It’s Holy Week, so expect Bach’s sacred oratorios to be in bloom. But for me, give me the intimacy of the cello suites and violin sonatas. Fortuitously, Bach’s works for solo strings will be presented in their entirety in the contemplative setting of Princeton University Chapel, performed by students from the university’s music department. If you’re in the area, stop by or go the distance. The Bach marathon will take place tomorrow (Tuesday) from 3:00 to 8:30 p.m. Admission is free, so Bach ‘til you drop.
Tag: Johann Sebastian Bach
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Bach in Bloom at Princeton University
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Bach’s Leipzig Cantor: 300 Years of Music
On this date in 1723 – 300 years ago today – Johann Sebastian Bach was formally inducted as Thomaskantor in Leipzig. In this capacity, he was to direct the St. Thomas School and provide music for four churches: primarily the St. Thomas Church and the St. Nicholas Church, but to a lesser extent also the New Church and St. Peter’s Church. It’s easy to understand why this would have been regarded as the leading cantorate in Protestant Germany. Bach held the position for 27 years until his death in 1750.
During that time he gained further prestige through honorary appointments at the courts of Köthen and Weissenfels, as well as that of the Elector Frederick Augustus in Dresden (who was also King of Poland).
As can be imagined, with all these professional obligations to fulfill, Bach churned out an extraordinary amount of music. In the first three years alone, he composed most of his over 300 cantatas (more than 100 of which have been lost).
The crushing workload must have seemed all the more burdensome because of frequent clashes with his employer, Leipzig’s city council, which was begrudging when it came to ever spending any money.
It may seem incredible in hindsight, but Bach was not the first choice for the position. That would have been Georg Philipp Telemann. But Telemann declined, because the money was too good in Hamburg.
The second choice was Christoph Graupner, not exactly a household name today, perhaps, but he composed a lot of music worth rediscovering. Graupner had an “in” as a former student of Bach’s predecessor as Thomaskantor, Johann Kuhnau. Unfortunately, his patron at the time wouldn’t let him go. But to his credit, Graupner graciously wrote Bach a glowing recommendation.
Both Telemann and Graupner were able to leverage the prestigious job offer to improve their worth to their current employers. In particular, Graupner was able to collect his back salary in financially rocky Darmstadt, and he was given a substantial raise.
Here is the first of the cantatas Bach wrote for his new post. “Die Elenden sollen essen” (“All the starving shall be nourished”), BWV 75, was first performed on May 30, 1723, the first Sunday after Trinity, in St. Nicholas Church, two days before the composer took up his official duties.
Leipzig certainly got its money’s worth with its new hire. You might say, it got a lot of bang for its Bach!
PHOTO: Bach statue outside St. Thomas Church
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Celebrate Bach Support WWFM’s Bach 500
Once again, the day is upon us – Johann Sebastian Bach’s birthday. WWFM – The Classical Network is heading into the homestretch on its annual “Bach 500.” Every year, it has been the station’s custom to celebrate Bach while amassing 500 listener donations IN ANY AMOUNT. You set the level. Once the 500 is achieved, the fundraising ends and we douse one another with champagne, metaphorically speaking. The bubbly is in the music.
Please do your part to support classical music in your community and, by way of internet streaming, around the world. It’s contributions from listeners like you that provide a home for shows like “Picture Perfect” and “The Lost Chord.”
How do you make it happen? It’s easy! Head on over to wwfm.org, and click on “Become a member of our Bach 500,” or follow the link below. Or do it the old-fashioned way and call 1-888-232-1212.
Less than 250 laps left in this race! Thank you for your support, and go, JSB, go!
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Bach 500 Fueling Classical Music on WWFM
Johann Sebastian Bach once traveled 250 miles on foot to hear Dietrich Buxtehude play the organ. Then he got himself a race car…
The WWFM Bach 500 is underway!
In celebration of the 337th anniversary of Bach’s birth (on March 21st, 1685), The Classical Network presents its annual Bach fundraiser.
We’re looking for 500 listeners to step up and make a contribution IN ANY AMOUNT. You set the level. Once we reach 500 donations, we’ll tally in the funds from our Bach Pot – contributions solicited in advance from some especially ardent supporters. Then the pitching stops, and Bach’s music continues uninterrupted.
You can do your part to make that happen by donating online right now at wwfm.org or calling 1-888-232-1212. While you’re over there at the WWFM website, you can monitor our progress by consulting the Bach 500 membership thermometer.
Your donation is like a blast of nitrous oxide, but we’re definitely built for speed. Put the pedal to the metal, and thank you for your support of WWFM – The Classical Network!
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Bach’s 300th Anniversary Love Story
What do you get someone for their 300th wedding anniversary? That’s like gold times six.
It was on this date in 1721 that Johann Sebastian Bach, 36, married Anna Magdalena Wilcke, 20. She was Bach’s second wife, a soprano at the princely court of Anhalt-Cöthen. Bach had been working there as Kapellmeister since December 1717. His first wife, Maria Barbara Bach, died 17 months earlier.
In 1723, the Bachs moved to Leipzig when Johann Sebastian was hired as Cantor at the Thomasschule (St. Thomas School). Anna Magdalena continued to sing professionally, and the couple’s shared interest in music contributed to a happy homelife. Bach wrote a number of works dedicated to her and assembled two volumes of “Anna Magdalena Bach Notebooks.”
In addition, Anna Magdalena organized musical evenings at the Bach home, with the participation of family and guests, making their house a center of attraction. Together, they raised the children from Bach’s first marriage, alongside 13 of their own. Seven of these died in infancy or childhood.
After Bach’s death in 1750, Anna Magdalena continued to care for their two youngest daughters and her stepdaughter. Increasingly, she became dependent on charity and handouts from the Leipzig city council. Ultimately, she had to rely on public begging to survive.
The only one of their sons to provide any financial assistance was Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach – and he was a child of Bach’s first marriage. Anna Magdalena died on the street, penniless, in 1760, and was buried in a pauper’s grave.
Roughly 35 years earlier, in markedly happier times, Bach unveiled his latest cantata, the Cantata No. 62, “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland” (“Now come, Savior of the heathens”), on the first day of Advent, which fell on this date in 1724. The work was inspired by an Advent hymn of Martin Luther.
Bach would compose over 200 such cantatas in Leipzig, largely in fulfillment of his duties as Cantor at the Thomaskirche (St. Thomas Church). The premiere of his Advent cantata coincided with Johann Sebastian and Anna Magdalena’s “leather anniversary.”
The ”Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook”
Gustav Leonhardt in a very silly wig, in “The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlRK1VzKGns
Advent cantata “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland,” BWV 62
IMAGE: “Bach with His Family at Morning Devotion” (1870), by Toby Edward Rosenthal
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