Johann Christoph Bach (organist at Ohrdruf): Difference between revisions
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==Life== |
==Life== |
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Johann Christoph was born in [[Erfurt]] in June 1671, a few months before the family moved to [[Eisenach]], where Johann Sebastian was born fourteen years later as the last child.<ref name="SpittaP174">Spitta 1899, [https://archive.org/stream/johannsebastianb01spituoft#page/174/mode/1up p. 174–175]</ref> In 1686 Johann Christoph was sent to Erfurt to study under [[Johann Pachelbel]] for the next three years.<ref name="SpittaP183">Spitta 1899, [https://archive.org/stream/johannsebastianb01spituoft#page/183/mode/1up p. 183–184]</ref> By the end of his apprenticeship he was organist in the St. Thomas church in that town for a short time, followed by some months at [[Arnstadt]] where several Bach relatives lived.<ref name="SpittaP183" /> |
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Johann Christoph was born in [[Erfurt]], where he studied under [[Johann Pachelbel]]. His library of keyboard music included works by Pachelbel, [[Johann Jakob Froberger]] and [[Johann Kaspar Kerll]]. |
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In 1690 Johann Christoph became organist at the [[Michaeliskirche (Ohrdruf)|Michaeliskirche]] at [[Ohrdruf]]. In 1694 he married Dorothea von Hof.<ref>Malcolm Boyd: ''Bach'', pp. 7–8, ISBN 0-19-514222-5</ref> |
In 1690 Johann Christoph became organist at the [[Michaeliskirche (Ohrdruf)|Michaeliskirche]] at [[Ohrdruf]]. In October 1694 he married Dorothea von Hof.<ref>Malcolm Boyd: ''Bach'', pp. 7–8, ISBN 0-19-514222-5</ref> His mother [[Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt]] had died earlier that year, and his father [[Johann Ambrosius Bach]] died in March the next year. Two younger brothers, [[Johann Jacob Bach|Johann Jacob]] and [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Johann Sebastian]], who up till then had been living with their father in Eisenach, came to live with Johann Christoph's family in Ohrdruf. At the time, Johann Jacob was thirteen, and Johann Sebastian not even ten. Johann Christoph became his youngest brother's keyboard teacher, or, at least, Johann Sebastian "laid the foundations of his keyboard technique" under the guidance of his eldest brother.<ref>"Nekrolog" of Johann Sebastian Bach by [[Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach]] and [[Johann Friedrich Agricola]] in Mizler's ''Musikalische Bibliothek'', Volume 4. Leipzig, 1754</ref> |
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==Relationship with his brother Johann Sebastian== |
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| ⚫ | {{Cquote|The most renowned Clavier composers of that day were [[Johann Jakob Froberger|Froberger]], [[Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer|Fischer]], [[Johann Caspar Kerll|Johann Caspar Kerl]], [[Johann Pachelbel|Pachelbel]], [[Dieterich Buxtehude|Buxtehude]], [[Nicolaus Bruhns|Bruhns]], and [[Georg Böhm|Böhm]]. Johann Christoph possessed a book containing several pieces by these masters, and [Johann Sebastian] Bach begged earnestly for it, but without effect. Refusal increasing his determination, he laid his plans to get the book without his brother's knowledge. It was kept on a book-shelf which had a latticed front. Bach's hands were small. Inserting them, he got hold of the book, rolled it up, and drew it out. As he was not allowed a candle, he could only copy it on moonlight nights, and it was six months before he finished his heavy task. As soon as it was completed he looked forward to using in secret a treasure won by so much labour. But his brother found the copy and took it from him without pity, nor did Bach recover it until his brother's death soon after.<ref>Forkel/Terry 1920/2011, pp. 10–11</ref>}} |
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[[Johann Sebastian Bach]]'s parents both died before he was ten ([[Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt|his mother]] died in 1694, and [[Johann Ambrosius Bach|his father]] the next year), and he moved in with his eldest brother Johann Christoph, who raised him from that point on. According to J.S. Bach's [[obituary]] written by [[Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach]] and [[Johann Friedrich Agricola]], it was under Christoph's guidance that J.S. Bach "laid the foundations of his keyboard technique". |
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The brother had however not died "soon after".<ref>Forkel/Terry 1920/2011, footnotes 57 and 58 p. 11</ref><ref name="SpittaP186" /> Johann Christoph's five sons were born between 1695 and 1713.<ref name="TerryT5">Forkel/Terry 1920/2011, Table V p. 307</ref> |
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| ⚫ | {{Cquote|The most renowned Clavier composers of that day were [[Johann Jakob Froberger|Froberger]], [[Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer|Fischer]], [[Johann Caspar Kerll|Johann Caspar Kerl]], [[Johann Pachelbel|Pachelbel]], [[Dieterich Buxtehude|Buxtehude]], [[Nicolaus Bruhns|Bruhns]], and [[Georg Böhm|Böhm]]. Johann Christoph possessed a book containing several pieces by these masters, and Bach begged earnestly for it, but without effect. Refusal increasing his determination, he laid his plans to get the book without his brother's knowledge. It was kept on a book-shelf which had a latticed front. Bach's hands were small. Inserting them, he got hold of the book, rolled it up, and drew it out. As he was not allowed a candle, he could only copy it on moonlight nights, and it was six months before he finished his heavy task. As soon as it was completed he looked forward to using in secret a treasure won by so much labour. But his brother found the copy and took it from him without pity, nor did Bach recover it until his brother's death soon after.<ref>Forkel/Terry 1920/2011, pp. 10–11</ref>}} |
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After having stayed with his brother for five years Johann Sebastian left Ohrdruf, joining the choir of St. Michael's Convent at [[Lüneburg]].<ref>Forkel/Terry 1920/2011, footnotes 59 and 60 pp. 11–12</ref> Around the time Johann Sebastian left Lüneburg a few years later he composed a Cappricio for his eldest brother, [[BWV 993]].<ref>Spitta 1899, [https://archive.org/stream/johannsebastianb01spituoft#page/249/mode/1up pp. 249–250]</ref> He composed a comparable, but more elaborate, [[Capriccio on the departure of a beloved brother|Cappricio, BWV 992]], for the other brother in 1704. |
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All of Johann Christoph's sons became musicians, three of them at Ohrdruf.<ref name="TerryT5" /> He died, aged 49, in Ohrdruf. |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 22:44, 19 May 2015
Johann Christoph Bach (16 June 1671 – 22 February 1721) was a musician of the Bach family. He was the eldest of the brothers of Johann Sebastian Bach that survived childhood.
