Chapter V: Appendix: A Succinct Biography of J.s. Bach 93 (4)

At the end of this volume are the variations in canon form upon the Christmas hymn _Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her_.[141] The combinations in which Bach involves this chorale melody, already often treated by him, might well dismay a contrapuntist; we wish to note here only that original melodic richness, often touching, under which is concealed such arduous labor leading to inconceivable results. Fatigued in following their intricacy, powerless to unravel the inextricable network, the mind clings to these threads, though still indefinite--music now superhuman in the swishing of invisible wings as they fold, or rustle like silk in their contact;--or gliding, rather, without conjuring up any special sound, but leaving to the fancy the whole halo of harmonies; or like an echo, as if fragments caught here and there repeated the song which spirit-voices pray--the white souls of the pure in heart--these voices in peaceful chords, strangely sustained, or so gently persistent that the saints must hear them, in ecstasies which one feels as in a dream; the song which the stars revealed, murmured to the Child, who was lulled by the incommensurable rhythm of the universal concert emanating from God.[142]

[Footnote 141: Einige kanonische Veränderungen über das Weihnachtslied: _Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her_.]

[Footnote 142: These variations were published separately. Bach had them engraved about 1746 by Balthasar Schmidt in Nuremberg, in order to present them as the work for admission which the "Society for Musical Sciences" founded by Mizler in 1738 imposed upon each of its candidates. Bach was elected in 1747. He must have composed them, however, some years previously. The MS. and the engraved edition present numerous differences of editing.]

III

The Third Part of the _Clavierübung_ contains twenty-one arrangements of chorales.[143] The "Hymns of the Catechism" and the Creed furnish twelve of them, each melody treated twice, with or without pedal. These chorales may be cited as examples of certain well-defined types; it is unnecessary to identify each one of them separately, rather will we leave to the reader the task of such a classification. Some of them, however, are deserving of special mention; the _Vater unser im Himmelreich_ (treated in canon), for its extended proportions, for the fulness of its harmony; the _Aus tiefer Noth_ (_de Profundis_) in six parts, with double pedal, noteworthy in that it appears to have been written for two pedal-keyboards of different intensity, the melody dominating by its power, crying out amidst the symbolical chaos of this gigantic polyphony.

[Footnote 143: P. vi, and vii. B.-G. iii.]

We shall not again touch on that faculty which Bach possessed of translating into music the words of the chorales, whether in their most obscure meaning, or in their most obviously picturesque significance. _Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott_, "A mighty fortress is our God," sings Luther, and Bach emphasizes the suggestion of impregnability by supporting the melody upon the deepest basses of the organ; but this firmness reveals itself only after the repulse of an attack, after the warring of the counterpoints below the ramparts.

It is the same procedure as in the Reformation Cantata _Und wenn die Welt voll Teufel wär'_, "And were the world of devils full," as Luther's song runs; "on a sudden, figures of infernal aspect, issuing from unknown depths, rush to the assault upon the noble melody of the chorale."[144]

[Footnote 144: Cart. _Un maître deux fois centenaire._]

But such agencies partake rather of an instrumental style, interesting in an organ prelude, where they are more in place; in the cantata these counterpoints are entrusted to a bass voice; while putting the singer out of breath, they impress upon the audience a sort of wearisome anxiety; "without doubt," says Hanslick, "Bach obeys a fine symbolic instinct in entrusting the calm and steadfast melody of the chorale to one voice, while the other, in elaborate design, creeps about it; but not everything of symbolic significance must, for that reason, be beautiful in itself."

It is known that the last work of Bach was a chorale-prelude upon the melody of _Wenn wir in höchsten Nöthen sein_, or _Vor deinen Thron trete ich_,[145] which he dictated upon his deathbed to his son-in-law, Altnikol. This composition was added to the plates of _Die Kunst der Fuge_ (the Art of Fugue), unfortunately lost, which Bach had had prepared at the time.

[Footnote 145: P. vii, 58. B.-G. xxv.]

"To replace the unfinished portion of the last fugue, the work has for a supplement a four-part chorale, _Wenn wir in höchsten Nöthen sein_, which Bach dedicated some days before his death to his son-in-law, Altnikol. I will not dwell on the art which he displays here, for the profound science of music had been so mastered by the author that he could exercise it even in illness; but the expression of pious resignation and devotion with which it overflows has touched me deeply every time I have played it; and I cannot say which I would rather do without, this chorale, or the ending of the fugue."[146]

[Footnote 146: Forkel.]

The text of this chorale was, moreover, singularly appropriate to Bach's condition when he composed it, viewed as a lament amid the terrors of death, or as a declaration of readiness to appear before the throne of that God whose aid he invoked at the head of his compositions.[147]

[Footnote 147: At the commencement of his compositions he wrote the initials J.J. (_Jesu Juva_) or S.D.G. (_Soli Deo Gloria_).]

This chorale has been called the "Swan-song."

In completing this study we must mention the chorale-accompaniments which Bach wrote to sustain the singing of the congregation, which are found in a manuscript of Kittel (P. v, Appendix, Nos. 1, 3, 6, 7, and last) and in a copy by Forkel (P. vi, 26).

They are quite different from those which he wrote in 1706, upon his return from Lübeck, and which so scandalized the parish, confusing the congregation by their ornamentation.

REGISTRATION AND ORNAMENTS OF BACH'S ORGAN WORKS

It is well known how important is the _rôle_ played in the execution of organ music by the registration, and the skilful combination of the keyboards.

Bach left but few directions upon this subject; but with their aid, and the assistance of other hints derived from tradition or found in works of that period, and by placing before the reader the specifications of the principal organs which Bach may have had at his disposal during his long career, we will try to form an idea of what Forkel calls "the exquisite art with which he combined the various registers of the organ, and his manner of treating them."[148]

[Footnote 148: _Ueber J.S. Bach's Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke._ Leipzig, 1802.]

