CHAPTER IX. BACH’S COMPOSITIONS

To have produced so many great works in all forms of musical expression Bach necessarily must have been a prolific writer. For if a composer be the greatest genius in the world, unless he constantly exercises his art he cannot hope to produce real masterpieces. Superlative excellence is the fruit of indefatigable application. Yet in Bach’s case we should be wrong to acclaim as masterpieces all the products of his great activity just because masterpieces at length were the fruit of it. Already in his early compositions we find undeniable evidence of genius. But they are blemished by faults, passages poor in quality, extravagant, insipid, that are hardly worth preserving, though of interest to the student who wishes to trace from its source the development of Bach’s genius.

It is not difficult to distinguish with exactitude those of Bach’s early compositions which are of the first excellence; for he has been at pains to give us the clue. As he did not publish his first work until he was about forty years old (223) we are justified in assuming the merit of what, at so mature an age, he thought worthy to put into print, and in concluding generally that all his engraved works are of first-rate merit.(224)

With respect to his unpublished compositions, and they are by far the most numerous, we must in order to distinguish their merit rely partly on a critical examination of their texts, partly on Bach’s own judgment. Like all great composers, he was continually working on his compositions with a view to making them still more finished. Indeed, he actually attempted to improve some of them that were already perfect. Any that were susceptible of improvement he improved, even those already engraved. Such is the origin of the variant readings of his works found in older and more recent texts. By constantly retouching his compositions Bach aimed at making them indisputable masterpieces. In this category I place most of what he wrote before the year 1725, as I show in detail in the following catalogue. A great many compositions subsequent to 1725, which for reasons easily understood are still in MS., bear too evidently the stamp of perfection to leave us in doubt whether to class them as early essays or as the finished work of an accomplished master.

The following are those of Bach’s works which have been engraved:

1. _Clavierübung_, or “Exercises for the Clavier, consisting of Preludes, Allemandes, Courantes, Sarabandes, Gigues, Minuets, etc., for the Diversion of Amateurs. Opus I. Published by the Composer, 1731.” This was Bach’s first published work and contains six Suites. The first of them came out in 1726;(225) the others followed in successive years until all were engraved together in 1731.(226) The work was much noticed at the time. Such compositions for the Clavier had not been seen or heard before, and the man who could play them was sure of a success. Our young players to-day would profit by the study of them, so brilliant, agreeable, expressive, and original are they. In the new edition(227) they are entitled, “Exercises for the Clavier.” 2. _Clavierübung_, or “Exercises for the Clavier, Part II., consisting of a Concerto in the Italian style and an Overture in the French manner(228) for a Clavier with two manuals. Published by Christopher Weigel, Junior, in Nürnberg.”(229) 3. _Clavierübung_, or “Exercises for the Clavier, Part III., consisting of various Organ Preludes to the Catechism and other Hymns, composed for the diversion of amateurs and particularly of competent judges of such works. Published by the Composer.” Besides the Preludes and Fugues for the Organ, all of which are masterly, the book contains four Duetti for the Clavier,(230) models of their kind. 4. _Sechs Choräle_, or “Six Choral Melodies of different kinds, for an Organ with two manuals and pedal. Zella, in the Thuringian Forest. Published by Johann G. Schübler.”(231) They are full of dignity and religious feeling. In some of them, too, we have instances of Bach’s original management of the stops.(232) Thus, in the second Choral, _Wo soll ich fliehen hin,_ he gives to the first manual an 8 foot, to the second a 16 foot, and to the pedal a 4 foot stop. The pedal has the cantus firmus.(233) 5. _Clavierübung_, or “Exercises for the Clavier, consisting of an Aria with several Variations, for a Clavier with two manuals. Published by Balthasar Schmidt at Nürnberg.”(234) This admirable work consists of thirty Variations, some in canon, in a variety of movements and at all intervals from the unison to the ninth, with easy flowing melody. It includes a regular fourpart Fugue,(235) several extremely brillant Variations for two Claviers,(236) and concludes with a Quodlibet, as it is called, which alone would render its composer immortal, though it is not the best thing in the volume.(237)

