The Weimar period in Bach's work. "Weimar period. Bach's creative heritage

3. Cantatas of the Weimar period: new poetry, new forms and images

Service and house arrest in Weimar

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the great Johann Sebastian Bach we know took shape and was finally formed in Weimar, where he served from 1708 to 1717. This was Bach's second stop on his turbulent youth life path in Weimar. The first was very short, but here he settled for a long time and performed various duties.

First of all, these were the duties of the court organist, and most of the time he devoted himself to these duties, and apparently composed mainly organ music. But on March 2, 1714, he was also appointed concertmaster of the court musical ensemble, the court chapel. Since then his responsibilities have expanded. In particular, he had to compose church cantatas virtually once a month. In addition, Bach hoped that with the death of the elderly Kapellmeister Drese, he would receive his post.

Drese died on December 1, 1716, but Bach did not receive the desired post. The post was inherited by the son of the deceased, a musician, of course, of a level completely incomparable with Bach, but such are the craft traditions in Germany. There, positions were very often inherited. And after that, Bach went into an open scandal, a quarrel with Wilhelm Ernst, the Weimar ruler, and even - this story is known - at the end of 1717, before he was released, he was put under house arrest for almost a month. This is the picture of life and life background Bach's work in the field of cantatas.

Collaboration with Solomon Frank

The cantatas have been preserved, about some of them we know what days, what holidays of the church year they were dedicated to. There is no information about some, there are only guesses. Of course, most of these cantatas were written to texts by a local poet with whom Bach collaborated, Solomon Frank. He was already an old man, however, and a long-liver - he lived until 1725, when Bach was no longer in Weimar, and he was born in 1659. It was talented poet, and researchers of Bach’s work, especially those who understand the German language well, the Germans themselves, sometimes even say that he was the most talented librettist with whom Bach collaborated. Today we will not talk about cantatas based on his texts; we will devote a separate lecture to them.

I will only note that for all, perhaps, the talent of the images and for all the musicality of the poetry, which really distinguish Solomon Frank’s libretto, he was not an innovator as such in the field of forms of church poetry. Here he rather followed the reform of Erdmann Neumeister, which we talked about in the previous lecture. But I followed creatively. He did have cantatas that followed some of the standards developed by Neumeister. These are, for example, cantatas consisting almost entirely of arias and recitatives. Or just the whole thing, like Neumeister, say, in his first cantata cycles. He then created cantatas incorporating biblical sayings and chorales, and this corresponded to the third and fourth Neumeister cycles, his later poetry.

Frank also had very early cantatas, which were similar to Neumeister’s, but generally represented something special - they did not have recitatives. Let's say, the first cantata that Bach composed as accompanist, it happened on March 25, 1714, it was the holiday of Palm Sunday, which then coincided with the Annunciation, this sometimes happens. Bach's 182nd cantata - there are simply no [poetic] recitatives as such, it is still transitional, as they sometimes say - an archaic type of reformed cantata. In short, Bach dealt with a variety of poetic libretto standards and tried a variety of musical forms. And it turned out very interesting.

Georg Christian Lems

Today we will not be talking about Frank’s cantatas, as I already noted, but about cantatas based on texts by two other librettists to whom Bach turned. This is Georg Christian Lems, the court librarian in Darmstadt, a very talented young man who died untimely of tuberculosis at the age of 33, in 1717. His collection of librettos for church cantatas of 1711, “The Divine Sacrifice,” served as the basis for Bach’s two cantatas written in Weimar, and he subsequently returned to this poetry in Leipzig, in 1725-26. It's obvious that he really appreciated her. And perhaps, even if Solomon Frank had not been in Weimar, he would have continued to write on the poems of this Darmstadt poet, who, I believe, is very underestimated by researchers of Bach’s work. Well, and then we will also talk about cantatas written to Neumeister’s texts, because Neumeister is also judged differently. Sometimes they deny him real poetic talent. In my opinion, everything is not so simple here.

Cantata BWV 54 – all about the fight against sin

So, the first cantata that we will talk about today is Bach’s 54th cantata, possibly written back in 1713. Those. before Bach began to regularly write church cantatas and coincide them with the holidays of the church year. A cantata that calls us to confront sin, to fight sin. And, in fact, the libretto seems absolutely wonderful to me, because it describes this tense relationship between a Christian and sin in all its subtleties, details, with many biblical allusions, but without any dependence on one biblical source. And everything that a Christian should know and think about sin is probably said here. Moreover, this cantata speaks primarily about the personal feelings of a Christian, about his inner life as a struggle with sin, and at the same time we understand that this sin is some kind of universal phenomenon, that it is a consequence of original sin, what is behind sin the devil stands. This wonderful text is created by Lems, and it is a short text - just two arias connected by recitative. Even once scientists thought that maybe this was an incomplete libretto, but now there is no doubt that this is exactly how Lems intended it and Bach wrote it all this way.

Per ogni tempo

This is a work that Bach obviously intended for any holiday of the church year, for any occasion. Per ogni tempo, as they said then. This means that there is no special day, no special occasion, that only on this day a Christian should reflect on his sinfulness and his relationship with evil.