And our task is now the more delicate, because we cannot draw our conclusions from expressions which bore, at Bach's time, a significance quite different from that which we ascribe to them to-day. Furthermore, we would not lay down any absolute rules in the matter, which in truth is, above all, subjective, the artistic province of the executant. We shall simply point out what Bach indicated in certain definite instances; and, on the other hand, that which was customary at his time. In fact, in authoritative works of the centuries just past, veritable methods of registration exist; and without reverting to the documentary evidence (valuable, though too concise), inserted _ad hoc_ by Scheidt at the end of his _Tabulatura nova_ (Hamburg, 1624), we often find, at the head of pieces written at the end of the seventeenth, or during the eighteenth century, indications of the registration to be employed; given by composers less discreet than Bach. Among the number are not a few Frenchmen, and those men not to be despised; on the contrary, we shall prove how Bach frequently borrowed from their highly picturesque art of registration. No wonder if he provoked a renewed interest in their original "mélanges."

He copied a suite in _A_ major by Nicolas de Grigny, organist at Rheims, and a suite in _F_ minor by Dieupart,[149] and added to them a table of twenty-nine ornaments, with their interpretation. And he was acquainted with the works of Marchand, Nivers, d'Anglebert, and particularly of François Couperin. I doubt whether the intrinsic value of these compositions, despite their entertaining nature in some cases (for instance, Couperin's descriptive pieces), succeeded in holding his attention for any length of time; Bach could learn nothing from their technique, so often elementary; but he knew how to draw profit from their accessory qualities. Certain combinations of registers seem to us, in fact, to have been directly inspired by the study of their _livres d'orgues_, just as certain ornaments appear to have been borrowed from the "_Agrémens_" of their clavecin pieces.

[Footnote 149: Dieupart, born in France during the last third of the seventeenth century, was a remarkable violinist and clavecinist. He went to England early in the eighteenth century, and, associated with Clayton, introduced Italian opera at Drury Lane. After disasters similar to those which later befell Händel, he renounced the theatre and busied himself no longer with instrumental music. He died in 1740.

Of his compositions are extant: Six suites for the clavecin, divided into Overtures, Allemandes, Courantes, Sarabandes, Gavottes, Minuets, Rondos, and Gigues, composed and arranged for concert performance by a Violin and a Flute, with a Bass Viol and an Archilute. (See Grove's "Dictionary of Music and Musicians.") The prelude of Bach's first English Suite was inspired by a passage in the _A_ major suite of Dieupart.]

I

We have said that one must not invariably interpret, by their present meaning, certain expressions whose significance is no longer the same as when Bach wrote.

First of all, the term _Organo pleno_, sometimes the sole indication given by Bach for preludes, fugues, or fantasies; one is often tempted to interpret it, on modern organs, by calling into requisition the uproar of all the registers combined, to whatever family they may belong.

Let us see what was understood in Bach's time by _organo pleno_, or _volles Werk_. "The _volles Werk_," says Mattheson,[150] "consists of principals, Sordunen (the bourdons of to-day), salicionals, octaves, quints, mixtures, _Scharffen_ (small-scale mixtures of three ranks), of the quintadena, cymbale, nazard,[151] twelfth, sesquialtera,[152] and of super-octaves; with the _Posaunen_ in the pedal, but not upon the manual; for the _Posaunen_ are reeds, which are not drawn upon the manual with full organ, where, on account of the higher pitch, they would be too rasping; in the pedal, on the contrary, through the sonority of their tones, they produce a majestic effect, especially if the mouths of the pipes are covered, as is desirable."

[Footnote 150: _Der Vollkommene Kapellmeister_, Hamburg, 1739, §69, p. 467.]

[Footnote 151: Mattheson says, _à propos_ of this stop: "The French have given to the _Nachsatz_ (thus named on account of its high pitch, in contrast to the _Untersatz_ of thirty-two feet) of the Netherlanders, the designation _Nasard_ or _Nasarde_, 'a vulgar expression, of which use is made in comedy or burlesque,' says Boyer's dictionary."]

[Footnote 152: This register, composed of two ranks of pipes of tin or of composition, is a compound stop. The longer pipe gives the fifth of the octave, the shorter the third of the fifteenth; there is thus the interval of a major sixth between the two ranks.]

In a former work, Mattheson had laid down the following rule for omitting the reeds from the _ensemble_ of the registers:[153] "A reed-stop may not be drawn with the flutes upon the same keyboard, unless it be in the pedal." He makes an exception only in case the organ is not sufficiently powerful to keep a choir from wandering from the pitch and into chaos, when advantage must be taken of all resources.

[Footnote 153: In _Das neu eröffnete Orchester_ (1717). Mattheson was born in Hamburg in 1681; aside from his critical works on music he was an organist of ability; he knew Buxtehude, becoming acquainted with him in 1703. He even expected to succeed him, but renounced his aspirations in this direction upon learning that in accepting the position of the father he would be obliged to marry the daughter, Anna Margaretha, born in 1669, and therefore much too old for him; this was one of the conditions of the place, which also deterred Händel from presenting himself as a candidate.]

The combination indicated above was, moreover, in accordance with general usage;[154] it corresponded to what the French called the _plein-jeu_. Nivers,[155] for instance, wrote: "The _plein-jeu_ is composed of the Prestant, the Bourdon, the Doublette, the Cymbale, and the Fourniture; to those may be added the other sixteen- and eight-foot stops, if any there be; if there be no Prestant, the Flute may be drawn."

[Footnote 154: Certain organists abused this powerful combination; Adlung says, "There are many who, in playing the chorale or music in general, know only the noise of the _plein-jeu_. One may be content to continually wear the same clothes, but an organist who produces the same sounds every day will render himself insupportable by his monotony. In the chorale, in the last verse, one may play a little louder, to remind the minister to prepare for the resumption of his duties; especially in towns where it is no longer customary (as is still the honored usage in some villages) to rap with a _bâton_ for this purpose, as though one by force would arouse him from slumber." _Anleitung zur musikalischen Gelahrtheit_, 1758.]

[Footnote 155: _Premier livre d'orgue_, 1665.]

The same combinations are found in Le Bègue, Clairembault, André Raison. The last-named presents a curious example of the contrast of the _plein-jeu_ to the reeds, in the "Kyrie in the first mode for the _plein-jeu_ accompanied on the pedal by a _Trompette en taille_."[156]

[Footnote 156: _Livre d'orgue_, 1688.]

This absence of the reeds from the _volles Werk_, to which other writers also bear witness, is, from a practical point of view, worthy of perpetuation, especially if we consider the very considerable place in certain modern organs occupied by this family, and the intensity of _timbre_ due to their harmonic construction.

