Church and University
When Bach left Cöthen and moved to Leipzig in 1723, after 15 years of service as the court musician, he encountered a creative atmosphere that was utterly different from the one he knew. Leipzig’s educated society was divided into two factions. Bach’s colleagues in the Thomaskirche and Thomasschule were related to the Church, while the philosophers, mathematicians, historians and philologists at the University formed a separate group. While the Church and the Thomasschule were among the most conservative institutions of Saxony (and possibly of all Germany), the University of Leipzig was one of the most progressive and freethinking strongholds of contemporary science. The two institutions opposed each other in a constant bitter feud, in which the Thomaskirche authorities held that all evil subversions were generated within the University walls. This state of affairs had affected the character of several Leipzig churches. For example, the University Church of Saint Paul was distinguished by its more relaxed ways, including its accommodating some fashionable musical styles. Its operatic tone, for instance, not only raised eyebrows within the Thomaskirche administration, but also upset Johann Kuhnau, Bach’s colleague and predecessor in the Thomasschule. Bach had some limited duties at the University Church but no real influence on its policies concerning music performance. Consequently, the contract that Bach signed with the Thomaskirche included two curious clauses: one demanding that the music he composed should bear no resemblance whatsoever to operatic styles3 and the other requiring a formal consent from the Thomasschule administration for any service engagement with the University.4 Bach agreed to these stipulations and signed the contract that, in a way, functioned as a voucher for his duties and commitments.
Strange as it may seem, this institutional glaring prevailed, although only individuals holding a university degree were allowed to lead an establishment such as the Thomasschule. Graduates of the Leipzig University comprised the majority of the school’s top management, and Johann Kuhnau had a PhD.5 Conversely, the University employed several of the School’s teachers, although eventually the extremely conservative atmosphere of the Thomasschule prompted most to resign and remain employed just by the University. A list enumerating all the members of the Thomasschule staff during Bach’s employment there illustrates this tendency:6
• Johann Heinrich Ernesti, rector of Thomasschule since 1684, died in 1729. Bach served under his supervision during his first five years, approximately.
• Christian Ludovici, conrector, and from 1697—rector. In 1724 he left the School for the University of Leipzig.
• Johann Christian Hebenstreit, conrector from 1725.7 In 1731 left the School for the University of Leipzig.
• Johann Matthias Gesner, rector since 1730. Served in this position for four years. In 1734 left the School for the University of Göttingen.
• Johann August Ernesti, conrector from 1731 and rector from 1734. In 1759 he left the School for the University of Leipzig.
• Johann Heinrich Winckler, from 1731 a teacher at the Thomasschule (collega quartus). In 1739 he left the School for the University of Leipzig.
Several of these persons were connected to Bach’s family, mostly through christening ceremonies for his children. For example, Johann Heinrich Ernesti’s wife, Regina Maria, was the godmother of Gottfried Heinrich Bach, born in 1724; Johann Christian Hebenstreit’s wife, Christina Dorothea, was the godmother of Christina Dorothea Bach, born in 1731; Johann Matthias Gesner’s wife, Elizabeth Karitas, was the godmother of Johann August Abraham Bach, born in 1733, and whose godfather was Johann Heinrich Ernesti. Occasionally, though not often, one of them would contribute toward Bach’s music, too. For example, Winckler wrote the texts for cantata BWV Anh.18 (Froher Tag, verlangte Stunden), composed for the inauguration ceremony of the newly rebuilt Thomasschule, in 1732. Several individuals from the Thomaskirche clergy were also connected with the University in one way or another. At least four of them served, beyond their church obligations, as professors of theology and history of the church:
• Urban Gottfried Siber served as a minister in the Thomaskirche from 1714 until his death in 1741.
• Romanus Teller, a minister in both the Thomaskirche and the Peterskirche (1737–40).
• Christian Weiss the younger, a minister in the Nikolaikirche (1731–37).
• Christoph Wolle, a graduate of the Thomasschule (where he studied under Kuhnau) and a minister at the Thomaskirche (1739–?).
All these, just like the University professors mentioned above, were connected to Bach’s life in similar ways. For example, Urban Gottfried Siber baptised three of Bach’s sons—Gottfried Heinrich (1724), Johann August Abraham (1733) and Johann Christian (1737); Christian Weiss the Younger was godfather to Bach’s daughter Johanna Karolina (1737); his father, Christian Weiss the Elder, was Bach’s confessor from 1723 to 1736; Subsequently, his confessors were Romanus Teller (1737–40) and Christoph Wolle (1741–50).
Among Bach’s friends at the University of Leipzig were those who had no affiliation with the Thomaskirche or its school. At least seven of them are known today:
• Johann Jacob Maskov, professor of constitutional law and history, was the author of books about the history of the Great Roman Empire.
