December 2005 Newsletter

Letter from the President

Dear Friends,

First, let me tell you how pleased I am to have been invited to be your new President. Singing with the Bach Society for over ten years has been a wonderful gift and it is so rewarding to be part of the Bach "family". It is a pleasure to work with the dedicated and enthusiastic board members.

The Bach Festival Society of Calgary is a very special organization. We are looking forward to our 20th anniversary in 2007. Plans are underway to celebrate this event and we are discussing the possibility of some progressive changes as the society matures.

The Bach Marathon held on Saturday, October 29 was a very beautiful afternoon of music. Attendance increased over last year enabling us to donate a modest scholarship to the Kiwanis Festival Bach Class. Thank you to all who helped make this event a success.

We are looking forward to the Advent Concert, Sunday Dec. 4. Over the years, it has been wonderful to see the growth in both the choir and the orchestra and the concerts continue to be a delight.As always, we are need of volunteers to keep this unique programme running. There are board positions that will be coming available and there are always opportunities to help at the concerts. At the moment we are in desperate need of a librarian to look after the choir music. We are fortunate to have a casino on May 1 and 2. If you are interested in becoming involved, please contact the society at 232-8525.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Advent Concert.

Best wishes, Betty

Interview with Phil Hansen

by Anna Carnell

Phil Hansen, principal cellist with the Calgary Philharmonic, is new to Calgary after studying and working the four corners of the United States. He earned his BMus at the University of Southern California, studied also at the University of Colorado, and took his masters in cello performance from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.With mentor Steven Doane, he learned the simple truth of Œdigging a little deeper' and Œletting your light shine', to find the extra bit of inspiration that took him beyond technical brilliance. He now has students, children and adults, and enjoys especially the psychology of inspiration, finding the right note of support, encouragement and discovery that inspires the student to practice and experiment with sound, to risk trial and error to find the perfect balance, to enjoy the thrill of a new piece for the first time.For Phil, discovery of the new and different is critical. He enjoys all styles of music, particularily Baroque and Contemporary. He enjoys both the form and the freedom, and experiments with style and structure. A composer of works for solo cello, small ensemble and cello string orchestra he enjoys the creative puzzle, experimenting with the widest spectrum of sound available. He finds his inspiration in a variety of paths, and explores jazz, popular, and Latin Americal music as well. In fact his new CD, soon to be released, features a Latin American cello sound, classical tinged with tango.In addition to recording, he has a busy solo season coming up. On January 22, he'll be playing with the Instrumental Society of Calgary, at Scarboro Church at 3:00 pm. On February 26, he'll be finishing his recital series playing the unaccompanied Bach cello suites, numbers 1, 4 and 5. At the annual March Bach Birthday Celebration, he'll be playing the Vivaldi cello concerto with the Calgary Bach Festival Society. In May, he'll be the featured soloist with the CPO, playing CPE Bach's cello concerto.His tastes are eclectic in and outside music. When he's not immersed in performance, you'll find him speed skating at the oval, or making jewelry or dabbling in watercolour and photography.

J.S. Bach Biography - Weimar (1708 - 1717)

From Mühlhausen, Sebastian Bach and his wife moved approximately 40 miles north to Weimar to begin a very productive period in his career. Previously, in his letter of resignation at Mühlhausen, Bach stated that he had been appointed to Duke Wilhelm Ernst's "Capelle und Kammermusik."And due to this statement, it was long thought that Bach did not officially become court organist at Weimar for some time after his arrival. However, surviving court documents plainly show that on July 14, 1708, when his first salary payment was made, he was called "the newly appointed court organist," and he was always referred to in this manner until March 1714, when he became Konzertmeister as well upon the retirement of Effler. Actually, this was Bach's second stay in Weimar, since in 1703, he had been previously employed at the court for a few months as violinist.

Bach composed many of his famous organ works at Weimar, and Duke Wilhelm Ernst took great pleasure in his playing. For his labors, Duke Wilhelm paid Bach handsomely: from the beginning, his salary was twice the amount he had received in Mühlhausen, and it was larger than that of his predecessor, Effler (150 florins, plus some allowances). His salary was increased to 200 florins in 1711, to 215 florins from June 1713, and to 250 florins on his promotion in 1714. On March 20, 1715, Duke Wilhelm ordered that his share of casual fees was to be the same as that of the Kapellmeister. Even with his many duties, Bach still enjoyed a considerable amount of free time, evidenced by his cultivation of a friendship with Telemann who was then working in Eisenach from 1708-1712. Together with the violinist, Pisendel, Bach copied a Concerto in G Major by Telemann during Pisendel's visit to Weimar in 1709.

