Wilhelm Friedemann Bach

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Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, in a portrait by Wilhelm Weitsch
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, in a portrait by Wilhelm Weitsch

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (November 22, 1710 – July 1, 1784), eldest son and pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach, was a German composer and musician whose troubled personality and erratic career made him considerably less influential than his younger brother Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, despite his acknowledged talents as an organist, improviser and composer in the galant, or Rococo, style of the mid 18th century.

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[edit] Biography

Born in Weimar and educated at Leipzig, he was appointed in 1733 organist of St. Sophia's Church at Dresden, and in 1746 became organist of the Liebfrauenkirche at Halle; his father's influence was enough to secure him the latter position without the usual trial performance.

With his father's death in 1750, the stabilizing influence in Friedemann's life seems to have disappeared, and he lived an unhappy life in Halle, from which he frequently traveled to seek other employment. In 1762, he was offered the post of Kapellmeister to the court of Darmstadt, but for some reason he did not accept the position. Two years later, in 1764, he walked off the job in Halle, ending his employment there and indeed his formal employment anywhere. From then on he led a wandering life, staying for several years (1770-1774) in Braunschweig, before he moved to Berlin, where eventually and in great poverty he died.

His compositions, very few of which were printed, include many church cantatas and instrumental works, of which the most notable are the fugues, polonaises and fantasias for clavier, and the duets for two flutes. He incorporated more elements of the contrapuntal style learnt from his father than any of his three composer brothers, but his use of the style has an individualistic and improvisatory edge which endeared his work to musicians of the late 19th century, when there was something of a revival of his reputation.

Several of his manuscripts are preserved in the Royal Library at Berlin; and a complete list of his works, so far as they are known, may be found in Eitner's Quellen Lexikon.

A commonly-used numbering system is that of Martin Falck, who published a catalog of Friedemann's music in 1913. For example, Falck 12 or F. 12 (sometimes FK 12) stands for the celebrated "Twelve Polonaises" that were completed by 1765. nv for Nachlassverzeichnis - remaining list, or appendix to the catalog is sometimes attached, often for works discovered more recently than 1913 - so, Falck nv 2 for a fantasy in C minor for keyboard.

Additionally, Friedemann along with his brother Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach provided important information to Johann Nikolaus Forkel, the first biographer of Johann Sebastian Bach. The biographical information supplied by Friedemann and Emanuel was utilized in the biography of Sebastian that Forkel published in 1802. However, unlike Emanuel, Friedemann was an exceedingly poor custodian of Sebastian's music, much of which he, like Emanuel, inherited on their father's death. Not only did a good deal of Friedemann's share of this music disappear unaccountably, but in some cases he is known to have claimed credit for music written by his father (such as the Organ Concerto, BWV 596; because Friedemann wrote his own name on Sebastian's autograph score, it was mistakenly attributed to Friedemann when it was first published in the 19th century).

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach is not to be confused with Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach, his nephew, also a composer. Friedemann himself may have been one of the models for Diderot's philosophical dialogue Rameau's Nephew (Le Neveu de Rameau).

Several compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach were dedicated expressly for his instruction, including the Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach of 1720, some of whose musical material was later used in the Well-Tempered Clavier.

