ALSO BY CHRISTOPH WOLFF
BOOKS
Der Stile antico in der Musik Johann Sebastian Bachs
Bach-Studien: Gesammelte Reden und Aufstze 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 ber 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 Sptwerk und dessen Umfeld: Perspektiven und Probleme (ed.)
Johann Sebastian Bach und der sddeutsche Raum: Aspekte der Wirkungsgeschichte Bachs (co-ed.)
Bach: Essays on His Life and Music
Mozarts 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.)
ber 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-bung, Parts IIV; 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 entzckt, 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, 16851750. 2. ComposersGermanyBiography. I. Title.
ML410.B1 W793 2000
780'.92dc21
[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
Springs of Musical Talent and Lifelong Influences
E ISENACH , 16851695
Laying the Foundations
O HRDRUF , 16951700
Bypassing a Musical Apprenticeship
F ROM L NEBURG TO W EIMAR , 17001703
Building a Reputation
O RGANIST IN A RNSTADT AND M HLHAUSEN , 17031708
Exploring Every Possible Artistry
C OURT O RGANIST AND C AMMER M USICUS IN W EIMAR , 17081714
Expanding Musical Horizons
C ONCERTMASTER IN W EIMAR , 17141717
Pursuing the Musical Contest for Superiority
C APELLMEISTER IN C THEN , 17171723
Redefining a Venerable Office
C ANTOR AND M USIC D IRECTOR IN L EIPZIG : T HE 1720s
Musician and Scholar
C OUNTERPOINT OF P RACTICE AND T HEORY
Traversing Conventional Boundaries
S PECIAL E NGAGEMENTS: THE 1730s
A Singing Bird and Carnations for the Lady of the House
D OMESTIC AND P ROFESSIONAL L IFE
Contemplating Past, Present, and Future
T HE F INAL D ECADE : T HE 1740s
Appendixes
GENERAL ABBREVIATIONS
Note: For bibliographic abbreviations, see Bibliography.
A | alto (voice) |
B | bass (voice) |
bc | basso continuo |
bn | bassoon(s) |
cemb | cembalo |
cor | corno, corni |
cto | continuo |
D. | Doctor |
div | divisi |
fl | flute(s) |
fg | fagotto, fagotti |
gr. | groschen |
instr | instrument(s) |
M. | Magister |
ob | oboe(s) |
ob dam | oboe(s) damore |
pf. | pfennig |
rec | recorder(s) |
rip | ripieno, ripieni |
rthl., rtl. | reichst(h)aler |
S | soprano (voice) |
str | strings |
T | tenor (voice) |
ti | timpani |
thlr., tlr | thaler, taler |
tr | trumpet(s) |
trb | trombone(s) |
trav | transverse flute(s) |
v | violin(s) |
va | viola(s) |
va d.g. | viola(s) da gamba |
va dam | viola(s) damore |
vc | violoncello(s) |
vne | violone, violoni |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Frontispiece: Courtesy of William H. Scheide, Princeton, New Jersey; Pages 12, 52, 368, 369: Bachhaus Eisenach; 15, 128, 416: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preuischer Kulturbesitz, Musikabteilung; 32: Evangelisch-lutherisches Pfarramt Ohrdruf; 38, 39, 45253: Archive-Museum for Literatur and Art, Kyiv; 56: Museum fr das Frstentum Lneburg, Lneburg; 65: Museum fr Hamburgische Geschichte, Hamburg; 76: Schlomuseum, Arnstadt; 80: Evangelisch-lutherisches Pfarramt, Arnstadt; 1 104, 106: Museum am Lindenbhl, Mhlhausen; 116: Stiftung Weimarer Klassik / Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek, Weimar; 120, 236, 241, 320, 321, 322: Bach-Archiv Leipzig; 146, 149: Kunstsammlungen zu Weimar, Schlomuseum, Weimar; 186, 190, 192: Bachgedenksttte im Schlo Kthen, Kthen; 267, 268, 304: Evangelisch-lutherische Kirchengemeinde St. Thomas-Matthi, Leipzig; 266, 4003, 404, 405(both): Stadtarchiv, Leipzig; 390: Sothebys Holdings, London; 340, 359: Stadtgeschichtliches Museum, Leipzig
List of Illustrations
Johann Sebastian Bach, painting by Elias Gottlob Haumann, 1748
Sun of Composers, by A. F. C. Kollmann, 1799
View of Eisenach, 1650
Johann Ambrosius Bach, c. 1685
Street map of Ohrdruf, c. 1710
Johann Christoph Bach, Meine Freundin, du bist schn, title page, c. 1740