• Andreas Florens Rivinus was professor of law and rector magnificus of the University in the years 1729–30 and 1735–36.
• August Friedrich Müller was professor of philosophy and law and rector during the years 1733–34 and 1743–44.
• Johann Friedrich Menz,8 professor of logic, poetics and physics, served as rector twice: in 1735–36 and 1743.
• Gottfried Leonhard Baudis was professor of law and served as rector in the years 1736–37.
• Johann Christoph Gottsched was professor of logic, poetics and metaphysics; he served as rector throughout 1738–43 and then again in 1749, and authored numerous books on literature, linguistics, rhetoric, poetics and more.
• Gottlieb Kortte was professor of law and author of many historical and legal works.
The involvement of these individuals in Bach’s life included christening honours, too. For example, Baudis’s wife, Magdalena Sybilla, was the godmother of Bach’s son, Ernestus Andreas (1727), and Andreas Florens Rivinus was godfather of Bach’s son Ernestus Andreas, while his brother Johann Florens Rivinus was Johann Christian Bach’s godfather (1735). However, the impact of these university professors on the composer’s life went beyond honorifics and into more practical roles in his professional career. For example, Johann Jacob Maskov and Gottfried Leonhard Baudis were members of the council that elected the cantor for the Thomasschule, and they voted for Bach; several of Bach’s cantatas (BWV 198, Anh. 13b and Anh. 196) were set to poetic texts by Johann Christoph Gottsched, who often had expressed publicly his admiration for Bach’s music.9 Johann Friedrich Menz possessed a unique sixteenth-century manuscript with a mysteriously cryptic canon by Teodoro Riccio, and asked Bach to decode it. After resolving the puzzle, Bach copied it onto a separate sheet, which Menz then added to his own album.
The governor of Leipzig, General Count Joachim Friedrich von Flemming, was in charge of all the city’s administrations: municipality, church and university. He kept regular contact with Bach, with whom he had been acquainted since the composer’s employment by Duke Wilhelm Ernst in Weimar. Apparently it was Count von Flemming who schemed, together with Louis Marchand, the famous competition (that in fact had never occurred) between the two outstanding clavecinists in his Dresden palace.10 It is clear that von Flemming held Bach in high esteem, since he patronised, supported and commissioned new works from the composer. Bach was in charge of music performances at municipal ceremonies honouring visits of the Royal family members, quite often also composing the music for these events. In this regard, the University of Leipzig students and professors fulfilled important roles, performing masses, processions, and even torchlight parades. When in Leipzig, Bach wrote several musical works honouring von Flemming, presenting him as one of the prominent figures connecting the composer with the University.
All the above representatives of the University establishment and people closely associated with this institution took part in Bach’s life events in one way or another, whether by reviewing his work in the press, writing poetry for his works, or as patrons and dedicatees of his musical works. For example, Gesner praised Bach several times, most remarkably in his annotated edition of Quintilianus’ The Institutione Oratoria.11
Two of the four versions of Bach’s Cantata BWV 36 (36, 36a, 36b and 36c) are associated with Bach’s academic contacts: BWV 36b (Die Freude reget sich) is dedicated to Andreas Florens Rivinus (or a member of his family) on his birthday, and BWV 36c (Schwingt freudig euch empor), originally composed in 1725 congratulating ‘a teacher’ on his birthday, was reused in 1731 for the birthday of Johann Matthias Gesner. The Cantata BWV 207 (Vereinigte Zwietracht der wechselnden Saiten) was composed in honour of Gottlieb Kortte’s appointment as professor at the University in December 1726. The name day of August Friedrich Müller, the future Rector of the University, was marked with the performance of Cantata BWV 205 (Der zufriedengestellte Aeolus. Dramma per musica) on August 3, 1725.
Several of Bach’s students were University scholars as well. Best known among them are Christoph Nichelmann, Lorenz Christoph Mizler, Johann Friedrich Agricola, Johann Philipp Kirnberger and Johann Christoph Altnickol. Christoph Nichelmann (1717–62) was the author of the treatise Die Melodie nach ihrem Wesen sowohl, als nach ihren Eigenschaften, written ‘in response to the controversy over the merits of the French and Italian styles’.12 Lorenz Christoph Mizler von Kolof (1711–78) studied at the University in 1731–34, culminating his education with the defence of his thesis: ‘Dissertatio quod musica ars sit pars eruditionis philosophicae’.13 From 1737 he lectured at the University on mathematics, philosophy and—for the first time in German universities—music. During his life in Leipzig, Mizler was Bach’s student, and in his journal, the Musikalische Bibliothek, he referred to Bach as his good friend and patron.14 Johann Friedrich Agricola (1720–74) studied at the University of Leipzig during the years 1738–41. He is known for his annotated translation of Pier Francesco Tosi’s treatise Opinioni de’cantori antichi e moderni.15 Its German translation was published as Anleitung zur Singekunst.16 Johann Philipp Kirnberger (1721–83) studied during the same years as Agricola. His main work appeared in the two volumes of Die Kunst des reinen Satzes in der Musik, aus sicheren Grundsätzen hergeleitet und mit deutlichen Beyspielen erläutert.17
Bach’s sons, too, had links within the University’s community. In 1729, Wilhelm Friedemann, after graduating from the Thomasschule, enrolled at the University, where he read mathematics, philosophy and law for more than four years.18 Philipp Emanuel was a university student for more than seven years (1731–38), three of which he stayed in Leipzig.19 It is clear, therefore, that despite his church employment, Bach’s connections and contacts with the University included professors, poets and scholars with whom he constantly communicated.
