Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788),[1] also formerly spelledKarl Philipp Emmanuel Bach,[2] and commonly abbreviatedC. P. E. Bach, was a GermanBaroque andClassical period composer and musician, the fifth child and second surviving son ofJohann Sebastian Bach andMaria Barbara Bach.
C. P. E. Bach was an influential composer working at a time of transition between his father'sBaroque style and theClassical style that followed it. He was the principal representative of theempfindsamer Stil or 'sensitive style'. The qualities of his keyboard music are forerunners of the expressiveness ofRomantic music, in deliberate contrast to the statuesque forms of Baroque music.[3] His organ sonatas mainly come from thegalant style.[4]
To distinguish him from his brotherJohann Christian, the "London Bach", who at this time was music master toQueen Charlotte of Great Britain,[5] C. P. E. Bach was known as the "Berlin Bach" during his residence in that city, and later as the "Hamburg Bach" when he succeeded Telemann asKapellmeister there.[6] To his contemporaries, he was known simply as Emanuel.[7] His second name was in honour of his godfatherGeorg Philipp Telemann,[8] a friend of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Bach was an influentialpedagogue, writing the influential "Essay on the true art of playing keyboard instruments", which would be studied byHaydn,Mozart andBeethoven, among others.[9]
C. P. E. Bach was born on 8 March 1714 inWeimar toJohann Sebastian Bach and his first wife,Maria Barbara.[2] He was their fifth child and third son.[1] The composerGeorg Philipp Telemann was hisgodfather.[10] When he was ten years old, he entered theSt. Thomas School, Leipzig,[2] where his father had becomecantor in 1723.[1] He was one of four Bach children to become professional musicians; all four were trained in music almost entirely by their father. In an age of royal patronage, father and son alike knew that a university education helped prevent a professional musician from being treated as a servant. Carl, like his brothers, pursued advanced studies injurisprudence atLeipzig University in 1731[2] and atFrankfurt an der Oder in 1735.[1] In 1738, at the age of 24, he obtained his degree but never practised law,[1] instead turning his attention immediately to music.[11]
Flötenkonzert Friedrichs des Großen in Sanssouci ("Frederick the Great's Flute Concert in Sanssouci") byAdolph von Menzel, 1852, depictsFrederick the Great playing the flute as C. P. E. Bach accompanies on the keyboard. The audience (invented by Menzel, and not based on any actual occasion) includes Bach's colleagues as well as nobles.Detail from previous image
A few months after graduation, Bach, with a recommendation by the Graun brothers (Johann Gottlieb andCarl Heinrich) andSylvius Leopold Weiss,[12] obtained an appointment atBerlin[2] in the service of Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia, the futureFrederick the Great. Upon Frederick's accession in 1740, Bach became a member of the royal orchestra.[1] He was by this time one of the foremostclavier players in Europe, and his compositions, which date from 1731, include about thirtysonatas and concert pieces forharpsichord andclavichord.[1] During his time there, Berlin was a rich artistic environment, where Bach mixed with many accomplished musicians, including several notable former students of his father, and important literary figures, such asGotthold Ephraim Lessing, with whom the composer would become close friends.
In Berlin, Bach continued to write numerous pieces for solo keyboard, including a series of character pieces, the so-called "Berlin Portraits", including "La Caroline". His reputation was established by the two sets of sonatas which he published with dedications to Frederick the Great (1742) and toCharles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg (1744).[1] In 1746, he was promoted to the post of chamber musician (Kammermusikus) and served the king alongside colleagues likeCarl Heinrich Graun,Johann Joachim Quantz, andFranz Benda.[1]
During his residence in Berlin, Bach composed aMagnificat (1749), in which he shows more traces than usual of his father's influence;[1] an Eastercantata (1756); severalsymphonies and concert works; at least three volumes of songs, including the celebratedGellert Songs; and a few secular cantatas and other occasional pieces.[1] But his main work was concentrated on the clavier, for which he composed, at this time, nearly two hundred sonatas and other solos, including the setMit veränderten Reprisen (With VariedReprises, 1760–1768).[1]
While in Berlin, Bach placed himself in the forefront of European music with a treatise,Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen (An Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments), immediately recognised as a definitive work on keyboard technique. "Both Haydn and Beethoven swore by it."[9] By 1780, the book was in its third edition and laid the foundation for the keyboard methods ofClementi andCramer.[1] The essay lays out the fingering for each chord and some chord sequences. Bach's techniques continue to be employed today. The first part of theEssay contains a chapter explaining the various embellishments in work of the period, e.g.,trills,turns,mordents, etc. The second part presents Bach's ideas on the art offigured bass andcounterpoint, as well as performance suggestions and a brief section onextemporization, mainly focusing on theFantasia.