The Variations are models of what such compositions ought to be, though no one has been so rash as to attempt to follow Bach’s footsteps. We owe them to Count Kaiserling, formerly Russian Ambassador at the Saxon Electoral Court, who frequently visited Leipzig with Goldberg, already mentioned(238) among Bach’s pupils. The Count was a great invalid and suffered from insomnia. Goldberg lived in the Ambassador’s house, and slept in an adjoining room, to be ready to play to him when he was wakeful. One day the Count asked Bach to write for Goldberg some Clavier music of a soothing and cheerful character, that would relieve the tedium of sleepless nights. Bach thought a set of Variations most likely to fulfil the Count’s needs, though, on account of the recurrence of the same basic harmony throughout, it was a form to which he had hitherto paid little attention. Like all his compositions at this period, however, the Variations are a masterpiece, and are the only example he has left us of this form.(239) The Count always called them “my Variations” and was never weary of hearing them. For long afterwards, when he could not sleep, he would say, “Play me one of my Variations, Goldberg.” Perhaps Bach was never so well rewarded for any composition as for this. The Count gave him a golden goblet containing one hundred louis d’ors, though, as a work of art, Bach would not have been overpaid had the present been a thousand times as large. It may be observed, that in the engraved copy of the Variations there are serious mistakes, which the composer has corrected in his own copy.(240)

6. _Einige kanonische Verdäderungen,_ “Canonic Variations on the Christmas Hymn ‘Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her,’ for an Organ with two manuals and pedal. Published at Nürnberg by Balthasar Schmidt.” The work contains five canonic variations of the utmost ingenuity.(241) 7. _Musikalisches Opfer_, or “A Musical Offering,” dedicated to Frederick II., King of Prussia. The theme received by Bach from the King(242) is treated first as a three-part Fugue under the acrostic title “Ricercare” (Regis iussu cantio et reliqua canonica arte resoluta). There follows a six-part “Ricercare” and Thematis regii elaborationes canonicae of various kinds.(243) The work includes a Trio for Flute, Violin, and Clavier upon the same subject.(244) 8. _Die Kunst der Fuge_, or “The Art of Fugue.” This work, unique of its kind, did not appear till about 1752, after Bach’s death, though the greater part of it had been engraved by his sons during his lifetime.(245) Marpurg,(246) the leading German musical critic of that day, contributed a preface to this edition which contains many just observations on the value and utility of such treatises.(247) But, being too good for the general public, the work found only a small circulation among those who discerned its merit and eagerly bought copies. The plates were never used again and eventually were sold(248) by Bach’s heirs at the price of old copper. Written by a man of Bach’s transcendent genius, and commended as a masterpiece by a critic so highly regarded as Marpurg, a work of this kind, if published in any other country than Germany, would have passed through at least ten editions by now, if only at the bidding of patriotism. But in Germany not a sufficient number of copies was sold to pay for the plates used in engraving the work!

The work consists of fugal Variations planned on the most elaborate scale.(249) The composer’s intention was to show in what a variety of ways the same theme can be treated fugally. The Variations (here called “Contrapunctus”)(250) are complete Fugues upon the same theme. The last Fugue of all has three subjects, in the third of which the composer signs his name, B A C H.(251) Bach was prevented from finishing it by the disorder of his eyes, and as an operation brought no relief the movement was never completed. It is said that Bach intended to introduce four themes into it and to bring it to an impressive conclusion by inverting them all. All the Fugues in the work are equally smooth and melodious.

To make up for the unfinished Fugue Bach concluded the work with a Choral Prelude upon the tune “Wenn wir in höchsten Nöthen sein,” which he dictated to his son-in-law, Altnikol, a few days before his death.(252) Of the extraordinary skill it displays I do not speak, save to remark that even in his last illness it proclaims Bach’s skill undiminished. The pious resignation and devotion that characterise it move me deeply whenever I play it. Nor should I find it easy to say which I had rather had been omitted, the Choral Prelude, or the conclusion of the unfinished Fugue.

9. Lastly, after Bach’s death, his four-part Chorals were collected by his son, Carl Philipp Emmanuel, and were published by Birnstiel (Berlin and Leipzig), Part I. in 1765, Part II. in 1769.(253) Each Part contains one hundred Chorals, mostly taken from the composer’s church Cantatas.