The University of Leipzig
Leipzig’s intellectuals, who were involved in both pietistic and rationalist circles, stood in opposition to the city council’s and the Thomaskirche’s traditionalist administrations who perceived the University’s activities as seditious. The academic alleged subversions started long before Bach’s arrival to Leipzig. Years before he was even born, the city was renowned as a centre of non-orthodox scholarly publications. Prominent among these were non-canonical interpretations of the Holy Scriptures and studies of Kabbalah, such as Johannes Olearius’ controversial interpretation of the Bible20 and Johann Henning’s Cabbalologia.21 The first theological periodical, Unschuldige Nachrichten von Alten und Neuen Theologischen Sachen was founded in Leipzig, 1717, by Valentine Ernst Löscher.22 Scholarly studies of Kabbalah had an impact on paragrammatic poetry, a tradition rooted in Kabbalistic writings,23 such as Riemer’s Über-Reicher Schatz-Meister Aller hohen Standes und Burgerlichen Freud- und Leid-Complimente.24 Picander, too, introduced paragrammatic poems in his five-volume Ernst-Schertzhafte und satyrische Gedichte.25 Thus, the scope of interests was by no means limited to religious studies but expanded to general philosophy, literature, poetry, history, education and even ethnography. For example, Caspar Knittel’s Via Regia Ad Omnes Scientias et Artes26 and Christian Weise’s Curieuse Fragen über die Logica27 dealt with a wider philosophical scope, while August Bohse’s Letzte Liebes- und Heldengedichte enhanced publications of contemporary literature.28 Two textbooks published by Johann Christoph Mieth: Das ABC and Das Einmahl Eins29 answered the increasing demand for general education among the growing middle class, while Johann Gottfried Mittag’s Leben und Thaten Friedrich August III30 and Johann Jacob Schudt’s four volumes of Judische Merckwürdigkeiten31 presented new approaches to historical and ethnographical scholarship. Last but not least, the Latin version of Monadology, by Leipzig University alumnus Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, was published in 1721 (under the title Principia philosophiae), in the Leipzig academic journal Acta Eruditorum. Needless to say, the philosopher’s concepts of monads and universal language did not earn him and his ideas the Church’s sympathy, let alone any support.32
As already mentioned, Bach’s rapport with the university’s academics was limited to specific individuals and activities: working, social and personal contacts, ranging from their accompanying his children’s christening ceremonies to his socialising with them in various events and entertainments that included music. It is impossible to imagine that in such close personal and professional connections Bach could remain absolutely unaware of the main scientific ideas that circulated among his university acquaintances. Further, Bach strived to compensate for his lack of a university degree by becoming an autodidact, conscious of keeping up with the state of the arts concerning the issues that engaged the enlightened minds of his milieu.
Bach’s broad intellectual interests are reflected in his large personal library. He had an impressive collection of theological literature, first and foremost Martin Luther’s books. However, it also featured works of quite different leanings, such as studies that explored and discussed questions of Kabbalah. One should keep in mind that building a private library, in Bach’s times, was quite an expensive hobby. The acquisition of a new book was a marked event, instigated by a substantial need. During Bach’s later years, his library was enriched by music treatises.33 He also owned studies on canonical and non-canonical interpretations of the Holy Scriptures, investigations about numerical interpretations of biblical events and specific publications discussing possible applications of Kabbalah.34
It is not a coincidence that the knowledge encompassed in these literary sources interested Bach mainly during his last decade. The impact of the intellectual elite of Leipzig University, which so noticeably influenced the entire European worldview, could not leave Leipzig’s own society unmarked. It is unsurprising, thus, that the university milieu, general academic atmosphere and the smaller circle of Bach’s friends and acquaintances in particular, played a vital role in fashioning his intellectual aspirations. In this context, Bach’s cooperation with the Society of Musical Sciences played a decisive role.
