Johann Sebastian Bach, his Life, Art, and Work Part 5

JOHANN CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH BACH, Concertmeister at the Court of Buckeburg, imitated Carl Philipp's style, but was not his equal. According to Wilhelm Friedemann, he was the best player among the brothers, and the most effective performer of their father's Clavier compositions.

JOHANN CHRISTIAN BACH, called "Bach of Milan," and afterwards "Bach of London," was the youngest son of Bach's second marriage and of too tender an age when his father died ever to have had lessons from him. Hence, perhaps, the absence of Bach's style in his music. He was, in fact, a popular composer universally admired in his day.(202)

CHAPTER VIII. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

Distinguished as a player, composer, and teacher, Bach was also an indulgent father, a good friend, and a loyal citizen. His paternal devotion is shown by his care for his children's education, and he was equally a.s.siduous in the performance of his civil and social duties. His acquaintance was agreeable to everybody. Every lover of music, whatever his nationality, was sure of a friendly reception at his house, and his sociability and reputation caused him to be seldom without visitors.

As an artist Bach was exceptionally modest. Notwithstanding his pre-eminence in his profession, a superiority of which he could not but be conscious, and in spite of the admiration and respect daily shown him, he never gave himself airs. If he was asked the secret of his masters.h.i.+p he would answer, "I was made to work; if you are equally industrious you will be equally successful,"(203) a remark which made no allowance for his own exceptional genius. His opinion of other composers and their work was invariably fair and generous. Naturally, much of their work struck him as somewhat trivial, viewed from his own alt.i.tude. But he never uttered a harsh criticism, unless it were to a pupil, to whom he held himself bound to say what he thought. Still less did he presume on his acknowledged superiority to indulge in braggadocio, as often happens with performers brought into touch with those whom they regard as their inferiors. Herein Bach's modesty went so far that he never spoke voluntarily of his frustrated contest with Marchand, though the latter was the challenger.(204) Many absurd stories are told of Bach; for instance that, dressed up as a village schoolmaster, he liked to enter a church and ask the organist to let him play a Choral, in order to enjoy the astonishment excited by his playing, or to hear the Organist declare, "This must be Bach or the Devil."(205) He always ridiculed such stories, and indeed had too much respect for his art to make it cloak his vanity.

At musical parties where Quartet or other instrumental music was performed, Bach liked to play the Viola, an instrument which put him, as it were, in the middle of the harmony in a position from which he could hear and enjoy it on both sides. On those occasions he would sometimes join in a Trio or other piece on the Harpsichord. If he was in the mood and the composer was agreeable, he would, as has been told already, extemporise a new Trio from the Continuo part, or, adding a new part, convert the Trio into a Quartet. But these were the only occasions on which he was ready to display his great powers before others. One Hurlebusch, of Brunswick,(206) a conceited and arrogant Clavier player, once visited Bach at Leipzig, not to hear him play, but to play to him.

Bach received him politely and listened patiently to his very indifferent performance. On taking leave Hurlebusch made Bach's eldest sons a present of his published Sonatas, exhorting them to study them diligently. Bach, knowing the kind of music his sons were wont to play, smiled at Hurlebusch's navete but did not permit him to suspect his amus.e.m.e.nt.(207)

Bach was fond of listening to the music of other composers. If he and one of his elder sons happened to be in church when a Fugue was played, directly the subject had been stated he always pointed out how it ought to be developed. If the composer knew his business and fulfilled Bach's antic.i.p.ations, he was pleased and nudged his son to draw his attention to the fact. Is this not evidence of his impartial interest in other people's compositions?

I have mentioned already the composers whom in his youth Bach esteemed, loved, and studied. Later, when experience ripened his critical faculty, he had other favourites, among them Imperial Kapellmeister f.u.x, Handel, Caldara,(208) Reinhard Keiser, Ha.s.se,(209) the two Grauns,(210) Telemann,(211) Zelenka,(212) Benda,(213) etc., and, in general, the distinguished musicians at Dresden and Berlin. He was acquainted with all except the first four of those I mention. In his youth Bach was intimate with Telemann.(214) He also had a very warm regard for Handel and often expressed a desire to know him. As Handel, like himself, was a famous performer on the Organ and Clavier, many in Leipzig and its neighbourhood wished to bring the two great men together. But Handel, then living in London, never found time for a meeting during the visits he paid to Halle, his native town. On his first visit in 1719, Bach was at Cothen, only some twenty miles distant. As soon as he was informed of Handel's arrival he lost not a moment in setting out to visit him, but on his arrival found that Handel had returned to England. At the time of Handel's second visit, between 1730 and 1740,(215) Bach was prevented from leaving Leipzig by indisposition. But no sooner was he advised of Handel's arrival at Halle than he sent his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann, to beg him to visit Leipzig, an invitation which Handel was unable to accept. In 1752 or 1753, when Handel paid his third visit to Germany,(216) Bach was dead. He had always expressed the strongest desire to know Handel, and the Leipzig people were disappointed in their wish to hear the two great men together.

