Sunday, July 30, 2000 was the 250th anniversary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach, and throughout Thüringen there were major celebrations to honor the day. In Arnstadt, where in 1703 a very young Bach took on the post of organist at the Neue Kirche (now known as the Bachkirche), there was a special religious service that featured the organ and Bach's choral music sung by invited choirs from other parts of Germany. Two days before, on the 28th of July, there had been a performance of the B-Minor Mass in the Bachkirche, which was the culmination of the "Orgel Sommer" festivities, a series of concerts of organ and choral music, starting at the end of June and continuing through all of July. The "Orgel Sommer" started with a concert at the Bachkirche on June 24 and featured the restored Wender organ of 1703. Arnstadt is an interesting, old German city built around the large Marktplatz and, like many sites associated with Bach, features a statue in Bach's honor. The monument of a young, nonchalant Bach was erected in 1985 by Bernd Göbel during the time of the German Democratic Republic, and has raised controversy because of the lackadaisical nature of the pose. (See illustration.)
Following Bach's footsteps in the northwestern part of Thüringen proved to be an interesting experience, because it showed how attached he was to the area. The ancestors of his family lived in Wechmar, a very small village forty kilometers from Eisenach. Veit Bach, the great-great-grandfather of Johann Sebastian, established his home there in the sixteenth century after having left Hungary because of religious persecution. Along with his son, Hans, he owned a bakery and a mill; the ancestral home is a half-timbered house, now a museum, with ample cooking space suitable for a baker. The house is in the heart of the village and is now its focal point as well.
Bach was born in Eisenach, where the large sixteenth-century house attests to the family's comfortable means. Johann Sebastian's parents died when he was ten and he was sent to study in nearby Ordruf for five years at the Latin grammar school. He lived with his brother Johann Christoph, who was his senior by fourteen years, and who was the organist at the Michaeliskirche. It was during these years that he learned to play the organ under the tutelage of his brother.
Afterwards, he was a student of music at the Michaeliskloster in Lüneburg for two years, and that is where he received the foundations of a theoretical background in music. In 1703 after the Lüneburg period, he took on the position of organist at Arnstadt for three years, an important responsibility for a young man. The position was pivotal for him in that he had three years to play the newly installed organ, of two manuals and pedal and 21 stops, built by Johann Friedrich Wender of Mühl-hausen in the Neue Kirche.
Before his appointment as organist, Bach, then eighteen years old, had been asked to evaluate the organ, which he found to his approval. This organ has been completely restored to the specifications of the time and gives a very good idea of what Bach had to deal with. It is rich in 16', 8', and 4' stops and has the basic characteristics that are associated with a baroque organ. It had been combined with a large Steinmeyer organ in 1913, and the two formed an instrument of a completely different character. What one sees today in the third gallery is the case of the restored Wender organ, richly decorated in white and gold. After the company of Ostheim/
Rhön had been given the contract to reconstruct the Wender organ and to restore the Steinmeyer in 1997, it was decided to add the third balcony where the Wender had been originally and to move the Steinmeyer to the first balcony. As such, we now have two separate organs, and the upper balcony has a copy of the original Wender organ, including the case, with two manuals and pedal, of which 320 of the 1252 pipes are original. With the excellent acoustics of the church, this organ has an astonishingly full and brilliant sound.
During his career, Bach was known primarily as an organist and his innovative work was not always appreciated by the more conservative elements of the congregation. Bach had developed considerable skills as an organist and was known to improvise a great deal during a service. The parishioners did not necessarily relish what they were hearing, which contributed to his leaving Arnstadt. He left the Neue Kirche for a position at the Divi Blasii Kirche in Mühlhausen for one year in 1707. This was important because he wrote out the specifications for changes in the organ there during that year, and the repairs were done after he left. The following are the specifications that he submitted.
Disposition of the new repairs of the Organ at the Divi Blasii.
1. The lack of wind production should be resolved by putting in three good bellows so that the Oberwerk, Rückpositiv and the new Brustwerk would have a more sufficient air flow.
2. The four old bellows that exist should have stronger wind production for the new 32' Untersatz and should be adapted for the remaining bass voices.
3. The old bass wind chests should be removed and replaced with new ones that conduct the wind such that a stop can be played alone or all of the stops can be played without a drop in air pressure, which was not possible formerly, but which is very necessary.
4. Then comes the 32' Subbaß or the so-called Untersatz in wood, which will give the entire division the best gravitas. This should have its own wind chest.
5. The Posaune should have more capacity and the shallots should be differently set so that a better gravitas is provided.