[edit] Works list

Keyboard Works
BR A 1 \ Keyboard Sonata in C major (F200)
BR A 2 \ Keyboard Sonata in C major (F 1)
BR A 3 \ Keyboard Sonata in C major (F 2)
BR A 4 \ Keyboard Sonata in D major (F 3)
BR A 5 \ Keyboard Sonata in D major (F 4)
BR A 6 \ Sonata for 2 harpsichord in D major (F 11) (lost)
BR A 7 \ Keyboard Sonata in E flat major (F 5)
BR A 8 \ Keyboard Sonata in E flat major (F201)
BR A 9 \ Keyboard Sonata in E minor (F204) (lost)
BR A 10 \ Keyboard Sonata in F major (F202)
BR A 11 \ Keyboard Sonata in F major (F 6)
BR A 12 \ Sonata for 2 harpsichord in F major (F 10)
BR A 13 \ Concerto for harpsichord solo in G major (F 40)
BR A 14 \ Keyboard Sonata in G major (F 7)
BR A 15 \ Keyboard Sonata in A major (F 8)
BR A 16 \ Keyboard Sonata in B flat major (F 9)
BR A 17 \ Fantasia for harpsichord in C major (F 14)
BR A 18 \ Fantasia for harpsichord in C minor (F 15)
BR A 19 \ Fantasia for harpsichord in C minor (F 16)
BR A 20 \ Fantasia for harpsichord in D major (F 17)
BR A 21 \ Fantasia for harpsichord in D minor (F 18)
BR A 22 \ Fantasia for harpsichord in D minor (F 19)
BR A 23 \ Fantasia for harpsichord in E minor (F 20)
BR A 24 \ Fantasia for harpsichord in E minor (F 21)
BR A 25 \ Fantasia for harpsichord in G major (F 22)
BR A 26 \ Fantasia for harpsichord in A minor (F 23)
BR A 27-38 \ Twelve Polonaises (F 12)
BR A 39 \ Harpsichord Suite in G minor (F 24)
BR A 40-41 \ 2 German Dances for harpsichord in G minor (F205)
BR A 42-43 \ 2 Menuets for harpsichord
BR A 44-47 \ 4 Preludes for harpsichord (F206)
BR A 48-49 \ 2 pieces for harpsichord (F 25)
BR A 50 \ Menuetto for harpsichord in F major (F208)
BR A 51 \ L'imitation de la chasse for harpsichord in C major (F 26)
BR A 52 \ La Reveille for harpsichord in C major (F 27)
BR A 53 \ Gigue for harpsichord in G major (F 28)
BR A 54 \ Prelude for harpsichord in C minor (F 29)
BR A 55 \ Scherzo for harpsichord in D minor
BR A 56 \ March for harpsichord in E flat major (F 30)
BR A 57 \ March for harpsichord in F major
BR A 58 \ Polonaise for keyboard in C major (F 13)
BR A 59 \ Ouverture for harpsichord in E major
BR A 60 \ Andante for harpsichord in E minor (F209)
BR A 61 \ Allegro non troppo for harpsichord in G major (F203) (lost)
BR A 62 \ Un poco allegro for harpsichord in C major
BR A 63-80 \ 18 pieces for clock-organ (F207)
BR A 81-88 \ Eight fugues for harpsichord (F 31)
BR A 89 \ Fugue for organ in C minor (F 32)
BR A 90 \ Fugue for organ in F major (F 33)
BR A 91 \ Fugue (triple) for organ in F major (F 36)
BR A 92 \ Fugue for organ in G minor (F 37)
BR A 93-99 \ 7 Chorale preludes for organ (F 38)
BR A100 \ Trio on "Allein Gott in der Höh dei Ehr" for organ (F 38) (lost)
BR A101-104 \ 4 Chorale preludes for organ (lost)

Chamber Music
BR B 1 \ Flute Duetto in E minor (F 54)
BR B 2 \ Flute Duetto in E flat major (F 55)
BR B 3 \ Flute Duetto in E flat major (F 56)
BR B 4 \ Flute Duetto in F major (F 57)
BR B 5 \ Flute Duetto in F minor (F 58)
BR B 6 \ Flute Duetto in G major (F 59)
BR B 7 \ Viola Duetto in C major (F 60)
BR B 8 \ Viola Duetto in G major (F 61)
BR B 9 \ Viola Duetto in G minor (F 62)
BR B10 \ Flute Sonata in F major (F 51) (lost)
BR B11 \ Flute Sonata in A minor (F 52) (lost)
BR B12 \ Flute Sonata in D major (F 53) (lost)
BR B13 \ Trio Sonata in D major (F 47)
BR B14 \ Trio Sonata in D major (F 48)
BR B15 \ Trio Sonata in A minor (F 49)
BR B16 \ Trio Sonata in B flat major (F 50)
BR B17 \ Sonata for flute, violin & continuo in F major

Orchestral Works
BR C 1 \ Symphony in C major (F 63)
BR C 2 \ Symphony in F major (F 67)
BR C 3 \ Symphony in G major (F 68) (lost)
BR C 4 \ Symphony in G major (F 69) (lost)
BR C 5 \ Symphony in B flat major (F 71) (lost)
BR C 6 \ Symphony in A major (F 70) (fragment)
BR C 7 \ Symphony in D minor (F 65)
BR C 8 \ Symphony in D major (F 64)
BR C 9 \ Harpsichord Concerto in D major (F 41)
BR C10 \ Harpsichord Concerto in E flat major (F 42)
BR C11 \ Concerto for 2 harpsichords in E flat major (F 46)
BR C12 \ Harpsichord Concerto in E minor (F 43)
BR C13 \ Harpsichord Concerto in F major (F 44)
BR C14 \ Harpsichord Concerto in A minor (F 45)
BR C15 \ Concerto for flute in D major