While Ha.s.se was Kapellmeister at Dresden both the Opera and Kapelle flourished. Bach had many friends at Dresden, who held him in high regard. Among them may be mentioned Ha.s.se and his wife, the celebrated Faustina.(217) They often visited Leipzig and were admirers of the Cantor's rare talents. Hence, at Dresden he was always received in the most respectful manner and often visited the Opera, generally accompanied by his eldest son. When the time for their journey approached Bach would say in fun, "Well, Friedemann, shall we go to Dresden to hear the pretty tunes(218) again?" Innocent as the jest was, I am sure Bach would not have uttered it to any but his son, who already could distinguish between great music and agreeable trifles.

Bach was never in a position to make what is called a brilliant fortune.(219) He held a fairly lucrative office, but his income had to maintain and educate a large family. He neither possessed nor sought other means of livelihood, and was too absorbed in his art and work to think of accepting engagements which, in those days, and to a man of his genius, certainly would have brought riches. Had he possessed a taste for travel he would, as even one of his detractors admits, have "drawn upon himself the admiration of the whole world." But he preferred a quiet domestic life, constant occupation in his work, with contentment and a moderate competence, like his forbears. His modesty, however, did hot prevent him from receiving manifold proofs of regard and affection and marks of honourable distinction. Prince Leopold of Cothen, Duke Ernst August of Weimar,(220) and Duke Christian of Weissenfels, all showed sincere regard for him, which must have been the more agreeable to him seeing that they were all sound judges of music. At Berlin, as at Dresden, he was universally honoured and respected. If we add to these testimonies the fact that he captured the admiration of all who heard him play or were acquainted with his music, then we may be sure that Bach, "singing for himself and the Muses," received at the hands of Fame the recognition he valued most, and cherished it far more than the trivial honour of a ribbon or gold chain.

I add that, in 1747, Bach became a member of the "Society of the Musical Sciences," founded by Mizler, only because we owe to the circ.u.mstance his admirable Choral Variations on _Vom Himmel hoch._(221) He presented them to the Society on his admission and they were engraved subsequently.(222)

CHAPTER IX. BACH'S COMPOSITIONS

To have produced so many great works in all forms of musical expression Bach necessarily must have been a prolific writer. For if a composer be the greatest genius in the world, unless he constantly exercises his art he cannot hope to produce real masterpieces. Superlative excellence is the fruit of indefatigable application. Yet in Bach's case we should be wrong to acclaim as masterpieces all the products of his great activity just because masterpieces at length were the fruit of it. Already in his early compositions we find undeniable evidence of genius. But they are blemished by faults, pa.s.sages poor in quality, extravagant, insipid, that are hardly worth preserving, though of interest to the student who wishes to trace from its source the development of Bach's genius.

It is not difficult to distinguish with exact.i.tude those of Bach's early compositions which are of the first excellence; for he has been at pains to give us the clue. As he did not publish his first work until he was about forty years old (223) we are justified in a.s.suming the merit of what, at so mature an age, he thought worthy to put into print, and in concluding generally that all his engraved works are of first-rate merit.(224)

With respect to his unpublished compositions, and they are by far the most numerous, we must in order to distinguish their merit rely partly on a critical examination of their texts, partly on Bach's own judgment. Like all great composers, he was continually working on his compositions with a view to making them still more finished. Indeed, he actually attempted to improve some of them that were already perfect. Any that were susceptible of improvement he improved, even those already engraved. Such is the origin of the variant readings of his works found in older and more recent texts. By constantly retouching his compositions Bach aimed at making them indisputable masterpieces. In this category I place most of what he wrote before the year 1725, as I show in detail in the following catalogue. A great many compositions subsequent to 1725, which for reasons easily understood are still in MS., bear too evidently the stamp of perfection to leave us in doubt whether to cla.s.s them as early essays or as the finished work of an accomplished master.

