Bach Volume 3 Issue 3 1972 [Doi 10.2307%2F41639863] Robin a. Leaver -- Leipzig's Rejection of J. S....

8/10/2019 Bach Volume 3 Issue 3 1972 [Doi 10.2307%2F41639863] Robin a. Leaver -- Leipzig's Rejection of J. S. Bach, Part I

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Leipzig's Rejection of J. S. Bach, Part IAuthor(s): Robin A. LeaverSource: Bach, Vol. 3, No. 3 (JULY, 1972), pp. 27-39Published by: Riemenschneider Bach InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41639863 .Accessed: 21/06/2014 14:00

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Leipzig's Rejection of J. S. Bach, Part I

By The Reverend Robin A. LeaverReading, England

GREATnd difficulty.music s

Thisoften

isborn

amplyout

demonstratedof a composer

insthepersonal

incrediblefrustration

musicnd difficulty. his is amply emonstratedn the ncrediblemusicof the deaf Beethoven nd the poverty-stricken ozart.J. S. Bach,too,had to workunder ifficulty nd frustration, ut n his caseit was notdue to anyphysical efect although is ast months erecloudedwithblindness nor was it due to any lack of finance even though he

"pleadedpoverty" n his famous etter o Georg Erdmann n October1730. Bach's difficulties rose from misunderstandings etween himand the Leipzigofficialdom. hroughout hewhole of his twenty-sevenyears n Leipzig, herewas hardly time when he was not at variancewith ne or other f the three overning odies n the town the TownCouncil, heChurch onsistory, nd the University uthorities.

I

When their respected antor, Johann Kuhnau, died on June 5,1722, the town officials egan to prepare for the appointment f asuccessor. ix weeks ater heymet together o consider ix namesthathad been submitted o them. Only one really mpressed hem: GeorgPhilippTelemann. e was well known n Leipzig, aving een the con-ductor f the University ollegium Musicum nd a leading ight nmanymusical ircles uring is student ays. ndeed, ebecameKuhnau'srival n that he waswilling oexploit peratic echniquesnd effects nhis church music.This appealedto the students ho transferred heirsupport from the traditional uhnau to the progressive elemann.Kuhnau omplained o the Town Councilwhichdecreed hatTelemann

and Kuhnau should lternate very ther week in providing cantatafor performance n the Thomaskirche.1n 1704 the Town Councilhadappointed Telemann as the organist nd director f music of theNeukirche, nd so now in 1722he was the natural hoicefor he mostimportant musical position n the town. Negotiations etween theTown Council nd Telemann ontinued orfour months. hey cametoan end when Telemannwithdrew. e had taken an appointment nHamburg ust the year before, 721, and it becameclear that he wasnot entirely erious n his application or the Leipzigpost, but wasusing t as a lever o obtain better alary romHamburg.When theHamburg uthorities ave him what he wanted, he was no longerinterested n the Leipzigposition.

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The Leipzig town councillors ere bitterly isappointed s theymet

againlate in the

yearto

beginthe

processll over

again.This

time they preferred former tudent f the Thomasschule, hristophGraupner, apellmeiser of Darmstadt. egotiations ere opened andcontinued nto the following ear, 723,only o be abruptly erminatedwhen Graupner's mployer, he Landgrave f Hesse Darmstadt, efusedto releasehim.2 o in the spring f 1723,the Councilhad to begin forthe third ime to find successor o Kuhnau.At the Council meetingheld on April 9, a councillor tated hat since he best man could notbe obtainedmediocre nes i.e., andidates} ouldhave to be accepted."3On April 22 it was the same councillor ho was the first o record is

vote for Bach,who was unanimously lected.4 hus Bach'sentry ntothe ife of Leipzigwas far from uspicious. e was regarded s beingmerely mediocre, hird-rate usician;he was not the person theCouncilwould have chosen, ut, under he circumstances, e was theonly ne worth onsidering

