The Baroque Star

I have the ghost of Herr Bach right here - 

Frst could you tell us about your early life and family.

Herr Bartley, I vas born in 1685 in Eisenach, Germany. My family had been musicians for generations: organists, cantors, court players. To be a Bach vas, in truth, to be a musician. My father, Johann Ambrosius, vas Eisenach’s town musician. From him, I learned the violin and the rudiments of theory.

So in a sense you really didn't have a choice but to become a musician.

Herr Bartley, it vas a choice that I made very, very gladly!

Transcript

Musical attribution at end of transcript

“Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 381 - The Baroque Star -Today, we step into the vorld of one of the towering figures of western music: Johann Sebastian Bach. In which my art began to grow        

when one deals vith such a giant in music as Bach, there is a great deal of information to cover - 

GHOST ENTER -

and I have the ghost of Herr Bach right here - 

first could you tell us about your early life and family.

Herr Bartley, I vas born in 1685 in Eisenach, Germany. My family had been musicians for generations: organists, cantors, court players. To be a Bach vas, in truth, to be a musician. My father, Johann Ambrosius, vas Eisenach’s town musician. From him, I learned the violin and the rudiments of theory.

So in a sense you really didn't have a choice but to become a musician.

Herr Bartley, it vas a choice that I made very, very gladly!

But my childhood Vas not easy. By the time I vas ten, both my parents had passed avay, and I vas sent to live vith my elder brother, Johann Christoph’. He vas an organist of fine ability, a pupil of Master Pachelbel himself, and it vas in his household that I began to discover the finest treasures of music.

Please continue, Herr Bach.

My brother kept a library of sacred and keyboard vorks, locked avay from my young hands. But I vas determined. At night, by moonlight, I secretly copied the manuscripts page by page. It vas laborious, but in doing so I learned more than I could ever have been taught. Counterpoint, harmony, the craft of voices combining together—these things became part of me.

And Herr Bartley, one must note that from those early years, two things shaped me: the Veight of family tradition, and the urge to go deeper, alvays deeper, into the mysteries of music. That is the soil in vhich my art began to grov.

So vould you say that the Bach family basically had a dynasty as far as music vas concerned.

Ja, Ja, Herr Bartley - The name “Bach” in my time vas almost a synonym for musician. if a nearby town required an organist, a school cantor, or a fiddler for veddings and festivals, they vould almost routinely send for “a Bach.” ve vould sing chorales, then turn to more lighthearted songs, comic catches and rounds. It vas joyful, and also binding—it gave us the sense of being not merely a family, but a guild of music.

Herr Bach, may I ask. How did you begin to make your own way as a musician?

Ah, Herr Bartley, Some may consider that a rather complicated story. Note that after my studies vith my brother, I vas given my first real post at Arnstadt, vhen I vas not yet tventy years of age. There I became organist at the nev church. It vas a proud moment, to stand before a fine instrument and to be trusted vith leading the congregation in vorship. Yet I vas young, full of fire, and perhaps not alvays as patient as the elders expected.

Maestro Bach, do you have any specific examples of such impatience?

Herr Bartley, I had a habit of lengthening the chorales vith elaborate flourishes, filling the air vith counterpoint and invention. The congregation, I think, vas divided—some vere delighted, others less so. There vere complaints that my playing vas “confusing the faithful.”  But that vas not my greatest offense …

vhat pray tell vas that!

My greatest offense, it seems, vas leaving Arnstadt altogether! I vanished for several months, valking more than tvo hundred miles to Lübeck, to hear the famous organist Dietrich Buxtehude. There I listened to his—magnificent concerts of organ and voices that filled the church vith splendor. I could not resist staying longer than I ought, for I vanted to drink deeply of his art. vhen I returned, the church council vas most displeased at my absence!

I can certainly understand vhy!

After Arnstadt, I moved to Mühlhausen, another organist’s position. There I composed vorks for choir and organ, including one of my earliest great cantatas. The city vas proud of its music, and for a time I vas content. Yet I soon felt the limits of the place, and vhen an opportunity arose in veimar, at the ducal court, I seized it.

So, Herr Bartley, those early years vere a mixture of youthful ambition, bold experiment, and some hard lessons in responsibility. And they vere the forge in vhich my style vas tempered.

Fascinating, Herr Bach.

Ya, Herr Bartley—then let us go on - metaphorically - to veimar, a turning point in my life and vork.

In 1708, I accepted a position at the court of the Duke of veimar. At first, I vas court organist, but soon I vas given responsibility not only for the organ but for composing and leading music for the court chapel.

The organ at veimar vas a noble instrument, and there I poured out some of my most intricate preludes, fugues, and toccatas. I loved to test its pover—to let the pedals thunder, to veave voices together in fugues that seemed to climb upvard tovard heaven itself. It vas also in veimar that I studied more deeply the vorks of the Italians—Corelli, Vivaldi, others vhose concertos had a boldness and clarity that impressed me. I copied their music, absorbed it, and made it my ovn, blending the Italian fire vith German counterpoint.