Bach used for his performances instruments (clavichord and fortepiano) made byGottfried Silbermann,[13] at that time a well-known builder of keyboard instruments.[14] In the recent years one of the models of pianos that Bach was playing, the Gottfried Silbermann 1749, was used as a model for making modern piano copies.[15]
In 1768,[1] after protracted negotiations,[2] Bach was permitted to relinquish his position in order to succeed his godfatherTelemann as director of music (Kapellmeister)[1] at Hamburg. Upon his release from service at the court he was named court composer for Frederick's sister, PrincessAnna Amalia. The title was honorary, but her patronage and interest in theoratorio genre may have played a role in nurturing the ambitious choral works that followed.[16]
Bach began to turn more of his energy to ecclesiastical and choral music in his new position. The job required the steady production of music forProtestant church services at theMichaeliskirche (Church of St. Michael) and elsewhere in Hamburg. The following year he produced his most ambitious work,[2] the oratorioDie Israeliten in der Wüste (The Israelites in the Desert), a composition remarkable not only for its "great beauty" but for the resemblance of its plan to that ofFelix Mendelssohn'sElijah.[1] Between 1768 and 1788, he wrotetwenty-one settings of thePassion, and some seventy cantatas,litanies,motets, and other liturgical pieces.[1] In 1773, Bach wrote an autobiography: he was one of the first composers to write such an account of his life.[17] In Hamburg he also presented a number of works by contemporaries, including his father, Telemann, Graun, Handel, Haydn, Mozart,Salieri and Johann David Holland (1746–1827).[18] Bach's choral output reached its apex in two works: the double chorusHeilig (Holy) of 1776, a setting of theseraph song from the throne scene inIsaiah, and theoratorioDie Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu (TheResurrection andAscension of Jesus) of 1774–1782, which sets a poeticGospel harmonization by the poetKarl Wilhelm Ramler. Widespread admiration ofAuferstehung led to three 1788 performances in Vienna sponsored by the BaronGottfried van Swieten and conducted byMozart.[19]
Bach married Johanna Maria Dannemann in 1744. Only three of their children lived to adulthood: Johann Adam (1745–89), Anna Carolina Philippina (1747–1804), andJohann Sebastian "the Younger" (1748–78). None became musicians and Johann Sebastian, a promising painter, died at the age of 29 during a 1778 trip to Italy.[20] Emanuel Bach died in Hamburg on 14 December 1788.[1] He was buried in theMichaeliskirche in Hamburg.
Works C. P. E. Bach wrote in theNotebook for Anna Magdalena Bach are: March in D major, BWV Anh. 122; Polonaise in G minor, BWV Anh. 123; March in G major, BWV Anh. 124; Polonaise in G minor, BWV Anh. 125; and "Solo per il cembalo", BWV Anh. 129.
Among Bach's most popular and frequently recorded works are his symphonies.[21] While in Berlin, he wrote several string symphonies (Wq. 173–181), most of which were later revised to add parts for wind instruments. Of these, the E minor symphony, Wq. 178, has been particularly popular.
In Hamburg, Bach wrote a major set of six string symphonies forGottfried van Swieten, Wq. 182 of 1773. These works were not published in his lifetime (van Swieten, who had commissioned them to be written in a more "difficult" style, preferred to retain them for private use),[22] but since their rediscovery, have become increasingly popular.