It would eem that he ater difficulties etween ach and the townofficials ccurred ecauseof a basic misunderstanding oncerning henature f the work f the cantor. ssentially heCouncil aw that t wasthe duty f the cantor o be primarily teacher n the Thomasschule,whose eaching verflowed nto the churches hen the boys ouldmakepractical se of what they had learned rom he cantor. n the exami-nation nd evaluation f the candidates, he Council had time nd againstressed hat he new cantormust be faithful o the teaching uties nthe Thomasschule. elemannhad indicated hat he would not becomecantor f he had to teach non-musicalubjects n the chool. he Councilhad reluctantly ccededbecausehe was the man the councillors antedand they were prepared o make sacrifices o secure him.5However,whenTelemannwithdrew, heteaching bligation f the cantor ecametheir major oncern. n the proceedings f the Council f December 1,1722, t was noted that one candidate ould not teach and, therefore,couldnot be considered, nd it was resolved hat the others houldbeexamined especially ith regard o teaching."6 t the Councilmeetingof April 22 when Bach was elected, efore he votes were cast, onecouncillor nnounced hat the successful andidate must ccommodatehimself o the nstruction f the youth," nd another eported hatBach"had the teaching quipment" nd was willing to teach. "He [Bach}had formally ndertaken o give not only public but also privateinstruction."7n May 5, 1723, Bachgave his final undertaking:

That shall set the boys shining xample f an honestmanner f life, serve the School industriously, nd instrua

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there was no encouragement or the students s the honorarium hathad been

customarily aidwas no

longervailable.

Bachwas

againcharging he Council with a break in tradition.) The cantor alsoobserved hat "the fact that so many poorly quippedboys, nd boysnot t all talented ormusic, avebeen ccepted into heThomasschule]to date has necessarily aused music to decline and deteriorate." enormally equired hirty-six oodsingers or undayworship; dmittedlyhe had fifty-four oys o choosefrom, ut only eventeen f themwerereally ble to sing 20

Here again is demonstrated he contrast etween the Council's

pedagogicaloncern nd Bach's musical oncern, fact hat was to be

underlined n the protracted ontroversy etweenBach and the rectorof the Thomasschule, ohannAugust Ernesti.21 rnesti was the educa-tionalist ar excellence ithoutmuch feeling or,nor understanding f,music.Khler,writing n 1776,observed hat whenhe [Ernesti] ameupon a student racticing n an instrument e would exclaim: What?You want to become beer- iddler, oo?' 22For him the study nd thepractice f music were a waste of time. It is hardly urprising hatclashcame between he two men. As one reads the account f the un-fortunate ffair, ne cannot help but think hat the Councilwas more

in favourwith Ernesti han with Bach.Moreover, rnesti had an in-fluential riend n the Council.Khler ontinues: Byvirtue f the highregard n which he was held by Burgomaster tieglitz, e [Ernesti]managed o be released rom he duties f inspection f the School."23It was the same Stieglitzwho, fter ach's death, xpressed heopinionthat "the Schoolneeded a Cantor and not a Capellmeister."24ut,throughout he debate, he main plank of Bach'sappeal to the Counciland to the King was that Ernesti ad brokenwith the tradition f theschooland was, in fact, ntroducing nnovations o the detriment fmusic oth n church nd school. Bach

appealed gainand

againto the

Council, nd its silencemay be interpreted o suggest hat he council-lors knew hat he cantor was in the right, ut they were n sympathywith their ector.

As one examines he evidence t becomes lear that Bachwas mis-understood y, and was out of favour with, he Leipzigofficials orvirtually he whole of his service n the town. Things got so bad forhim n 1730 that he wrote o Georg Erdmann n Danzigcomplainingthat the authorities re odd and little nterested n music, o I mustlive amid almost ontinual exation, nvy, nd persecution; ccordinglyI shallbe forced, ith God'shelp, o seekmy fortune lsewhere."25ow-ever, ach stayed n Leipzig only o be further umiliated.