These registers were not numerous in organs of that time, at least in Germany, and, it must be added, badly voiced; they were often nothing but antiquated imitations of the thin and shrill _Regal_.

Andreas Werckmeister, known through his works upon the temperament of tones as applied to the organ, wrote (_Orgelprobe_, 1681):

_Schnarrwerk
Ist unterweilen Narrwerk;
Ist es aber frisch und guth,
So erfrischt es Herz und Muth._[157]

[Footnote 157: "Reed-stops are often Fool-stops; but if they be clear and bright, they are refreshing to heart and soul."]

In old-fashioned proverbial guise Werckmeister shows us quite well what was expected from this class of stops; slow of speech, of a sharp, cutting timbre, they would not have blended with the foundation stops combined with the mixtures--an _ensemble_ which lends extraordinary harmonic fulness to the polyphony when the combinations are judiciously made. The reeds were fitted rather to voice a serious and quiet melody, as a solo. Thanks to their sometimes strange tones, which seem, as Goethe said, to herald the advent of past centuries, echoes of supernatural voices, where the human voice, with its individual character, would lose the power of expression--the antique chorale-melody is illuminated, detached from the accompaniment, and comes as from on high; it is the gold and scarlet illumination of the missals, whereon the sacred words are brought into relief, themselves devoid of ornament, in their regular lines, but interlaced by ingenious arabesques of a softer tone, almost effaced by the brightness of the whole.

One direction of Bach's proves that he adopted this usage: in No. 2 of the _Orgelbüchlein_ (_Gottes Sohn ist kommen_) the chorale is played upon the eight-foot trumpet in the pedal; the chorale _In Dulci Jubilo_, composed about the same time, undoubtedly demands the same registration.

It is well known that these two chorales possess a pedal-part extending unusually high (_F_ and _F_ sharp); this was the Cöthen pedal. In playing them upon an ordinary instrument, Bach undoubtedly played the pedal an octave lower, with a four-foot register. The organs of that period usually contained a four-foot reed-stop on the pedal, called a Cornet (which must not be confounded with the mixture of that name), or a _Chalumeau_ (_Schalmey_), sometimes even of two feet. This use of stops of a higher pitch in the pedal was an old tradition; Samuel Scheidt availed himself of them in playing the chorale, and we find them expressly called for in several of six chorales published at Zella by Schübler, with the Bach annotations.[158]

[Footnote 158: _Sechs Choräle von verschiedener Art auf einer Orgel mit 2 Clavieren und Pedal vorzuspielen, verfertiget von Johann Sebastian Bach, königl. Pohln. und Churf. Sächs. Hoff-Compositeur, Capellm. und Direct. Chor. Mus. Lips. In Verlegung Joh. Georg Schüblers zu Zella am Thüringer Wald._

These chorales are taken from the cantatas composed at Leipzig. They are, however, only transcriptions; it is interesting in registrating them to know their orchestration. In the chorale _Ach bleib' bei uns!_ (B.-G. xxv, P. vi, 2) the melody is sung by the soprano, accompanied by a _violoncello piccolo_, the _continuo_ sustaining the harmony. In _Meine Seele erhebt den Herrn_ (_Magnificat_, P. vii, 42), the _continuo_ is played by the pedal, the parts entrusted to the left hand corresponding to the duet between tenor and alto, while the chorale (_dextra forte_) is executed in the score by the first and second oboes and the trumpet.]

Besides the reeds--trumpet, _chalumeau_, clarion, or _vox humana_--other combinations were permitted for the execution upon one manual of an accompanied solo. Mattheson (_Der vollkommene Kapellmeister_) gives us some examples; among others, the _viola da gamba_ played alone, the eight-foot principal, and the cornet, the Flauto traverso, the eight-foot bourdon, and a two-foot _Waldflöte_.

By their particular qualities, these different combinations of registers, now in higher, now in lower relief, were suited to the performance even of the chorales. In fact, it may be said that without doubt the reeds were reserved, within the limits which we have defined, for the joyous chorales of the feast-days; the organists were governed by the necessity of adapting their manner of playing to the joyful or mournful solemnities of the liturgical year. "One plays much stronger at Easter," says Adlung,[159] "than for the funeral service; for Good Friday one must, if possible, use still more discretion." The employment of softer registers for the more serious chorales, and for funeral chants, is also recommended by Christoph Raupach, of Stralsund.[160]

[Footnote 159: _Musica mechanica organoedi_ (Langensalza, 1762).]

[Footnote 160: _Der vollkommene Kapellmeister_, part ii, chap. xxv.]

We know how Bach brought out the significance of these chorales, interpreted with such supereminence, by the deft combination of the parts. The execution of a design did not make him oblivious of the interest attached to the coloring. We have already spoken of the chorale _In dir ist Freude_; who knows whether Bach did not intend still further to accentuate its joyous character by picturesque registration? Adlung speaks of the _carillon_ (_Glockenspiel_) as being particularly fitted to symbolize gladness; and says that use was made of it only at the most joyous festivals. Mark the spiritedness of this chorale; and, further, the repetition of the _chaconne_ subject presented in the bass, singularly suggestive of a chime of bells; and consider the period to which this composition belongs, bearing in its form the distinct impress of the organists of the North. Without serious error, could we not ascribe it to the years 1708 or 1709, the time when Bach, occupied with the restoration of the organ in Mühlhausen, wished to add, in the pedal, a _carillon_ of his own invention? Would not the contrast of those metallic tones of four-foot pitch[161] with the deep resonance of the _Untersatz_ of thirty-two, which he also demanded, have produced all the harmonic overtones of real bells?... But this is only an hypothesis, though a plausible one, and one which it would be amusing to justify by trying its effect in actual performance.

[Footnote 161: It appears that this _carillon_ was not constructed; it is possible, however, that Bach had it in mind when writing the chorale. Moreover, it was to be found in other organs.]