This seems important to me, because, indeed, all sorts of guesses are being made about when all this could have happened. One of the assumptions is that this could sound on the third Sunday of Lent, Sunday Oculi, as the Protestants themselves call it, because on this day the psalm verse of the entrance hymn, the introit, is borrowed from our 24th (or 25th according to Protestant numbering) psalm : “My eyes are always on the Lord, for he brings my feet out of the snare.” This day, specifically dedicated to repentance, thematically, of course, seems to fit this text. But it is not at all necessary what it should have sounded like then. It would have been very beautiful that the day before his appointment as accompanist, Bach had already created and performed this cantata. But apparently this was not the case.

There are some other holidays that emphasize the moment of repentance and the fight against evil, and there are different assumptions about when this could have been created. But in the end it's not that important. But the universal meaning of the cantata, of course, is much more important for us. And Bach creates extremely bright music, permeated with both imagery and internal tension. And we can say that the whole horror of evil, as an individual person experiences it, moreover, not external evil, but the evil with which he deals within himself, is, of course, very strongly emphasized here.

BWV 54: first aria

And first of all, of course, the first aria from this cantata went down in history, became very famous and much performed. In this lecture, as, in fact, in most others, I will use the wonderful translations of Father Pyotr Meshcherinov. Well, maybe by making some small adjustments to suit your taste. “Fight sin, otherwise its poison will poison you.” Here is the first part of this aria. Arias, as we noted, are usually written in three-part form, and the third part completely reproduces the first. According to the old tradition, such arias are called “aria da capo”, i.e. “repeat from the beginning”, from the head – capo. And all this begins in major, but Bach superimposes extremely intense harmony, extremely intense consonance on pure major from the very beginning. This is the painful and painful effect that arises. This tension has its own sweetness, its own horror, its own pain, and the severity of confrontation. And besides, there is a feeling that it takes a long time to resist. This is a constant internal effort, a constant internal struggle. All these feelings and thoughts are directly expressed in music.

“And let not Satan deceive you” is the beginning of the second, middle section, which, in fact, talks about deadly curse, which is acquired by the one who exposes himself to sin and combines with Satan. It’s also quite gloomy, and we notice some darkening of the color towards the minor, as usually happens in the middle parts of major arias. And this is such a vivid image, which, of course, is remembered and which musically expresses, perhaps, the entire relationship of a person with sin. We will now hear this first small fragment.

As you noticed, the cantata is solo. Solo cantata for viola, which is also typical, because there is no need for a choir here. Here we are talking specifically about a person, about his personal feelings. This is real modern Bach poetry, beginning of XVIII century, when personal life, personal piety, personal reflections on death, on the resurrection, on the inheritance of the Kingdom of God come to the fore in spiritual life. And although, of course, the conciliar principle, the church principle remains, the emphasis turns out to be very significant.

BWV 54: recitative

And in the recitative that follows the aria, in fact, everything is explained. The recitative is performed in the best traditions of Protestant sermons. It is about how attractive sin is from the outside and how terrible and destructive it is from the inside. This all fits, of course, into the old Baroque tradition - memento mori, remember death - when various poets, not only Protestant, but also Catholic, loved to show how behind the external shine of the sinful world lies death, emptiness and nothingness.

And here are amazing harmonies, departures into very distant, absolutely amazing-sounding tonalities... After all, in Bach’s time, not all tonalities were equally used. And distant tonalities, i.e. those that are written with a large number of key signs, flats or sharps, sounded very strange, unusual simply because of the tuning of that time, which differed from the modern one very significantly. This sound had its own strangeness and its own coloring. And Bach, in fact, leads us through this image of embellishment, the elegance of sin to the fact that behind it only a coffin and a shadow are hidden.

And at the end he simply moves from recitative to what was then called “arioso”, i.e. into such a very melodious recitative, and says that sin is the apple of Sodom. “The Apple of Sodom” was also a very ancient poetic image. And whoever combines with him will not achieve the Kingdom of God. These are the only lines that directly intersect with the reading of Ephesians, which is heard on Oculi Sunday. This may be the only reference that connects the libretto with this particular Sunday.

And then they also talk about sin, which is like a sharp sword, cutting both soul and body. And here everything reaches its culmination.

BWV 54: second aria

And now we will listen to the beginning of the third number - the second, final aria from this cantata. This aria is written very interestingly. This is a real fugue, a real polyphony. There are four voices, violins, violas, viola as the voice that sings, and continuo. The three upper melodic voices enter, imitating, repeating the same melody.

Moreover, this third aria speaks of the fight against sin, and moreover, of the fight as an act of the will, first of all. A person must gather all his will, oppose sin and defeat it. And we can say that this victory is achieved in the aria. Here, it should be noted, decisive, above all strong-willed opening theme, in which, however, there are creeping intonations and chromaticisms that also remind one of the devil. Music is always very meaningful, multifaceted, and this is the wonderful property of music, that it can convey several layers of meaning at once.

