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23 chapters
Introduction
Introduction
Forkel was also a student of the music of the polyphonic school. He prepared for the press the scores of a number of sixteenth century Masses, Motets, etc., and fortunately received proofs of them from the engraver. For, in 1806, after the Battle of Jena, the French impounded the plates and melted them down. Forkel's proofs are still preserved in the Berlin Royal Library. He was diligent in quest of Bach's scattered MSS., and his friendship with Bach's elder sons, Carl Philipp Emmanuel and Wilhe
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FORKEL'S PREFACE
FORKEL'S PREFACE
Messrs. Hoffmeister and Künel's project promises at once to advance the art of music and enhance the honour of the German name. For Bach's works are a priceless national patrimony; no other nation possesses a treasure comparable to it. Their publication in an authoritative text will be a national service and raise an imperishable monument to the composer himself. All who hold Germany dear are bound in honour to promote the undertaking to the utmost of their power. I deem it a duty to remind the
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CHAPTER I. THE FAMILY OF BACH
CHAPTER I. THE FAMILY OF BACH
Not all the Bachs, however, were great musicians. But every generation boasted some of them who were more than usually distinguished. In the first quarter of the seventeenth century three of Veit Bach's grandchildren showed such exceptional talent that the Count of Schwarzburg-Arnstadt thought it worth while to send them at his expense to Italy, then the chief school of music, to perfect themselves in the art. 26 We do not know whether they rewarded the expectations of their patron, for none of
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Chapter II. THE CAREER OF BACH
Chapter II. THE CAREER OF BACH
In 1695, when Johann Sebastian was not quite ten years old, his father died. He lost his mother at an earlier period. 47 So, being left an orphan, he became dependent on his eldest brother, Johann Christoph, Organist at Ohrdruf, 48 from whom he received his earliest lessons on the Clavier. 49 His inclination and talent for music must already have been pronounced. For his brother no sooner had given him one piece to learn than the boy was demanding another more difficult. The most renowned Clavie
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CHAPTER IIA.113 BACH AT LEIPZIG, 1723-1750
CHAPTER IIA.113 BACH AT LEIPZIG, 1723-1750
The Cantor of St. Thomas' was charged formerly with the musical direction of four Leipzig churches: St. Thomas', St. Nicolas', St. Peter's, and the New Church. He was also responsible for the music in the University Church of St. Paul, the so-called “old service,” held originally on the Festivals of Easter, Whit, Christmas, and the Reformation, and once during each University quarter. On high days music also had to be provided at St. John's Church. Bach, as Cantor, succeeded to a more restricted
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CHAPTER III. BACH AS A CLAVIER PLAYER
CHAPTER III. BACH AS A CLAVIER PLAYER
Bach placed his hand on the finger-board so that his fingers were bent and their extremities poised perpendicularly over the keys in a plane parallel to them. 118 Consequently none of his fingers was remote from the note it was intended to strike, and was ready instantly to execute every command. Observe the consequences of this position. First of all, the fingers cannot fall or (as so often happens) be thrown upon the notes, but are placed upon them in full control of the force they may be call
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CHAPTER IV. BACH THE ORGANIST
CHAPTER IV. BACH THE ORGANIST
with these: which is the more usual form organists employ. We realise instantly the effect when music in four or more parts is played in the same manner. Bach always played the Organ so, adding the obbligato pedal, which few organists know how to use properly. He employed it not only to sound the low notes which organists usually play with the left hand, but he gave it a regular part of its own, often so complicated that many organists would find it difficult to play with their five fingers. To
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CHAPTER V. BACH THE COMPOSER
CHAPTER V. BACH THE COMPOSER
The models he selected—Church musicians for the most part—and his own disposition inclined him to serious and exalted subjects. But in that kind of music little can be accomplished with inadequate technique. Bach's first object, therefore, was to develop his power of expressing himself before he attempted to realise the ideal that beckoned him. Music to him was a language, and the composer a poet who, whatever the idiom he affects, must first of all have at his disposal the means of making himse
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CHAPTER VI. BACH THE COMPOSER (continued)
CHAPTER VI. BACH THE COMPOSER (continued)
Bach's melody, then, bears the unmistakable stamp of originality. And so does his passage work, as it is called. Such novelty, originality, and brilliancy are not found in any other composer. Examples are to be found in all Bach's Clavier works. But the most striking and original are in the Great Variations, 151 in the first Part of the Clavierübung, 152 in the English Suites, 153 and the Chromatic Fantasia. 154 In the last particularly Bach's fertility impresses us. The greater part of its pass
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CHAPTER VII. BACH AS A TEACHER
CHAPTER VII. BACH AS A TEACHER
Not until this stage was reached did Bach allow his pupils to practise his own larger works, so admirably calculated, as he knew, to develop their powers. In order to lessen their difficulty, it was his excellent habit to play over to them the pieces they were to study, with the remark, “That's how it ought to sound.” 177 It would be difficult to exaggerate the helpfulness of this method. The pupil's interest was roused by hearing the piece properly played. But that was not the sole result. With
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CHAPTER VIII. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS
CHAPTER VIII. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS
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 t
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I. Compositions For The Clavier
I. Compositions For The Clavier
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. It is remarkable that
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III. Compositions For The Organ
III. Compositions For The Organ
The pedal is the distinctive feature of the Organ which places it above all other instruments, and gives it its magnificence, sonority, and majesty. Deprive it of the pedal and you take from it the solemn and imposing tones which are its distinctive utterance, reducing it to the level of a “positiv,” or Chamber-organ, an instrument relatively insignificant. But an Organ equipped with a pedal must be able to employ it in its full compass, 285 and both composer and organist must know the proper us
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IV. Instrumental Music
IV. Instrumental Music
There are few instruments for which Bach did not write. In his day it was usual to play a Concerto or instrumental Solo during the Communion office. 295 Bach composed many of these pieces himself, and always with a view to their improving the technique of the player. Most of them are lost. But two important works of another kind survive and to some extent compensate us. They are:...