The following are those of Bach's works which have been engraved:

1. _Clavierubung_, or "Exercises for the Clavier, consisting of Preludes, Allemandes, Courantes, Sarabandes, Gigues, Minuets, etc., for the Diversion of Amateurs. Opus I. Published by the Composer, 1731." This was Bach's first published work and contains six Suites. The first of them came out in 1726;(225) the others followed in successive years until all were engraved together in 1731.(226) The work was much noticed at the time. Such compositions for the Clavier had not been seen or heard before, and the man who could play them was sure of a success. Our young players to-day would profit by the study of them, so brilliant, agreeable, expressive, and original are they. In the new edition(227) they are ent.i.tled, "Exercises for the Clavier."

2. _Clavierubung_, or "Exercises for the Clavier, Part II., consisting of a Concerto in the Italian style and an Overture in the French manner(228) for a Clavier with two manuals. Published by Christopher Weigel, Junior, in Nurnberg."(229) 3. _Clavierubung_, or "Exercises for the Clavier, Part III., consisting of various Organ Preludes to the Catechism and other Hymns, composed for the diversion of amateurs and particularly of competent judges of such works. Published by the Composer."

Besides the Preludes and Fugues for the Organ, all of which are masterly, the book contains four Duetti for the Clavier,(230) models of their kind.

4. _Sechs Chorale_, or "Six Choral Melodies of different kinds, for an Organ with two manuals and pedal. Zella, in the Thuringian Forest. Published by Johann G. Schubler."(231) They are full of dignity and religious feeling. In some of them, too, we have instances of Bach's original management of the stops.(232) Thus, in the second Choral, _Wo soll ich fliehen hin,_ he gives to the first manual an 8 foot, to the second a 16 foot, and to the pedal a 4 foot stop. The pedal has the cantus firmus.(233) 5. _Clavierubung_, or "Exercises for the Clavier, consisting of an Aria with several Variations, for a Clavier with two manuals.

Published by Balthasar Schmidt at Nurnberg."(234) This admirable work consists of thirty Variations, some in canon, in a variety of movements and at all intervals from the unison to the ninth, with easy flowing melody. It includes a regular fourpart Fugue,(235) several extremely brillant Variations for two Claviers,(236) and concludes with a Quodlibet, as it is called, which alone would render its composer immortal, though it is not the best thing in the volume.(237)

The Variations are models of what such compositions ought to be, though no one has been so rash as to attempt to follow Bach's footsteps. We owe them to Count Kaiserling, formerly Russian Amba.s.sador at the Saxon Electoral Court, who frequently visited Leipzig with Goldberg, already mentioned(238) among Bach's pupils.

The Count was a great invalid and suffered from insomnia. Goldberg lived in the Amba.s.sador's house, and slept in an adjoining room, to be ready to play to him when he was wakeful. One day the Count asked Bach to write for Goldberg some Clavier music of a soothing and cheerful character, that would relieve the tedium of sleepless nights. Bach thought a set of Variations most likely to fulfil the Count's needs, though, on account of the recurrence of the same basic harmony throughout, it was a form to which he had hitherto paid little attention. Like all his compositions at this period, however, the Variations are a masterpiece, and are the only example he has left us of this form.(239) The Count always called them "my Variations" and was never weary of hearing them. For long afterwards, when he could not sleep, he would say, "Play me one of my Variations, Goldberg." Perhaps Bach was never so well rewarded for any composition as for this. The Count gave him a golden goblet containing one hundred louis d'ors, though, as a work of art, Bach would not have been overpaid had the present been a thousand times as large. It may be observed, that in the engraved copy of the Variations there are serious mistakes, which the composer has corrected in his own copy.(240)

6. _Einige kanonische Verdaderungen,_ "Canonic Variations on the Christmas Hymn 'Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her,' for an Organ with two manuals and pedal. Published at Nurnberg by Balthasar Schmidt."

The work contains five canonic variations of the utmost ingenuity.(241) 7. _Musikalisches Opfer_, or "A Musical Offering," dedicated to Frederick II., King of Prussia. The theme received by Bach from the King(242) is treated first as a three-part Fugue under the acrostic t.i.tle "Ricercare" (Regis iussu cantio et reliqua canonica arte resoluta). There follows a six-part "Ricercare" and Thematis regii elaborationes canonicae of various kinds.(243) The work includes a Trio for Flute, Violin, and Clavier upon the same subject.(244) 8. _Die Kunst der Fuge_, or "The Art of Fugue." This work, unique of its kind, did not appear till about 1752, after Bach's death, though the greater part of it had been engraved by his sons during his lifetime.(245) Marpurg,(246) the leading German musical critic of that day, contributed a preface to this edition which contains many just observations on the value and utility of such treatises.(247) But, being too good for the general public, the work found only a small circulation among those who discerned its merit and eagerly bought copies. The plates were never used again and eventually were sold(248) by Bach's heirs at the price of old copper. Written by a man of Bach's transcendent genius, and commended as a masterpiece by a critic so highly regarded as Marpurg, a work of this kind, if published in any other country than Germany, would have pa.s.sed through at least ten editions by now, if only at the bidding of patriotism. But in Germany not a sufficient number of copies was sold to pay for the plates used in engraving the work!