And here is a very important quote, the most obvious and, perhaps, the most main quote, which Lems uses: “Whoever commits a sin is of the devil, for the devil gives birth to sin.” We are talking about the First Apostolic Letter of the Evangelist John, where there are such words. And then we are talking about the fact that true prayer is capable of driving away the hordes of sin, which will immediately and immediately move away from a person.

In the middle section, Bach, using subtle musical painting, depicts this removal and disappearance of the hordes of Satan. And indeed, there is this feeling that evil is retreating. But some real triumph with the singing of “hallelujah”, “amen”, “victory”, which indeed often occurs in both Bach and other Protestant authors, does not arise here. Those. Rather, the impression arises that the man seemed to have fought off the devilish hordes with difficulty. And although this is a victory, it is a temporary victory, and not such a victory that you drive them away once and then you live happily ever after, having calmed down. There is no such inner peace, only a temporary victory. Those. the third part does not contradict the first: on the one hand, there is a constant and intense effort of struggle against the devil’s machinations and sin, and on the other hand, there is an effort of will, an act of will, a clash, struggle, victory, but a victory that is temporary and does not give the final liberation, does not allow you to completely relax.

This is the special inner life of a Christian who knows no peace, for whom all internal experiences and all internal processes are in one way or another acts of conscience, because we are, of course, talking about conscience as the most important Christian category - this is what Bach’s cantata is about, and she is one of a kind, she is wonderful. It is short, it is comprehensive, and it is not tied, this seems to me very important, specifically to the time of year. Bach was never like this before professionally, according to his post, was a church composer, and he could simply speak out on some very important Christian topic.

Cantata BWV 61 for the first Sunday of Advent

And the second cantata, which we will talk about today, also dates back to 1714, only to its very end. IN church calendar this is already the beginning of the next church year, because this is a cantata for the first Sunday of Advent, i.e. on the first Sunday of Nativity Lent. This is a cantata that Bach wrote while already in the service, and wrote as a result of simply fulfilling his duties.

The cantata is based on the texts of Erdmann Neumeister, one of the few Bach cantatas based on the texts of this key author for the history of church poetry of the early 18th century in Germany. Perhaps Bach simply did not have a text by Solomon Frank at that moment that would be suitable for of this holiday, there is such an assumption. He turned to Neumeister. And here it is very interesting to see whether Neumeister really was such a dry and devoid of imagination poet as he is often imagined. And they explain that perhaps this is why Bach turned to his work so rarely and with such reservations.

Here it should be noted that, of course, Neumeister is really a Protestant pastor, a representative of the strictly orthodox movement in Lutheranism of his time, a principled opponent of Pietism, and for him the theological rigor of images and the ecclesiastical character of poetry are extremely important things. Therefore, perhaps one should not expect any very vivid images from his poetry. But nevertheless, it was not by chance that he introduced the fashion for the Italian style of church poetry, because he also wanted some theatricalization and modernization of the church music of his time. And the 61st cantata is indicative of how Bach literally takes this theatricalization out of Neumeister’s poetry.

Structure of BWV 61

The cantata is very well constructed. It begins and ends with stanzas of church songs. Moreover, if the first stanza is Luther, in fact, his famous song Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, i.e. "Come, Savior of the Gentiles." A wonderful song to which Bach repeatedly turned both in his cantatas and in his chorale preludes.

Here the first stanza, in fact, is presented. Then two pairs follow - recitative-aria, recitative-aria. The first pair is sung entirely by a tenor, the second pair: recitative by bass, aria by soprano. And then not even the last stanza, but the chorus of the last stanza of the song of Philip Nicolai, a later, late 16th-century Lutheran poet, “How brightly the morning star shines.” This is a hymn associated with the period of Advent, and it completes it all.

What's important here? That the first three issues somehow give a rather communal and church picture. Those. here Jesus comes to the Church. The second three numbers, and especially the recitative and aria, talk about how Jesus comes to an individual believer, to a specific person. And it is no coincidence that at the end there is poetry from church tradition a newer, more expressive poem is used - a poem by Philip Nicolai. Everything is very clearly planned. Poetry, indeed, is perhaps devoid of vivid images, but in theological terms everything is very well verified. Bach, in general, does not violate this consistency in any way, but his solution is not obvious and sometimes completely paradoxical. This especially applies to the first issue.

BWV 61: first number – royal procession

Actually, what is it talking about? “Come, Savior of the pagans, // revealed son of the Virgin. // The whole world is amazed at // what kind of Christmas God has prepared for you.” Four lines. And what does Bach do? He creates this choir in instrumental form, traditional instrumental form late XVII– beginning of the 18th centuries.

This is the so-called French overture - a form that developed at the court of Louis XIV, which was associated with the appearance of a noble person, and above all, of course, the “Sun King”. Those. some royalty that's how it comes in. At the same time, the first and third sections are absolutely luxurious. This is truly such a regal procession, with dotted rhythms, with very solemn and at the same time impressive music. And against the background of such music, voices come in one by one, again imitating (this is polyphony in our country), and proclaim the first two lines.

And then the third line, which, in general, does not seem to imply any powerful contrasts. But what are we hearing here? “The whole world is surprised that...” just that. But here, in the tradition of the French overture, the tempo changes to fast, the voices create real polyphony and the affect of joy, of course, enters. This is the joy that covers the whole world when the Savior enters it.

