Wilhelm Friedemann Bach - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach the second child and eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...

and Maria Barbara Bach

Maria Barbara Bach

Maria Barbara Bach was the first wife of composer Johann Sebastian Bach. She was also his second cousin, and the daughter of Johann Michael Bach.-Personal life:...

, was a German composer and performer. Despite his acknowledged genius as an organist, improviser and composer, his income and employment were unstable and he died in poverty.

Biography

Wilhelm Friedemann (hereafter Friedemann) was born in Weimar

Weimar

Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...

, where his father was employed as organist and chamber musician to the Duke of Saxe-Weimar. In July of 1720, when Friedemann was nine, his mother Maria Barbara Bach

Maria Barbara Bach

Maria Barbara Bach was the first wife of composer Johann Sebastian Bach. She was also his second cousin, and the daughter of Johann Michael Bach.-Personal life:...

died suddenly; Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

remarried in December of 1721. J. S. Bach supervised Friedemann's musical education and career with great attention. The graded course of keyboard studies and composition that J. S. Bach provided is documented in the Clavier-Büchlein vor Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (modern spelling: Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach
Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach
Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach is a collection of keyboard music compiled by the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach for his eldest son Wilhelm Friedemann...

), with entries by both father and son. This education also included (parts of) the French Suites, (Two-Part) Inventions, (Three-Part) Sinfonias (popularly known as "Inventions"), the first volume of the Well-Tempered Clavier, and the six Trio Sonatas for organ. At the age of 16 he went to Merseburg

Merseburg

Merseburg is a town in the south of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt on the river Saale, approx. 14 km south of Halle . It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a diocese founded by Archbishop Adalbert of Magdeburg....

to learn the violin with his teacher Johann Gottlieb Graun

Johann Gottlieb Graun

Johann Gottlieb Graun was a German Baroque/Classical era composer and violinist.Graun was born in Wahrenbrück. His brother Carl Heinrich was also a composer and singer. He studied with J.G. Pisendel in Dresden, and Giuseppe Tartini in Padua. Appointed Konzertmeister in Merseburg in 1726, he taught...

.

In addition to his musical training, Friedemann received formal schooling beginning in Weimar. When J.S. Bach took the post of Cantor of the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

(in 1723), he enrolled Friedemann in the associated Thomasschule. (J.S. Bach—who had himself been orphaned at the age of 10—said that he took the position in Leipzig partly because of the educational opportunities it afforded his children). On graduating in 1729, Friedemann enrolled as a law student in Leipzig University, a renowned institution at the time. He maintained a lifelong interest in mathematics, and continued to study it privately during his first job in Dresden

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

.

Friedemann was appointed in 1733 to the position of organist of the St. Sophia's Church

Sophienkirche

The Sophienkirche , Dresden stood on the northeast corner of the Postplatz, in Dresden's old town, before its destruction in 1962 on resolution of the party and government of the GDR...

at Dresden

Dresden

. In competing for the post he played a new version of his father’s Prelude and Fugue in G Major, BWV 541. The judge described Friedemann as clearly superior to the other two candidates. He remained a renowned organist throughout his life. Among his many pupils in Dresden was Johann Gottlieb Goldberg

Johann Gottlieb Goldberg

Johann Gottlieb Goldberg was a German virtuoso harpsichordist, organist, and composer of the late Baroque and early Classical period. He is most famous for lending his name, as the probable original performer, to the renowned Goldberg Variations of J.S...

, the keyboardist whose name is erroneously enshrined in the popular nickname given to J. S. Bach's 1742 publication, “Aria with Diverse Variations”—that is, “The Goldberg Variations

Goldberg Variations

The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, is a work for harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach, consisting of an aria and a set of 30 variations. First published in 1741, the work is considered to be one of the most important examples of variation form...

.” The scholar Peter Williams

Peter Williams

Peter Williams is the name of:* Sir Peter Williams , former chairman of Oxford Instruments; Chancellor, University of Leicester* Peter Williams , New Zealand television presenter...

has discredited the story linking the work to Goldberg, stating that J. S. Bach wrote the work for the Russian Ambassador Count Hermann Carl von Keyserlingk, who would ask his employee, Goldberg, to play variations for him to ward off insomnia. Williams instead has argued that J.S. Bach wrote the variations to provide a display piece for Friedemann.