However, Bach's best works in the form (by his own estimation)[23] are assuredly the fourOrchester-Sinfonien mit zwölf obligaten Stimmen, Wq. 183, which, as their title suggests, were written with obbligato wind parts that are integral to the texture, rather than being added on to an older string symphony. The first symphony (D major) in the set has been particularly popular, seeing a continuous performance and publication tradition all the way through the 19th century, which makes it the earliest such symphony.[23] Some of its more unusual features have been taken as characteristic of Bach's style:[24] the work, although it is in D major, beginson a D major chord, which then turns into a D dominant-seventh chord, outliningG major. In fact, there is no cadence on D major (D major is not "confirmed" as the key of the piece) until the beginning of therecapitulation, quite late in the piece.
Bach was a prolific writer of concertos, especially for keyboard. Like his father, he would often transcribe a concerto for various instruments, leading to problems determining which came first. For instance, the three cello concertos (Wq. 170–172), which are cornerstones of that instrument's repertoire, have often been considered to be transcriptions of the harpsichord versions, but recent research has suggested that they might be originally for cello.[25]
According to Bach, his finest keyboard concertos were theSei concerti per il cembalo concertato, Wq. 43, which were written to be somewhat more appealing, and somewhat easier to play.[26] His other concertos were written foroboe, flute, and organ. Bach also wrote for more unusual combinations, including an E-flat major concerto for harpsichordand piano. Additionally, he wrote several sonatinas for one or more keyboards and orchestra.
Bach's chamber music forms something of a bridge between stereotypically Baroque and Classical forms. On the one hand, he wrote trio sonatas and solo sonatas with basso continuo (including ones for harp and viola da gamba); on the other, he wrote several accompanied sonatas for piano, violin, and cello, which are more or less earlypiano trios, and three very popular quartets for keyboard, flute, and viola. Bach also wrote one of the earliest pieces for solo flute, a sonata that is clearly influenced by his father'sPartita in A minor for solo flute,BWV 1013.
Bach was a prolific writer of keyboard sonatas, many of which were intended for his favored instrument, theclavichord. During his lifetime, he published more collections of keyboard music than anything else, in the following collections:
Sei sonate per cembalo che all' augusta maestà di Federico II, re di Prussia, 1742 ("Prussian" sonatas), Wq. 48.
Sei sonate per cembalo, dedicate all' altezza serenissima di Carlo Eugenio, duca di Wirtemberg, 1744 ("Württemberg" sonatas), Wq. 49.
Achtzehn Probe-Stücke in Sechs Sonaten, 1753 ("Probestücke" sonatas), Wq. 63.
Sechs Sonaten fürs Clavier mit veränderten Reprisen, 1760 ("Reprisen" sonatas), Wq. 50.
Fortsetzung von Sechs Sonaten fürs Clavier, 1761 ("Fortsetzung" sonatas), Wq. 51.
Zweite Fortsetzung von Sechs Sonaten fürs Clavier, 1763 ("Zweite Fortsetzung" sonatas), Wq. 52.
Sechs Leichte Clavier Sonaten, 1766 ("Leichte" sonatas), Wq. 53.
Six Sonates pour le Clavecin à l'usage des Dames, 1770 ("Damen" sonatas), Wq. 54.
Six collections ofClavier Sonaten für Kenner und Liebhaber, 1779–87 ("Kenner und Liebhaber" sonatas), Wq. 55–59, 61.
Much of Bach's energy during his last years was dedicated to the publication of the "Kenner und Liebhaber" collections (which also include fantasias and rondos, see below).[27]
Wq. 64:1–6 are sixsonatinas for keyboard, and Wq. 65:1–50 are fifty further keyboard sonatas. The Sonata in E-flat major, Wq. 65:7, is based onSolo per il cembalo,BWV Anh. III 129, No. 27 inthe second Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach.[28]
Easily Bach's best-known piece is theSolfeggietto, Wq. 117/2, to the point that the introduction toThe Essential C. P. E. Bach is subtitled "Beyond the Solfeggio in C Minor".[29] Several of Bach's other miscellaneous keyboard works have gained fame, including the character pieceLa Caroline and the Fantasia in F-sharp minor, Wq. 67. Bach's fantasias, in particular, have been considered to show him at his most characteristic: they are full of dramatic silences, harmonic surprises, and perpetually varied figuration.