And then the old music returns again, which talks about what a wonderful, amazing Christmas God the Father has prepared for his Son. This royal procession, of course, also refers us to the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem, which, in general, Luther’s hymn does not directly imply. It just allows us to imagine the very image of Jesus - Jesus the king and, above all, Jesus the shepherd.

BWV 61: second and third numbers

Because the following recitative, in fact, talks about how the Savior shows the highest good to humanity, and first of all to the church, and how he brings light to people. Light, of course, is also mentioned in Luther’s hymn. And this light radiates the blessing of the Lord, the Lord blesses everything around, mit vollem Segen. Bach, of course, also sets this recitative to music very expressively. At the end it turns into an arioso, as happens in almost all of Bach’s early cantatas.

And now we will hear the aria that sounds after this. This is a tenor's aria to a very restrained text, completely devoid, it would seem, of such external affects. “Come, O Jesus, come to Your Church and grant us New Year gracious." Accordingly, he must further send his blessing to both the pulpit and the altar. But this was also done very well by Bach. Bach writes quite solemn music here, because here the voice is accompanied by both the violin part and the viola part, they are quite expressive and create the necessary solemnity. It’s as if some majestic personage has appeared and is being greeted in this aria. Those. here it really seems as if a certain first scene continues: a nobleman has arrived, for example, a bishop has come to the temple, and he is greeted there with all due honors. Perhaps there is no special expressiveness here that we would expect from Bach, and Neumeister’s text does not suggest this, but nevertheless the scene turned out to be very impressive, solid and complete.

BWV 61: numbers four and five

And, of course, the second part of the cantata, which talks about the coming of Jesus the man, comes out much more expressive. There is a biblical quotation here, a Spruch, as the Germans used to say, a biblical saying. This cantata already belongs to the type of cantatas that follow exactly the later example of Neumeister’s work; it was published in 1714. Neumeister then worked in Sorau, now Polish Zary. And all this, by the way, was intended for Georg Philipp Telemann, who was then serving at the court in Frankfurt am Main. It was great composer, Bach's friend in those days, godfather his very talented son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. Perhaps even thanks to Telemann, Bach learned these very texts.

So, here comes a biblical quote, namely the Revelation of John the Theologian, the famous text: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with Me.” And, as a matter of fact, the intonations of the voice, and especially the short, abrupt, pizzica accompaniment chords, precisely depict this very knock. Those. Jesus knocks right on this very heart. This is a recitative quite worthy of the opera stage, it is so internally expressive, although a certain internal restraint still shows that this is not opera, but cantata music, as it should be. You and I, of course, need to hear this moment.

And after this, a soprano aria appears, which is accompanied by one continuo in Bach, but the continuo is quite expressive, so there is still a dialogue between the voice and the instrument. And we are talking here about something about which there was a lot of Lutheran poetry back in the 17th century and which was very often depicted in all sorts of engravings, Lutheran, Jesuit, and whatever else. This is such a very important [motive] for piety, for mysticism even in the 17th century, and then the 18th century inherited it... Well, we are only at the very beginning of the 18th century. An important image of Jesus moving into the human heart. Those. the first part contains a call to the heart to open entirely, to its very depths, and the second says that the Lord settles in the human heart and finds his home in it, despite the fact that man is only dust. The mercy of God is that the Lord is ready to live inside such a human heart.

And Bach makes this aria very contrasting. It changes meter, changes tempo in the middle section, it overshadows the overall major atmosphere with a minor key. But already at the very end of this small middle part - the aria is all small, these are all arias of such a design, designed for some small forms of perception - we already hear repeated mentions of the bliss that a Christian finds, and this bliss again sounds bright.

BWV 61: final chorus

This is where we would have ended everything if not for the problem last issue. Neumeister is often criticized for making the last verse very short. He took only the chorus, Abgesang, from this bar form, which we have already talked about many times, without the first two verses, but only the chorus. And the chorus itself is very short: “Amen! Amen! // Come, beautiful crown of joy, don’t delay, // I’m waiting for you with great impatience.” But this joyful exclamation may, in itself, sound good as poetry, but it was here, shortening the stanza of Nicholas (there are such assumptions), that Neumeister may have meant this joyful impatience that covers a Christian thinking about how very soon, because the Nativity Fast will end, the Lord will appear.

To set it to music, this is, of course, too small a text and too small a number. But Bach makes it so bright, so expressive that with its expressiveness, its extraordinaryness, it partly justifies this brevity. The melody of Philip Nicolai, as expected, is sung by a soprano; this genre is a choral fantasy that was already established in the 17th century. Other voices imitate all this, accompanying this melody with counterpoints and echoes. And the violins play the anniversary over all this, and everything sounds unusually solemn, with exciting, stormy, completely unrestrained joy. And Bach, with this bright musical chord, emphasizes what seems to be a controversial decision for Neumeister, takes it to the limit, and a certain logic of its own is revealed in this.

