1 Dustin Hawks MU334 Research Paper

Influences on J.S. Bach’s well known works: culture, religion, location.

J.S. Bach is not an obscure composer. Information on his life, as well as his music is not scarce or difficult to obtain. Even those who are not music scholars likely have some degree of knowledge about him or his works. Students of music are especially bombarded with the life and works of Bach as they learn theory. Bach’s precise, logical writing in a variety of styles makes him a perfect role model for the music theory student. But after analyzing so many chorales, and seeing the rules of part writing explained in Bach’s works, I think many students begin to see Bach’s music as nothing more than an expression of technical expertise, and less a valid form of artistic expression. My goal in writing this paper, then, is not to unearth new facts or ideas about Bach, but to combine the events of his life, and the times he lived in with his music to try and regain a deeper understanding of the context in which his music was written. J.S. Bach was born on March 21st 1685, in Eisenach, son of Johann Ambrosius, a court trumpeter for the Duke of Eisenach and director of the musicians of the town. He received his first musical training at a young age from his father, on violin and harpsichord. In addition, his uncle (an organist in another town) introduced him to the organ during his early childhood. He was described as having an “uncommonly fine treble voice”, and sang for many choirs while he

2 was a boy. Obviously, his musical exposure was quite diverse from a young age, and he composed for strings, keyboard and voice prolifically throughout his whole life. When Bach was nine years old, his parents died within nine months of each other, leaving the boy to move to Ohrdruf to live with his brother Johann Christoph. With his brother, a noted organist and pupil of Pachelbel, he continued to study, and under his brother’s suggestion, began to learn composition. During this period, Bach continued to attend school, gaining enough notice from singing in the school choir to be invited to sing in Luneburg. After he lost his boy soprano voice, he stayed in Luneburg as an orchestra violinist, and accompanist on the harpsichord. During this time, Bach was further immersed in organ music and construction from Georg Böhm, an organist at Hamburg. In addition, he was invited to play in the Court of Celle, south of Luneburg, due to his great proficiency on the violin. In playing at this court, he was greatly exposed to French musical style. Still young and thirsty for new experiences, he sought positions first at Weimar, then Arnstadt, enriching his knowledge of the German style (from Buxtehude), and the Italian style, which was in vogue at Weimar at the time. During his four year stay in Arnstadt, he had more and more disputes with his superiors. They disliked his “strange sounds” and "surprising variations and irrelevant ornaments which obliterate the melody and confuse the congregation". In addition, they were displeased with the extended leave he took to study with Buxtehude. It seems that Bach had a tendency to do what he felt like, and would refuse to explain himself or apologize regarding his actions. After more conflicts

3 (one involving his first wife, Maria Barbara), he decided to leave Arnstadt in pursuit of Greener pastures. After holding a few different positions for churches and nobles, he returned once more to Weimar. Upon his return to Weimar, Bach was appointed as the leader of the orchestra, as well as court organist. It is during his period at Weimar that Bach produced many of his major organ works, such as the infamous Toccata & Fugue in d minor, along with several other fugues (one based on a theme of Corelli, notable as the Italian style was in vogue during this period). In addition to the organ fugue, Bach and his cousin transcribed many instrumental concertos by Vivaldi for keyboard, trying to learn more of the Italian style. Nearing the end of his stay in Weimar, Bach obtained contacts in the court of Anhalt-Cöthen from his duke's nephew. When he tried to resign and move to the court at Cöthen, however, the duke was outraged and had Bach put in jail. During his “short” four week stay in prison, he wrote a cycle of organ chorale preludes, published as Orgelbüchlein. Upon arriving in Cöthen, Bach was appointed Capellmeister, the highest rank given to a musician during the baroque age. His master was Prince Leopold of Cöthen, a violinist who was already well schooled in the musical styles of the time. Cöthen was primarily Calvinist, and as such there was no church music for Bach to compose or perform. As such, this period of time is filled with secular works, including some of his most well known pieces of chamber music. It is during this time that Bach presented the Brandenburg concertos to the margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt. While presented to the margrave in 1721, the concertos had been written over a span of many years in Bach's early