Bach published three major collections of miscellaneous keyboard works during his lifetime: theClavierstücke verschiedener Art, Wq. 112 of 1765, and theKurze und Leichte Clavierstücke collections, Wq. 113–114 of 1766. The former includes songs, fantasias, dances, sonatas, fugues, and even a symphony and concerto for solo piano (Bach was later to publish an entire collection of keyboard versions of his symphonies).
Mechanical instruments such as themusic box andmusical clock were popular at the Prussian court, and C. P. E. Bach wrote thirty original compositions for these instruments, grouped together as Wq. 193.[30][31] At that time, Bach was court musician to King Frederick the Great at Potsdam; the King, who was intrigued by mechanically reproduced music, had mechanical organ clocks built for the City Castle of Potsdam and for theNew Palais.[32]
Throughout his lifetime, Bach worked on theMagnificat in D, Wq. 215. J. S. Bach was alive to hear it in 1749, and C. P. E. continued to revise and perform it as late as 1786. The work clearly shows the influence of J.S. Bach's ownMagnificat, including the striking resemblance of theDeposuit movements in both works.
Many of C. P. E. Bach's compositions and original manuscripts were stored in the archive of theSing-Akademie zu Berlin where Bach lived from 1738 to 1768. This archive was packed during the Second World War and hidden to preserve it from Allied bombing, captured and sequestered by USSR forces in 1945, thus long believed lost or destroyed during the war.
The archive was discovered inKyiv, Ukraine, in 1999, returned to Berlin in 2001, and deposited in theBerlin State Library. It contained 5,100 musical compositions, none ever printed for the public, including 500 by 12 different members of the Bach family.[33]
Through the later half of the 18th century, the reputation of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach stood very high,[1] surpassing that of his father.[9] Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven admired him and "avidly" collected his music.[9] Mozart said of him, "Bach is the father, we are the children."[1][34]
His work has been described as "sincere in thought" and "polished and felicitous in phrase".[1] His keyboard sonatas, for example, "mark an important epoch in the history of musical form".[1] "Lucid in style, delicate and tender in expression, they are even more notable for the freedom and variety of their structural design"; they break away altogether from the hardened conventions of the Italian school.[1]
His name fell into neglect during the 19th century, withRobert Schumann notoriously opining that "as a creative musician he remained very far behind his father";[5] others opined that he was "a somewhat feeble imitator of his father's style".[2] All the same,Johannes Brahms held him in high regard and edited some of his music. By the early 20th century, he was better regarded[1] but the revival of C. P. E. Bach's works has been chiefly underway since Helmuth Koch's recordings of his symphonies andHugo Ruf's recordings of his keyboard sonatas in the 1960s. There is an ongoing project to record his complete works, led byMiklós Spányi [de] on the Swedish record labelBIS. In 2014, the Croatian pianistAna-Marija Markovina, in cooperation with thePackard Humanities Institute, theBach-Archiv Leipzig, theSächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig andHarvard University released a 26-CD box set of the complete works for solo piano on the German record labelHänssler Classic, performed on a modernBösendorfer grand piano.
The works of C. P. E. Bach are known by "Wq" numbers, fromAlfred Wotquenne's 1906 catalogue, and by "H" numbers from a catalogue by Eugene Helm (1989).
2014 marked the 300th anniversary of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's birth. All six German Bach cities—Hamburg, Potsdam, Berlin, Frankfurt-on-the-Oder, Leipzig, and Weimar—hosted concerts and other events to commemorate the anniversary.[38]
Oleskiewicz, Mary. "Like Father, Like Son? Emanuel Bach and the Writing of Biography," inMusic and Its Questions: Essays in Honor ofPeter Williams, edited by Thomas Donahue (Richmond, Virginia: Organ Historical Society Press, 2007), 253–279.
Oleskiewicz, Mary. "Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and the Flute",Flutist Quarterly 39/no. 4 (Summer 2014): 20–30.
Oleskiewicz, Mary, ed.J. S. Bach and His Sons, vol. 11 of Bach Perspectives, Illinois University Press, 2017. See also theWeb companion, which shows images of historical keyboards he played, and places where C. P. E. Bach performed, at the Prussian Court.
Schulenberg, David.The Music of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2014).