Liturgical Works
BR E1 \ Mass in G minor (F100)
BR E2 \ Missa in D minor (F 98)
BR E3 \ Heilig ist Gott in D major (F 78a)
BR E4 \ Agnus Dei in D minor
BR E5 \ Amen (F 99)
BR E6 \ Halleluja (F 99)
BR E7 \ Lobet Gott, unsern Herrn in D major (F 78b)

Sacred Cantatas
BR F 1 \ Lasset uns ablegen die Werke der Finsternis (F 80)
BR F 2 \ O Wunder ! wer kann dieses fassen? (F 92)
BR F 3 \ Ach, daß du den Himmel zerrissest (F 93)
BR F 4 \ Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe (F250)
BR F 5 \ Der Herr zu deiner Rechten (F 73)
BR F 6 \ Wir sind Gottes Werk (F 74)
BR F 7 \ Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (F 82)
BR F 8 \ Cantata for Palm Sunday (lost)
BR F 9 \ Erzittert und fallet (F 83)
BR F10 \ Auf, Christen, posaunt
BR F11 \ Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen (F 75)
BR F12 \ Wo geht die Lebensreise hin? (F 91)
BR F13 \ Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten (F 72)
BR F14 \ Dies ist der Tag (F 85)
BR F15 \ Ertönt, ihr seligen Völker (F 88)
BR F16 \ Ach, daß du den Himmel zerrissest
BR F17 \ Es ist eine Stimme eines Predigers in der Wüste (F 89)
BR F18 \ Der Herr wird mit Gerechtigkeit (F 81)
BR F19 \ Ach Gott vom Himmel, sieh darein (F 96)
BR F20 \ Introduzzione delle predicazione del Catechismo (F 76)
BR F21 \ Wie ruhig ist doch meine Seele (F 77) (lost)
BR F22 \ Der Höchste erhöret das Flehen der Armen (F 86)
BR F23 \ Verhängnis, dein Wüten entkräftet die Armen (F 87)
BR F24 \ Auf, Christen, posaunt (F 95)
BR F25 \ Dienet dem Herrn mit Freuden (F 84)
BR F26 \ Der Trost gehöret nur für Kinder
BR F27 \ Zerbrecht, zerreist, ihr schnöden Banden (F 94)
BR F28 \ Laß dein Wehen in mir spielen
BR F29 \ Gnade finden (F 79) (fragment)

Secular Cantata & Opera
BR G1 \ O Himmel, schöne (F 90)
BR G2 \ Lausus und Lydie (F106) (lost)

Song
BR H1 \ Cantilena nuptiarum consolatoria (F 97)

Miscellaneous Works
BR I1 \ Canons & Studies for organ (F 39)
BR I2-5 \ 4 Triple Canons for organ (F212)
BR I6 \ Fugal exposition for organ in C major (F 35)
BR I7 \ Fugue exposition on B-A-C-H for organ (F210)
BR I8 \ Abhandlung vom harmonischen Dreiklang (lost)

Other works in Falk's catalogue
F 34 \ Fugue for organ in B flat major
F211 \ 3 Fugues for organ
Fnv8 \ Keyboard Sonata in A minor

[edit] Trivia

  • One of Mozart's projects - Köchel-Verzeichnis 404a - was to transcribe several fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier, and the last, in F minor, of the Eight Fugues (Falck 31) of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, for string trio, providing them with preludes of his own. (This has in fact been recorded a few times even outside of complete Mozart editions.)
  • Wilhelm Friedrich was also a great pun-maker and was said to have entertained his friends on many occasions with his wit.

[edit] Further reading

  • Borysenko, Elena. The Cantatas of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. Thesis (Ph.D.) Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, 1981. In 2 volumes. ("Vol. II ... consists primarily of selected movements from the cantatas of W.F. Bach, followed by translations of the texts of these movements and a critical commentary.")
  • Falck, Martin. Wilhelm Friedemann Bach; Sein Leben und seine Werke, mit thematischem Verzeichnis seiner Kompositionen und zwei Bildern. Leipzig: C. F. Kahnt, 1919.
  • Helm, Eugene. "Wilhelm Friedemann Bach", in Christoph Wolff et al., The New Grove Bach Family. NY: Norton, 1983 (ISBN 0-393-30088-9), pp. 238-50.

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