4 career, as far back as Weimar in 1708. In some cases looking at when and where the individual concertos were written can help explain some of the choices in orchestration. For instance, the difference in size of orchestration between what I'll call the Weimar and Cöthen concertos is drastic. Concertos 1, 3 and 6, all Weimar concertos, are written for 10 instruments (with the exception of #6, which will be discussed in a moment). Bach had access to a large number of players during his stay at Weimar, so it is not unusual that he would have written for a larger group. Incidentally, the large orchestration is likely the reason the margrave of Brandenburg never acknowledged or played these concertos (which were only made famous in the 19th century, after being recovered from the margrave's library of anonymous music). In Cöthen, however, Bach had access to a much smaller group of musicians, as Anhalt-Cöthen had a small court. In addition, he had the tastes of his Prince to keep in mind. As such, the Cöthen concertos are scored for 5 to 6 instruments. To look back at concerto 6 from Weimar, we see it scored for 7 instruments, with no violin parts, and instead, 2 violas, 2 violas da gamba, cello, and double bass with harpsichord continuo. Bach's choice to both eliminate the violin entirely from the orchestration, as well as adding two violas da gamba (by that time, an almost obsolete instrument) can be explained by saying that he was desperately trying to escape his position at Weimar, and knew of the prince's fondness for music. In fact, the Prince was an avid player of the viola da gamba. It does not seem like coincidence that the last concerto written while Bach was at Weimar would

5 specifically appeal to the patron at his next location. It is unknown if the prince ever saw or played this particular concerto, but it is almost certain Bach wrote the piece with the intentions of gaining good grace with his future employer. After a trip with his Prince, Bach came back to find his wife had died while he was away. Bach moved on fairly quickly to his second wife, Anna Magdalena. And within a week of his marriage to Anna Magdalena, his prince was also wed; to a woman who disapproved of the prince’s passion for music. In addition, Bach found himself wanting to find a more cultured area to raise his children, and it is likely that he desired to write church vocal music again after his hiatus. All of these factors together led to Bach seeking new employment in Leipzig, where he would remain for the rest of his life. Leipzig, with a population of 30,000, was the center of the German printing and publishing industries, an important European trading center, and site of a progressive and famous university. It was also one of the foremost centers of German cultural life, with magnificent private dwellings, streets well paved and illuminated at night, a library, and a vibrant social life. In addition, there were four principle churches in Leipzig, which Bach was responsible for; likely a welcome change from the more secular-oriented Cöthen During his first five years at Leipzig, Bach began writing cantatas at a previously unmatched pace, producing three cycles (180 cantatas all together). Perhaps he felt he had something to prove to his employers, since he was a hesitant third choice for the position, after Telemann declined the position and the second choice, Christoph Graupner, was denied permission to leave his current post. All together, he composed closer to 300 cantatas during the Leipzig

6 period, though the fourth and fifth cycles were written at a much slower pace (Bach likely finished the fifth and final cycle in the 1740s). In examining these cantatas, we find many of the arias were accompanied by oboe obbligato (an obbligato being an elaborate accompaniment part played by a single instrument. These parts were meant to be played exactly as written, without omissions or changes. Hence “to oblige”, as opposed to ad libitum, “at liberty”. The presence of these complicated obbligato parts, as well as the overall complexity of orchestration in these cantata cycles suggests that Bach had access to musicians of a high standard during the final years of his life. Violin parts could always have been written to demand a higher level of technical finesse, as Bach would have likely played violin parts himself; having access to talented instrumentalists on a variety of instruments no doubt enabled Bach to write more freely for other instruments. In 1730, Bach was again reprimanded by his employers for neglecting his teaching duties, not disciplining his choirs, and frequently journeying away from Leipzig without obtaining permission. Much like when he was in this situation in Arnstadt, Bach did not apologize or try to justify his actions. In addition, the new headmaster at Thomasschule believed that students needed to spend more time on other subjects, while Bach wanted the students to devote even more time to musical training. This period of feuding marks the decline of Bach’s production of music for the Church. During this period, Bach was appointed permanent director of the Collegium Musicum, a Leipzig secular performing organization founded by his