So it turns out that yes, Neumeister, of course, created some kind of sermon, albeit in theatrical, poetic forms, and Bach actually wrote two vivid scenes, one of which depicts church holiday, and the other is these stormy and impetuous feelings of a Christian who follows this holiday. Moreover, what is interesting: indeed, some kind of extreme joy and extreme outburst of emotions occurs not in the aria, where we might expect it, but precisely in this wonderful and so irregular final chorus. And this too has the sensitivity of Bach. He senses not only the theatrical potential of the poems assigned to him, but also how to turn something completely unique out of something incorrect, controversial, and ambiguous, something that can only be found in Bach.

Literature

1. Dürr A. The Cantatas of J. S. Bach. With their Librettos in German-English Parallel Text / rev. and transl. by Richard D. P. Jones. N. Y. and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. pp. 13–20, 75–77, 253–255.
2. Wolff Chr. Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. N. Y.: W. W. Norton, 2001. P. 155–169.

The outstanding German composer, organist and harpsichordist Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21, 1685 in the city of Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany. He belonged to an extensive German family, most of whose representatives for three centuries were professional musicians in Germany. Initial music education(playing the violin and harpsichord) Johann Sebastian received under the guidance of his father, a court musician.

In 1695, after the death of his father (his mother had died earlier), the boy was taken into the family of his older brother Johann Christoph, who served as a church organist at St. Michaelis Church in Ohrdruf.

In the years 1700-1703, Johann Sebastian studied at the church choir school in Lüneburg. During his studies, he visited Hamburg, Celle and Lubeck to get acquainted with the work of famous musicians of his time and new French music. During these same years he wrote his first works for organ and clavier.

In 1703, Bach worked in Weimar as a court violinist, in 1703-1707 as a church organist in Arnstadt, then from 1707 to 1708 in the Mühlhasen church. His creative interests were then focused mainly on music for organ and clavier.

In 1708-1717, Johann Sebastian Bach served as court musician for the Duke of Weimar in Weimar. During this period, he created numerous chorale preludes, an organ toccata and fugue in D minor, and a passacaglia in C minor. The composer wrote music for the clavier and more than 20 spiritual cantatas.

In 1717-1723, Bach served with Duke Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen in Köthen. Three sonatas and three partitas for solo violin, six suites for solo cello, English and French suites for clavier, and six Brandenburg concertos for orchestra were written here. Of particular interest is the collection “The Well-Tempered Clavier” - 24 preludes and fugues, written in all keys and in practice proving the advantages of the tempered musical system, the approval of which was hotly debated. Subsequently, Bach created the second volume of The Well-Tempered Clavier, also consisting of 24 preludes and fugues in all keys.

"The Music Book of Anna Magdalena Bach" was started in Köthen, which includes, along with plays by various authors, five of the six " French suites". During these same years, "Little Preludes and Fugettas" were created. English Suites, Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue" and other keyboard works. During this period, the composer wrote a number of secular cantatas, most of which were not preserved and received a second life with a new, spiritual text.

In 1723, his “St. John Passion” (a vocal-dramatic work based on gospel texts) was performed in the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig.

In the same year, Bach received the position of cantor (regent and teacher) at the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig and the school at this church.

In 1736, Bach received the title of Royal Polish and Saxon Electoral Court Composer from the Dresden court.

During this period, the composer reached the heights of his mastery, creating magnificent examples in different genres - sacred music: cantatas (about 200 have survived), Magnificat (1723), masses, including the immortal "High Mass" in B minor (1733), "Matthew Passion" (1729); dozens of secular cantatas (among them the comic "Coffee" and "Peasant"); works for organ, orchestra, harpsichord, among the latter - "Aria with 30 variations" ("Goldberg Variations", 1742). In 1747, Bach wrote a cycle of plays, “Musical Offerings,” dedicated to the Prussian king Frederick II. The composer's last work was The Art of Fugue (1749-1750) - 14 fugues and four canons on one theme.

Johann Sebastian Bach is a major figure in world musical culture; his work represents one of the pinnacles of philosophical thought in music. Freely crossing features not only of different genres, but also of national schools, Bach created immortal masterpieces that stand above time.

At the end of the 1740s, Bach's health deteriorated, and he was particularly concerned about the sudden loss of his vision. Two unsuccessful cataract surgeries resulted in complete blindness.

He spent the last months of his life in a darkened room, where he composed the last chorale “I stand before Thy throne,” dictating it to his son-in-law, organist Altnikol.

On July 28, 1750, Johann Sebastian Bach died in Leipzig. He was buried in the cemetery near St. John's Church. Due to the lack of a monument, his grave was soon lost. In 1894, the remains were found and reburied in a stone sarcophagus in the Church of St. John. After the church was destroyed by bombing during World War II, his ashes were preserved and reburied in 1949 in the chancel of St. Thomas Church.

During his lifetime, Johann Sebastian Bach was famous, but after the composer's death his name and music were forgotten. Interest in Bach's work arose only in the late 1820s; in 1829, the composer Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy organized a performance of the St. Matthew Passion in Berlin. In 1850, the Bach Society was created, which sought to identify and publish all the composer's manuscripts - 46 volumes were published over half a century.