The work consists of fugal Variations planned on the most elaborate scale.(249) The composer's intention was to show in what a variety of ways the same theme can be treated fugally. The Variations (here called "Contrapunctus")(250) are complete Fugues upon the same theme. The last Fugue of all has three subjects, in the third of which the composer signs his name, B A C H.(251) Bach was prevented from finis.h.i.+ng it by the disorder of his eyes, and as an operation brought no relief the movement was never completed. It is said that Bach intended to introduce four themes into it and to bring it to an impressive conclusion by inverting them all. All the Fugues in the work are equally smooth and melodious.

To make up for the unfinished Fugue Bach concluded the work with a Choral Prelude upon the tune "Wenn wir in hochsten Nothen sein,"

which he dictated to his son-in-law, Altnikol, a few days before his death.(252) Of the extraordinary skill it displays I do not speak, save to remark that even in his last illness it proclaims Bach's skill undiminished. The pious resignation and devotion that characterise it move me deeply whenever I play it. Nor should I find it easy to say which I had rather had been omitted, the Choral Prelude, or the conclusion of the unfinished Fugue.

9. Lastly, after Bach's death, his four-part Chorals were collected by his son, Carl Philipp Emmanuel, and were published by Birnstiel (Berlin and Leipzig), Part I. in 1765, Part II. in 1769.(253) Each Part contains one hundred Chorals, mostly taken from the composer's church Cantatas.

More recently Kirnberger edited, in four volumes, a collection of Bach's Chorals. They are published by Breitkopf.(254)

Bach's works, still in MS., consist of compositions for the Clavier, Organ, with and without other instruments, Strings, and the voice.

I will enumerate them in that order.

I. Compositions For The Clavier

1. _Six Little Preludes far Beginners_.(255) 2. _Fifteen Two-part Inventions_. An Invention is a musical theme so constructed that by imitation and inversion a whole movement can be evolved from it. The subject having been first stated, the rest develops naturally out of it. For the instruction of a young Clavier player these fifteen Inventions are of great value, seeing that the composer has been careful not only to provide exercises for both hands but for every finger as well. They were composed at Cothen in 1723, with a long t.i.tle which begins: "An honest Guide, in which lovers of the Clavier are shown a clear method of playing correctly in two parts," etc.(256)

It cannot be denied that, among other blemishes, the Inventions occasionally exhibit melodic poverty and roughness. But finding them useful to his pupils, Bach eventually revised them and removed from them everything that offended his maturer taste, so that they now stand as masterpieces of pure music. Moreover they are invaluable exercises for the fingers and hands and are sound instructors of taste. There is no better introduction to Bach's larger works than they afford.

3. _Fifteen three-part Inventions_, also called Symphonies. They were written for the same purpose as the Inventions, but are more advanced.(257) 4. _The Well-tempered Clavier_, or, Preludes and Fugues in all tones and semitones, composed for the profit and use of young musicians desirous of knowledge, as also for those who are skilled already in this studio. Part I. was finished in 1722. Part II., like Part I., contains twenty-four Preludes and twenty-four Fugues in every key, and was composed at a later period.(258) Every number of it, from first to last, is a masterpiece. In Part I., however, certain Preludes and Fugues bear marks of immaturity and are included probably only in order to complete the series. But here again Bach eventually corrected whatever seemed to him lacking in finish. He altered or rewrote entire pa.s.sages, so that in the later texts few movements are not perfect. Among these few I reckon the Fugues in A minor,(259) G major and G minor,(260) C major,(261) F major and F minor.(262) The rest are excellent, some of them so superlatively good as to be not inferior to those in Part II.(263) Even Part II., for all its original perfection, has been improved by the composer, as may be observed by comparing the original and later texts. Both Parts contain treasures of art not to be found outside Germany.

5. _Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue._(264) I have taken considerable pains to discover a similar piece of music by Bach, but without success. The Fantasia is unique and unequalled. Wilhelm Friedemann sent it to me from Brunswick inscribed with these words by a mutual friend. "Anbey kommt an etwas Musik von Sebastian, sonst genannt: Fantasia chromatica; bleibt schon in alle Saecula."