In 1746 Friedemann became organist of the Liebfrauenkirche at Halle

Halle, Saxony-Anhalt

Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...

. In 1751, Friedemann married Dorothea Elisabeth Georgi (1721–1791), who was 11 years his junior and who outlived him by seven years. Dorothea was the daughter of a tax collector. The landed estates she inherited caused the family to be placed in a high tax bracket by Halle authorities, who were raising taxes to meet the revenue demands of the Seven Years War. To raise cash for these payments, she sold part of her property in 1770. The couple produced two sons and a daughter, Friederica Sophia (born in 1757), who was the only one of their offspring to live past infancy. The descendents of Friederica Sophia eventually migrated to Oklahoma.[2]

Friedemann was deeply unhappy in Halle almost from the beginning of his tenure. In 1749 he was involved in a conflict with the Cantor of the Liebfrauenkirche, Gottfried Mittag, who had misappropriated funds that were due to Friedemann. In 1750 the church authorities reprimanded Friedemann for overstaying a leave of absence (he was in Leipzig settling his father's estate). In 1753 he made his first documented attempt to find another post, and thereafter made several others. All these attempts failed.

In 1762, he negotiated for the post of Kapellmeister to the court of Darmstadt

Darmstadt

Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...

; although he protracted the negotiations for reasons that are opaque to historians and did not actively take the post, he nevertheless was appointed "Hofkapellmeister of Hessen-Darmstadt", a title he used in the dedication of his Harpsichord Concerto in E minor.

In June 1764, Friedemann left the job in Halle without any employment secured elsewhere. His financial situation deteriorated so much that in 1768 he re-applied for his old job in Halle, without success. He thereafter supported himself by teaching; not surprisingly, he died in penury. After leaving Halle in 1770, he lived for several years (1771–1774) in Braunschweig

Braunschweig

Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....

where he applied in vain for the post of an organist at the St. Catherine's church. Then he moved to Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, where he initially was welcomed by the princess Anna Amalia (the sister of Frederick the Great), but later fell into disgrace under still opaque circumstances. He died in Berlin.

Earlier biographers have concluded that his “wayward” and difficult personality reduced his ability to gain and hold secure employment, but the scholar David Schulenberg writes (in the Oxford Composer Companion: J.S. Bach, ed. Malcolm Boyd, 1999) that “he may also have been affected by changing social conditions that made it difficult for a self-possessed virtuoso to succeed in a church- or court-related position” (p. 39). Schulenberg adds, “he was evidently less willing than most younger contemporaries to compose fashionable, readily accessible music”.

Friedemann Bach was renowned for his improvisatory skills. It is speculated that when in Leipzig his father's accomplishments set so high a bar that he focused on improvisation rather than composition. Evidence adduced for this speculation includes the fact that his compositional output increased in Dresden and Halle.

Friedemann’s compositions include many church cantata

Cantata

A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....

s and instrumental works, of which the most notable are the fugue

Fugue

In music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....

s, polonaise

Polonaise

The polonaise is a slow dance of Polish origin, in 3/4 time. Its name is French for "Polish."The polonaise had a rhythm quite close to that of the Swedish semiquaver or sixteenth-note polska, and the two dances have a common origin....

s and fantasia

Fantasia (music)

The fantasia is a musical composition with its roots in the art of improvisation. Because of this, it seldom approximates the textbook rules of any strict musical form ....

s for clavier

Clavier

Clavier is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. On January 1, 2006, Clavier had a total population of 4,172. The total area is 79.12 km² which gives a population density of approximately 53 inhabitants per km²....

, and the duets for two flutes. He incorporated more elements of the contrapuntal

Counterpoint

In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...

style learned from his father than any of his three composer brothers, but his use of the style has an individualistic and improvisatory edge which endeared his work to musicians of the late 19th century, when there was something of a revival of his reputation.

Friedemann's students included Johann Nikolaus Forkel

Johann Nikolaus Forkel

Johann Nikolaus Forkel , was a German musician, musicologist and music theorist.-Biography:...