Gathered from the indications of J.G. Walther, the registration of another chorale appears to bear the marks of more positive authenticity. We refer to the Lutheran chorale, _Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott_, mentioned in a previous chapter. Walther thus annotates it: "Für 3 clav."; for the left hand he directs "_Fagotto_"; for the right, "_Sesquialtera_." First of all must we notice this combination of a mutation stop with a reed; it is derived directly from the French organists. In Grigny,[162] for instance--we cite him especially because of Bach's study of his works--may be found in various instances a Bass Trumpet, or _Cromorne en taille_, accompanied by the _Tierce_ or Cornet.[163] To a certain extent the _Fagotto_ corresponds to the _Cromorne_, whose tone appeared somewhat veiled. This register, which Adlung tells us bore various names--_Portunen_, _Dulcian_, or _Basson_, among others--was sometimes added to the lower half of the great organ only, and was "of good effect in playing the _basso continuo_." Moreover, it was of small scale; even on the pedal it was not a noisy stop. As for the _Sesquialtera_, composed of the fifth and the tenth, it resembled more or less certain mutation stops of old French organs. It is noteworthy that the employment of a reed with a mixture is not mentioned by contemporary German writers; on the other hand, it would seem from the context[164] that this piece was played at the inauguration of the Mühlhausen organ, for whose restoration Bach had prepared the plans. He had demanded, among other improvements, that a _Tierce_ be added to one of the manuals, in order that, by drawing it with a _Quint_, a good _Sesquialtera_ might be produced; this in order to carry out all sorts of musical inventions of his own.

[Footnote 162: _Livre d'orgue contenant une messe et quatre hymnes pour les principales festes de l'année. Par Nicolas de Grigny, organiste de l'église-cathédrale de Reims. À Paris, chez Christophe Ballard, seul imprimeur du Roy pour la Musique. Rue Saint-Jean de Beauvais, au Mont-Parnasse. 1701. Avec Privilège de Sa Majesté._]

[Footnote 163: [The cornet here referred to is obviously a mixture, not the reed of the same name already mentioned.--TR.]]

[Footnote 164: This organ was the only one with three manuals which Bach could have had in mind while he was in Weimar with Walther; it is natural that in his compositions he should be preoccupied with an organ whose restoration he had planned, and undoubtedly supervised--Weimar being not far from Mühlhausen--and which in all probability he looked forward to inaugurating. This remark, moreover, may apply to the composition of the chorale _In dir ist Freude_, although here Bach had been disappointed.]

It is interesting to learn the details of this project, which, it is true, was not realized in its integrity; and it furnishes us with the most curious data upon the subject of Bach's ideas on registration and organ-building, and his own tastes.

Here it is in full:

_Disposition_ of the new repairs upon the organ of St. Blasius.

1. Three new bellows, carefully installed, should insure a sufficiency of wind to feed the great organ, the choir, and the new swell.

2. The pressure should be increased in the four old bellows, to give speech to the new Subbass of thirty-two feet, and to the lower pipes of the other stops.

3. The old soundboards of all the bass pipes to be renewed, and the wind-supply so to be regulated that when playing with only a single stop drawn all the remaining registers may be brought on suddenly without producing unsteadiness, as has been the case up to the present time; this being of the greatest importance.

4. To be added is the Subbass of thirty-two feet, called the _Untersatz_, which will be made of wood, to serve as the best possible foundation for the weight of the _ensemble_. These pipes should have a special soundboard.

5. The _Bombarde_ is to be furnished with new and larger resonators, and the mouths of the pipes shaped differently, in order to obtain more roundness in the emission of the tone.

6. As to the new features--the _Glockenspiel_ on the pedal, composed of twenty-six bells of four-foot pitch, desired by the parishioners, who will have them made at their own expense; while the manufacturer must see that they are rendered playable.

As to the great organ, the Trumpet, which is to be removed, will be replaced by:

7. A _Fagotto_ (Bassoon) of sixteen feet, which will permit of all sorts of new combinations, and whose tone is to be very _délicat_ for the _musique_.[165]

[Footnote 165: That is, for playing the _basso continuo_ of the orchestra.]

In place of the _Gemshorn_ (Chamois horn) which will also be removed:

8. A _Viol da Gamba_ of eight feet, which will blend admirably with the four-foot Salicional in the choir.

_Item_, if the Quint of three feet be removed, it may be replaced by

9. A _Nassat_ of three feet.

All the other stops of the great, and all those of the choir organ, may be retained, provided they be revoiced.

10. The new swell is to be arranged as follows:

Three _Principalia en montre_[166] (_im Gesichte_).

1. Quint of three feet, } in good tin of 14 "loth" [_i.e._,
2. Octave of two feet, } 14 parts pure tin to 2 parts
3. _Chalumeau_ of eight feet, } alloy].
4. Mixture of three ranks, }

[Footnote 166: [_En montre_ signifies literally "on show";
that is, in front. The French designation for a diapason,
_Montre_, is derived from the custom of placing the pipes
of that register in an exposed position.--TR.]]

5. A _Tierce_, with which can be formed, by adding certain
other stops, a fine _Sesquialtera_.

6. Fleute douce (_sic_--a soft flute) of four feet; and,
finally,

7. _Stillgedackt_ (a species of Bourdon) of eight feet,
which will blend perfectly with the "music."[167] As it
will be made of good wood, it will be much more resonant
than if of metal.

[Footnote 167: [The filling-out of the figured bass by the organ, made necessary in music with orchestra by the paucity of the instrumental numbers, was referred to as the "music."--TR.]]

11. Between the swell[168] and the great organ a coupler shall be constructed. Finally, the whole instrument shall be revoiced, and the tremulant made to vibrate regularly.

[Footnote 168: [The word _swell_ I have used in the foregoing merely to designate the third manual; and it by no means implies that the pipes belonging to that keyboard were enclosed in a swell-box. Although this invention was applied to an English organ for the first time in 1712 (St. Magnus Church, London Bridge), its adoption in Germany has become general only within comparatively recent years, and then only in newly-built instruments.--TR.]]

II

The document just cited, which is preserved in the archives of Mühlhausen, is full of interest; we will now make a further study of two of its sections, which treat of the same subject.

I refer to the combination of organ with orchestra in the performance of the cantatas.

First, Bach speaks of the _Fagotto_, whose tone so easily assimilated with that of instruments; here he agrees with his contemporaries, who recommended the use of a sixteen-foot stop of more definite _timbre_ than the bourdons, although not stronger,--it was also called _Dulcian_,--"_dolce suono_,"--in performing the _basso continuo_. The employment of the _Stillgedackt_, the softest stop in the organ, interests us in its use as a means of filling out this same figured bass. Such a register evidently lacked power, but was sought for that quality of indefiniteness, even of vacuity, which it possessed (_still_, in German, means quiet); this produced more the effect of diaphony, of a harmonic filling-in, like the _sostenuto_ of certain of our wind-instruments, than of polyphony in real parts, which one could not distinguish.