The Society of Musical Sciences
Lorenz Mizler, Bach’s student and friend, founded in 1738 a unique musicians’ association, called the Society of Musical Sciences. Mizler’s initiative reflected a popular fashion of numerous societies, related to various areas of life, which mushroomed throughout Europe during that period. This group of musicians ascribed great importance to enhance the perception of music as a science. Uncharacteristically, this particular society operated by correspondence rather than by personal meetings, because the society’s members resided far from each other, in various European cities.
The mail service was absolutely reliable. Periodically, a ‘packet’ containing miscellaneous data and materials, such as current information and compositions by its members would be sent around.35 For example, Mizler’s letter of September 1, 1747, sent from Końskie (Poland) to the Society’s member Meinrad Spieß in the Irsee Abbey near Kaufbeuren, says:
Auf meiner Rückreise über Leipzig habe Herrn Capellm. Bach gesprochen, welcher mir seine Berlinische Reise u. Geschicht von der Fuge, die er vor dem König gespielt, erzählt, welche nächstens in Kupfer wird gestochen werden, u. in dem Packet der Soc. ein Exemplar zum Vorschein kommen. Ich habe den Anfang schon davon gesehen.36
[On my return by way of Leipzig I spoke with Herr Capellmeister Bach, who told me of his Berlin journey and the story about the fugue he played for the king, which will shortly be engraved in copper and appear in the Society’s packet. I have already seen its beginning.]
In a later letter to Spieß (October 23, 1747) Mizler wrote:
Das letzte Packet aber, so den 29 May d. J. schon abgelaufen ist noch nicht zurücke, u. weiß noch nicht, wo es so lange ausgeruht. Sie werden es von Herrn Bach erhalten u. von meinem hochzuehrenden Herrn Collegen kommt es an mich, der ich bitte solche ie eher ie lieber zu befördern, wenn es eingelaufen. (BD II/559, p. 438)
[But the last packet, which was sent out on May 29 of this year, still has not returned, and I do not know where it rests for so long. You will receive it from Herr Bach, and it will then come to me from my honorable Herr colleague, whom I ask to send it at his earlier convenience.]
In addition to the ‘packet’, the Society had an official publication, the Musikalische Bibliothek journal.37 It supplied information about musical life in Germany38 and about the new scholarly works and musical compositions that deserved special attention. The compositions themselves were published, too, in whole or in part.
The main interests of the Society, which fully coincided with typical Enlightenment European trends, were reflected in its constitution. One of these was the expressed interest in the culture of past centuries—from classic antiquity to more recent styles, historically and/or nationally defined, and in knowledge that was lost or forgotten in the course of history.
The Society’s constitution stated that each of its members should commit to promote and assert the greatness of ancient music. This emphasis should be highlighted, since the fashionable style (especially of the Prussian King’s court, which was the most active and influential in Germany) was dominated by newly composed music.39
Bach’s interest in studying old musical works and past compositional techniques reflects the Society’s stated preferences. In this context, he copied and performed music by former masters, mainly Italian. Thus, for example, extant manuscripts show that in the years 1742–47 he copied and arranged for performance (adding orchestral instruments) Giovanni Palestrina’s masses Ecce sacerdos magnus and Missa sine nomine40 and Frescobaldi’s works, including his Fiori musicali collection.41 He studied the old masters’ contrapuntal techniques not just by copying and arranging their compositions, but also by reading old theoretical treatises and manuals. Christoph Wolff and Kirsten Beißwenger list the studies registered in Bach’s personal library.42 Among them are treatises by Angelo Berardi (Documenti armonici, 1687) and Johann Joseph Fux (Gradus ad Parnassum, 1725, of which Bach owned both the Latin original and Mizler’s German translation of 1742); Friedrich Erhardt Niedt (Musicalische Handleitung, 1700);43 Johann Gottfried Walther (Musicalisches Lexicon, 1732), and Andreas Werckmeister (Orgel-Probe, 1698).44 Further, the autographs at the Singakademie collection in Berlin suggest that the composer may have examined treatises by other authors too,45 such as Le istitutioni harmoniche by Gioseffo Zarlino (1558) and Melopoeia by Sethus Calvisius (1592). But even without these two last publications the total scope of these examples provides clear evidence to Bach’s growing interest in earlier compositional techniques during the 1740s.
Being involved in the Society of Musical Sciences’ activities enhanced Bach’s interest in mathematics and its connections with music and symbolic systems. The Society’s enthusiasm for this field follows views inherited from Antiquity, which considered music as an aspect of mathematics. This approach, typical to the Pythagoreans, permeates the publications of Mizler’s Society and his own work. For example, at the time of doctoral defence, his dissertation was titled Quod musica ars sit pars eruditionis philosophicae,46 but upon publication its title was corrected to Quod musica scientia sit pars eruditionis philosophicae,47 musica ars being replaced by musica scientia. While indeed the Latin word ars means both science and art, it was important for Mizler to replace the word with scientia, highlighting his understanding of music as a science.
