehude • Overextended his leave of absence and displeased the town council

1707-1708: MülhausenOrganist at St. Blasius ChurchMarried Maria Barbara Bach October 7, 1707Maria Barbara was a distant cousin of Johann SebastianMade recommendations for the improvement of the St. Blasius organ

1708-1717: WeimarChamber Musician and Court Organist for Duke Wilhelm ErnstAppointed Concertmaster in 1714Entered into a “playing” contest with Marchand in Dresden, September, 1717Imprisoned from November 6 through December 2 for insisting on being released from his court dutiesUnfavorably dismissed from the court

Johann Sebastian Bach • 1708-1717: Weimar • Six children born into the Bach family in Weimar • 1708-1774: Catherina Dorothea (unmarried) • 1710-1784: Wilhelm Friedemann (Organist; Became known as the “Halle” Bach) • 1713: Twins Johann Christopher and Maria Sophie (died in infancy) • 1714-1788: Carl Philipp Emanuel (Became a well-known composer and keyboard player) • 1715-1739: Johann Gottfried Bernhard (Harpsichordist and organist; wrote “Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments” two parts, 1753 and 1762)

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor • One of the most famous Bach organ compositions is the Toccata and Fugue in D minor • The Toccata is a brilliant display piece • The Fugue is a standard form of the Baroque Period • Arrangements of this work have been made by Stokowski, Ormandy, Busoni, and others

The Fugue • The Fugue • Fugalvoices: each line of music is called a voice and fugues are composed of up to four voices • Thesubjectof a fugue is the theme and is stated alone at the beginning and then imitated in the remaining voices • The imitation of the subject is called theanswer • While the answer is being played, acountersubjector countertheme is heard in the first voice • The exposition of the fugue ends when the theme (subject) has been presented by each voice

Now the fugue alternates between entrances of the subject and periods of relaxation, known asepisodes • As the fugue progresses towards the end, a sense of urgency is felt through the use of stretto, a technique of imitating the theme in different voices in close succession • A picture of J.S. Bach’s own pipe organ • Toccata and Fugue in D minor played by Virgil Fox in 1977 on the Fratelli Ruffatti organ located in Garden Grove Community Church, Garden Grove, California. The organ, built in 1976, contains 116 ranks, 108 stops, and 6,791 pipes. This is the first digital recording made in the United States

Toccata and Fugue in d minorBWV 565 • Performance by Hans-Andre Stamm • Trost organ in Waltershausen, Germany • Bach played this organ

P.D.Q. Bach 1807-1742(Peter Schickele) • Toccata et Fugue Obnoxiafrom the Little Pickle Book (S.6)performed by Dennis James, theater organThe U.S. Senate Committee on StupidFunding for the So-Called Arts, dill piccolos

Johann Sebastian Bach • 1717-1723: Cöthen • Kapellmeister for the court orchestra of Prince Leopold • January, 1719, goes to Berlin to acquire a new harpsichord for the court • One child born to the couple in Cöthen • 1718-1719: Leopold August (named after the prince but died at age 10 months) • Maria Barbara dies in July, 1720, probably during childbirth • Johann Sebastian meets the professional singer Anna Magdalena Wilcke in the summer of 1721. Anna Magdalena, born in 1701 to court a trumpeter and the daughter of an organist • Johann Sebastian and Anna Magdalena are married on December 3, 1721 she was 20, J.S. was 36 • One child born to the couple in Cothen: • 1723-1726: Christiana Sophia Henrietta

Johann Sebastian Bach • 1717-1723: Cöthen • The Cöthen years were musically very productive • Prince Leopold loved and understood music and was an amateur musician (sang bass, played the violin, viola di gamba and harpsichord) • The court maintained a fine music library • The court orchestra of 18 or so consisted of the finest musicians • Since music is not required in church (The Prince was a Calvinist), Bach only composed secular instrumental works • Bach’s compositions include orchestral music, violin concertos and the Brandenburg Concertos

Johann Sebastian Bach • 1717-1723: Cöthen • Bach’s salary was 400 thalers plus 50 extra • 1719 Handel was visiting his Mother in Halle, 30 miles away. Bach was unable to make contact • May, 1720, Bach went with the Prince to Carlsbad, returning discovering that his wife, Maria Barbara, had died and had already been buried. She was almost 36 • Bach was seeking employment • He met the Margrave while on a shopping trip to Berlin to buy a new harpsichord • The Margrave neither acknowledged their receipt nor had the concertos performed

The Brandenburg Concertos • The concertos lay in the Margrave’s library for 13 years • At the time of the Margrave’s death in 1734 the concertos were valued at about ten cents each and were not even listed in the Margrave’s catalogue • The name “Brandenburg” was applied in the 19th century when the concertos were discovered in the Brandenburg archives • Prince Leopold’s marriage was the principal factor in Bach’s decision to leave • Leopold married a woman who was “not interested in the Muses” and who destroyed the relationship between Bach and the Prince