These lines of J. Th. Mosewius[169] will give us, further, an idea of the _rôle_ which the organ played in the orchestras of Bach and Händel: "It is a widely prevailing impression, and one confirmed by the new instrumentation which Mozart and Mosel made for the Händel oratorios, that by their use of the organ these two masters (Bach and Händel) supplied those features of our instrumentation which were then lacking. Such an opinion is correct, if nothing more is meant than that in concert rooms where no organ is available, it must be replaced by other instruments.[170] It must not be inferred that this new instrumentation maintains reciprocal relations with the original accompaniment. In the former it is the string-quartet which serves as the foundation of the harmony, and it is only the wind-instruments which affect the color. With Händel (and Bach) the organ, which fills out the figured bass, serves as a background for all the other instruments; the color is added by all the other voices of the orchestra, whether strings or wind."

[Footnote 169: J. Th. Mosewius: _J.S. Bach in seinen Kirchencantaten und Choralgesängen_ (Berlin, Trautwein, 1845), p. 25.]

[Footnote 170: This is what was done by Robert Franz. See _Offener Brief an Eduard Hanslick_ (Leipzig, 1873).]

Nothing could be more just than this statement of Mosewius; the organ serves to combine all the parts of the orchestra, unifying them without betraying its agency by any too assertive quality; a gray background, if you will, upon which some livelier colors are displayed, as in paintings of the school of Panselinos.

This testimony of Bach himself, specifying in his plans stops of a very soft and well-rounded quality for the accompanying organ, is corroborated by his contemporaries.

Scheibe, Adlung, and others permitted in the accompaniment of arias and recitatives but a single _bourdon_ of eight feet, called, from its use for such purposes, _Musikgedackt_. A recitative, especially, was to be sustained lightly, for fear of covering the voice of the singer; a few prolonged notes to guide him, occasional soft chords, and, curiously enough, if one believe in the strict treatment of the organ, _arpeggios_, as upon a clavecin.

The staccato was generally employed in playing the bass; but this license stopped here, and for ordinary organ pieces Bach exacted from his pupils the strictest legato.

Even in playing in the choruses, and with full orchestra, the organ had to be content with the "half-tone" tint; neither reeds nor mixtures, said Schröter,[171] organist in Nordhausen; Petri[172] made a similar recommendation.

[Footnote 171: _Deutliche Anweisung zum Generalbass_ (Halberstadt, 1772), p. 137.]

[Footnote 172: _Anleitung zur practischen Musik_ (Leipzig, 1782).]

Moreover, the accompaniment, at least such of it as was contrapuntal in nature or consisted of successive chords, was played usually upon the _positif_ (choir), whose pipes were less powerful than those of the great organ; the bass was executed upon the latter manual in the manner already indicated, sometimes also _legato_. The pedal itself might be added here; in certain passages it only marked the accents with stops of more emphatic quality, when it was desirable to emphasize the breadth of the rhythm, or to avoid confusion, when the movement was too rapid. This is confirmed by Saint-Lambert (_Traité d'accompagnement_, p. 58): "When the tempo is so rapid," says he, "that the accompanist cannot conveniently play all the notes, it will suffice if he play and accompany only the first notes of each measure, leaving to the basses the task of performing all the notes, which they will be able to accomplish much more easily, having no accompaniment to play in addition. Very rapid tempi are not suited to accompanying instruments; on this account, if particularly quick passages are encountered, even in a slow movement, the _accompagneur_ (sic) may leave them to the other instruments; or, if he play them himself, he may so modify them as to play only the principal notes of such passages; that is to say, the notes which fall upon the principal beats of the measure."

Again, the organist was obliged to take into consideration the small number of orchestral players and of voices. Bach, in a memorandum of August 23, 1730, enumerates twelve singers and eighteen players, besides the organist; the _Kapelle_ over which Gerlach held sway in the new Protestant church at Leipzig, was still smaller: four singers and ten players.

It is true that Bach, first of all an organist himself, did not always bequeath such an ungrateful task to the organ; besides the organ of accompaniment, he gives us examples of what he calls _organo obligato_. Numerous cantatas furnish such instances; we find one in the Passion according to St. Matthew, with the added interest of an indication of the registration. It is where the chorus, in unison, sings the chorales, _O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig_, and _O Mensch, bewein' dein' Sünde gross_.[173] The register which Bach prescribes here is the _Sesquialtera_, undoubtedly in combination with some foundation stops. The character of this register, thus particularly selected, seems to call for the _tasto solo_; without doubt Bach demanded it because of its decisive quality, for the purpose of bringing out the chorale sung by the _ripieno_ against the other two choruses and the two orchestras, which he treated independently. The brightness of the _Sesquialtera_ would seem to recommend it also for the _sinfonie_, or prelude, of the cantata composed for the election of the Council[174] (August, 1731). This idea is supported by the fact that a _Sesquialtera_ was undoubtedly added to the _positif_ of the organ in St. Thomas' Church in 1730 or 1731, by the organ-builder, J. Scheibe.

[Footnote 173: B.-G. iv. [The first and last numbers, respectively, of Part I. In the first the chorale is sung by a special chorus of sopranos, usually boys, while the two mixed choruses and the two orchestras are treated contrapuntally. In the other instance the two choruses are united in one, as are also the two orchestras, and the chorale is sung by all the sopranos, the counterpoint being assigned to the remaining three vocal parts, supported by the orchestra.--TR.]]

[Footnote 174: B.-G. v.]

A register of quite opposite effect was used to support the whole orchestra in the Reformation Cantata[175] (1717). The Luther chorale-melody is here entrusted to the sixteen-foot _Bombarde_ on the pedal, accompanied in the orchestra by the violoncello and the violone, a similar instrument.

[Footnote 175: B.-G. xviii, 10.]

In these particular instances we see that Bach departed from the general custom of omitting the reeds and mutation stops;[176] but here the organ derived from its own resources sonorities most individual in character, the accompaniment being furnished by a second instrument (the orchestra). Moreover, as W. Rust, the authorized editor of the Bach cantatas, says, "When the organ is _obbligato_ it does not present itself in a polyphonic capacity, for then it would cover up all the other instruments; but it should be treated as a solo part, like a flute or an oboe."[177]

[Footnote 176: The _organo obbligato_ was sometimes written with more delicate intentions; for example, in the alto aria with accompaniment of an _oboe da caccia_, from the cantata _Wer weiss, wie nahe mir mein Ende?_ (B.-G. v.).]