At Weimar, Bach's family increased as six of his children were born there: Catharina, baptized December 29, 1708; Wilhelm Friedemann, born November 22, 1710; unnamed twins, born February 23, 1713, who died within a few days; Carl Philipp Emanuel, born March 8, 1714; and Johann Gottfried Bernhard, born May 11, 1715. The godparents of these children, coming from many different locations, demonstrate that Bach and his wife maintained contact with friends and relatives from Ohrdruf, Arnstadt, and Mühlhausen, as well as establishing new friendships in Weimar. As evidence of Bach's close friendship with Telemann, the composer stood as godfather at the baptism of Carl Philipp Emanuel along with Adam Weldig. In March of 1709, it is known that Bach and his wife, along with one of her sisters, were living with Adam Immanuel Weldig, a falsettist and Master of the Pages. They probably stayed in Weldig's house until August of 1713, when Weldig moved to Weissenfels. The location of the Bach family residence in Weimar is not known before or after these dates.

Bach's previously mentioned cousin, Johann Gottfried Walther, had been the organist at the Stadtkirche in Weimar since July of 1707. Walther was related to Bach through his mother, a Lämmerhirt, and the cousins remained lifelong friends. In September of 1712, Bach stood as godfather to Walther's son, and later in 1735, Bach negotiated on Walther's behalf with the Leipzig publisher J.G. Krügner. Futhermore, as evidence of their close bond, during his nine years at Weimar, Bach gave Walther some 200 pieces of music: some by Buxtehude and many other compositions of his own.

Regarding Bach's students, Schubart and Vogler have already been mentioned. The student for whom Bach was paid by Duke Ernst August's account in 1711-12 was not the Duke himself, but he was a page in the Duke's employ, named Jagemann. J.G. Ziegler (1688-1747) matriculated at the University of Halle in October of 1712, but before that time he had studied with Bach for about two years, and he had been taught to play chorales "not just superficially, but according to the sense of the words." Bach's wife stood as godmother to Ziegler's daughter in 1718, and in 1727 Bach employed him as his agent in Halle, for the publication of Partitas Nos. 2 and 3. P.D. Krauter of Augsburg (1690-1741) studied with Bach in Weimar from March 1712 until September 1713. Johann Lorenz Bach, his cousin, arrived in the autumn of 1713, and he concluded his studies by July of 1717. Johann Tobias Krebs (1690-1762) studied first with Johann Gottfried Walther from 1710, and subsequently with Bach from 1714 until 1717. Johann Bernhard Bach, his nephew, studied with J.S. Bach from some time in 1715 until March of 1719, alongside Samuel Gmelin (1695-1752), who appears to have left Weimar in 1717.

Bach was the overseer of extensive renovations to the organ in the castle chapel in 1713 and 1714. The organ was originally built by Compenius in 1658. It was overhauled in 1707, and a Sub-Bass was added by J.C. Weishaupt who carried out additional maintenance work in 1712. Further alterations were done beginning in June of 1712 by H.N. Trebs (1678-1748), who had moved from Mühlhausen to Weimar in 1709. Bach and Trebs had worked together on a new organ at Taubach in 1709, and in 1711 Bach wrote a testimonial for Trebs's work. In 1713 Bach and J.G. Walther became godfathers to Trebs's son. Bach and Trebs collaborated again in 1742, with an organ at Bad Berka. Trebs's new organ at Weimar was completed in 1714, but the details of his work are unknown, except that the Duke was determined to have the instrument include a Glockenspiel. Great trouble was taken over obtaining bells from dealers in Nuremberg and Leipzig. The original set of 29 bells (an odd number) had to be replaced because of difficulties with their blend and pitch.

In December of 1709 and February of 1710 Bach was paid for repairing harpsichords in the household of the junior Duke of Saxe-Weimar, Ernst August and Prince Johann Ernst. On January 17, 1711, he was godfather to a daughter of J.C. Becker, a local burgher. In February of 1711, Prince Johann Ernst went to the University of Utrecht. From February 21, 1713, Bach was lodged in the castle at Weissenfels. Duke Christian's birthday fell on February 23rd, and it is now known that Cantata No.208, Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd (the "Hunting Cantata"), was performed. This was Bach's first cantata to employ recitatives and arias of the new Italianate style. In this score Bach contradicted sharps by flats, rather than by using naturals, an old-fashioned habit that he progressively abandoned during 1714.

