Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician

805 Pages·2001·6.33 MB·English

by  Christoph Wolff

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
ALSO BY CHRISTOPH WOLFF
BOOKS
Der Stile antico in der Musik Johann Sebastian Bachs
Bach-Studien: Gesammelte Reden und Aufsätze von Friedrich Smend (ed.) The String Quartets of Haydn,
Mozart, and Beethoven: Studies of the Autograph Manuscripts (ed.) The New Grove Bach Family
Bach-Bibliographie: Nachdruck der Verzeichnisse des Schrifttums über Johann Sebastian Bach (ed.) Orgel,
Orgelmusik, und Orgelspiel: Festschrift Michael Schneider zum 75. Geburtstag (ed.) Bach Compendium:
analytisch-bibliographisches Repertorium der Werke Johann Sebastian Bachs (co-ed.) A Life for New
Music: Selected Papers of Paul Fromm (ed.) Johann Sebastian Bachs Spätwerk und dessen Umfeld:
Perspektiven und Probleme (ed.) Johann Sebastian Bach und der süddeutsche Raum: Aspekte der
Wirkungsgeschichte Bachs (co-ed.) Bach: Essays on His Life and Music
Mozart’s Requiem: Historical and Analytical Studies, Documents, Score The World of the Bach Cantatas
(ed.)
The New Bach Reader: A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents (co-ed.) Driven into
Paradise: The Musical Migration from Nazi Germany to the United States (co-ed.) Über Leben, Kunst und
Kunstwerke: Aspekte musikalischer Biographie (ed.) Die Gegenwart der musikalischen Vergangenheit:
Meisterwerke in der Dirigentenwerkstatt (ed.) EDITIONS OF WORKS BY BACH
The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080; Fourteen Canons, BWV 1087; Cantatas BWV 22, 23, 127, 159, and 182;
Clavier-Übung, Parts I–IV; Concerto for Two Violins, BWV 1043; Goldberg Variations, BWV 988; Kyrie,
BWV 233a; Mass in B minor, BWV 232; A Musical Offering, BWV 1079; Organ Chorales from the
Neumeister Collection; Works for Two Harpsichords EDITIONS OF WORKS BY MOZART
Horn Concerto, K. 370b + 371; Piano Concertos (complete); Rondos for Piano and Orchestra, K. 382, 386;
Grande sestetto concertante (arrangement of K. 364); Die neugeborne Ros’ entzückt, K. Anh. 11a OTHER
EDITIONS
Anguish of Hell and Peace of Soul: A Collection of Sixteen Motets on Psalm 116; Johann Michael Bach,
The Complete Organ Chorales; Dieterich Buxtehude, The Keyboard Works; Antonio Caldara, Magnificat;
Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, 24 Polonaises in All Keys; Paul Hindemith, Cardillac, Op. 39
JOHANN
SEBASTIAN
BACH
The Learned Musician
CHRISTOPH WOLFF
W • W • NORTON & COMPANY
New York • London
Copyright © 2013, 2000 by Christoph Wolff All rights reserved
First published as a Norton paperback 2001
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
Permissions, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wolff, Christoph
Johann Sebastian Bach: the learned musician/Christoph Wolff.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN: 978-0-393-32256-4 pbk.
1. Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685–1750. 2. Composers—Germany—Biography. I. Title.
ML410.B1 W793 2000
780'.92—dc21
[B] 99-054364
ISBN 978-0-393-07595-3 ebook
W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110
www.wwnorton.com
W. W. Norton & Company Ltd., 10 Coptic Street, London WC1A 1PU
For Barbara,
Katharina, Dorothea, and Stephanie
Contents
General Abbreviations
Acknowledgments
List of Illustrations
Preface to the Updated Edition
Preface
Prologue: Bach and the Notion of “Musical Science”
1. Springs of Musical Talent and Lifelong Influences
EISENACH, 1685–1695
Ambrosius Bach and His Family
In the Ambience of Home, Town, Court, School, and Church
2. Laying the Foundations
OHRDRUF, 1695–1700
In the Care of His Older Brother
Sebastian’s Musical Beginnings
3. Bypassing a Musical Apprenticeship
FROM LÜNEBURG TO WEIMAR, 1700–1703
Choral Scholar at St. Michael’s in Lüneburg
Böhm, Reinken, and the Celle Court Capelle
The Interim: Thuringian Opportunities
Early Musical Achievements
4. Building a Reputation
ORGANIST IN ARNSTADT AND MÜHLHAUSEN, 1703–1708
At the New Church in Arnstadt
“First Fruits” and the Buxtehude Experience
At the Blasius Church in Mühlhausen
5. Exploring “Every Possible Artistry”
COURT ORGANIST AND CAMMER MUSICUS IN WEIMAR, 1708–1714
The First Six Years at the Ducal Court
Clavier Virtuoso and Organ Expert
6. Expanding Musical Horizons
CONCERTMASTER IN WEIMAR, 1714–1717
A Career Choice
Mostly Music for “The Heaven’s Castle”
“Musical Thinking”: The Making of a Composer
High and Low Points
7. Pursuing “the Musical Contest for Superiority”
CAPELLMEISTER IN CÖTHEN, 1717–1723
Princely Patronage
Travels and Trials
A Canon of Principles, and Pushing the Limits
8. Redefining a Venerable Office
CANTOR AND MUSIC DIRECTOR IN LEIPZIG: THE 1720s
A Capellmeister at St. Thomas’s
Mostly Cantatas
“The Great Passion” and Its Context
9. Musician and Scholar
COUNTERPOINT OF PRACTICE AND THEORY
Performer, Composer, Teacher, Scholar
Music Director at the University
Professorial Colleagues and University Students
Materials and Metaphysics
10. Traversing Conventional Boundaries
SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS: THE 1730s
At a Crossroads
Director of the Collegium Musicum and Royal Court Composer
The Clavier-Übung Project
At the Composer’s Desk
11. A Singing Bird and Carnations for the Lady of the House
DOMESTIC AND PROFESSIONAL LIFE
Family and Home
Balancing Official Duties and Private Business
12. Contemplating Past, Present, and Future
THE FINAL DECADE: THE 1740s
Retreat but No Rest
The Art of Fugue, the B-Minor Mass, and a Place in History
The End
Estate and Musical Legacy