[Footnote 177: We should add here, that the organs were not of the same pitch as the other instruments, for they were tuned to chorus-pitch, a whole tone lower than the normal diapason. The organ at Weimar, on the contrary, was a minor third higher.]

With regard to Bach's orchestra, we should remember that the cantata _Die Himmel erzählen_ ("The heavens declare the glory of God") suggests the registration for the first movement of the sonata in _E_ minor. True, it will be said that Bach wrote these trios for pedal-clavecin; but their performance upon the organ, too, should not be neglected. Certain adagios, by reason of their long-sustained notes, demand an instrument capable of prolonging the tone. This first movement, in fact, is but a transcription of the _Sinfonie_ (_adagio_ and _vivace_) which serves as an overture to the cantata just mentioned. The instrumentation: _Oboe d'amore_, _Viola da gamba_, and _continuo_. These are _timbres_ to be found in all organs; we may add that the _Viola da gamba_ of the organ was one of Bach's favorite stops. It is not unwarranted to consider that in many chorales the _cantus_, placed in the tenor, was played with this register upon a separate manual, just as Bach would have given it to the violoncellos in the orchestra.

For we must take into consideration this practice of Bach's of transferring to the organ resources of the orchestra, to the orchestra those of the organ. Thus, in the Pastorale (_Hirtengesang_) of the Christmas Oratorio, Bach produces the effect of an organ whose manuals respond to each other, the one with foundation stops contrasted with the chorus of oboes upon another.

This passing from one manual to another Bach seldom indicates in his organ compositions; one piece, however, furnishes us with directions which are authentic beyond question, and extremely interesting. It is the great prelude in _E_ flat major, published in Part III of the _Clavierübung_. On comparing these indications with others, particularly with those in the _D_ minor (Doric) Toccata, one may decide to play upon the great manual (_Oberwerk_)[178] all that is written with pedal; where the pedal is silent, one may change to the choir (_Rückpositif_). In carrying this deduction to its limits, one might even formulate the rule that when the parts are reduced to two, they should be played upon the swell (_Brustwerk_).

[Footnote 178: _Oberwerk_ means literally the higher manual; in two-manual organs the stronger was, at that time, found above the other. The name _Rückpositif_ came from the custom of placing the pipes behind the back (_Rücken_) of the organist. Finally, the swell bore the name _Brustwerk_, the pipes being placed facing the breast (_Brust_) of the player. In a three-manual organ the great keyboard was situated between the swell, which was above, and the choir, which was below it.]

III

In connection with the foregoing it will be interesting to learn the specifications of the principal organs of which Bach was able to avail himself during his long career. We find details concerning them in various works, notably in Adlung (_Musica mechanica organoedi_), or in the supplement which J.F. Agricola, an esteemed pupil of Bach, added to this work, published after the death of its author; and in the contemporary writings of local historians.

The organ at Arnstadt, the first at which Bach held the position of organist, possessed twenty-four registers, divided among two manuals and the pedal:[179]

[Footnote 179: This instrument was constructed in 1701, by J.F. Wender, an organ-builder of Mühlhausen. [The specification as compiled from the existing stop-handles by Mr. C.F.A. Williams ("Bach": J.M. Dent & Co.: London), differs slightly from the above, which is given by Spitta.--TR.]]

_Great Organ._

1. Principal, 8'
2. Viola da Gamba, 8'
3. Quintatön, 16'
4. Gedackt (Bourdon), 8'
5. Quinte, 6'
6. Octave, 4'
7. Mixtur, 4 ranks
8. Gemshorn, 8'
9. Cymbel, 2 ranks
10. Trompete, 8'
11. Tremulant
12. Cymbelstern[180]

[Footnote 180: A sort of Glockenspiel, which produced _l'accord parfait_ [undoubtedly the major triad].]

_Choir Organ._

1. Principal, 4'
2. Lieblich Gedackt, 8'
3. Spitzflöte, 4'
4. Quinte, 3'
5. Sesquialter
6. Nachthorn (night horn), 4'
7. Mixtur, 2 ranks

_Pedal Organ._

1. Principalbass, 8'
2. Subbass, 16'
3. Posaunenbass (trombone), 16'
4. Flötenbass 4'
5. Cornetbass, 2'[181]

[Footnote 181: This was a reed stop.]

The organ in the palace at Weimar contained the following stops, according to A. Wette:[182]

[Footnote 182: _Historische Nachrichten von der berühmten Residenzstadt Weimar._ Weimar, 1737, p. 175, 176.]

_Great._

1. Principal, 8'
2. Quintatön, 16'
3. Gemshorn, 8'
4. Gedackt, 8'
5. Quintatön, 4'
6. Octave, 4'
7. Mixture, 6 ranks
8. Cymbel, 3 ranks
9. Glockenspiel

_Choir._

1. Principal, 8'
2. Violdigamba, 8'
3. Gedackt, 8'
4. Trompete, 8'
5. Kleingedackt
(small bourdon), 4'
6. Octave, 4'
7. Waldflöte 2'
8. Sesquialtera

_Pedal._

1. Gross-Untersatz, 32'
2. Subbass, 16'
3. Posaun-Bass, 16'
4. Violon-Bass, 16'
5. Principal-Bass, 8'
6. Trompeten-Bass, 8'
7. Cornett-Bass, 4'

We have mentioned the special feature of the organ in Cöthen: a pedal which boasted of two octaves and a half, from great _C_ to _f'_ sharp; we should further emphasize in this organ, otherwise not especially noteworthy, the quality of the _Principal_[183] in the great organ, and of the eight-foot Trumpet in the pedal.

[Footnote 183: [The _Principal_ here referred to is undoubtedly the eight-foot Diapason.--TR.]]