In May of 1713, Prince Johann Ernst returned from Utrecht with a large collection of musical scores. The previous February he had been in Amsterdam, and he may have met the blind organist J.J. de Graff, who was in the habit of playing recent Italian concertos as keyboard solos. This may have given rise to the numerous concerto arrangements made by Bach. He created various organ transcriptions of the Italian material, and particularly Vivaldi's 1712 collection of concerti, L'Estro armonico, had a profound influence on his style of composition. This was in fact a decisive moment in Bach's development: from that point he combined his earlier counterpoint style, with its northern German and French influences, with Vivaldi-like harmonic planning and thematic development. About this time, Bach established a professional relationship with castle librarian, Salomo Franck, an exceptionally talented poet, who wrote well-crafted free verse which Bach would set to music in several of his future Cantatas. In the four years remaining in Weimar, Bach completed the bulk of his organ works, including the Orgelbüchlein, and many of his harpsichord compositions. He also composed several chamber and orchestral works, including his six Brandenburg Concerti.In 1713, Bach applied to succeed Handel's teacher Zachau (who had died in 1702) in Halle, where a large new organ was being built, a three-manual instrument of 65 stops. The authorities of Halle's Liebfrauenkirche naturally wanted such a famous a musician to play its new instrument, and they offered Bach the position. Bach tentatively accepted the job. After his return to Weimar, Bach notified the Duke that he had entered into negotiations with Halle. Bach may have been involved directly in planning the enlargement of the organ, when Zachow became incapacitated, for it is certain that he stayed in Halle from November 28th to December 15th at the church authorities' expense. However, when the authorities in Halle finally submitted the offer formally, they had added several negative stipulations which were not previously known to Bach: in addition to a cut in salary and heavier responsibilities, which included performances practically every day of the week, the new organist was to be prevented from moonlighting and required to write a cantata once a month. The final stipulation, that the chorales be accompanied "on the diapason with two or three other stops of soft quality, changing the stops for each verse, but never using the reeds or mixtures," was insulting to an organist of Bach's stature, and he promptly refused the offer. The jilted Halle authorities wrote to Bach's employer to suggest that the reason he had entered into negotiations with them was to extort a higher salary from the Duke. Bach fired off an angry letter, informing the city of Halle that the salary it had offered was lower than that already being paid to him by Duke Wilhelm Ernst. Shortly therafter the Duke doubled Bach's salary as a means of keeping him in Weimar, and Bach was given the new additional designation as Konzertmeister, ranking after the Vice-Kapellmeister. Bach remained on good terms with Halle thereafter, and he was employed there as an organ examiner in 1716. Gottfried Kirchhoff was appointed organist in Halle in July of 1714.

In 1714, Bach improvized for Prince Friedrich in the royal chapel at Cassel. The prince was so pleased that he withdrew a ring from his finger and presented it to the organist. Later that year Bach visited Leipzig, the city where he was destined to spend the last 27 years of his life. The purpose of this visit was to become acquainted with Johann Kuhnau, and Bach took advantage of the occasion by composing Cantata, No.61, Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, which he performed there. Back in Weimar, on Palm Sunday, March 25, 1714, Bach performed Cantata No.182, Himmelskönig, sei willkommen. This was shortly after his appointment as Konzertmeister, and he was responsible for writing a cantata every four weeks. Although he had hoped to complete an annual cycle of cantatas in four years, his compositional plan was not to be realized in Weimar. On August 1, 1715, the musically gifted Prince Johann Ernst died, causing Bach the loss of a valued ally and plunging the Duchy of Weimar into mourning from August to November of 1715, when not a note of music was allowed. From 1717, there are no extant cantatas at all.

On April 4, 1716, Bach, like the librettist Salomo Franck and "the book-printer," was paid for "Carmina," bound in green taffeta, that had been presented on some unspecified occasion, perhaps on January 24th when Duke Ernst August had married Eleonore, sister of the Prince of Cöthen. Duke Ernst's birthday was celebrated in April, and two horn players from Weissenfels came to Weimar, possibly brought over for a repeat performance of Cantata No.208. Meanwhile, the new organ at Halle had been making progress, and on April 17th, the council decided that Bach, Kuhnau of Leipzig, and Rolle of Quedlinburg should be invited to examine it on April 29th. They all accepted, and each received remuneration of 16 thalers, plus food and traveling expenses. The examination began at 7:00 A.M., and it lasted for three days, until some time on May 1st, when the experts wrote their report, a sermon was preached, and fine music was performed. On May 2, the organist and the three examiners met the builder to discuss details, and the council gave a tremendous banquet in honor of the organ's completion.