More recently Kirnberger edited, in four volumes, a collection of Bach’s Chorals. They are published by Breitkopf.(254)

Bach’s works, still in MS., consist of compositions for the Clavier, Organ, with and without other instruments, Strings, and the voice. I will enumerate them in that order.

I. Compositions For The Clavier

1. _Six Little Preludes far Beginners_.(255) 2. _Fifteen Two-part Inventions_. An Invention is a musical theme so constructed that by imitation and inversion a whole movement can be evolved from it. The subject having been first stated, the rest develops naturally out of it. For the instruction of a young Clavier player these fifteen Inventions are of great value, seeing that the composer has been careful not only to provide exercises for both hands but for every finger as well. They were composed at Cöthen in 1723, with a long title which begins: “An honest Guide, in which lovers of the Clavier are shown a clear method of playing correctly in two parts,” etc.(256)

It cannot be denied that, among other blemishes, the Inventions occasionally exhibit melodic poverty and roughness. But finding them useful to his pupils, Bach eventually revised them and removed from them everything that offended his maturer taste, so that they now stand as masterpieces of pure music. Moreover they are invaluable exercises for the fingers and hands and are sound instructors of taste. There is no better introduction to Bach’s larger works than they afford.

3. _Fifteen three-part Inventions_, also called Symphonies. They were written for the same purpose as the Inventions, but are more advanced.(257) 4. _The Well-tempered Clavier_, or, Preludes and Fugues in all tones and semitones, composed for the profit and use of young musicians desirous of knowledge, as also for those who are skilled already in this studio. Part I. was finished in 1722. Part II., like Part I., contains twenty-four Preludes and twenty-four Fugues in every key, and was composed at a later period.(258) Every number of it, from first to last, is a masterpiece. In Part I., however, certain Preludes and Fugues bear marks of immaturity and are included probably only in order to complete the series. But here again Bach eventually corrected whatever seemed to him lacking in finish. He altered or rewrote entire passages, so that in the later texts few movements are not perfect. Among these few I reckon the Fugues in A minor,(259) G major and G minor,(260) C major,(261) F major and F minor.(262) The rest are excellent, some of them so superlatively good as to be not inferior to those in Part II.(263) Even Part II., for all its original perfection, has been improved by the composer, as may be observed by comparing the original and later texts. Both Parts contain treasures of art not to be found outside Germany. 5. _Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue._(264) I have taken considerable pains to discover a similar piece of music by Bach, but without success. The Fantasia is unique and unequalled. Wilhelm Friedemann sent it to me from Brunswick inscribed with these words by a mutual friend. “Anbey kommt an etwas Musik von Sebastian, sonst genannt: Fantasia chromatica; bleibt schön in alle Saecula.”

It is remarkable that this piece, for all its technical skill, appeals to the most unpractised hearer, if it is performed at all tolerably.

6. A _Fantasia in C minor_. It is not of the same character as the preceding work, but resembles rather the Allegro of a Sonata. It is divided into two parts, but must be played as a single movement. It is an excellent work, and in old copies an unfinished Fugue follows, which, however, cannot belong to it.(265) The first thirty bars certainly are by Bach, for they are marked by an extremely bold use of augmented and diminished intervals and their inversions, in three-part harmony. None but Bach attempted such things. The rest of the movement seems to have been added by another hand and bears no trace of Bach’s style. 7. _Six large Suites_, consisting of Preludes, Allemandes, Courantes, Sarabandes, etc. They are known as the “English Suites,” because the composer wrote them for an Englishman of rank.(266) All of them are of great merit as works of art, and some movements, in particular the Gigues of the fifth and sixth Suites, are perfect masterpieces of harmony and melody. 8. _Six small Suites_, consisting of Allemandes, Courantes, etc. They are generally called the “French Suites,” because they are written in the French style.(267) The composer is intentionally less academic in them than in his larger Suites, and their melodies are more than usually pleasant and agreeable. In particular the fifth Suite deserves to be noticed: all its movements are most melodious, and in the concluding Gigue only consonant intervals, especially thirds and sixths, are used.