The organ in the University church in Leipzig, of which Bach made an expert examination December 17, 1717, was a remarkable instrument, which he was very fond of playing. It was one of the masterworks of the manufacturer Scheibe. It had the following registers:

_Great._

1. Gross Principal
(of pure tin), 16'
2. Gross Quintatön, 16'
3. Klein Principal, 8'
4. Schalmei, 8'
5. Flûte allemande, 8'
6. Gemshorn, 8'
7. Octave, 4'
8. Quinte, 3'
9. Quint-Nasat, 3'
10. Octavina, 2'
11. Waldflöte, 2'
12. Grosse Mixtur,
of 5 and 6 ranks
13. Cornetti, of 3 ranks
14. Zink (a species of
_cornett_), of
2 ranks

_Echo._

1. Principal (in front), 8'
2. Viola di Gamba naturelle, 8'
3. Grobgedackt
(large scale bourdon) 8'
4. Octave, 4'
5. Rohrflöte, 4'
6. Octave, 2'
7. Nasat, 3'
8. Sedecima, 1'
9. Schweizerpfeife, 1'
10. Largo.[184]
11. Mixtur, of 3 ranks
12. Helle (bright) Cymbel,
of 2 ranks

[Footnote 184: Undoubtedly _larigot_.]

_Choir._

1. Leiblich gedackt, 8'
2. Quintatön, 8'
3. Flûte douce, 4'
4. Quinta decima, 4'
5. Decima nona, 3'
6. Hohlflöte, 2'
7. Viola, 2'
8. Vigesima nona, 1-1/2'
9. Weitpfeife, 1'
10. Mixtur, of 3 ranks
11. Helle Cymbel, of 2 ranks
12. Sertin (serpent?), 8'

_Pedal._

1. Gross Principal, 16'
2. Gross Quintatön, 16'
3. Octave, 8'
4. Octave, 4'
5. Quinte, 3'
6. Mixtur, of 5 and 6 ranks
7. Grosse Quintenbass, 6'
8. Jubal (open flute), 8'
9. Nachthorn, 4'
10. Octave, 2'
11. Second Principal, 16'
12. Subbass, 16'
13. Posaune, 16'
14. Trompete, 8'
15. Hohflöte, 1'
16. Mixtur, of 4 ranks

Finally, the specification of the principal organ in the _Thomaskirche_ in Leipzig, installed in 1525, twice rebuilt during the seventeenth century, enlarged in 1670; and considerably repaired, in 1721, by Johann Scheibe:[185]

[Footnote 185: Vogel, _Leipziger Chronicke_. Vol. iii, chap. vi, p. 110.]

_Great._

1. Principal, 16'
2. Principal, 8'
3. Quintatön, 16'
4. Octave, 4'
5. Quinte, 3'
6. Superoctave, 2'
7. Spielpfeife
(a species of flute), 8'
8. Sesquialtera
9. Mixtur, of 6, 8, and
10 ranks

_Echo (Brustwerk)._

1. Grobgedackt, 8'
2. Principal, 4'
3. Nachthorn, 4'
4. Nasat, 3'
5. Gemshorn, 2'
6. Cymbel, of 2 ranks
7. Sesquialtera
8. Regal, 8'
9. Geigenregal[186]
(Violin-regal), 4'

[Footnote 186: In combination with the _Quintatön_ of eight feet, says Adlung, the _Geigenregal_ sounds almost like a stringed instrument.]

_Choir._

1. Principal 8'
2. Quintatön, 8'
3. Lieblich Gedackt, 8'
4. Kleingedackt, 4'
5. Querflöte
(_Flauto traverso_), 4'
6. Violine, 2'
7. Rauschquinte doppelt
8. Mixtur, of 4 ranks
9. Sesquialtera
10. Spitzflöte, 4'
11. Schallflöte, 1'
12. Krummhorn,[187] 16'
13. Trompete, 8'

[Footnote 187: _Cromorne._ Also called _lituus_ (clarion) by Praetorius (_Syntagma musicum_), Tome ii, chap. xv, p. 40. Adlung suggests this simple derivation: _cor_ and _morne_ (sad, reserved).]

_Pedal._

1. Subbass (of metal), 16'
2. Posaune, 16'
3. Trompete, 8'
4. Schalmei, 4'
5. Cornett, 3'

The St. Thomas church possessed in addition a small organ. This instrument, at one time abandoned, and later again brought into service, stood at Bach's time in a gallery, opposite the large organ. It possessed a stop called _Trichter-Regal_, a sort of _Vox humana_. This organ was used in performance of the St. Matthew Passion music, in coöperation with the other.

When Bach played for strangers, he was fond of astonishing them by his originality in registration. "After having first of all censured as ill-advised the combination of certain stops," says Forkel,[188] "the listeners were greatly surprised upon hearing the admirable effect produced by these very combinations, suddenly drawing from the organ a sonority at once original and varied, whose attainment might have been vainly sought by following older methods....

[Footnote 188: _Ueber J.S. Bach's Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke._]

"In trying an unfamiliar organ, his first step was to draw all the registers and to play upon the great manual with all couplers. He was in the habit of saying, jestingly, that he wished at the outset to know if the instrument possessed good lungs."

With this art in registration was combined the greatest facility in improvisation.

"It was often the case," writes Kirnberger,[189] "that friends asked Bach to play to them at times other than during religious service. Then he would choose some theme and treat it in every form of organ composition, playing without interruption for two hours or more, yet without exhausting his resources. Perhaps he made use of his subject first in a prelude and fugue for all the foundation stops. Then his genius in registration was displayed in a movement in three, or in four, parts, always upon the same theme. Now followed a chorale, and the subject served as a counterpoint to the chorale-melody, in ingenious imitations in three or four voices. Finally he concluded by a fugue for _organo pleno_, based upon the same subject, interweaving the previous variations of it he had made."

[Footnote 189: _Die wahren Grundsätze zum Gebrauch der Harmonie_ (Berlin, 1773) p. 53. See also Mizler (_Necrolog_, p. 171) and Forkel (p. 22).]

IV

In a technical work compiled for his son Friedemann, Bach left us an explanation of the signs employed by him to indicate the various ornaments which he calls _Manieren_. They are thus illustrated:

[Music:

Trillo. Mordant. Trillo u. Mordant. Cadence. Doppelcadence.

idem. Doppelcadence und Mordant. idem. Accent steigend. (rising.)

Accent fallend. (falling.) Accent u. Mordant. Accent u. Trillo. idem.]

The greater number of these ornaments,[190] as we see by the table, do not begin upon the given note. However, if a turn occur at the beginning of a piece, or if it ornament a characteristic interval (as, for example, in the fugue in _F_ minor), the essential note should be struck first; even if such a rendering produce a discord with the other parts.