In July of 1716, Bach and an Arnstadt organ builder signed a testimonial for J.G. Schröter, who had built an organ at Erfurt. In 1717, Bach was mentioned in print for the first time: in the preface to Mattheson's Das beschützte Orchestre, dated February 21st, in which Mattheson referred to Bach as "the famous Weimar organist" saying that his works, both for the church and for keyboard, led one to rate him highly, and asked for biographical information.

The factors that led to Bach's departure from Weimar are complex and varied. In 1703, he had been employed by Duke Johann Ernst, and since his return in 1708, by Duke Wilhelm, Johann's elder brother. The brothers had been on bad terms for years, and when Johann Ernst died in 1707 and his son Ernst came of age in 1709, things became no better. For a long time, the disagreements between the two reigning Dukes of Saxe-Weimar did not affect Bach in any negative way. Perhaps Ernst's younger half-brother (Johann, the composer) may have had some positive influence in the disputes. But the latter died in 1715, and the "court difficulties" worsend. Bach, like the rest of Wilhelm's household, was thereafter forbidden to associate with Ernst in any manner. The musicians, though paid by both households, were threatened with fines of 10 thalers if they served Ernst in any way.No extant Bach cantata can be securely dated between late January and early December 1716. It may be that Bach expressed his disapproval of Duke Wilhelm's behavior toward the junior Duke by evading his own responsibilities. However, Bach did not openly disapprove of the Duke Wilhelm until he discovered that a new Kapellmeister was being sought elsewhere. Drese senior died on December 1, 1716, and his son, the Vice-Kapellmeister, was by all accounts a nearly incompetent musician. Bach produced Cantata No.70a, Wachet, betet, seid bereit, (now lost) for December 6, Cantata No.186a, Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht, (now lost) for December 13, and Cantata No.147a, Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, (now lost) for December 20 (three successive weeks). However, there were no more such works after these. By Christmas, Bach may have found out that the Duke was negotiating to have Telemann as the new Kapellmeister. But these negotiations came to nothing. However, since Bach felt somewhat insulted by these negotiations, he became determined to find a new position elsewhere as Kapellmeister. He was offered one by Prince Leopold of Cöthen, brother-in-law to Duke Ernst (Bach and the prince had probably met at Ernst's wedding in January of 1716), and the appointment was confirmed on August 5, 1717. No doubt Bach then asked Duke Wilhelm's permission to leave Weimar, and no doubt he was refused, since Duke Wilhelm was very annoyed that his nephew had obviously had a hand in finding Bach a position that carried more prestige and a higher salary as well.

Duke Wilhelm and Bach must have remained on speaking terms for the time being, for at some point near the end of September, Bach was in Dresden and free to challenge the French keyboard virtuoso Louis Marchand to a contest. Versions of this affair differ, but according to Birnbaum (who wrote in 1739, probably under Bach's supervision), Bach "found himself" at Dresden and was not sent for by "special coach." Once there, some court official persuaded him to challenge Marchand to a contest at the harpsichord. The idea that they were to compete at the organ is a posthumous account of this story. Whatever the truth may be, it is universally agreed that Marchand suddenly left Dresden without the contest ever having taken place.

In late October of 1717, Duke Wilhelm set up an endowment for his court musicians, and the second centenary of the Reformation was celebrated from October 31st to November 2nd. Presumably Bach took part in these ceremonies, though there is no evidence that he set any of the librettos that Franck had provided for this occasion. Emboldened by the Marchand affair the previous month, Bach demanded his release in such terms that Duke Wilhelm had him imprisoned from November 6th until his dismissal on December 2nd. The court at Cöthen had paid Bach 50 thalers on August 7th. Some have supposed that this was for traveling expenses and that Bach had his wife and family moved to Cöthen soon afterwards. However, it is unlikely that the Duke Wilhelm would have allowed the Bachs to move until he had agreed to allow Bach to leave his position in Weimar on December 2nd. The younger Drese became Kapellmeister in his father's place, and Bach's pupil J.M. Schubart became court organist. The post of Konzertmeister simply ceased to exist after Bach's departure.

Membership Information

Volunteers are welcome and needed for several positions and projects. If interested, please contact us at 282-8525.