These are Bach’s principal works for the Clavier which can be considered classics.(268) A great number of single Suites,(269)Toccatas and Fugues,(270) besides those already mentioned, have great and varying merit, but are youthful works.(271) At the most, ten or twelve of them seem to me worth preserving, some of them because they would be useful as finger exercises, for which their author originally intended them, others because they are at least better than similar works by other composers. As an exercise for the fingers of both hands I particularly single out a Fugue in A minor,(272) in which the composer has been at great pains to write florid passages in order to give equal strength and suppleness to both hands. For beginners a little two-part Fugue(273) should also prove useful. It is melodious, flowing, and not at all old-fashioned.

II. Music For The Clavier With Other Instruments

1. _Six Sonatas for Clavier with Violin obbligato_. Composed at Cöthen, they are among Bach’s masterpieces in this form and display fugal and canonic writing which is both natural and full of character. The Violin part needs a master to play it; for Bach knew the capabilities of the instrument and spared it as little as the Clavier. The six Sonatas are in the keys of B minor, A major, E major, C minor, F minor, and G major.(274) 2. _Several Sonatas for Harpsichord and Violin_,(275) _Harpsichord and Flute_,(276) _Harpsichord and Viol da Gamba_.(277) They are admirably written and most of them are pleasant to listen to even today.(278) 3. _Several Concertos for the Clavier and other instruments_. They contain real gems of art but are antiquated in form.(279) 4. _Two Concertos for two Claviers_, with an accompaniment of two Violins, Viola, and Violoncello. The first, in C minor,(280) has an antique flavour. But the second, in C major,(281) is as fresh as if it had been written yesterday.(282) It may be played without the String quartet and still sounds admirable. The final Allegro is a majestic movement and strictly fugal. Compositions of this form were first perfected, indeed, we may conjecture, were first attempted, by Bach. At least, I have met with only a single example by another composer that may perhaps be older—namely, Pachelbel of Nürnberg’s Toccata, as he called it. Pachelbel, however, was a contemporary of Bach and may have taken the idea from him. However, his work is not worth considering. One instrument merely repeats the other’s phrases without being at all concertante. It almost seems as if Bach at this period had made up his mind to discover what could be done with any number of parts. Having already written for a single solo instrument music which required no accompaniment, he next experimented in dividing his material between as large a number of solo instruments as possible. Hence the Concertos for two Claviers were followed by 5. _Two Concertos for three Claviers_ with an accompaniment of Strings.(283) These Concertos present a remarkable characteristic: besides the concertante combination of three Claviers, the stringed instruments also have concertante parts distinct from the accompaniment. It is difficult to realise the art involved in this achievement. For, in spite of their technical skill, the two works are so delicate, full of character, and expressive, that the composer might be treating a simple melody (note particularly the Concerto in D minor). Words are inadequate to express the admiration they arouse. But Bach was not satisfied. Hence he wrote 6. _A Concerto for four Claviers_ and four stringed instruments.(284) I cannot judge the effect of this composition, for I have never been able to get together the four instruments and four performers it requires. But that it is admirably written can be seen from the parts.

III. Compositions For The Organ

The pedal is the distinctive feature of the Organ which places it above all other instruments, and gives it its magnificence, sonority, and majesty. Deprive it of the pedal and you take from it the solemn and imposing tones which are its distinctive utterance, reducing it to the level of a “positiv,” or Chamber-organ, an instrument relatively insignificant.

But an Organ equipped with a pedal must be able to employ it in its full compass,(285) and both composer and organist must know the proper use of it. No one excelled Bach in this knowledge. Not only is his rich harmony and melody singularly adapted to the instrument, but he gave the pedal a part of its own, even in his early compositions. Yet it was only gradually that he mastered its technique; for his Organ masterpieces belong to the period in which those for the Clavier began to be classics. His early and immature Organ works are widely dispersed; for as soon as a composer begins to be distinguished everybody is anxious to possess a specimen of his art. Public curiosity, however, generally dies down long before a composer comes to maturity, particularly if his work is over the heads of the public. And this seems to have been Bach’s fortune. Consequently his mature Organ works are less familiar than his early efforts. The latter, however, cannot possibly be admitted to a “correct and critical” edition of his works, and I mention here only those whose merit is as incontestable as that of the Clavier works enumerated in the preceding paragraphs.