Through the mediation of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, the first monument to Bach was erected in Leipzig in 1842 in front of the old school building at the Church of St. Thomas.

In 1907, the Bach Museum was opened in Eisenach, where the composer was born, and in 1985 in Leipzig, where he died.

Johann Sebastian Bach was married twice. In 1707 he married his cousin Maria Barbara Bach. After her death in 1720, in 1721 the composer married Anna Magdalena Wilken. Bach had 20 children, but only nine of them survived their father. Four sons became composers - Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784), Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach (1714-1788), Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782), Johann Christoph Bach (1732-1795).

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Weimar is the city not only of Goethe, but also of Bach. A small monument stands directly opposite the Higher School of Music:
And nearby, almost in the central square, there is a board on the wall:

In Weimar, Bach received the position of court organist and worked not only as a church composer, but also as a secular composer. Counting (after the death of the chief bandmaster) for a better place and learning that he would not get it, the great one burst out with such an angry letter that he was sent to prison for two weeks (according to other sources, almost a month). Upon his release, he immediately left for Köthen and probably remembered Weimar with an unkind word for a long time.
Weimar is also List's city, where he lived from 1848 to 1861. During this time, under his leadership, more than forty operas were staged, all the symphonies of Beethoven, Schubert, works by Schumann and Berlioz, Glinka and A. Rubinstein were performed. Liszt organized “musical weeks” entirely dedicated to Berlioz and Wagner. And in general, I raised everything musical life the city to a level previously unprecedented. In the park, not far from the house, there is a monument:
In this house Liszt spent recent years life. Pianists from everywhere flocked here, later calling themselves students of the great Liszt:
Now there is a small museum here (we even visited it about 7 years ago, the original Bechstein stands there).
On the contrary, it seems that the gardener, whose large house was “taken away”, had to move.

The Higher School of Music now bears Liszt's name.

And here Busoni (a student of Liszt) gave his master classes. Only one arch remained of the former palace; it itself was destroyed at the end of the war. The Bauhaus workshops were also located here.

And Hummel was "out of luck."

The house in which he lived for almost 20 years is in deplorable condition. In Hummel's place, Maria Pavlovna, the Russian princess and duchess of Saxony-Weimar, who married Duke Karl Friedrich, invited Liszt.

Also living in Weimar were: Johann Paul von Westhoff, a virtuoso violinist of Bach's time. It was not without his influence that Bach's solo violin sonatas and partitas appeared. In 1948, Wagner appeared in this city, and in 1850, Lohengrin premiered here (Liszt conducted). Paganini performed in this city. Weimar musical history You can’t write here, it’s so simple - a few photos :)

During the Weimar period, Bach brought his art as a performer to the highest degree of perfection, his gift as a composer and improviser reached full maturity and flourishing.

In Weimar, for the first time, Bach managed to establish himself quite firmly and settledly. Having established himself in his new position, and subsequently receiving the title of accompanist of the Duke of Weimar, he spent nine whole years here quite calmly and without any worries and could freely devote all this time to the development of his genius talent and creative activity. It was in this favorable environment that his talent grew stronger and was finally formed, and it was here that all his works were written. most important works that first period of his activity, which embraces the decade of 1707-1717.

In order to characterize at least briefly the significance and artistic merit of the works of this period, let us now say a few words about the most important of them and, first of all, about one of his earliest works, the famous chorale “Eine feste Burg ist unser Gott” (“God is our strong stronghold”) "). This chorale was written for the holiday of the Reformation and performed by the author himself in 1709 in Mühlhausen, where Bach came from Weimar to test the restored organ. According to the most authoritative reviews, this essay is already quite a work of art, both in the immediate impression it makes on a religiously minded listener, and in its technical construction. Experts praise the contrapuntal basis of the chorale, its musical plan and so on, they are surprised at the extraordinary, completely artistic simplicity of its treatment and especially at the deep and sincere religious feeling with which it is imbued from beginning to end. It must be said that during the period described, Bach wrote a lot of works of the same type and that the chorale was like musical form was generally loved by our composer; the development of the chorale, as well as some other forms of church music, owes its highest and most perfect development to Bach.

This idea should be applied in exactly the same way to another form of church music that has undergone the brilliant development of our composer - the cantata. A very ancient type of music in its type, the spiritual cantata, just like the chorale, seemed to Bach a very convenient way of expressing the sublime religious moods that filled him. But from ancient works of this kind the composer borrowed, of course, only the form, containing in it the freshness and charm of the completely original content. The religious coloring of Bach's spiritual cantatas, starting from this early period, is everywhere and always completely individual, reflecting all the main character traits of the author: his warmth, a subtle sense of beauty and deep religious thoughtfulness. As for the technical merits of Bach's works of this kind, it is enough to say that, in terms of the subtlety of development and its “meaningfulness,” this style of Bach is, not without good reason, compared with the style of Beethoven himself.

The period described includes a whole series works of this kind, some of which must be considered highly remarkable for their original merits (for example, a cantata on the text of Psalm 130 and some others).