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II

The eighteenth entury as the age of the encyclopedia. he aimwas for veryone to haveknowledge ithin each f his hand n shelveslabelledA, B, C, D, etc. The Encyclopedia as what the spirit f theage required, nd what t purchased."26phraim hambers as the firstwith his Cyclopedia,r Universal ictionary f Arts nd Sciences pub-lished n 1728 in two volumes. This was followed by all kinds ofencyclopedias ublished n all the major centers n Europe, ncludingthe famous hree volumesof the first dition of the EncyclopediaBrittanica, 769-1771.

All of these ttempts t producing truly niversal ictionary ookquite puny when ompared ith he monumental ncyclopedian sixty-eight packedfolio volumes hat ppeared n Leipzigbetween 732 and1754.This was the Grosses ollstndiges NIVERSALLEXICON allerWissenschafftenndKnste published y Johann einrich edier.27 hework s a veritablemine of information, eingof a specialvalue in itsbio-bibliographicaltudies f the personalities f its own and precedinggenerations. t is particularly ich n information egarding he prede-cessors nd contemporaries f Bach and is a major reference ork ndocumentary ach studies.28 n interesting act oncerning hisLexiconis that vena brief erusal f its columns evoted o musical ersonali-ties reveals ts dependence n Johann Gottfried alther MusicalischesLexiconwhichwaspublished n Leipzig n 17 2. 9Manyof the entriesin Zedier re taken lmost erbatim romWalther.

The first wo volumes f Zedier Lexicon ppeared n 1732 andproceeded o further han the letter A." The third olumewas pub-lished hefollowing ear 1733) and includedmaterial eginning iththe etter B." Walther had included number f entries n membersof the Bach family, nd, since a distinguished ember f that familyheld the most mportant usical ost n Leipzig, ne would expect hegreat Leipzig encyclopedia o give similar overage,which, ndeed, tdoes.The first ntry oncerning hemusical achs s as follows shownalongside heentry n Walther o demonstrate he dependence):Walther (1732)

Bach (Joh. Christoph) in 38Jahr ang gewesener rganist uEisenach,und Vater der dreyenBrder, eml. des Jenaischen r-ganistens, rn. Joh.Nielas,welcheran 1669den Oten Octob. ebohren

Zedler (1733)Bach (Jo. Christoph) war zu

Eisenach 38 Jahr ang Organist,und hatte Shne, emlich ohannNielas,Johann hristoph, nd Jo-hann Friedrich. er erste wardOrganisten n Jena, welcher an

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worden, n. 1695 in nur besagterStadt u diesem Dienste

gelanget,und nsonderheit egen einer er-fertigten lavierebekannt st; desbishero n Rotterdam,etzoaber nEngelland ichbesindenden usici,welcher oh.Christoph eisset, ndauf dem Claviere nformiret, ichaucheine geraume eit vorhero nErfurt nd Hamburg ufgehaltenhat; und des Mhlhusischen r-

ganistens n der S. Blasii-Kirche,Nahmens, Johann Friedrich,welcher n 1730 verstorben st;hat verschiedene eine Clavier-insonderheit ber dergleichen o-cal-Stcke esetzet, o aber nichtgedruckt orden ind. st an 1703den 31 Martii, m 60 Jahre einesAlters estorben.30

Bach (Joh. Christoph) for 38years rganist t Eisenach, as thefather f the hree rothers, amelythe Organist t Jena, Hr. Joh.Niclas,who was born Anno 1669,October 0, succeededo this posi-tion in the town ust mentionedAnno 1695, and is particularly

known for the claviershe builds;the musician formerly iving inRotterdam, ut now in Englandwho is called Joh. Christoph ndgives instruction n the clavier,having also sojourned previouslyfor onsiderableime n Erfurt ndHamburg; nd the Organist t St.Blasius' Church in Mhlhausen,namedJohann riedrich, ho diedAnno 1730.Has composed ariousfine iecesfor heclavier, nd par-