, who in 1802 published the first biography of Johann Sebastian Bach; Friedemann, as well as his younger brother Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

right|250pxCarl Philipp Emanuel Bach was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and second son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach...

, were major informants for Forkel. Friedemann has in earlier biographies been called a poor custodian of his father's musical manuscripts, many of which he inherited; however, more recent scholars are uncertain how many were lost. It is known that Friedemann sold some of his father's collection to raise cash to pay debts (including a large sale in 1759 to Johann Georg Nacke). Also, his daughter took some of the Sebastian Bach manuscripts with her when she moved to America, and these were passed on to her descendants, who inadvertently destroyed many of them. Others were passed on through his only known Berlin pupil, Sarah Itzig

Itzig

Itzig may mean:* The Itzig family, famous for its contribution to Jewish and German cultural history* Julius Eduard Hitzig, born Isaac Elias ItzigPlace names:* Itzig, Luxembourg...

Levy, the daughter of a prominent Jewish family in Berlin and great-aunt of Felix Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...

; it was she who gave Mendelssohn the manuscript of the St. Matthew Passion, which she had received from Friedemann. Some of his scores were collected by Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch and his pupil Carl Friedrich Zelter

Carl Friedrich Zelter

Carl Friedrich Zelter was a German composer, conductor and teacher of music.Zelter became friendly with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and his works include settings of Goethe's poems...

, the teacher of Felix Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn

and through them these materials were placed in the library of the Berlin Singakademie

Berlin Singakademie

The Sing-Akademie zu Berlin is a musical society founded in Berlin in 1791 by Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch, harpsichordist to the court of Prussia, on the model of the 18th century London Academy of Ancient Music.-Early history:...

, which Fasch founded in 1791 and Zelter took charge of in 1800.

Friedemann is known occasionally to have claimed credit for music written by his father, but this was in keeping with common musical practices in the era.

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach is not to be confused with Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach

Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach

Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach was the eldest son of Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach and the only grandson of Johann Sebastian Bach to gain fame as a composer. He was music director to Frederick William II of Prussia...

, his nephew, also a composer. Friedemann himself may have been one of the models for Diderot's

Denis Diderot

Denis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie....

philosophical dialogue Rameau's Nephew

Rameau's Nephew

Rameau's Nephew, or the Second Satire is an imaginary philosophical conversation written by Denis Diderot, probably between 1761 and 1772....

(Le Neveu de Rameau).

Works list

Keyboard Works

BR A 1 \ Keyboard Sonata in C major (F200)

BR A 2 \ Keyboard Sonata in C major (F 1)

BR A 3 \ Keyboard Sonata in C major (F 2)

BR A 4 \ Keyboard Sonata in D major (F 3)

BR A 5 \ Keyboard Sonata in D major (F 4)

BR A 6 \ Sonata for 2 harpsichord in D major (F 11) (lost)

BR A 7 \ Keyboard Sonata in E flat major (F 5)

BR A 8 \ Keyboard Sonata in E flat major (F201)

BR A 9 \ Keyboard Sonata in E minor (F204) (lost)

BR A 10 \ Keyboard Sonata in F major (F202)

BR A 11 \ Keyboard Sonata in F major (F 6)

BR A 12 \ Sonata for 2 harpsichords in F major (F 10)

BR A 13 \ Concerto for harpsichord solo in G major (F 40)

BR A 14 \ Keyboard Sonata in G major (F 7)

BR A 15 \ Keyboard Sonata in A major (F 8)

BR A 16 \ Keyboard Sonata in B flat major (F 9)

BR A 17 \ Fantasia for harpsichord in C major (F 14)

BR A 18 \ Fantasia for harpsichord in C minor (F 15)

BR A 19 \ Fantasia for harpsichord in C minor (F 16)

BR A 20 \ Fantasia for harpsichord in D major (F 17)

BR A 21 \ Fantasia for harpsichord in D minor (F 18)

BR A 22 \ Fantasia for harpsichord in D minor (F 19)

BR A 23 \ Fantasia for harpsichord in E minor (F 20)

BR A 24 \ Fantasia for harpsichord in E minor (F 21)