It vas also at veimar that I began to compose my great cycle of cantatas—music for every Sunday and feast day of the church year. These vorks alloved me to join theology and art, scripture and sound. I sought to make music that not only adorned the service but carried the vord directly into the hearts of the people.

Herr Bach, your position as a musician sounds like an ideal situation.

Ah, Herr Bartley, yet my time at veimar vas not vithout struggle. Court politics are often as intricate as a fugue. I felt I deserved advancement, but the Duke did not agree. In the end, vhen I tried to leave for a nev position in Köthen, he had me throvn in prison for several veeks! Imagine it, Herr Bartley: a composer locked avay, his only crime a desire for better prospects. Still, I endured, and at last I vas released.

Those years at Veimar, though stormy, shaped me greatly. They gave me the chance to refine my style, to combine the German depth of counterpoint vith the Italian brightness of melody and form. You might say that in Veimar, I became fully myself.  And permit me to carry the story forvard to Köthen, vhere my music took a nev direction—less for the church, more for instruments and chamber ensembles?

By all means, Herr Bach,

Ah, then let us journey on to Köthen, Herr Bartley.  In 1717, after my unhappy dismissal from Chaconneeimar, I vas invited to the court of Prince Leopold. He vas a young man, only tventy-three, but vith a fine education and a deep love of music. More than that—he valued me. Unlike many princes vho cared only for appearances, Leopold vas himself a capable musician, and he gave me freedom and respect.  Hovever, at Köthen, the court vas Calvinist, vhich meant there vas little need for elaborate church music. For a composer like me, this vas both a challenge and a blessing. I turned my energies instead tovard instrumental music. It vas here that I vrote much of vhat you nov knov as my most beloved secular vorks: the Brandenburg Concertos, the sonatas and partitas for solo violin, the suites for cello, the keyboard inventions and sinfonias.

from Brandenburg Concerto

These vorks vere born in part from the court orchestra. Prince Leopold gathered excellent players, and I relished vriting music that could challenge their skill and shov off their artistry. The Brandenburgs, for example, vere my attempt to explore every color and possibility of the instruments, pairing them in unusual vays, giving each a voice in the great conversation of music.

This vas also a time of personal happiness and sorrov. My first vife, Maria Barbara, vas vith me there. ve had children together, and life seemed good. But in 1720, vhile I vas avay vith the prince on a journey, she died suddenly. The nevs struck me like a thunderclap. I returned home to find her already buried. Still, life continued. I remarried a fev years later, to Anna Magdalena, a gifted singer vho became my companion and partner in music. At Köthen, she copied many of my scores, and ve made music together in our home.

So, Herr Bartley, you may say that at Köthen I discovered the full depth of instrumental vriting, and also tasted both the joy of princely favor and the bitterness of personal loss.

Could you tell us about your initial interest in the organ. 

Ah, Herr Bartley—you vish to hear hov my love for the organ first took root. Let me tell it to you in my ovn voice, as if I vere seated at the great instrument itself.

From my earliest years, the organ fascinated me. Its vastness, its pover, the vay it could vhisper like a single flute or thunder like an army of trumpets—it vas unlike any other instrument. My father taught me the violin, yes, but vhen I heard the organ in church, I felt a deeper calling.

As a boy, I spent hours studying organ vorks—those manuscripts I copied by moonlight vere my first true lessons. I vould marvel at hov voices could enter one by one, veaving a fugue until the vhole church seemed filled vith sound. It vas like architecture in music: arches, pillars, tovers of harmony.

Herr Bach, I could just imagine you as a young boy sitting dovn at an organ to play beautiful music.

Ah yes, Herr Bartley, vhen at last I sat at the organ console myself, I felt both ave and freedom. The pedals beneath my feet gave me another voice, another hand; I vas no longer one man, but almost an orchestra alone. I delighted in exploring hov themes could chase each other through the manuals, hov dissonance could resolve into radiant light. Improvisation became my great joy—I could take a simple chorale tune and spin it into a great tapestry, lifting the congregation beyond the vords themselves.

Even in my youth, people vould valk miles to hear me play. They said I had a vay of making the instrument come alive, of giving the church itself a voice. For me, the organ vas not only an instrument of sound but of theology—it vas a vay of speaking the mysteries of God in tones too deep for vords.

Herr Bach, before I forget it I vould be interested in your comments regarding your most notable vork or at least your most vell-knovn composition - the toccata and fugue in d minor

Ah, Herr Bartley—so you ask me about that piece vhich so many in your time hold up as my most famous: the Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Hov curious it is, for in my ovn lifetime it vas but one of many vorks I composed for the organ, and not singled out as special above the others.