The Musikalische Bibliothek often referred to ideas of great scholars, from Pythagoras to his disciples and followers. Special attention was given to both ancient and current interdisciplinary studies, which included mathematics. Here were published treatises on music by the Byzantine philosopher Michael Psellus (in both Greek and German on facing columns)48 and by the outstanding mathematician Leonhard Euler.49
Two ideas related to Pythagoras should be marked as fundamental to the Society of Musical Sciences. The first sees numbers at the basis of all that exists, be it idea or matter. This is the source of the well-known proposition stating that any field of knowledge can be a science as long as it can be expressed and explained mathematically. The second idea sees the real meaning of the Divine Word as hidden from the uninitiated and the key to its understanding as lying within the language of symbols.50
The special role of numbers in music as science and in the Society’s ideology is expressed not only in Mizler’s works (first and foremost in his dissertation) and in the publications of the Musikalische Bibliothek, but also in the medal that was issued to mark the founding of this organisation. At the centre of the medal is engraved a sequence of the first six digits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. According to Pythagorean theories, this particular part of the numerical series and its structure explain the material foundations of the world. This idea was developed in Johannes Kepler’s Harmonices mundi,51 in Athanasius Kircher’s works, especially in his Musurgia universalis (1650). On the front plate of this work appears Pythagoras, shown at the bottom left corner of the plate, presenting his mathematical theory as a foundation of music and of the universe (see Figure 1.1), where music is explained as a universe,52 and in the studies of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, particularly in his dissertation De arte combinatoria.
These studies, which presented a syncretic unity of mathematics, music and mystical symbol systems, enjoyed great popularity within the Society. The Musikalische Bibliothek briefly explains the image on the medal:
Nemlich das nackende Kind so gegen Morgen zu hoch flieget, auf den Kopf einen klarleuchtenden Stern und in der rechten Hand eine umgekehrte brennende Fackel hat, neben welcher eine Schwalbe flieget, zeiget das Anbrechen der Tages in der Music an. Der Cirkel der durch die drei Winckel eines gleichseitigen Dreiecks gehet und die musikalischen Zahlen 1.2.3.4.5.6. in sich hält, und um welchen Bienen fliege, ist das Siegel der Societät der musicalischen Wissenschafften, welches der Flies der Societät, die Musik durch die Mathematic und Weltweiszheit zu verbessern, vorstellet.53
[A naked child flies toward the dawn, a shining star on his head and an inverted torch in his hand, accompanied by a swallow announcing the new day. The circle cuts through the corners of an equilateral triangle, in which the musical digits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are enclosed, and around which bees fly. This is the hallmark of the Society of Musical Sciences, in which diligence establishes the perfection of music through mathematics and philosophy.]
Symbolism was present not only on the medal of the Society of Musical Sciences, but also in its publications. Beyond being connected with numbers, thus related to ancient Middle Eastern cultures, it also relates to visual images and shapes, which brings them closer to the classical mindset, where knowledge is associated with measurement.54
Like members of many secret societies, the members of Mizler’s society protected their true identities by pseudonyms using names of famous ancient scholars and musicians. The names Aristotle, Archimedes, Pythagoras, Socrates and Terpander relate to just a few members.55 They indicate how members of the Society characterised each individual affiliate, given name and symbolic pseudonym forming a kind of paragrammatic pair, in which both elements mutually commented on each other.
Bach’s newly acquired knowledge about music of past periods is reflected, in one way or another, in his last decade’s oeuvre where an increasing number of stile antico indications can be found.56
This can be substantiated mainly by works composed during the last decade, such as sections of the Mass in B minor, the six-part Ricercar from the Musical Offering, several pieces of The Art of Fugue, and even some fugues in the second volume of The Well-Tempered Clavier, as well as other works for clavier and for the organ. Bach’s study of the old masters’ contrapuntal techniques is also apparent in his interest in deciphering and creating canons. Indeed, the vast majority of works that Bach named as canons were composed during his last decade. Then, far more than in previous periods, his compositions are characterised by the use of symbol systems of various kinds—whether based on gematria or on other principles. The principle of paragram and paragrammatic composition significantly influenced different aspects of Bach’s works, such as the Mass in B minor and most of his Leipzig cantatas.
His interest—and then membership—in the Society of Musical Sciences enhanced Bach’s attention to practical composition and to methodical textbooks for both professional or amateur organists and clavecinists. Notwithstanding their didactic purposes, this group of works, to which The Art of Fugue undoubtedly belongs, is considered musical masterpieces of the highest artistic value. Many features of the described social context, in which this work was fashioned, may shed light on the factors that brought Bach to its composition.
