Today, it had just about turned out okay. It had happened completely unexpectedly and could have ended much worse. But let's start at the beginning: what happened on the night of August 4, 1704, on the outskirts of Arnstadt's city center? No one knows exactly anymore, but it must have happened something like this:
It was one of those enchanted, starry summer nights. The date was August 4, 1705. Deeply immersed in the new work that had been occupying him for a few days, the young man had once again forgotten all sense of space and time around him and worked by candlelight late into the night.
“How beautifully the morning star shines” was the title of the chorale he had completed that evening, and he now carried the sheet music home with him, feeling satisfied and proud. It was already late when he carefully locked the door of the New Church behind him and, visibly tired but happy, walked down the alley to his lodgings.
The night watchman had long since fulfilled his duty and extinguished the night lights. Bathed entirely in moonlight and starlight, the city appeared as if under a silver veil – even in the houses, all the lights had been extinguished. The citizens of the city had long since retired for the night. Only the distant call of an owl and the footsteps of the late passerby interrupted the perfection of the night's silence.
It had gotten really late today. His quiet and bright, but for his taste somewhat cramped room was located in Kohlgasse, not far from the New Church. Nevertheless, he had to hurry if he wanted to reach his destination before midnight. He quickened his pace and soon the silhouette of the house where he had taken up residence two years ago became visible in the darkness.
And then it happened: suddenly, quite unexpectedly, just as he was about to turn into his street, six large, powerful figures emerged from behind a mighty hedge rose and blocked his way with their broad legs. Armed with powerful wooden clubs, they approached the young man menacingly, who initially had the presence of mind to take a step to the side and quickly and safely stowed his notes inside his jacket.
Instead of being intimidated by the armed men, however, the young man drew the sword that was part of his court attire and confronted the attackers with his weapon raised, determined to go to extremes. At the sight of the flashing steel, however, the attackers quickly lost their courage. None of them had expected their victim to be armed. In a hurry, they turned around and fled headlong into the neighboring alleys, despite their numerical superiority.
The incident was not without consequences. In the moonlit and starry night, the faces of the attackers were easy to recognize. And how well the victim knew his opponents: six seniors from his choir had been lying in wait for him, hidden behind the thorn hedge. They obviously intended to teach their choir director a “lesson.”
Geyersbach was the name of their leader. Yes, the choir director had made fun of him at the last rehearsal with the mocking nickname “Zippelfagottist”*). Geyersbach now wanted revenge for this insult and had chosen five companions who were willing to lie in wait for the unpopular choir director.
The incident was reported to the police and the attackers involved had to answer for their actions in court.
The fact that even the ringleader Geyersbach got off with a simple warning not to do such a thing again can probably be explained by the fact that the six sixth-formers all came from wealthy and influential families in Arnstadt. In return, the choir director was instructed to be less strict in his lessons in future and to be satisfied with lower artistic standards than before.
*
Johann Sebastian Bach had already taken up the position of choir director and organist in the town of Arnstadt in August 1703.
At that time, the picturesque and prosperous small town looked back on almost a thousand years of history. In a devastating fire in 1581, the actual center of Arnstadt was destroyed, along with the Bonifatius Church, which at that time was still nameless. It was not until between 1676 and 1683 that the church was rebuilt and from then on was simply called the “New Church.” However, the faithful of Arnstadt had to wait another 20 years for the first organ sounds. It was Johann Sebastian Bach who accepted the Wender organ, named after its builder, in 1703. Despite his young age of just 20, he had already gained a high reputation in the fields of organ technology and organ playing. The fact that the city of Arnstadt had commissioned him of all people to approve the organ could also be linked to recommendations from his numerous relatives in Arnstadt.
When the organ was accepted, Bach made such an overwhelming impression with his playing that the city decided not to hold an official competition and offered him the position of organist directly, with a salary of 84 guilders and 4 groschen per year, which was unusually high for the time.
The city was also extremely generous with regard to the activities of its organist and, in addition to his professional duties, gave the musician a great deal of freedom to practice, improvise, and compose. Arnstadt can therefore certainly be regarded as the place where Johann Sebastian Bach discovered what made him immortal: the art of musical composition. In addition to his first fugues, Bach's time in Arnstadt saw the creation of the Capriccio in E “in honorem Johann Christoph Bachii Ohrdrufiensis” and the chorale “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern” (How beautifully shines the morning star).
It was the art of polyphony, of polyphonic church music, that captivated the young Bach from an early age. In addition to his official work, he began teaching students at the Arnstadt Gymnasium, thereby voluntarily taking on the role of school cantor.
Although polyphonic figural music was rejected by the church in central Germany at that time as too complicated and probably also too secular, the congregation and the church council of Arnstadt were initially quite satisfied with Bach's work and commitment, and at the beginning the students in the choir also enjoyed the new style of singing.
Bach's pronounced perfectionism was certainly the most important reason for the choir members' rapidly waning enthusiasm. The singers clearly felt increasingly overwhelmed. The initial euphoria quickly evaporated. Rejection and discontent spread – and so it came to that unpleasant scene on the night of August 4.
*
It had turned cool in Arnstadt. A strong wind blew the leaves through the alleys. Soon the first snow would fall.
“Maria Barbara, we won't be able to see each other for a few weeks.” Johann Sebastian looked mysteriously into his cousin's eyes.