6. That the new Glockenspiel, desired by the parishioners, in the pedal division have 26 chimes at 4'; these chimes should be paid for by the parishioners and the organ builder will take care of their installation. As far as the Obermanual is concerned the Trumpet should be removed and replaced by a
7. Fagotto 16' tone, which is useful for all sorts of new inventiones (ideas) and sounds delicate in playing musical compositions. Further, instead of the Gemshorn (which should be removed) comes a
8. Viol di Gamba 8', that can mesh well with the existing Salicinal 4' of the Rückpositiv. And instead of the Quinta 3' (which should also be removed) there comes a
9. Nassat 3'. The remaining stops in the Upper Manual can stay, as well as the entire Rückpositiv, which should be re-voiced during the repairs.
10. What should be in the new Brustpositiv are the following voices:
three principals, namely:
1. Quinta 3' (from good 14-ounce tin)
2. Octava 2' (from good 14-ounce tin)
3. Schalemoy 8' (from good 14-ounce tin)
4. Mixtur 3 ranks
5. Tertia, with which one can have a beautiful Sesquialtera by pulling another stop.
6. Fleute douce 4' and finally a
7. Stillgedacht 8', that would harmonize with the music, and that would be made from good wood, sounding much better than a metallic Gedacht.
11. Between this Brustpositiv and the Oberwerk there has to be a coupler. And finally for the complete voicing of the entire organ, the tremulant must be put into its correct rate of flutter.1
When the Schuke company of Potsdam built a new organ for the church in 1995 they followed the specifications that Bach had given at the time of his stay there. The hand-written document that he prepared at the time, translated above, is on view in the Town Hall. This does give a very good idea of Bach's thoughts insofar as organ specifications are concerned. The primary considerations as noted were the addition of a third manual, a Sesquialtera stop, and at least one wooden 32' Untersatz if not the Posaune in the Pedal division. He mentions adding a new Brustwerk to the Oberwerk and Rückpositiv, and that would represent the third manual that he desired. Today's organ has a Hauptwerk, which would have been Bach's Oberwerk, a Rückpositiv on the second manual, and a Brustwerk on the third. There is a Sesquialtera II on both the Hauptwerk and the Rückpositiv, and the Pedal division has a 32' Untersatz, and a 16' Posaune.
Mühlhausen is a most elegant city that is being beautifully restored. The Marienkirche stands high in the pedestrian zone from where the gothic arches are easily seen. It is the second largest church of Thüringen, next to the Mariendom of Erfurt, and is a stunning sight as one approaches it from the Ratsstraße. At the entrance of the Divi Blasii Kirche there is a plaque which indicates that Bach was the organist for the year 1707-1708. While at Mühl-hausen he had numerous difficulties because his virtuosity was not appreciated. The pastor, who was a Pietist, downplayed the use of music in the religious services, and Bach ended up developing a friendly relationship with the pastor of the Marienkirche on the other side of town. Even though he was there for only one year, the importance of that year is underscored by the amount of attention given to his ideas on organ building.
In 1708 Bach married his cousin, Maria Barbara Bach, at the Dorfkirche of Dornheim, four kilometers to the east of Arnstadt. It is assumed that he chose that church because the minister, Lorenz Stauber, was a friend of his. After his marriage he went to Weimar in the capacity of court organist, and held the post of Concert Master to the Court from 1714 to 1717. During his nine years in Weimar he composed many pieces for organ and harpsichord and over thirty cantatas. He had the advantage of knowing and working with Johann Gottfried Walther, a cousin of his and a significant composer in his own right. He spent the next six years as Hofkapellmeister in Köthen, where he served at the will of Prince Leopold von Anhalt Köthen. The fact that the Prince had been musically trained was significant in fostering his occupation. He ended his career with the longest stay of all in Leipzig, which started in 1723 and lasted until his death on July 30, 1750.
Even including the Leipzig phase, it is clear that Bach travelled very little in comparison with his contemporary, Händel. If one adds up the distances in the area of Eisenach, Ordruf, Arnstadt, Mühlhausen, and Weimar, all of which are in Thüringen, one would find that the distances hardly total a few hundred kilometers at most. As such, he was so unlike many other great composers who travelled throughout Germany as well as in other countries. It was rare for a composer not to travel and study in Italy because of the early development of lyrical music in that country. Monteverdi's great operas go back to the beginning of the seventeenth century, and much was learned from the lyricism of Vivaldi. Mozart is a perfect example of one who learned in this fashion.