7 friend and rival, Georg Philipp Telemann. The group gave weekly performances outside (or inside, depending on the time of year) of a local coffee house. There was a broad range of music performed by the Collegium; music by Bach himself, obviously, as well as concertos from other composers such as Vivaldi or Telemann. In addition to the instrumental works, Bach did produce some vocal, sacred music during this period (despite his disenchantment with the church), however his enthusiasm seems to be diminished. His Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248) consists largely of recycled music from earlier cantatas; not an unusual practice in that time period, perhaps, but an unusual practice for a composer so adept at creating new material. After the death of the coffee house owner, Gottfried Zimmermann in 1741, Bach resigned from his position as director of the Collegium. It is in these last 9 years of his life that we see some of his most profound achievements in the baroque musical form. Three of the four were presented as gifts, either to nobles or to societies (as an admission policy). Even in his old age, Bach was still hungry to move up in social status and butter up to the right people, so to speak. And Bach's social connections continued to provide him work in his old age. Such is the case with the Goldberg variations, written circa 1741. The last in a series of keyboard pieces titled Clavierübung, the variations are regarded by some as the most ambitious composition ever written for harpsichord. This piece was written for a patron of Bach’s, Count von Keyserlingk, to be played by his harpsichordist, Johann Gottlieb Goldberg (whom it was eventually named after). The count suffered from insomnia, and had mentioned to Bach that he “would like to have some clavier pieces for Goldberg, which should be of such

8 a smooth and somewhat lively character that he might be a little cheered up by them in his sleepless nights” (Johann Nikolaus Forkel, in his biography of J.S. Bach, 1802) Allegedly, Bach was rewarded with a golden goblet filled with a hundred Louis d'ors, however there is no mention of the golden goblet among the inventory of the estate upon Bach's death. Some historians believe that the whole story, including the count's insomnia, to be a farce created at a later date to make a more interesting story. Unfortunately, the only witnesses to leave any writings on the matter behind were two of Bach's sons, Friedemann and Emanuel; and neither of them were in Leipzig to witness events firsthand. Until new evidence can be unearthed, the matter will remain unsettled. In the last few years of his life, Bach spent much time entertaining musicians passing through Leipzig, eager to witness the old master's talents in person. And if Bach ever traveled anywhere, he was certain to be chauffeured around town by the nobility, testing the town's organs, and playing with their orchestra. However he still had a few compositions left in him, including his famous Mass in B minor. Bach would have known that the work would not see performance during his lifetime, being a Latin mass written by a Protestant; and not feasible to be used during the Roman or Lutheran liturgies. But to Bach this was likely more than just another composition. Christopher Wolff believes that Bach saw the Mass as the supreme opportunity to unite his creed as a Christian with his creed as a musician in a single statement." (Bach's Mass in B Minor as Musical Icon). This mass and a chorale fantasia, based on “Before Thy Throne O Lord I Stand”

9 are his last completed works. However, before his death from a stroke on July 28th, 1750, he was working on a fugue based around the subject B-A-C-H. He had been questioned in the past why he had not explored the theme before (having such a conveniently musical name), and always replied that he would consider it arrogant to do such a thing. Perhaps it is intentional that it was left unfinished at the time of his death then. In conclusion, if one takes the time and effort to look beyond the sheet music and interpret a work beyond what type of dance it is, anyone, musician or no, can gain a fuller understanding of the works of one of history's greatest and most well known composers.

10 WORKS CITED Marissen, M. (1995). The social and religious designs of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg concertos. Princeton: Princeton University Press Badure-Skoda, P. (1993). Interpreting Bach at the keyboard. Oxford: Oxford University Press Staffer, G. (c1986). J.S. Bach as organist: his instruments,p music, and performance practices. Bloomington: Indiana University Press Baroque Music Page. (2006, November 5th). Johann Sebastian Bach: a Detailed Informative Biography. Retrieved November 5th, 2006 from http://www.baroquemusic.org/bqxjsbach.html Bach's Mass in B Minor as Musical Icon. (2006, December 1st). Bach's Mass in B Minor as Musical Icon. Retrieved December 1st from http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/musicon.html

Dustin Hawks

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