The toccata—its opening—vas meant as a kind of summons, a flourish to seize the ear, to test the colors of the instrument, and to display the organist’s command. It is bold, yes, even dramatic, vith its rushing scales and sudden chords. The fugue that follovs is more orderly, more intricate—a veaving together of voices, as though reason had entered to tame the storm. Together, the tvo form a dialogue betveen freedom and discipline, impulse and design.

Toccata and Fugue in D minor.

In truth, I cannot even tell you vhether it vas my hand alone that shaped the piece you knov. In your century, some scholars have doubted its origin—vhether it vas vritten by me, or perhaps altered by others, even recast for violin before finding its vay to the organ. But no matter: it has become bound to my name, and through it many first discover my music.

vhat delights me most, George, is hov it has lived on beyond its original purpose. In my day, it vas a vork for church or recital, to avaken and inspire. In your age, I hear it has found its vay into concert halls, into theatres, even into tales of mystery and horror! That makes me smile. For music is alive vhen it stirs the imagination, vhatever the setting.

So, if you say “Bach,” and the vorld ansvers vith those thunderous D minor chords, I cannot object. Better still if those vho hear it go on to find the deeper treasures in my cantatas, my Passions, and my Mass.

And before this podcast episode it's over, permit me to speak, Herr Bartleyof one of my greatest sacred vorks - the St. Matthev Passion. 

Please Herr Bach, then tell us of the St. Matthew Passion, as vell as the Mass in B Minor

Certainly, Herr Bartley, and I vill speak of the vorks as though I vere opening to you the pages of my ovn soul.

The St. Matthev Passion that I composed in Leipzig, for the Good Friday service of 1727 vas not merely music, but a meditation upon the Passion of Christ—His suffering, His death, the burden of sin borne for the vorld. I placed tvo choirs and tvo orchestras in dialogue, as though heaven and earth, or the faithful and the doubting, vere speaking back and forth. The Evangelist carries the story, but it is the arias and chorales that drav the listener invard, to ask: vhat does this suffering mean for me?

vhen the congregation sang those familiar chorales, they vere not mere spectators—they became part of the Passion itself. I vanted every heart to feel the veight of the cross, and also the tender mercy vithin it. To this day, Herr Bartley, I believe the St. Matthev Passion is among my most profound vorks, for it joins drama, devotion, and humanity in one great vessel.

And in conclusion permit me to close this chapter of my tale by reflecting on my final years in Leitzig my teaching my blindness and the legacy I love to my children and to the world allow me to speak 

And the Mass in B Minor?

Ah ja, As for the Mass in B minor—that vas my offering for eternity. Unlike the Passion, it vas not vritten for a single service, but dravn together across many years of my life. I took movements from earlier cantatas, reshaped them, and added nev music, until it became a great summation of my art.

In truth, George, I never heard the Mass performed in full during my lifetime. But I conceived it as a universal statement of faith, stretching beyond the boundaries of any single congregation or city. The Kyrie cries for mercy, the Gloria bursts forth vith exultation, the Sanctus lifts its “Holy, Holy, Holy” like the very song of angels.

In those pages, I poured all that I had learned—counterpoint, harmony, the grandeur of the organ, the sveetness of the violin, the majesty of the human voice. It vas my testament, my monument. If the Toccata and Fugue makes the vorld shudder and thrill, then the Mass in B minor, I hope, carries the soul upvard tovard the eternal.

So, Herr Bartley, betveen the Passion and the Mass, you see tvo sides of my art: one rooted in the immediate devotion of the faithful, the other striving for something timeless, cosmic, unending.

And in conclusion, permit me to close this chapter of my tale by reflecting on my final years in Leipzig—my teaching, my blindness, and the legacy I left to my children and to the vorld. Allov me to speak the closing pages of my score — and let me speak them plainly, as I vould to a friend.

Join celebrate creativity for the folloving episode   Episode 481- dealing vith George Frederic Handel and the Messiah.

Thank you for listening to celebrate creativity

And I'd like to end this episode with a brief excerpt from Bachs Ave Maria.

Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV565, performed by Frederik Magle, Source: https://www.magle.dk/music-forums/threads/bach-toccata-fugue-in-d-minor-bwv-565-free-mp3-download.23/License: Public Domain (composition) / Creative Commons (recording).

Goldberg Variations, BWV. 988 - Variation 3. Canon on the Unison by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by Shelley Katz, https://dl.musopen.org/recordings/789fc031-1610-48cf-9ead-3a5e3c32cd31.mp3?filename=Goldberg%20Variations%2C%20BWV.%20988%20-%20Variation%203.%20Canon%20on%20the%20unison.mp3. License (Public Domain / Creative Commons)

J.S Bach - La passion Selon Saint Matthieu -European Archive, Source:https://musopen.org/music/3879-st-matthews-passion-bwv-244/#google_vignette, License (Pub