The wealth of Bach organs in Thüringen makes this a particularly attractive area to visit. As far as the individual organs are concerned, besides the instrument at the Divi Blasii Kirche in Mühlhausen, the other important ones include:
1. The Wender organ at the Bachkirche in Arnstadt, because it would represent what he had and liked at the time of his appointment. Bach had been asked to evaluate the new organ at the time of its installation in 1703. Two new recordings which feature the resident Kantor, Gottfried Preller, give ample evidence of the quality of the instrument. The outstanding acoustics of the Bachkirche play a special role in the success of the performances of some of Bach's major pieces.
2. The Hildebrandt organ at the Wenzelskirche in Naumburg is one that Bach had inspected, along with Gott-fried Silbermann, at the time of its installation in 1746, and which he found to his liking. This is an organ of 51 stops on three manuals. Its restoration continued in the fall and a re-dedication of the organ took place in December, 2000. A recording, that is available at the church, features the restored Rückpositiv. Irene Greulich plays a variety of pieces, but the Partita, Jesu meine Freude by Bach's cousin, Johann Gott-fried Walther (1684-1748), shows off this division to very good effect. What the recording demonstrates in particular are the excellent acoustics of the church.2
3. The Heinrich Gottfried Trost organ of the Schlosskirche in Altenburg, which Bach knew and appreciated. This organ was installed in 1739. The Hauptwerk and Oberwerk are rich in 8' stops, and the Pedal division has six 16' stops and a 32' Posaune.
4. Another Trost organ at the Stadtkirche in Waltershausen, which was built in 1724-30 but not completed until 1755 by another builder, Johann Heinrich Ruppert, would seem to have the specifications that Bach would have ideally desired. Ewald Kooiman from Amsterdam wrote in the liner notes of his CD "Bach in Waltershausen" that this organ with its combination of gravitas and lovely tone would be the closest to the ideal organ sound that Johann Sebastian Bach was seeking, when compared to all other so-called "Bach Organs," whether from Schnitger or Silbermann.3 Of the 50 stops there are nineteen 8-foot stops in the Hauptwerk, Oberwerk, Brustwerk and Pedal, and three 16-foot stops in the Hauptwerk and four in the Pedal. Of the rest, twelve are 4-foot stops spread out throughout the divisions and these three pitches represent 38 stops of the organ. This is certainly in keeping with the concept of a baroque organ, plus it adds one 32-foot stop in the Pedal division to provide the necessary gravitas.
At Mühlhausen a 32-foot stop for the Pedal was one of the changes that Bach envisioned for the new organ. The current organ at the Divi Blasii Kirche has 40 stops, rich in 8' and 4' stops in the Hauptwerk, Brustwerk and Rückpositiv, and has three 16' stops and one 32' Untersatz in the Pedal division. Most of the organs in all of Thüringen tend to be between 20+ to 30+ stops--only a few in the entire province are larger. In the city of Erfurt the Mariendom organ has 60 stops, and that of the Prediger-kirche has 56. Both of these organs were built by Schuke of Potsdam and represent installations that were done within the last thirty years.
5. The organ at the Stadtkirche in Bad Berka is important because it was built originally to the specifications that Bach had drawn up. Heinrich Nicolaus Trebs, court organ builder from Wei-mar, built the organ in 1742-43 with 26 stops on Hauptwerk, Oberwerk and Pedal, instead of the 28 stops that Bach had specified, and it is thought that this was done because of lack of space in the west tower. The organ had mainly 8' stops throughout the divisions, and when a new organ was installed in the original case in 1991 by the firm of Gerhard Böhm of Gotha, it pretty much retained the same specifications with the substitution of more 4' stops in the Hauptwerk. There had been alterations and rebuilds over the years for a variety of reasons, and the work in 1991 was intended to put the organ back into its original condition. It does not have a 32' pedal stop. A concert on August 9, 2000, with the house organist, Bernd Müller, which included music from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries, showed the versatility of the organ, and a recording on the Motette label by Weiland Meinhold confirmed its qualities by including music by Bach and Töpfer. The Toccata, Adagio & Fugue in C Major, BWV 564, clearly shows how ideal this organ is for Bach's music. The pedal solos and the clarity of articulation demonstrate the strength of the specifications of the instrument.4
6. The Lukaskirche organ in Mühl-berg, II/26, was originally built and installed in 1729 by Franciscus Volckland of Erfurt. The specifications are very similar to those of the Wender organ at the Bachkirche in Arnstadt, and the organ was fully restored in 1997 by the Fa. Orgelbau Waltershausen. The case is richly decorated in white, blue and gold, and the acoustics of the church are first-rate by any standards, with a sound that is clear and full. At a concert on July 23, Dan Lönnqvist from Finland was outstanding in showing off the qualities of this organ as a Bach instrument. He played the Pièce d'Orgue, BWV 572, and the Fantasy & Fugue in G Minor, BWV 542, and both were outstanding examples of pieces played on an organ of quality in superb acoustics. The setting could not be better in this church with its magnificent interior of white and gold, including the organ gallery high up in the west tower. A recording available at the church has Jozef Sluys playing a Bach program which features four of the Preludes and Fugues.5