1669.den 10. Oct. gebohren, ndan. 1695 in nur

besagtertadt u

diesem Dienst beruffen ard, erist sonderlich egen einer erfer-tigten Claviere ehr bekannt. erandere Sohn ist ein Musicus, ndhat sich erstlich n Rotterdam, r-furth und Hamburg aufgehalten,nachhero ber sich nach Englandbegeben, llwoer auf demClaviere

informiret. er dritte war Organ-ist zu Mhlhausen,n der S.Blasii-Kirche, hat verschiedene lavier-insonderheit ber dergleichen o-cal-Stckegesetzet, welche abernicht zum Druck gekommen, rist im 60. Jahre einesAlters e-storben.31

Bach (Jo. Christoph) was inEisenach 8 years s Organist, ndhad 3 sons,namely, ohann iclas,Johann Christophy, nd JohannFriedrich. he first asOrganist nJena, who was born Anno 166910 Oct., and was called to thisposition n the town just men-

tioned Anno 1695;He is particu-larly well-known or the claviershe builds. The second son is amusician, firstly n Rotterdam,then for considerable ime n Er-furt nd Hamburg, fter whichhewent to England,who gives in-struction n the clavier. he thirdwasOrganist n Mhlhausen,t St.Blasius'Church, nd has composedvarious inepiecesfor the clavier,and particularly or voices which

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that ohann ichael achwas the first ather-in-lawf the antor, ohannSebastian ach.The fact

ppearsohavebeen

deliberatelymitted.

Walter's exicon as four ntries evoted o members f the musicalBachfamily. he last and longest ntry s the now famous irst rintedbiography f J. S. Bach.37 edier used Walthers Lexicon s his source,and it couldbe expected hat the monumental eipzig reference orkwouldat least reproduce, f not add to, the entry n Walther oncern-ing the town's antor. n fact, ediers next ntries fter ohannMichaelBach read thus:

"Bach, Wilhelm)sieheWilhelmus

eubrigensis.Bacha, ieheBassa.Bacha, ieheFoliumBarbaricum."

In other words, ll reference o Johann ebastianBach has beencarefully dited ut of the text.

This is a surprising act, specially hen one examines ubsequentvolumes f Zedler's Lexicon.Volume 15 appeared n 1737 and con-tained wo and a half columns evoted o Bach's predecessor, ohannKuhnau.38

he entry s substantially he same as Walther part fromone or two minor missions; ndeed, edier slavishly ollowsWaltherin repeating d nauseam he details f the chapter f someof Kuhnau'sliterary orks.39 alther's rief ntry n Kuhnau'spredecessor, ohannSchelle, s reprinted lmost naltered n volume34.40

Butwhat s of greater nterest s the entry oncerning eorgPhilippTelemann, he man whom the Leipzigofficials ad wanted o appointas cantor n succession o Kuhnau.Telemann eceives reater overagethan Kuhnau n that lmost our olumns re given over to him.41 s

couldbe expected, he substance f the entry s taken from Walther42but, unlike his normal practice, edier includes ignificant dditionalmaterial.Walther adconcluded is entry n Telemann y giving listof his publishedworksdown to the year 1730.Walther temizes ineworks r collections; edier continues rom Walther's ine and bringsthe total isting o thirty-two. here was obviously reat nterest nLeipzig n Telemann. .S. Bach,the town's urrent antor, igures o-where n Zedler's exiconOne cannot elpbut draw he conclusion hatthe omissionwas a deliberate ct of censorship n the part of officialsin Leipzig.J. S. Bach had failed, n their yes, n his duties, nd there-fore did not deserve o be immortalized ithin the pages of theirgreat ncyclopedia.

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Sebastianachs 685-1750hereafter eferredo as BD I), (Kassel, 969),p. 92.

