Rethinking J.S. Bach's The Art of Fugue

Anatoly Milka, Esti Sheinberg, translated by Marina Ritzarev

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781317064053
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music

The enigmatic character of The Art of Fugue became apparent as early as in its first edition, printed more than a year after the composer's death. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, who published both the first and the second editions, raised several unsolved questions regarding this opus. Anatoly P Milka presents a consistent and coherent solution to the unresolved questions about the history, structure and appearance of J.S. Bach's The Art of Fugue, opening new perspectives for further exploration of this musical masterpiece. Milka challenges the present scholarly consensus that there exist two different versions of The Art of Fugue (the Autograph and the Original Edition) and argues that Bach had considered four versions, of which only two are apparent and have been discussed so far. Only Bach's illness and death prevented him from fulfilling his plan and publishing a fourth, conclusive version of his opus.

Part I
Toward the history of the conception

1 The last decade

Scholars often highlight the last years of Bach’s life as ‘the last decade’.¹ This emphasis goes beyond the sheer chronological facts, since during these years the composer’s views, preferences and creative strategies were substantially modified. These changes were so dramatic that several contemporary testimonies, by people who were not in contact with the composer during these last years,² literally contradict the facts of his activity. This deep change in Bach’s intellectual world was influenced in more than one way by the milieu in which he lived and worked.

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...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of figures
• List of schemes
• List of tables
• List of music examples
• List of abbreviations
• Preliminary notes concerning the figures
• Preface
• Introduction
• PART I Toward the history of the conception
• PART II The principal documents: The Autograph and the Original Edition
• PART III J.S. Bach’s work on The Art of Fugue
• PART IV Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s work toward the publication of The Art of Fugue
• PART V Toward a new interpretation of The Art of Fugue
• Bibliography
• Index