Contents |
Early years 1685-1703. Honourable Thuringians ; Birth, family ; Loss of parents ; The 'Moonlight episode' ; The move to Luneburg ; Visits to Hamburg ; French tastes -- First appointments 1703-8. The Arnstadt appointment ; Further influences ; From Arnstadt to Lubeck ; Buxtehude ; The Muhlhausen appointment ; The Muhlhausen organ ; First marriage ; Letters and writing -- Weimar 1708-17. Heard by a duke ; The Weimar appointment ; Weimar organ competition ; Other development in Weimar ; The Halle audition ; Music for Halle? ; The Weimar production and cantatas ; Pupils in Weimar ; The competition with Marchand -- Cothen 1717-23. The call to Cothen ; The move to Cothen ; The Cothen appointment ; The 'Brandenburg concertos' ; Some other music at Cothen ; Death of wife Maria Barbara ; The Hamburg recital (audition?) ; Second marriage ; Some other musical activities ; The family -- Leipzig, the first years. Call to Leipzig ; The appointment procedure ; New life in Leipzig ; The place of cantatas ; Some other music ; Further cantata cycles ; The passions ; Other musical activities -- Leipzig, the middle years. The collegium musicum and chamber repertories ; The first published set of pieces ; The royal title and associated music ; Organs and organ music ; Harpsichord music ; Other musical developments ; Other activities -- Leipzig, the final years. Concerning the last decade ; The art of fugue ; The visit to Potsdam ; The B minor mass ; Blindness ; Deathbed and death -- Observations, descriptions, criticisms. Circumstances at the Thomaskirche ; The letter to Georg Erdmann ; The collegium obsolescent? ; Organs and harpsichords ; Hidden secrets of harmony ; Serious and profound music ; A light and playful manner of thinking ; The score-reader ; The keyboard player ; The organ expert ; Scheibe's criticism ; Character, quarrels ; 'Theoretical speculations' ; Tuning and temperament ; The teacher ; What was taught ; A note on the four-part chorales ; A speculation concerning W.F. Bach -- Epilogue. Concerning the life ; Concerning the music ; Texts, 'appropriate' music, order-plans, parodies ; A brief note on aesthetics. |