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V. Vocal Music
V. Vocal Music
Most of these works are now dispersed. The Church Cantatas were divided between his elder sons after their composer's death. Wilhelm Friedemann had the larger share because, being organist at Halle, he could make use of them. Later, circumstances compelled him to part with them gradually. I know of no other collection of Bach's larger choral works. There exist, however, eight or ten Motets for double chorus, but they are dispersed in various hands. 309 In the collection bequeathed by the Princes
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CHAPTER X. BACH'S MANUSCRIPTS
CHAPTER X. BACH'S MANUSCRIPTS
In other places Bach tends to be over-concise; he expresses an idea, but does not fully develop it. The best illustration that occurs to me is the D minor Prelude in the second part of the Well-tempered Clavier. I possess several texts of it. In the oldest the first transposition of the theme in the Bass and several other details essential to a complete development of the idea are wanting. A second MS. gives the theme to the Bass wherever the latter is in a key nearly related to that of the toni
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CHAPTER XI. THE GENIUS OF BACH
CHAPTER XI. THE GENIUS OF BACH
Like every true artist, Bach worked to please himself in his own way, obeying the summons of his own genius, choosing his own subjects, and finding satisfaction only in the approval of his own judgment. He could count on the applause of all who understood good music, and never failed to receive it. Under what other conditions can sound works of art emerge? The composer who debases his muse to the popular mood either lacks real genius or, having it, abuses it. For to catch the ear of the public i
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I. CATALOGUE OF BACH'S COMPOSITIONS PRIOR TO HIS APPOINTMENT TO WEIMAR IN JUNE 1708, in his twenty-fourth year.327
I. CATALOGUE OF BACH'S COMPOSITIONS PRIOR TO HIS APPOINTMENT TO WEIMAR IN JUNE 1708, in his twenty-fourth year.327
Generally speaking, the Choral Preludes, other than those in the maturer collections made by Bach himself, may be regarded as youthful works (bks. 18, 19)....
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(6) COMPOSED AT LEIPZIG: 1735-50
(6) COMPOSED AT LEIPZIG: 1735-50
Six Concertos ( “Brandenburg” ) for Orchestra and Continuo:— [Note.—The Thematic Catalogue is completed in B.G. XLVI. (P. bk. 270b).] Though the Score is in Bach's autograph, the work is generally held not to be his. The volume contains:—...
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(A) PUBLICATIONS OF THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT
(A) PUBLICATIONS OF THE BACHGESELLSCHAFT
Six Concertos ( “Brandenburg” ) for Orchestra and Continuo:— [Note.—The Thematic Catalogue is completed in B.G. XLVI. (P. bk. 270b).] Though the Score is in Bach's autograph, the work is generally held not to be his. The volume contains:— The seventy-eight Songs are those contained in B.G. XXXIX. secs. 3 and 4 (first three only) supra. The seventy-five Songs are those contained in I (1), omitting those in sec. 4 of B.G. XXXIX. supra. The frontispiece is Carl Seffner's bust of Bach. The original
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(B) PUBLICATIONS OF THE NEW BACHGESELLSCHAFT
(B) PUBLICATIONS OF THE NEW BACHGESELLSCHAFT
A print of the portrait discovered by Dr. Fritz Volbach reproduced at p. 92 of this present volume. Contains the order of service and music sung on the occasion. I Abteilung: Arien für Sopran Ed. Eusebius Mandyczewski. In addition to sermons and addresses on the occasion of the second Bach Festival at Leipzig in 1904, the volume contains the following articles: Contains the following articles: The frontispiece is Carl Seffner's bust of Bach. See B.G. XXI (1) no. 2. In addition to a sermon by Pro
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VII. Russia
VII. Russia
(a) Preludes. The Peters volumes 244, 245, 246, 2067 contain movements excluded from the Novello edition, viz. :—...
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APPENDIX V. A COLLATION OF THE NOVELLO AND PETERS EDITIONS OF THE ORGAN WORKS
APPENDIX V. A COLLATION OF THE NOVELLO AND PETERS EDITIONS OF THE ORGAN WORKS
(a) Preludes. The Peters volumes 244, 245, 246, 2067 contain movements excluded from the Novello edition, viz. :—...
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