One of the features of Bach’s work in general remains the fact that, without asking external goal Inventing new forms of music, he took ready-made forms, created long before him, and then, with the power of his mighty talent, brought their development to such a final degree of perfection, which could not even be thought of before or after him. It seemed to exhaust all possible content, all the elements of artistic beauty inherent in one form or another. It is reliably known, for example, that many musicians after Bach refused to write in those musical genres, in which he wrote, and precisely under the influence of the conviction that after him nothing new and artistic could be created there. From the point of view of these considerations, the view established in the history of music is fully justified, according to which Bach, together with another contemporary musical luminary Handel, is the consummator of the previous art that developed before him, who laid, so to speak, the last stone in the building of old church music. But this view, with no less justification, is usually complemented by another consideration, namely, that, completing the building old music At the same time, Bach created the foundation for a luxurious edifice of new music, which developed precisely on those principles that we find in his works, which are often traditional only in appearance. He often developed old forms as completely new ones, which before him had not even been considered possible ways. An example of such development can serve, among other things, in his preludes, a number of which were also written during the Weimar era of his life. These preludes, according to the most competent reviews, are decisively different both in character and in musical objectives from the music that existed under the same name before Bach. They are remarkable for the completely new nature of their development... With all that concerns Bach’s preludes themselves, it must be said that during this period they still bear noticeable traces of outside influence, which requires some biographical explanations.

Bach's thoroughness and conscientious attitude towards his art were so great that in the matter of creativity he never, even in his youth, relied solely on the strength of his own talent, but on the contrary, he always and most carefully studied the works of others, both old and new. and contemporary music creators. We have already noted this circumstance, mentioning German composers, old and modern Bach - Froberg, Pachelbel, Buxtehude and others. But it was not only German musicians who served as models for his study. In order to thoroughly become acquainted with the best works of Italian music, our composer, while still in Arnstadt, studied and even rewrote with his own hands the works of some famous Italian composers, such as Palestrina, Caldari, Lotti, etc. The study of Italians did not stop subsequently, and in Weimar Bach worked a lot on the works of the famous Venetian composer Vivaldi, whose violin concertos he was reworking for the harpsichord at that time. These studies were then reflected in some of our composer’s works, among other things, in his preludes of this period. However, like the Italian influence, in Bach one can also note traces of the French music of that time, namely in some of the suites he wrote in Weimar, in which we find dances that are undoubtedly French in style and character.

In addition to those listed, many other very remarkable works by Bach also date back to the Weimar period of his life. Among them are very famous, for example, four magnificent fantasies for harpsichord, many fugues - a type of composition that especially glorified Bach - and much more. As a worker, Bach was tireless at all times of his life, and our cursory remarks about his Weimar works give only some general concept about the versatile, deep and fruitful activity that filled his life during the Weimar period, which was not rich in external facts. In fact, no remarkable events happened in his life during all these nine years. Quiet family life, for which all representatives of the Bach family had such a special inclination, friendly and even relations with the Duke, with whom he got along so well, and inaudible, but so meaningful creative activity completely satisfied the entire makeup of his concentrated nature and all his intellectual needs.

Meanwhile, rumors about his wonderful compositions, without any participation on his part, gradually began to spread beyond the borders of the small Duchy of Saxe-Weimar. However, even more great fame talked about his extraordinary skill as a musical performer, especially on the organ. More and more often he began to receive invitations to come to this or that city and let them listen to his amazing music. Germany began to recognize its genius, and his popularity grew.

Everyone was talking about the new musician; in the opinion of everyone, he decisively eclipsed the rest of the performers before him and with him who were in Dresden, and only a few real musicians of the Saxon capital decided to limit the general delight, saying that in Weimar there lives a musician whose art does not allow any rivalry and that if the public If she could compare Marchand's playing with Bach's, she would soon see which side had the advantage. Bach lived in Weimar for about ten years.

The work carried out by Johann Sebastian in Weimar served as an indispensable school of compositional skills. This required the ability to write quickly and easily, in the most various forms and genres, apply to different performing means and abilities. As an organist, he had to compose for the organ, as a violinist and harpsichordist - write all kinds of pieces for the orchestral chapel; when he was appointed assistant conductor, another duty was added: to present a certain number of cantatas during the year own composition to perform them in the court church. Thus, in the process of tireless daily practice, masterly flexibility of technique was developed, skill was polished, and always new and urgent tasks stimulated creative ingenuity and initiative. In addition, in Weimar, Bach was in secular service for the first time, and this allowed him to freely experiment in the previously inaccessible area of ​​secular music.

In Weimar, Bach had the opportunity to gain a broad understanding of world musical art. Without leaving the borders of Germany, he was able to comprehend and select for himself the most useful and valuable that it carried musical culture Italy and France, Bach never stopped learning; even in his declining years, in Leipzig, already a complete artist, he began a special study of Italian vocal literature, copying the works of Palestrina (1315-1594) and other classics of ancient choral art. Bach considered much in French, and especially Italian music, to be a model that should be followed.