The Brandenburg Concertos • Presented to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg in 1721 but were never heard by the Margrave • Each features a unique instrumentation • #1 Violono piccolo, oboe, 2 horns • #2 Violin, Recorder, Oboe, Trumpet • #3 All Strings • #4 Violin, 2 Recorders • #5 Violin, Flute, Harpsichord • #6 2 Violas, Viole de gamba, Violoncello, Violone, Harpsichord

Walter Carlosand “Switched-on-Bach”Brandenburg Concerto No. 3Mvt. 1 Wendy Carlosand“Switched on Bach 2000”Brandenburg Concerto No. 3Mvt. 1

Brandenburg Concerto #3 • All strings • 3 violins • 3 violas • 3 cellos • Harpsichord & Bass • Tutti • Basso continuo • Concertos have 3 mvts • 2 • Improvised • Figured bass

Bach moves to Leipzig • Anna Magdalena lost her stipend as a singer • Bach's official salary was only a fourth of his Cöthen salary and he was much dependent on extra earnings from musical services at funerals and weddings. In "good" years, the St. Thomas choirs had to sing at one funeral a day, but in his letter to Georg Erdmann (1730), Bach complained that due to mild weather his income was often reduced. • Bach's own salary dropped to 700 Thaler (or Taler) • a silver coin that was the monetary unit in 18th-century Germany; the root word from which we get "dollar." • His responsibility was primarily the education of several hundred boys in the St. Thomas School • the musical resources at Leipzig were a disappointment • Bach suffered indignities and privations • A Bach Portrait (Peter Schickele)

The Musicologist • Professor Peter Schickele • “Discovered” the “famous” “Sanka” Cantata by P.D.Q. Bach in 1954 • “Teaches” at the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople (?!) • Toured with his show, “The Intimate P.D.Q. Bach” • Appeared in Blacksburg at Virginia Tech several times! • Composer, musician, author, satirist • Composer of • Concertos • Symphonies • Chamber music • Film scores • Teacher at Juilliard • Freelance composer/performer

A Spurt of Creativity • Four passions, several oratorios, and nearly three hundred sacred cantatas were composed in the first few years • In the last fifteen years he composed the “Art of the Fugue”, the “Well-Tempered Clavier” the “Musical Offering”, the “Mass in B Minor” and the chorale cantatas. • The University favored a man named Görner who was organist at St. Nicolas and later St. Thomas, and a man whom Bach considered incompetent. Once Bach became so upset with Görner's playing that he snatched off the man's wig and threw it at him.

Insults In 1727 Bach was commissioned to write a funeral work for Christiane Eberhardine, queen of Saxony. A young man from the University was co-commissioned to coordinate the writing of the poetry, music, and performance. Because of the University connection, Görner petitioned the University to exclude Bach from the project. the new rector Johann August Ernesti (1707-1781) Rector of the St. Thomas School claimed that it was his right to appoint prefects (those who acted as Bach's assistant music directors and teachers).

More Insults • Bach was criticized by twenty-three year old Johann Adolf Scheibe for removing "...every natural element from his pieces through their bombastic and muddled nature, obscuring their beauty through an over-abundance of art.” • Bach's duties in Leipzig were extraordinarily heavy, and his employers, the city council, seemed to have no sympathy for Bach's skill or higher calling. They were constantly reprimanding him for not having their pre-approval of his libretti and for delegating to others his responsibility to teach Latin. This relationship was so bad that when Bach died and a search was mounted for his replacement the council noted: • "We must not forget that we want a schoolmaster, not a musician."

Johann Sebastian Bach • Bach’s position in Leipzig • He was not the first choice for the position, but others did not accept the job • Telemann was the most famous composer of the day and was the first choice • 1723-1750: Leipzig • Bach’s duties in Leipzig were • Cantor of St. Thomas Church and School • Music Director for the city of Leipzig • Responsible for providing music in the four principal churches and for civic functions • Active with the Collegium Musicum • Appointed Saxon Court Composer November 19, 1736 • Visited Frederick the Great in Potsdam on May 7-8, 1747

What Bach had to do • There were choir rehearsals on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday • On Saturday the boys were joined by the instrumentalists for the rehearsal of the Sunday cantata • 5 yearly runs of cantatas were composed (i.e., 5 x 59 cantatas)

Family Life • The Bachs' life was filled with personal tragedy during those years in Leipzig. Between 1723 and 1737 Anna Magdalena went through twelve nine-month pregnancies. Eight of the twelve children died at ages varying from an hour to five years. Of the remaining four children, one was seriously mentally-handicapped (Gottfried Heinrich). The last child was born in 1742, when Anna Magdalena was 41 (and Sebastian 57).