"The church leadership has granted me a four-week vacation, which I intend to use to travel to Lübeck to visit Dietrich Buxtehude. He is the most important organist of our time, and there is an immeasurable amount I can learn from him, especially in terms of composition technique. I want to play for him and hope that he will take me on as a student for a few days. I have already spoken to my cousin Johann Ernst. He will stand in for me here in Arnstadt during my absence.“
”I will miss you, Sebastian." Maria Barbara sadly brushed a curl from her forehead. “But I am happy for you, and I am sure that your organ playing will greatly impress Master Buxtehude.” Johann Sebastian had only met his cousin Maria Barbara, the daughter of cantor and organist Johann Michael Bach, in Arnstadt – and immediately fallen in love with her. "Yes, Maria, I will miss you very much too. But I'm only staying for a few weeks, and I have high hopes for my studies with Dietrich Buxtehude. I have made a firm agreement with the presbytery that I will be back before Christmas."
Meanwhile, as they talked, the two young people had arrived at the main gate of the New Church. Johann looked for the key. “We're here. I'll show you the notes for my new chorale in a moment. Our choir really drove me to despair again at yesterday's rehearsal. I want to hear how it sounds when you sing the first voice.” He took her hand and walked with her up to the gallery.
*
Whether Maria Barbara was actually the “strange maiden” whom Johann Sebastian Bach is said to have led up to the gallery at that time is not entirely clear from historical records. However, it is very likely that it was his cousin with whom the young Bach wanted to rehearse some passages from his repertoire that his choir had previously found too difficult.
What is certain is that the two were not alone in the church during the rehearsal and that the incident was later reprimanded as an unauthorized presumption and abuse of authority on Bach's part. This was just one of a whole series of accusations that the young Bach had to endure, indicating a growing alienation between him and his employers.
It is also true that Bach had obtained permission from the presbytery for a four-week vacation. It is also quite likely that he did not initially intend to arbitrarily exceed the agreed time frame. In any case, in the late fall of 1705, Bach traveled 500 km to Lübeck with the intention of meeting the composer Dietrich Buxtehude. From the outset, it had been his intention to play the organ for him and to be accepted as his student for a limited period of time. Buxtehude was considered one of the most important organists and composers of his time, so the young man traveled to Lübeck with high expectations.
When Bach arrived there and played for the North German master, the latter was so impressed that he immediately invited Bach to study with him.
Johann Sebastian enjoyed happy and fulfilling days in Lübeck. He listened to the famous evening concerts, attended the memorial service for the late Emperor Leopold I and the inauguration ceremony for his successor Joseph I in St. Catherine's Church, studied and discussed the works of his teacher Buxtehude, and the days and weeks flew by.
Dietrich Buxtehude was extremely enthusiastic about his student Bach – both in terms of his artistic talent and his character. When he mentioned to Bach that the famous theorist and inventor Andreas Werckmeister was expected in Lübeck in January, Bach decided without further ado to extend his stay. He did not want to miss the opportunity to see and learn about Werkmeister's revolutionary invention, the “Werkmeister tuning.” This was a completely new type of tuning that supposedly allowed all pitches to be played on keyboard instruments.
It is understandable that his teacher Buxtehude was pleased with this decision: he was so taken with his guest and student that he suggested he marry his daughter Anna Margareta and also succeed him professionally. After Georg Friedrich Händel and Johann Mattheson had previously turned down this offer, the young Bach seemed to him to be the ideal son-in-law. However, Bach would have been more interested in Buxtehude's younger daughter, Dorothea Catrin, if at all, but this was out of the question for Dietrich Buxtehude, as it was important to him that his eldest daughter be taken care of first. So Bach traveled back to Arnstadt in January, where his cousin Maria Barbara was already waiting for him.
*
In February 1706, Bach arrived back in Arnstadt more than two months late. Although Bach had arranged for a replacement for his position as organist, there was considerable anger about his unauthorized absence. When the harmonic progress Bach had made under Buxtehude's tutelage found its way into his chorale accompaniments and improvisations, the church leadership viewed this very critically. The choir, which was already overburdened, could no longer be expected to cope.
On February 21, 1706, Bach was therefore confronted by the presbytery with several charges: in addition to the question of why he had extended his approved leave so excessively, he also had to listen to accusations about his organ playing, which had changed since his return and was thoroughly confusing the choir and the congregation. There had also been disciplinary problems with the choir, and it had come to the attention of the church leadership that Bach had even brought a “strange maiden” to the gallery of the new church.
Bach succeeded in largely refuting the accusations of his employers – especially since he had provided a worthy substitute in Johann Ernst Bach during his absence. However, he took the presbytery's complaints as a personal affront and from then on performed his duties with great reluctance. He was particularly offended by the accusation that he tended to provide “excessively long musical accompaniment.” Out of spite, he now fell into the exact opposite extreme and from then on played only extremely short and concise pieces – which further exacerbated the already tense situation. The situation was so dire that Bach began to look for a new position.
*
Rescue soon came in the form of the Free Imperial City of Mühlhausen, where the organist Johann Georg Ahle had died in December 1706. Here, too, family ties proved helpful: Maria Barbara, who was related to a Mühlhausen councilman, helped facilitate the change of position. Johann Ernst Bach, his deputy during his time in Lübeck, took over the Arnstadt position, albeit for a significantly lower salary than his cousin Johann Sebastian. On June 29, 1707, Johann Sebastian Bach handed over the church and organ keys and moved lock, stock, and barrel to Mühlhausen. On October 17, he married Maria Barbara in the neighboring parish of Dornheim.
*
Since 1935, the “New Church” in Arnstadt has been called the “Johann Sebastian Bach Church.” Today, the city looks back with pride on its famous organist and cantor, even though the relationship between the artist and his employers was by no means always easy.
Arnstadt was an important, even formative stage in the life of Johann Sebastian Bach. It was here that he met his future wife, Maria Barbara. Here he had the freedom he needed to discover his talent and his love of composition – and it was during his time in Arnstadt that he made his important journey to Dietrich Buxtehude in Lübeck.
Johann Sebastian Bach would certainly be very pleased with the current name of the “New Church.”
*} Zippel = farting
December 2014