Bach was primarily known as an organ virtuoso and choirmaster during his lifetime and some of his Toccatas and Fugues were written during his early years in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen. There is some thought that he might not be the author of the famous Toccata & Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565. In 1971 a music scholar first raised this issue, and an article in the Thüringer Allegemeine Zeitung on July 28 quoted the organist of the Bachkirche in Arnstadt, Gottfried Preller, as saying, "I am convinced that the Toccata was not written by Bach. It is not provable by looking at the hand-written notes, but the piece is absolutely untypical of Bach." Preller's thoughts on perceived shortcomings in meter and quality bring him more to the conclusion that the Toccata was written by Bach's student, Johann Peter Kellner, a choirmaster from Gräfenroda, a town not far from Arnstadt. "That the composition comes from Bach's influence is clear. But it does not have Bachian command," he says further. Preller thinks that it would be atypical for Bach to have written a fugue of the type in this composition. The Fugue takes up two thirds of the work, and, in his opinion, is not integrally structured and, in comparison to the dramatic Toccata, is conspicuously bland.6 Preller also said: "We should accept the idea that there will always be a few problematic pieces to deal with . . . as well as the fact that we will never be able to resolve all questions with respect to Bach."7
Similar questions have been raised with respect to the authenticity of a variety of works by recognized masters. This has always been the case and therefore it is hardly surprising that such questions would be raised about some of Bach's works. Nonetheless, there is still no proof that certain works were not his, and with respect to the Toccata & Fugue in D Minor, others would argue that it has everything that one would expect from the pen of a young composer. Karl Geiringer writes that "The theme seems to be inspired by the violinistic technique of playing in quick alternation on two neighboring strings, a device Bach was often to employ in his music for keyboard instruments. The toccata's torrents of sound and dazzling fireworks create a tone poem of passionate subjectivity; yet there is a masterly craftsmanship underlying all this outpouring of emotion. . . . In its intensity and exuberance this is clearly a product of Bach's youth, but there is no groping and uncertainty in it."8
Clearly, if the Toccata & Fugue does not come from the Arnstadt years, it cannot be far removed. There is enough to show that the late works have a consistency about them that really demonstrates the development in the artistic ability of the composer. The contradictory arguments dealing with his works are similar to the ones surrounding his ideas on the organ: it is known that Bach favored having a 32' pedal stop, and yet the specifications that he left for an organ in Bad Berka did not include a 32' stop. When he arrived in Arnstadt, the newly installed Wender organ did not include a 32' stop, and even when the Steinmeyer was added to the Wender in 1913, the result was a relatively large organ which was rich in 8' and 16' stops but did not include a 32' pedal stop. This is like trying to define exactly what a baroque organ or baroque organ sound should be. A compromise would seem to indicate that the baroque organ should be a three-manual organ of some 30+ stops with a Pedal division that has a 32' Untersatz. The majority of the stops in the Hauptwerk and Oberwerk should be based on 8' and 16' pipes. Without dismissing the need for reed stops, it is clear that they are not prominent. However, one might ask if this is simply for lack of knowledge about them or for a conscious dislike of the reed sound. Did the liturgical needs of the instrument take the lead and therefore obviate the desire for reed stops? Peter Williams picks up this issue in an article in The IAO Millennium Book, which was recently published in England.9 He asserts that there is no concept of "Bach's ideal organ" and that it is incorrect to point to organs that had a direct connection with the composer to address the question.10 He writes "not only would no single organ have shown all of this music at its best but any great composer is likely to work to a platonic ideal that could never exist. In any case, there are problems with giving priority to any of these organs. The first is that Bach never presided over any of the great organs of the day, as his Obituary already reports him as frequently remarking. Furthermore, it is difficult to see how there could be one single ideal instrument, because the repertory itself, from the early chorales and praeludia to the late Leipzig works, spans almost half a century. Not only is this the very period when the organ underwent considerable development and changed as far as it could before nineteenth-century technologies laid out other paths for it, but no great composer is likely to keep the same ideals of sound for half a century."11 In effect Williams is saying that the more we know about the organs of Bach's time, the more questions we have rather than answers as to what the "ideal Bach organ" might be.