It is remarkable that this piece, for all its technical skill, appeals to the most unpractised hearer, if it is performed at all tolerably.

6. A _Fantasia in C minor_. It is not of the same character as the preceding work, but resembles rather the Allegro of a Sonata. It is divided into two parts, but must be played as a single movement. It is an excellent work, and in old copies an unfinished Fugue follows, which, however, cannot belong to it.(265) The first thirty bars certainly are by Bach, for they are marked by an extremely bold use of augmented and diminished intervals and their inversions, in three-part harmony. None but Bach attempted such things. The rest of the movement seems to have been added by another hand and bears no trace of Bach's style.

7. _Six large Suites_, consisting of Preludes, Allemandes, Courantes, Sarabandes, etc. They are known as the "English Suites,"

because the composer wrote them for an Englishman of rank.(266) All of them are of great merit as works of art, and some movements, in particular the Gigues of the fifth and sixth Suites, are perfect masterpieces of harmony and melody.

8. _Six small Suites_, consisting of Allemandes, Courantes, etc.

They are generally called the "French Suites," because they are written in the French style.(267) The composer is intentionally less academic in them than in his larger Suites, and their melodies are more than usually pleasant and agreeable. In particular the fifth Suite deserves to be noticed: all its movements are most melodious, and in the concluding Gigue only consonant intervals, especially thirds and sixths, are used.

These are Bach's princ.i.p.al works for the Clavier which can be considered cla.s.sics.(268) A great number of single Suites,(269)Toccatas and Fugues,(270) besides those already mentioned, have great and varying merit, but are youthful works.(271) At the most, ten or twelve of them seem to me worth preserving, some of them because they would be useful as finger exercises, for which their author originally intended them, others because they are at least better than similar works by other composers.

As an exercise for the fingers of both hands I particularly single out a Fugue in A minor,(272) in which the composer has been at great pains to write florid pa.s.sages in order to give equal strength and suppleness to both hands. For beginners a little two-part Fugue(273) should also prove useful. It is melodious, flowing, and not at all old-fas.h.i.+oned.

II. Music For The Clavier With Other Instruments

1. _Six Sonatas for Clavier with Violin obbligato_. Composed at Cothen, they are among Bach's masterpieces in this form and display fugal and canonic writing which is both natural and full of character. The Violin part needs a master to play it; for Bach knew the capabilities of the instrument and spared it as little as the Clavier. The six Sonatas are in the keys of B minor, A major, E major, C minor, F minor, and G major.(274) 2. _Several Sonatas for Harpsichord and Violin_,(275) _Harpsichord and Flute_,(276) _Harpsichord and Viol da Gamba_.(277) They are admirably written and most of them are pleasant to listen to even today.(278) 3. _Several Concertos for the Clavier and other instruments_. They contain real gems of art but are antiquated in form.(279) 4. _Two Concertos for two Claviers_, with an accompaniment of two Violins, Viola, and Violoncello. The first, in C minor,(280) has an antique flavour. But the second, in C major,(281) is as fresh as if it had been written yesterday.(282) It may be played without the String quartet and still sounds admirable. The final Allegro is a majestic movement and strictly fugal. Compositions of this form were first perfected, indeed, we may conjecture, were first attempted, by Bach. At least, I have met with only a single example by another composer that may perhaps be older-namely, Pachelbel of Nurnberg's Toccata, as he called it. Pachelbel, however, was a contemporary of Bach and may have taken the idea from him. However, his work is not worth considering. One instrument merely repeats the other's phrases without being at all concertante. It almost seems as if Bach at this period had made up his mind to discover what could be done with any number of parts. Having already written for a single solo instrument music which required no accompaniment, he next experimented in dividing his material between as large a number of solo instruments as possible. Hence the Concertos for two Claviers were followed by 5. _Two Concertos for three Claviers_ with an accompaniment of Strings.(283) These Concertos present a remarkable characteristic: besides the concertante combination of three Claviers, the stringed instruments also have concertante parts distinct from the accompaniment. It is difficult to realise the art involved in this achievement. For, in spite of their technical skill, the two works are so delicate, full of character, and expressive, that the composer might be treating a simple melody (note particularly the Concerto in D minor). Words are inadequate to express the admiration they arouse. But Bach was not satisfied. Hence he wrote 6. _A Concerto for four Claviers_ and four stringed instruments.(284) I cannot judge the effect of this composition, for I have never been able to get together the four instruments and four performers it requires. But that it is admirably written can be seen from the parts.