4BR, 90; BDII, 96.5Terry, p. cit., . 142.6BR, 88; BDII, 88.7BR,90; BDII, 96.Bachgave his ssurancen a letter otheCouncil atedApril 9, 1723:"I will nstruct heboys dmittednto he chool ot onlyin the regular lasses . . but lso n private ingingessons." e also tatedthat in case omeone hould e neededo assistme n the nstructionf theLatin anguage,I] will . . compensatehe said person ut of my ownpocket." R,89.8BR,91-92.9DatedJune 9, 1723:seeBR,95;BDII, 115.The ukewarmttitude owardBach anhardly ave een mprovedponwhen, t the nstallation eremony,there asconfusions PastorWeiss, eputizingor uperintendenteyling,failed o observeheusual ustomsnd traditions, fact hat wasstill eingreferred osome enmonthsater, erhaps ith ome ntention f removingBach rom isoffice.

10eenotes and9.11BR,60; BachDokumenteHerausgegebenon BachArchiv eipzig, and :

Schriftstckeonder HandJohann ebastian achs hereafter eferredoasBDI), (Kassel, 963),p. 19.12BR,96f;BDII, 139f.13BR,98-104; D I, 30-45.14BR,112;BDII, 171f. Seealso 69f.)15BR,113;BD,II, 182.16September0, 1728:BR, l4f.; BDI, 54f.17BR,119.18BR,119f.; D II, 204f.19BR,120;BDII, 206.20BR,120-124;D I, 60-64.21 eeBR,137-149;erry, p. cit., 07-242.22BR,137.23bid.24BR,189.25 ctober 8, 1730:BR, 125,BDI, 67.26 aulHazard, uropean houghtn the ighteenthenturytrans. .LewisMay

(Harmondsworth,965),p. 220f.27 facsimileeprint aspublished, raz, 961-1964. lthough hetitlepagesindicatehat heworkwaspublishedn bothHalle and Leipzig, eipzig asZedler's ase nd hisLexicon as a Leipzig roduction.edier ad publishedin Leipziglone n edition f theworks f Martin uther n 22 folio olumesbetween 729and 1734.SeeRobert ollinson,ncyclopedias:heirHistoryThroughoutheAges, ewYork nd London,966,2p. 104-105.28eeBDI, 279andBDII, 522.29 facsimileeprint aspublished,assel nd Basel, 953.30Walther, p. cit., 3.31Zedier, p.cit., II, col.55.32 ranslationrom R, 206,n.8.33 eeBR,207.34Walther, p.cit., 3-64.35Zedier, p.cit., II, col.55.36 ranslationased n

BR,X

206,n.

9.37BR, 46; BDII, 231.38Zedier, p.cit.,XV (1737),cols. 108-2111.

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35 f.Walther; p. it., 49-350.40Zedier, p.cit., XXIV 1742),col.2184;Walther, p.cit., 50.4'Zedier, p.cit., LII(1744),cols. 44-647.42Walther, p. cit., 96-597.43Zedier, p.cit., upp. I, cols.1157-1158.44 ee note 7.

About Our Authors

Max Rudolf, who recently etired s musicaldirector nd con-ductor f the Cincinnati ymphony rchestra, s currently ividinghistime between eaching uties t the Curtis nstitute nd a heavyguest-conducting chedule.The third installment f Dr. Rudolf's article,"Storm nd Stress n Music,"will appear n OctoberBACH.

David Mulbury, assistant rofessor t the University f CincinnatiCollege-Conservatoryf Music, s in considerable emand s an organ

recitalist nd ecturer. is article n Bach'sPassacagliawill be concludedin October ACH.

Robin Leaver, Anglicanminister, heologian,nd music cholar scurrently ompleting book about the faith nd theology f J. S. Bach.The ReverendMr. Leaver, Winston Churchill ellow, s chaplain fSt.Mary's hapel,CastleStreet, eading, ngland.

Sol Babitz, violinist,musicologist,o-founder nd director f theBaroqueMusicLaboratoryn LosAngeles s the author f a number farticles ealingwith Baroqueperformance ractices nd violin echnique.

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