Notes
1 Christoph Wolff, ‘Toward a Definition of the Last Period of Bach’s Work,’ in C. Wolff, Bach: Essays on his Life and Music (Cambridge, 1991), pp. 359–67.
2 Even his son Carl Philipp Emanuel, who left for good the parental home in 1734, comments in his letter from January 13, 1775, to Johann Nicolaus Forkel, in answer to the latter’s questions about his father’s taste and pedagogical principles: ‘In der Composition gieng er gleich an das Nützliche mit seinen Scholaren, mit Hinweglaßung aller der trockenen Arten von Contrapuncten, wie sie in Fuxen u. andern stehen.’ [In composition he went right to the practical with his pupil, with omission of all the dry species of counterpoint, as they appear in Fux and others.] Bach-Dokumente [BD] III/803, p. 289. English translation by Stephen L. Clark, The Letters of C.P.E. Bach (Oxford, 1997), p. 73, emphasis only in the translation. While this perception was true about the past with which C.P.E. was familiar, it did not correspond with the realities of Bach’s activity in his last decade.
3 This cautionary appears twice. First, on April 22, 1723, during the procedure of Bach’s election: ‘hätte er solche Compositiones zu machen, die nicht theatralisch wären’ [he should create such compositions, that would not be too theatrical] BD II/129, p. 94, emphases in the original. The second time was on May 5 of the same year when, signing the indemnity agreement with the Thomasschule Rector, Bach was requested ‘zu Beybehaltung guter Ordnung in denen Kirchen, die Music dergestalt einrichten, daß sie nicht zu lang währen, auch also beschaffen seyn möge, damit sie nicht opernhafftig herauskommen, sondern die Zuhörer vielmehr zur Andacht aufmuntere’ [to keep the good order in the churches, to set the music so that it will not last too long, and also create it in such a way that it will not give an operatic impression, but rather encourage the listeners to succumb to worship.] BD I/92, p. 177, emphases in the original.
4 ‘Und bey der Universität kein officium, ohne E.E. Hochweisen Raths Consens annehmen solle und wolle’ [and not accept or want any office at the University without the consent of the Honorable and Learned Council.] BD I/92, p. 178, emphases in the original.
5 Johann Kuhnau graduated from the University of Leipzig, where he defended his doctoral dissertation ‘De juribus circa musicos ecclesiasticos’ [On the legal aspects of church music].
6 Christoph Wolff, who meticulously studied Bach’s connections with the University of Leipzig, provides a detailed account on these personalia. Christoph Wolff, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician (Oxford, 2000) pp. 305–39.
8 Wolff spells Mentz; the University of Leipzig’s list of rectors spells Menz.
9 BD I/249, p. 184; II/309, p. 223; II/483, p. 387.
10 For a thorough discussion of this anecdote see Peter Williams, The Life of Bach (Cambridge, 2003), pp. 117–21.
11 M. Fabii Quinctiliani De Institutione Oratoria. Libri duodecim collatione codicis Gothani et Iensonianae editionis aliorumque librorum ac perpetuo commentario illustrati a Io. Matthia Gesnero (Gottingae, 1738), book I, Chapter 12, p. 61, note 3. Translated to English in The New Bach Reader: A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents, Hans T. David and Arthur Mendel (eds.), revised and enlarged by Christoph Wolff (New York, 1998) [NBR], no. 328, quoted in Wolff, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician, pp. 322–3.
13 [Arguing that musical science relates to philosophical scholarship] (Leipzig, 1734).
14 ‘… Capellmeisters Bach, den ich unter meine guten Freunde und Gönner zu zehlen die Ehre habe’ [Kapellmeister Bach, whom I have the honor of counting as one of my good friends and patrons]. Lorenz Christoph Mizler von Kolof, Neu eröffente musikalische Bibliothek oder Gründliche Nachricht nebst unpartheyischem Urtheil musikalischen Schriften und Büchern [MMB]. Available online at the Bayerische Bibliothek digital website: http://www.mizler.de/, accessed January 18, 2015. (Leipzig, 1738), I/4, p. 61; reproduced in BD II/420, p. 322.
15 [Reviews of Ancient and Modern Singers] (Bologna, 1723)
16 [Introduction to the Art of Singing] (Berlin, 1757)
17 [The Art of Pure Setting of Music, Derived from Trusted and Clear Principles and with Illuminated Examples]. Volume i (Berlin, 1771), with a new title page (Berlin and Königsberg, 1774), and volume ii (Berlin and Königsberg 1776–79). The two volumes were translated to English by David Beach and Jurgen Thym as The Art of Strict Musical Composition (New Haven and London, 1982).