Bach’s finest Organ music falls into three groups:

1. _The Great Preludes and Fugues_, with obbligato pedal. Their number cannot be stated, but I believe it not to exceed a dozen.(286) At least, after prolonged search I have not been able to collect more than that number.(287) To these I must add a very clever and original Passacaglia, which, however, seems suitable rather for a two-manual Clavicembalo and pedal than for the Organ.(288) 2. _Preludes on Choral Melodies_. It was at Arnstadt that Bach began to compose Variations on Choral melodies, under the title _Partite diverse._(289) Most of them can be played on the manuals alone. Those which I include here are an exception and require the obbligato pedal. Their number may amount to one hundred. I myself possess above seventy, and more survive elsewhere.(290) No other Choral Preludes approach them in religious feeling, dignity, and sublimity of expression. I cannot notice them individually; they are too numerous. Besides the larger, there is a great number of shorter and easier ones, particularly useful for young players. MSS. of them exist in considerable number.(291) 3. _Six Sonatas_, or Trios, for two manuals and an obbligato pedal.(292) Bach wrote them for his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann, whom they helped to become the great performer he was when I knew him. It is impossible to overpraise their beauty. Bach composed them when he was in the full vigour of his powers, and they may be considered his chef d’oeuvre in this form.(293) He also wrote other Organ Sonatas, the MSS. of which are in various collections. They are fine compositions, though they do not equal the Six in merit.(294)

IV. Instrumental Music

There are few instruments for which Bach did not write. In his day it was usual to play a Concerto or instrumental Solo during the Communion office.(295) Bach composed many of these pieces himself, and always with a view to their improving the technique of the player. Most of them are lost. But two important works of another kind survive and to some extent compensate us. They are:

1. Six Solos for Violin, unaccompanied.(296) 2. Six Solos for Violoncello, unaccompanied.(297) The Violin Solos have long been considered by the finest players to be the best instructor for the instrument. The Violoncello Solos are equally effective.(298)

V. Vocal Music

1. Five complete sets of church Cantatas for the Sundays and Festivals of the year.(299) 2. Five compositions for Holy Week, one of which is for double chorus.(300) 3. Several Oratorios,(301) Masses,(302) a _Magnificat,_ settings of the Sanctus,(303) compositions for birthdays and Saints’ Days,(304) funerals,(305) marriages,(306) and some Italian Cantatas.(307) 4. Several Motets for single and double chorus.(308)

Most of these works are now dispersed. The Church Cantatas were divided between his elder sons after their composer’s death. Wilhelm Friedemann had the larger share because, being organist at Halle, he could make use of them. Later, circumstances compelled him to part with them gradually. I know of no other collection of Bach’s larger choral works. There exist, however, eight or ten Motets for double chorus, but they are dispersed in various hands.(309) In the collection bequeathed by the Princess Amalia of Prussia to the Joachimsthal Gymnasium at Berlin there are some of Bach’s vocal compositions.(310) Their number is not considerable, but among them are the following:

1. Twenty-one Church Cantatas.(311) In one of them, set to the words, _Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde,_(312) the composer introduces a bell obbligato. From that fact we may conclude that the Cantata was not composed in the period of Bach’s maturity,(313) for the use of bells is of doubtful taste. 2. Two Masses for five voices with instrumental accompaniment.(314) 3. A Mass for double chorus, the first being accompanied by Strings and the second by wind instruments.(315) 4. A _Passion,_ for double Chorus,(316) the text by Picander.(317) 5. A _Sanctus,_ for four voices and instrumental accompaniment.(318) 6. A Motet, for four voices, _Aus tiefer Noth schrei ich zu dir._(319) 7. A Motet for five voices, _Jesu, meine Freude._ 8. Four Motets, for eight voices in double chorus:

(a) _Fürchte dich nicht, ich bin dei dir._ (b) _Der Geist hilft unserer Schwachheit auf._ (c) _Komm, Jesu, komm._ (d) _Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied._(320)

9. A detached four-part fugal chorus, _Nimm was dein ist, und gehe hin._(321) 10. A bucolic Cantata, with Recitatives, Aria, Duet, and Chorus. A note is prefixed to it.(322)

On the MS. of the last-named Cantata and of the Mass for double chorus (No. 3 supra) there is a note by Kirnberger analysing the skill and merit of the compositions.