Life
Johann Christoph was born in Erfurt in June 1671, a few months before the family moved to Eisenach, where Johann Sebastian was born fourteen years later as the last child.[1] In 1686 Johann Christoph was sent to Erfurt to study under Johann Pachelbel for the next three years.[2] By the end of his apprenticeship he was organist in the St. Thomas church in that town for a short time, followed by some months at Arnstadt where several Bach relatives lived.[2]
In 1690 Johann Christoph became organist at the Michaeliskirche at Ohrdruf. In October 1694 he married Dorothea von Hof.[3] His mother Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt had died earlier that year, and his father Johann Ambrosius Bach died in March the next year. Two younger brothers, Johann Jacob and Johann Sebastian, who up till then had been living with their father in Eisenach, came to live with Johann Christoph's family in Ohrdruf. At the time, Johann Jacob was thirteen, and Johann Sebastian not even ten. Johann Christoph became his youngest brother's keyboard teacher, or, at least, Johann Sebastian "laid the foundations of his keyboard technique" under the guidance of his eldest brother.[4]
An anecdote is told by Johann Sebastian's early biographers:[5]
The most renowned Clavier composers of that day were Froberger, Fischer, Johann Caspar Kerl, Pachelbel, Buxtehude, Bruhns, and Böhm. Johann Christoph possessed a book containing several pieces by these masters, and [Johann Sebastian] Bach begged earnestly for it, but without effect. Refusal increasing his determination, he laid his plans to get the book without his brother's knowledge. It was kept on a book-shelf which had a latticed front. Bach's hands were small. Inserting them, he got hold of the book, rolled it up, and drew it out. As he was not allowed a candle, he could only copy it on moonlight nights, and it was six months before he finished his heavy task. As soon as it was completed he looked forward to using in secret a treasure won by so much labour. But his brother found the copy and took it from him without pity, nor did Bach recover it until his brother's death soon after.[6]
The brother had however not died "soon after".[7][5] Johann Christoph's five sons were born between 1695 and 1713.[8]
After having stayed with his brother for five years Johann Sebastian left Ohrdruf, joining the choir of St. Michael's Convent at Lüneburg.[9] Around the time Johann Sebastian left Lüneburg a few years later he composed a Cappricio for his eldest brother, BWV 993.[10] He composed a comparable, but more elaborate, Cappricio, BWV 992, for the other brother in 1704.
All of Johann Christoph's sons became musicians, three of them at Ohrdruf.[8] He died, aged 49, in Ohrdruf.
References
- ^ Spitta 1899, p. 174–175
- ^ a b Spitta 1899, p. 183–184
- ^ Malcolm Boyd: Bach, pp. 7–8, ISBN 0-19-514222-5
- ^ "Nekrolog" of Johann Sebastian Bach by Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach and Johann Friedrich Agricola in Mizler's Musikalische Bibliothek, Volume 4. Leipzig, 1754
- ^ a b Spitta 1899, p. 186
- ^ Forkel/Terry 1920/2011, pp. 10–11
- ^ Forkel/Terry 1920/2011, footnotes 57 and 58 p. 11
- ^ a b Forkel/Terry 1920/2011, Table V p. 307
- ^ Forkel/Terry 1920/2011, footnotes 59 and 60 pp. 11–12
- ^ Spitta 1899, pp. 249–250
Sources
- Johann Sebastian Bach: His Life, Art, and Work at Project Gutenberg, translation by Charles Sanford Terry of Ueber Johann Sebastian Bachs Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke by Johann Nikolaus Forkel (1802). New York: Harcourt, Brace and Howe. 1920 (e-version: 2011).
- Philipp Spitta. Johann Sebastian Bach: His Work and Influence on the Music of Germany (1685–1750), translated by Clara Bell and J. A. Fuller Maitland. Volume I, 1899.
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