18 While studying at the University of Leipzig, Friedemann actively assisted Bach by copying his works, helping through rehearsals and teaching his private students, including Christoph Nichelmann. In 1733, Friedemann moved to Dresden where he effortlessly won the position of organist at the Frauenkirche.
19 Philipp Emanuel was admitted to Department of Law at the University of Leipzig on October 1, 1731. On September 9, 1734, he transferred his law studies to the University of Frankfurt-an-der-Oder, moving there at the beginning of the academic year 1738.
20 Johannes Olearius, Biblische Erklärung darinnen nechst dem allgemeinen Haupt-Schlüssel der gantzen heiligen Schrifft [Biblical clarification, with a general key to the Holy Scriptures] (Leipzig, 1678–1681). All five volumes appear in the inventory of Bach’s private library.
21 Johann Henning, Cabbalologia, i.e. Brevis Institutio de Cabbala cum Veterum Rabbinorum judaica, tum Poetarum Paragrammatica, Artis Cabbalistic-Poeticce [Cabbalologia, that is, a short introduction to Kabbalah, according to the ancient rabbinical Jewish tradition, and paragrammatic poetry, the art of the Kabbalistic poets] (Leipzig, 1683).
22 [Virtuous messages of old and new theological matters].
23 See Ruth Tatlow, ‘J.S. Bach and the Baroque Paragram: A Reappraisal of Friedrich Smend’s Number Alphabet Theory’, Music and Letters, 70/2 (1989): p. 202.
24 [The newest art to achieve pure and galant poetry] (Leipzig, 1681).
25 [Serious, jocular and satirical poems] (Leipzig, 1727–51). Picander was the pseudonym of the writer and poet Christian Friedrich Henrici.
26 (Leipzig, 1687). Full title: Via Regia ad Omnes Scientias et Artes, hoc est Art universalis, Scientiarum omnium Artium arcana facilius penetrandi, et de quocunque proposito Themate expeditious disserendi, practice, clare, succinte, curioso ac studioso Lectori [The royal road to all arts and sciences, that is, to the universal art, offering an expeditious method to easily penetrate the secrets of all the sciences of art, presenting it in a practical, clear and succint outline for the curious and studious reader].
27 (Leipzig, 1696). Full title: Curieuse Fragen über die Logica, welcher gestalt die unvergleichliche Disciplin von allen Liebhabern der Gelehrsamkeit sonderlich aber von einem Politico deutlich und nützlich soll erkennet werden: in Zweien Theilen, der anfänglichen Theorie, und der nachfolgenden Praxi zum Besten durch gnugsame Regeln, und sonderliche Exempel ausgeführet [Unusual questions on logic, which shape the unique discipline of all lovers of learning, but especially needed and clearly useful to a public officer: in two parts, the first (presenting) the theory, and the following (presenting) the best practice with sufficient common rules, and demonstration of specific examples].
28 [Latest love and heroic stories] (Leipzig, 1706).
29 (Leipzig, 1695 and 1703, respectively). Full titles: Das ABC: cum notis variorum and Das Einmahl Eins: cum notis variorum [The Alphabet, with various notes; and The Basics, with various notes].
30 [The life and deeds of Friedrich August III] (Leipzig, 1737).
31 [Jewish notable features] (Leipzig, 1714–17).
32 It is highly unlikely that Bach ever met Leibniz, who left Leipzig in 1667 and died in Hanover, 1716, but the philosopher’s Leipzig works, the Disputatio Metaphysica de Principio Individui [metaphysical disputation about the individuation principle] (1664) and his Dissertatio de arte combinatoria [On the Art of Combinations] (1666), both submitted during his student years, were thoroughly studied by the first lecturers of the Department of Psychology at the University of Leipzig and, together with works by Christian Thomassius and Christian Wolff, became major sources for the department’s early curriculum and a source of pride for the University of Leipzig. (See the website of the University of Leipzig, Department of Psychology: http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~psycho/hist_eng.html, accessed January 18, 2015).
33 Musical treatises were included in his score collection. Unfortunately, this part of his library was not registered in the inventory of his property. Although hard work has been devoted to the reconstruction of Bach’s library, the collection has not yet been restored in its entirety. Still, existing evidence, mainly related to the last decade of Bach’s life, points at the great interest the composer had in theoretical works. See: Kirsten Beißwenger, Johann Sebastian Bachs Notenbibliothek (Kassel, 1992).