Johann Sebastian Bach • 12 children were born to the Bach family in Leipzig • 1724-1763 Gottfried Heinrich • 1725-1728 Christian Gottlieb • 1726-1781 Elizabeth Juliana Frederica - married Johann Christoph Altnickol, a pupil of J.S., on January 20, 1749 • 1727-1727 Ernestus Andreas • 1728-1733 Regina Johanna • 1730-1730 Christiana Benedicta • 1731-1732 Christiana Dorothea • 1732-1795 Johann Christoph Frederich - became a keyboard virtuoso; known as the “Buckeburg” Bach • 1733-1733 Johann August Abraham • 1735-1782 Johann Christian - organist and composer; influenced Mozart; first to perform piano solos in England; known as the “London” Bach • 1737-1781 Johanna Carolina • 1742-1809 Regina Susanna

Zimmermann’s Coffee House • 1729, when he took over the direction of the Collegium Musicum (Music Society), an orchestra of students and some professional musicians founded by Telemann in 1702. • In 1734/35 Bach wrote his famous Coffee Cantata, BWV 211, as a kind of commercial for Zimmermann.

Johann Sebastian Bach • In Leipzig Bach composed • cantatas, oratorios, masses, motets, and organ works • Bach’s salary was about • $20 from teaching school • $2 from endowments • The remaining (about $135) from pick-up work • In 1750 his estate was valued at $250 • Bach’s final - and incomplete - work, The Art of the Fugue, spells out his own name (BACH) (B-flat, A, C, B-natural) • Bach died on July 28, 1750 and was buried at St. John’s Church • The Leipzig Town Council met on July 29 to settle the appointment of Bach’s successor. There was no expression of regret of Bach’s death, no note of sorrow to his family, no memorial. The rector of St. Thomas’ did not mention Bach in his yearly speech

J.S. BACH 1685-1750 • Following his death, his music was known only to connoisseurs such as Beethoven and Mozart • 1829 Felix Mendelssohn directed a performance of “Saint Matthew Passion” in Berlin • The complete edition of Bach’s works was begun in 1850 • In the 20th century, the music of Bach became central to Western musical culture • The renewed interest in Bach brought about the revival of countless compositions by other Baroque composers

The Mass in B minor The Mass in B minor may be Bach’s greatest achievement in sacred music and one of the great monuments in western music • It was not intended for use in the Lutheran Church • Bach put four “cantatas” into a single work • Begun in 1733 when Elector Friedrich Augustus died • Composed 1733-1738 when Bach made a bid for the post of composer at the Saxon Royal Chapel in 1733 and submitted the Kyrie and Gloria as a “trifling example of my skill” • The entire work was never heard during Bach’s lifetime • The premiere took place in 1834-35 in Berlin

Mass in B minor • Composed to impress the new Elector • Bach requested that he be named the official court composer • Kyrie and Gloria written for that reason • The Gloria was adapted from Cantata No. 191 • The Sanctus was written in 1724 for a Christmas Day service in Leipzig • Most of the Mass was adapted from other works • Bach enjoyed puzzles and made extensive use of numerological symbols • In the Mass the number 14 (the sum of the alphabetic positions of the letters of his last name) • The numbers of the letters in the “credo” add up to 43 and the word occurs 43 times in the opening movement of the Credo

The Ordinary of the Mass Kyrie Gloria Credo Sanctus Agnus Dei Mass in B minor I. MISSAKyrieGloria II. SYMBOLUM NICENUMCredo III. SANCTUS IV. OSANNA, BENEDICTUS, AGNUS DEI and DONA NOBIS PACHEM Osanna Benedictus OsannaAgnus Dei The Mass in B minor

Manuscript • J.S. Bach“A Musical Offering”

Today's PUZZLER

Puzzler #1 • Six choristers performed at the funeral of Vivaldi who, snubbed by Venice, was buried as a pauper beyond the city walls of Vienna. Which one of the choirboys became a great composer in his own right? • Answer: Franz Joseph Haydn

Puzzler #2 • Andrea Gabrieli’s Madrigali et ricercari a quattro voci contains music written following a victory over the Ottoman Empire in 1571. Name the famous sea battle it celebrates. • Answer: Battle of Lepanto - referred as "Sea Battle of Inebahti" in Turkish history books.

Puzzler #3 • What was the name of the first public opera house in Venice, and when did it open? • Answer: San Cassiano; its doors opened in 1637 with a premiere by a Roman company. The opera was called Andromeda by Monteverdi’s pupil Manelli.

Puzzler #4 • The Basilica of St. Mark’s in Venice is modeled after which church? • Answer: The Emperor Constantine’s Church of the Holy Apostles in Istanbul.

Puzzler #5 • Who was the castrato who demanded, regardless of the opera, that he make his first stage appearance at the top of a hill, carrying a sword and wearing a plumed helmet? • Luigi Marshesi

Puzzler #6 • Who was the famous librettist and poet of the Baroque era who died during a performance of Charpentier’s Le malade imaginaire in 1673? • Jean-Baptiste Moliere

Puzzler #7 • What was the name and location of the coffee house where J.S. Bach first performed his Coffee Cantata, BWV 211? • Gottfried Zimmermann’s Coffee House in Leipzig, 1734 or 1735

Puzzler #8 • Benjamin Britten’s last work was Death in Venice. But which was his only opera to be premiered in Venice? • Answer: The Turn of the Screw had its premiere at La Fenice in 1954.

Puzzler #9 • For which instrument did Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, play and compose many pieces? • The flute

William Buckley said “If Bach is not in Heaven.....I am not going!”