We should always remember that Bach's main tasks at Leipzig were to direct the Thomaner Choir School, teach at the school, including Latin, serve as Music Director of the Lutheran churches in Leipzig and to compose and conduct liturgical music on a weekly basis. This represented his job during the last twenty-seven years of his life. Most of the music he wrote was performed during the Sunday services at the Thomaskirche. It is generally assumed that he had the position of organist at the Thomaskirche, but this is simply not true. He was not the organist of either the Thomaskirche or the Nikolaikirche, the other large church in Leipzig, which today contains a restored Ladegast organ of over 90 stops, and he did not have a position specifically related to either one of those churches.
The trip to Thüringen last summer was rich in its discoveries of much of Bach's early surroundings, and underscores once again the quality of genius that one associates with German composers and organ builders over the centuries.
Notes
1. A basically literal translation of the liner notes which gave Bach's original specifications in German from the CD Violet LC8900, Vol. 13, Orgellandschaft Thüringen, Die Schuke-Orgel in der Kirche Divi Blasii zu Mühlhausen, Felix Friedrich. A slightly differently worded translation is given in The New Bach Reader - A life of Johann Sebastian Bach in letters and documents, ed. by Hans T. David and Arthur Mendel and revised and expanded by Christoph Wolff, W. W. Norton and Company, 1998, pp. 55 and 56.
2, cf. CD, LC8418 Tonträger Produktion, Orgelpunkt Zwölf, Irene Greulich am Rückpositiv der Hildebrandt-Orgel zu St. Wenzel in Naumburg.
3. cf. liner notes in the CD "Bach in Waltershausen" as mentioned in a flyer of the Stadtkirche, 3 Lutherstraße, 99880 Waltershausen.
4. CD 11851 Motette, Weimarer Orgelmusik, Wieland Meinhold an der Böhm-Orgel der Stadtkirche zu Bad Berka.
5. cf. CD 87 148 René Gailly, Johann Sebastian Bach auf den Orgeln seiner Heimat (vol. 4), Jozef Sluys, Domorganist Brüssel spielt die Volckland-Hesse Orgel zu Mühlberg.
6. cf. article by Frauke Adrians in the Thüringer Allgemeine Zeitung of July 28th, 2000, p. 3.
7. Ibid.
8. Karl Geiringer, Johann Sebastian Bach, The Culmination of an Era, Oxford University Press, New York, 1966, p. 218.
9. Article by Peter Williams in The IAO Millennium Book, ed. by Paul Hale, Incorporated Associated Organists 2000, pp. 1-14.
10. Ibid. p. 3
11. Ibid.
Other sources of information. All translations from the German were done by the author.
1. Bachstätten--Ein Reiseführer zu Johann Sebastian Bach by Martin Petzoldt, Insel Verlag, Frankfurt-am-Main, 2000.
2. Johann Sebastian Bach, the Learned Musician, by Christoph Wolff, W. W. Norton and Company, New York and London, 2000.
3. The New Bach Reader - a life of Johann Sebastian Bach in letters and documents, ed. by Hans T. David and Arthur Mendel and revised and expanded by Christoph Wolff, W. W. Norton and Company, New York and London, 1998.
4. Oxford Composer Companions, J. S. Bach, ed. by Malcolm Boyd, Oxford University Press, 1999.
5. Bach by Malcolm Boyd, in the Master Musicians Series, ed. by Stanley Sadie, Schirmer Books, New York 1997.
6. The IAO Millennium Book, ed. by Paul Hale, Incorporated Association of Organists 2000.
7. Festchrift zur Wiedereinweihung, Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Kirche zu Arnstadt, Herausgegeben zum Einweihungstag am 16. Januar 2000 vom Kuratorium Bachkirche Arnstadt 2000 und der Evang.-Luth. Kirchgemeinde Arnstadt.
8. CD, Bach in Arnstadt, 4/2000 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirchgemeinde Arnstadt, Gottfried Preller spielt an der Wender Orgel (1703) der J.-S.-Bach-Kirche.
9. CD, Johann Sebastian Bach in Arnstadt, 2000 Orgelbau-Hoffman, Ostheim/Rhön, Gottfried Preller spielt an der Wender-Hoffman-Orgel Werke von Johann Sebastian Bach.
Aldo J. Baggia is Chairman of the Department of Modern Languages and Instructor in French, Spanish, German and Italian at Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire. He holds a bachelor's degree from Iona College and the MA from Middlebury College, and has completed graduate work at Laval University and Duke University. He has pursued postgraduate studies in France, Germany, Austria and Spain, and has travelled extensively in Europe. He has written numerous opera reviews for Quarterly Opera Review, Opera, Opera News, Orpheus and Monsalvat. He has written articles and reviews for The Diapason.