34 For example, the chapter ‘Ob die Christen mit gutem Gewissen zugeben können daß man die Cabbalam ohne ihnen gebraucht?’ [Whether Christians can in good conscience admit that one used the Kabbalah without them?] in Müller’s Judaismus, where the author discusses the possibility of applying Kabbalah to Christian exegesis. See Johann Müller Judaismus Oder Jüdenthumb: Das ist: Ausführlicher Bericht, Von Des Jüdischen Volcks Unglauben, Blindheit und Verstockung, Darinne Sie Wider Die Prophetischen Weissagungen, Von Der Zukunfft, Person und Ampt Messiæ, Insonderheit Wieder Des Herrn Jesu Von Nazareth Wahre Gottheit, Gebuhrt Von Einer Jungfrauen, Geschlecht und Geschlecht-Register, Lehre, Wunderwercken, Weissagungen, Leben, Wider Die H. Dreyfaltigkeit, Absonderlich Wider Das Neue Testament mit Grostem Ernst und Eifer Streiten (Hamburg, 1644). For reference and commentary see Robin A. Leaver, Bachs theologische Bibliothek (Stuttgart, 1983).
35 The content of each packet was printed in the Musikalische Bibliothek, the Society’s publication (in the section ‘Nachricht von der Societät der musikalischen Wissenschaften in Deutschland von 1746 biß 1752’), as well as preliminary notices of the upcoming issues. Thus, in volume IV, after a brief characterisation of the eighth and ninth ‘packets’, follows a list of 31 records reflecting the intentions of the heads of the Society to include relevant works in the future. MMB IV/1 (1754): pp. 119–29.
36 BD II/557, p. 437; translation based on NBR, no. 247, p. 228.
37 MMB I–IV (Leipzig, 1739–54).
38 The sections ‘Musikalischen Neuigkeiten’ and ‘Nachricht von der Societät der musikalischen Wissenschaften in Deutschland’ [‘Musical News’ and ‘A Message from the Society of Musical Sciences in Germany’, respectively].
39 Ernest Eugene Helm, Music at the Court of Frederick the Great (Norman, 1960), pp. xviii–xx.
40 Barbara Wiermann, ‘Bach und Palestrina—einige praktische Probleme II’, Bach Jahrbuch [BJ] 89 (2003): pp. 225–7.
42 Wolff, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician, pp. 333–4; Kirsten Beißwenger, Johann Sebastian Bachs Notenbibliothek (Kassel, 1992), pp. 226–400.
43 Beißwenger points out that Bach’s library contained its 1700 edition (ibid. p. 366).
44 There is no reference to Andreas Werckmeister’s treatise in Kirsten Beißwenger’s study.
45 The research of this collection, which is still in progress, cannot exclude these sources from the potential list of publications owned by Bach.
46 [Why does musical art relate to philosophical scholarship?, 1734].
47 [Why is musical science related to philosophical scholarship?, 1740].
48 Michael Psellus, ‘Des Psellus vollständiger kurzer Inbegriff der Musik,’ MMB III/2 (1746): pp. 171–200.
49 Leonhard Euler, ‘Tentamen novae theoriae musicae ex certissimis harmoniae principiis dilucide expositae. Auctore Leonhardo Eulero. Petropoli, ex typographia academiae scientiarum, […]. Das ist, Versuch einer neuen Theorie der Musik aus den richtigsten Gründen der Harmonie deutlich vorgetragen von Leonhard Euler. (Petersburg, 1739). MMB III/1 (1746): pp. 61–136; III/2 (1746): pp. 305–46; III/3 (1747): pp. 539–58, and IV/1 (1754): pp. 69–103.
50 The German translation of De Vita Pythagorica liber by Iamblichus from Cochide (c.250–330), a neo-Platonian philosopher and follower of Pythagoras, uses the expression ‘Verabredeter Zeichen’ [prearranged symbols]. The work recounts a number of Pythagoras’ ideas (Iamblichus. De vita Pythagorica liber. Translated by Michael von Albrecht, Zurich, 1963).
51 [Harmonies of the World, 1619].
52 Athanasius Kircher, Musurgia universalis sive ars magna consoni et dissoni in X. libros digesta. (Romae : Ex typographia Haeredum Francisci. Corbelletti, 1650).
53 MMB IV/1 (1754): pp. 106–7.
54 This distinction is quite limited and only points at a tendency; more often than not, both aspects of symbolism are simultaneously present in one way or another.
55 The attempts to identify all the members (including Bach) did not succeed so far. The pseudonym of Aristotle was given to Telemann, Socrates—to Heinrich Bokemeyer, Archimedes—to Georg Heinrich Bümler, Terpander—to Christoph Gottlieb Schröter. Naturally, the pseudonym of Pythagoras was given to Mizler, the founder of the Society of Musical Sciences.
56 See Christoph Wolff, Der stile antico in der Musik J.S. Bachs (Stuttgart, 1968), where this phenomenon is convincingly discussed.