[Footnote 190: _Clavierbüchlein, vor Wilhelm Friedemann Bach angefangen in Cöthen den 22. Januar, anno 1720._]

The mordent--it is the _pincé simple_ or the "pluck" of Chambonnières, Couperin, and Le Bègue, who had borrowed it from lute-players[191]--is generally diatonic, although with this exception: if the note which it affects be marked with an accidental in the same measure, the accidental must be observed in executing the mordent.

[Footnote 191: See A. Méreaux: _Les Clavecinistes de 1637 à 1790. Tableau synoptique et comparatif de tous les agréments avec leur signes et leur effet_. Heugel, Paris.]

These ornaments should be played "with regard for their value and upon the beat";[192] however, an excessive rigor in this respect should not be affected; Bach did not exact such precision, and did not attach to these figures such great importance that he did not feel at liberty to substitute for them, in copies of these same pieces made by himself, other and practically equivalent ones. Certain of them are, moreover, quite rare; for example, the _accent_. We find it employed, at least in the organ compositions, only in an arrangement of the chorale _Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr'_ (_Gloria in excelsis_). No piece could be more elaborated than this one; and in it are introduced a majority of the signs employed by Bach; we borrow from Mr. E. Dannreuther's interesting work, "Musical Ornamentation,"[193] the transcription of the first six measures of this chorale, fully written out. Such an example will be more instructive than all we could say upon this subject, if the reader will take pains to compare this interpretation with the musical text as found in the well-known editions:[194]

[Music]

[Footnote 192: L. Diémer: _Les Clavecinistes français du XVIIIe siècle_ (Durand and Schönewerk).]

[Footnote 193: This work contains, with numerous examples, a study of ornamentation, from G. Diruta to J.S. Bach in the first part, from Ph. E. Bach to our own period in the second. (London: Novello, Ewer & Co.)]

[Footnote 194: P. vi, 9. B.-G.]

This is evidently a species of appoggiatura, as also in the chorale _Vater unser im Himmelreich_ (_Clavierübung_, Part III). But in this case, Bach uses a special notation:

[Music]

In his Method for clavecin Ph. E. Bach, in speaking of a similar figure, thus explains it: "The first note of this figure must not be made too short, if the tempo be slow or moderate; for the second would then be held too long. It should be gently dwelt upon, not suddenly hammered."

"Play _flautato_," says W. Rust[195] upon the subject of such a fugue in an orchestral part; one should thus anticipate the beat with the flutist's stroke of the tongue, according to Quantz (_Essai d'une méthode pour apprendre à jouer de la Flûte traversière_. Berlin, 1752); that is to say, that the first of the two notes should be considered as written thus:

[Music]

[Footnote 195: B.-G. xiii, p. xvi. We again encounter this grouping in the flute part of the _et in unum Deum_ of the _B_ minor Mass.]

In a solfeggio lesson by J.G. Walther,[196] written in 1708, this indication, called _punctus serpens_, signifies that the notes are to be slurred; that is, bound together, two by two. This is, undoubtedly, the most correct interpretation, which fairly corresponds to what S. Scheidt calls "_imitatio violistica_."

[Footnote 196: The autograph was contained in the collection of Ph. Spitta.]

Analogous notations of Frescobaldi[197] and Muffat[198] indicate a similar manner of execution.

[Footnote 197: _Toccata_ II (_libro_ i).]

[Footnote 198: _Toccata 6a_ (adagio), and _Toccata 3a_ of the _Apparatus musico-organisticus_.]

Appendix

To facilitate the perusal of our work, we will close with a short sketch of J.S. Bach's life.

Bach was born March 21, 1685, at Eisenach. His father, Ambrosius Bach, was a musician of the town; his uncle, Johann Christoph Bach, an organist.[199]

[Footnote 199: Veit Bach was born in Gotha during the second half of the sixteenth century; he is considered the progenitor of the Bach family. He was the first representative of the race of musicians who furnished "cantors" and organists to the greater number of the central German cities. At Erfurt, for instance, the direction of the "council music" was in their hands from 1625 until 1735, and even after their disappearance the town musicians were still referred to as "the Bachs."]

When Bach was nine years of age his mother died; the next year followed the decease of his father, and the boy was taken in by his elder brother, organist at Ohrdruf. Here he attended the Lyceum, where the teaching of music held an important place; the chorus, formed of the pupils, was renowned. Young Sebastian, gifted with a good soprano voice, was a member of this chorus; and in addition studied the clavecin under the direction of his brother, a pupil of Pachelbel. With such zeal did he devote himself to these studies, that he copied by moonlight a volume of pieces which he had been forbidden to play, his brother wishing to reserve for himself the right to conquer their difficulties.

He did not remain long under the charge of his brother, whose family was gradually increasing. In 1700, undoubtedly upon the recommendation of Elias Herda, cantor of the school in Ohrdruf, Bach was admitted to St. Michael's School in Lüneburg; but he was now no longer a pupil, for in return for the general instruction which he received he was obliged to act as a sort of assistant chorusmaster for his comrades; at least as a leader. When his voice changed, which soon came about, he was charged with the clavecin accompaniment at chorus rehearsals, or with playing a violin part in the orchestra. He had, in fact, studied that instrument since his earliest childhood, his father having been a good violinist. He profited in his new surroundings by the advice of Georg Böhm, organist of St. John's Church in Lüneburg, and a musician of merit, whose influence upon Bach is apparent in many of the latter's earlier compositions, especially in the chorales.

The location of Lüneburg permitted him also, from this time on, to make trips on foot to Hamburg, where he heard Adam Reinken and Vincent Lübeck, or to Celle, where the orchestra of the ducal court performed French music; then the fashion, complains Mattheson, not because of a value whose existence this German critic denied, but simply--the final misfortunes of the reign of Louis XIV. had not yet dimmed this glory--because it was French.

In 1703 Bach left St. Michael's School; he had been so busily occupied with music while there, that he very likely had been unable to exhaust the depths of the general curriculum, which in itself was rather limited. Not that they had been satisfied with giving him instruction of a too elementary nature; but Bach, in point of intellectual culture, was much inferior to most of the great musicians of his time, Mattheson and Händel, for instance, both of whom had attended the University.