In 1708, Bach again found himself in Weimar to serve as a gopher organist. His stay here lasted for 10 years. During this time, the composer managed to hold several positions - each had its own nuances of work. (I had to write music for several instruments at once). The composer gained invaluable experience as a composer while he was in Weimar. No wonder it was here that he wrote the most best works for organ.

It is worth adding that Johann Sebastian, even in his youth, established himself as an excellent virtuoso organist. Periodically, he undertook trips for, and these performances helped spread the fame of Bach as an outstanding improviser. In the city of Kassel, for example, such variations were performed using a pedal that the listeners were delighted. According to the information that has reached us, Bach was phenomenal and this fact left all his rivals far behind. He could vary the same theme for 2 hours, all the while doing it in a variety of different ways.

One of the episodes from the composer’s life often mentioned by biographers happened in 1717. Bach received an invitation to perform with Louis Marchand (the famous French virtuoso keyboardist) in the city of Dresden. At the concert, Marchand performed a French song, and for its brilliant performance he received long applause from the audience. Then Johann Sebastian was invited to play the instrument. After a short but masterful prelude, the composer repeated the song that Marchand had played, also applying to it many variations, constructed in a way that had never been heard before. Bach's superiority was obvious and when Johann Sebastian offered his opponent a friendly duel, Marchand, fearing failure, chose to leave Dresden as quickly as possible.

However, no matter how great the superiority German composer above others general position It didn't improve him. In Dresden, one might say, they were amused and let go.

It is noteworthy that Bach never boasted of his successes; moreover, he did not like to remember them. When asked how such a high level of performance was achieved, he answered that everyone could do it by making the same efforts. He was modest and impartial, so he retained a sense of goodwill towards other people - his idol, for example, was Handel. Bach always wanted to meet him and strived for this, but the meeting never took place.

After 10 years in Weimar, Johann Sebastian occupied only the position of assistant bandmaster, despite the fact that he did all the main work. Therefore, when the vacancy of court conductor opened up, Bach had every reason to take it, but the position went not to him, but to the mediocre son of the deceased conductor. This naturally seemed an insult to Johann Sebastian, so he demanded his resignation. The Duke reacted to this very harshly, but in the spirit of princely morals, taking the dissatisfied employee under arrest - supposedly a simple servant dared to question the highest command. So Bach was repaid for his 10 years of service in Weimar with arrest.

Bach's life in Köthen

After Weimar, Bach, together with his wife and children, came to Köthen (this was in 1717). His work here consisted of leading the court orchestra, as well as teaching the Prince of Köthen. The composer could spend the rest of his time writing. Due to the lack of an organ, I had to concentrate in my work on keyboard music.

Over time, Johann Sebastian became increasingly bored in the small provincial town and he was thinking about leaving. But besides boredom, two more circumstances spurred this step - 1720 (wife Maria Barbara died), the desire to give their children a good university education. At first, Bach tried to get a job as an organist in the city of Hamburg at the Church of St. James. He performed in this city during one of his recent artistic trips and greatly delighted everyone with his playing on the organ, including the already elderly Reincken, who was present there. Bach again did not get the desired position; it was given to a man who knew nothing about music, but who contributed a round sum to the church fund. We had to wait some more time before new prospects appeared.

In 1721, the great composer married again. The chosen one's name was Anna Magdalena, she came from a musical family and had a strong voice herself. Thanks to some character traits (gentleness, responsiveness), Anna became a support and support for her husband.

Bach's life in Leipzig

Soon the composer tried to get a job as a cantor in the city of Leipzig. He filed a petition with the magistrate, but they were looking for a more famous musician. The existing candidates refused, so it was decided to accept Bach, and even then on humiliating conditions.

The school of singers, which, thanks to these very conditions, was in the department of Johann Sebastian, was in complete ruin. The choir members were unable to cope with their task; many of them simply did not have the appropriate training, while others were generally unsuitable for singing in the choir. It was the same story with the musicians who played in the orchestra. Johann Sebastian wrote reports to the magistrate, but received no support. It was much easier for the petty-bourgeois aristocrats who headed it to shift all the blame onto the new cantor, which is what they did in their numerous documents. Thus, relations with the authorities did not work out in Leipzig, but Johann Sebastian did not want to move somewhere, since he already had considerable experience in such things.

The only thing that somehow smoothed out the feelings of constant attacks and humiliation from superiors was the composer’s artistic journeys. His incredible skill allowed him to win the sympathy of people, as well as make many new acquaintances, since Bach’s music was highly valued by some of outstanding personalities of that time.

But still, the composer's contribution (the main thing on which the composer spent his time) remained underestimated. Bach's works were not published, as if no one cared about them. It was as if a wall of misunderstanding then grew between the musician and society, leaving Johann Sebastian a lonely artist (it must be said that his wife provided him with great support). And so it was, unfortunately, until the death of the composer.

Bach's latest creations are distinguished by a philosophical abstraction alien to the real world. In them, he seems to fence himself off from the cruel reality of the world. But this does not detract from the significance of these works, which are deservedly considered the pinnacle of polyphonic art.

On July 28, 1750, Bach passed away. This event did not attract much attention. However, in our time, countless people gather at the place where the remains of the composer are located - all of them are ardent admirers of his work.