BR A 25 \ Fantasia for harpsichord in G major (F 22)

BR A 26 \ Fantasia for harpsichord in A minor (F 23)

BR A 27-38 \ Twelve Polonaises (F 12)

BR A 39 \ Harpsichord Suite in G minor (F 24)

BR A 40-41 \ 2 German Dances for harpsichord in G minor (F205)

BR A 42-43 \ 2 Menuets for harpsichord

BR A 44-47 \ 4 Preludes for harpsichord (F206)

BR A 48-49 \ 2 pieces for harpsichord (F 25)

BR A 50 \ Menuetto for harpsichord in F major (F208)

BR A 51 \ L'imitation de la chasse for harpsichord in C major (F 26)

BR A 52 \ La Reveille for harpsichord in C major (F 27)

BR A 53 \ Gigue for harpsichord in G major (F 28)

BR A 54 \ Prelude for harpsichord in C minor (F 29)

BR A 55 \ Scherzo for harpsichord in D minor

BR A 56 \ March for harpsichord in E flat major (F 30)

BR A 57 \ March for harpsichord in F major

BR A 58 \ Polonaise for keyboard in C major (F 13)

BR A 59 \ Ouverture for harpsichord in E major

BR A 60 \ Andante for harpsichord in E minor (F209)

BR A 61 \ Allegro non troppo for harpsichord in G major (F203) (lost)

BR A 62 \ Un poco allegro for harpsichord in C major

BR A 63-80 \ 18 pieces for clock-organ (F207)

BR A 81-88 \ Eight fugues for harpsichord (F 31)

BR A 89 \ Fugue for organ in C minor (F 32)

BR A 90 \ Fugue for organ in F major (F 33)

BR A 91 \ Fugue (triple) for organ in F major (F 36)

BR A 92 \ Fugue for organ in G minor (F 37)

BR A 93-99 \ 7 Chorale preludes for organ (F 38)

BR A100 \ Trio on "Allein Gott in der Höh dei Ehr" for organ (F 38) (lost)

BR A101-104 \ 4 Chorale preludes for organ (lost)

BWV 534 \ Prelude and Fugue in F minor (once attr. to J.S.Bach)

Chamber Music

BR B 1 \ Flute Duetto in E minor (F 54)

BR B 2 \ Flute Duetto in E flat major (F 55)

BR B 3 \ Flute Duetto in E flat major (F 56)

BR B 4 \ Flute Duetto in F major (F 57)

BR B 5 \ Flute Duetto in F minor (F 58)

BR B 6 \ Flute Duetto in G major (F 59)

BR B 7 \ Viola Duetto in C major (F 60)

BR B 8 \ Viola Duetto in G major (F 61)

BR B 9 \ Viola Duetto in G minor (F 62)

BR B10 \ Flute Sonata in F major (F 51) (lost)

BR B11 \ Flute Sonata in A minor (F 52) (lost)

BR B12 \ Flute Sonata in D major (F 53) (lost)

BR B13 \ Trio Sonata in D major (F 47)

BR B14 \ Trio Sonata in D major (F 48)

BR B15 \ Trio Sonata in A minor (F 49)

Trio Sonata For Two Flutes

Trio Sonata For Two Flutes in A minor, F. 49, BR B15, is a trio sonata composed by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. There are two movements:#Allegro#LarghettoIt has been recorded by Jean-Pierre Rampal....

BR B16 \ Trio Sonata in B flat major (F 50)

BR B17 \ Sonata for flute, violin & continuo in F major

Orchestral Works

BR C 1 \ Symphony in C major (F 63)

BR C 2 \ Symphony in F major (F 67)

BR C 3 \ Symphony in G major (F 68) (lost)

BR C 4 \ Symphony in G major (F 69) (lost)

BR C 5 \ Symphony in B flat major (F 71) (lost)

BR C 6 \ Symphony in A major (F 70) (fragment)

BR C 7 \ Symphony in D minor (F 65)

BR C 8 \ Symphony in D major (F 64)

BR C 9 \ Harpsichord Concerto in D major (F 41)

BR C10 \ Harpsichord Concerto in E flat major (F 42)

BR C11 \ Concerto for 2 harpsichords in E flat major (F 46)

BR C12 \ Harpsichord Concerto in E minor (F 43)

BR C13 \ Harpsichord Concerto in F major (F 44)

BR C14 \ Harpsichord Concerto in A minor (F 45)

BR C15 \ Concerto for flute in D major

Liturgical Works

BR E1 \ Mass in G minor (F100)

BR E2 \ Missa in D minor (F 98)

BR E3 \ Heilig ist Gott in D major (F 78a)

BR E4 \ Agnus Dei in D minor

BR E5 \ Amen (F 99)

BR E6 \ Halleluja (F 99)

BR E7 \ Lobet Gott, unsern Herrn in D major (F 78b)

Sacred Cantatas

BR F 1 \ Lasset uns ablegen die Werke der Finsternis (F 80)

BR F 2 \ O Wunder ! wer kann dieses fassen? (F 92)

BR F 3 \ Ach, daß du den Himmel zerrissest (F 93)

BR F 4 \ Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe (F250)

BR F 5 \ Der Herr zu deiner Rechten (F 73)

BR F 6 \ Wir sind Gottes Werk (F 74)

BR F 7 \ Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (F 82)

BR F 8 \ Cantata for Palm Sunday (lost)

BR F 9 \ Erzittert und fallet (F 83)

BR F10 \ Auf, Christen, posaunt

BR F11 \ Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen (F 75)

BR F12 \ Wo geht die Lebensreise hin? (F 91)

BR F13 \ Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten (F 72)

BR F14 \ Dies ist der Tag (F 85)

BR F15 \ Ertönt, ihr seligen Völker (F 88)

BR F16 \ Ach, daß du den Himmel zerrissest

BR F17 \ Es ist eine Stimme eines Predigers in der Wüste (F 89)

BR F18 \ Der Herr wird mit Gerechtigkeit (F 81)

BR F19 \ Ach Gott vom Himmel, sieh darein (F 96)

BR F20 \ Introduzzione delle predicazione del Catechismo (F 76)

BR F21 \ Wie ruhig ist doch meine Seele (F 77) (lost)

BR F22 \ Der Höchste erhöret das Flehen der Armen (F 86)

BR F23 \ Verhängnis, dein Wüten entkräftet die Armen (F 87)

BR F24 \ Auf, Christen, posaunt (F 95)

BR F25 \ Dienet dem Herrn mit Freuden (F 84)

BR F26 \ Der Trost gehöret nur für Kinder

BR F27 \ Zerbrecht, zerreist, ihr schnöden Banden (F 94)

BR F28 \ Laß dein Wehen in mir spielen

BR F29 \ Gnade finden (F 79) (fragment)

Secular Cantata & Opera

BR G1 \ O Himmel, schöne (F 90)

BR G2 \ Lausus und Lydie (F106) (lost)

Song

BR H1 \ Cantilena nuptiarum consolatoria (F 97)

Miscellaneous Works

BR I1 \ Canons & Studies for organ (F 39)

BR I2-5 \ 4 Triple Canons for organ (F212)

BR I6 \ Fugal exposition for organ in C major (F 35)

BR I7 \ Fugue exposition on B-A-C-H for organ (F210)

BR I8 \ Abhandlung vom harmonischen Dreiklang (lost)

Other works in Falck's catalogue

F 34 \ Fugue for organ in B flat major

F211 \ 3 Fugues for organ

Fnv8 \ Keyboard Sonata in A minor

Trivia

One of Mozart's projects - Köchel catalogue 404a - was to transcribe several fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier, and the last, in F minor
F minor
F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. The harmonic minor raises the E to E. Its key signature has four flats ....

, of the Eight Fugues (Falck 31) of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, for string trio, providing them with preludes of his own. (This has in fact been recorded a few times even outside of complete Mozart editions.)

Media

External links

Concertos, harpsichords (2), orchestra, F. 46, E major, arranged for two pianos (from the Sibley Music Library Digital Score Collection)
Duets for Two Flutes Complete MP3 Creative Commons Recording (Dead Link)

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Biography

Works list

Trivia

Media

Further reading

External links