Buxtehude’s daughter

Comments

1. Cathy DeLanoy says

   January 15, 2012 at 11:41 am

   John – To answer your questions about Bach’s children, yes we do.    The following was gleaned from Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Incidently, Bach outlived 11 of his 20 children…many died at or near their birth. The names of those who survived are in bold:

    

   BACH’S CHILDREN

   Six of Bach’s children by Maria were born at Weimar:

   Catharina (bap. 29 Dec 1708; d 14 Jan 1774)

   Wilhelm Friedemann (45) (b 22 Nov 1710); dBerlin, 1 July 1784).

   twins (b 23 Feb 1713; both died in a few days);

   Carl Philipp Emanuel (46) (b 8 March 1714; d Hamburg, 14 Dec 1788

   Johann Gottfried Bernhard (47) (b 11 May 1715; d Jena, 27 May 1739).

    

   On 17 November 1718 the last (7th) of his children by his first wife (a short-lived son) was named after the prince (Leopold)

    

   In the early years in Leipzig Anna Magdalena had borne a child almost every year, but few of them survived infancy:

    

   Christiana Sophia Henrietta (b spring 1723; d 29 June 1726)
   Gottfried Heinrich (b Leipzig, 26 Feb 1724; d Naumburg, bur. 12 Feb 1763).
   Christian Gottlieb (bap. 14 April 1725; d 21 Sept 1728)
   Elisabeth Juliane Friederica (bap. 5 April 1726; d Leipzig, 24 Aug 1781)
   Ernestus Andreas (bap. 30 Oct 1727; d 1 Nov 1727)
   Regina Johanna (bap. 10 Oct 1728; d 25 April 1733)
   Christiana Benedicta (bap. 1 Jan 1730; d 4 Jan 1730)
   Christiana Dorothea (bap. 18 March 1731; d 31 Aug 1732)
   Johann Christoph Friedrich (b Leipzig, 21 June 1732; d Bückeburg,26 Jan 1795 )
   Johann August Abraham (bap. 5 Nov 1733; d 6 Nov 1733)
   Johann Christian (b Leipzig, 5 Sept 1735; d London, 1 Jan 1782)
   Johanna Carolina (bap. 30 Oct 1737; d Leipzig, 18 Aug 1781)
   Regina Susanna (bap. 22 Feb 1742; d Leipzig, 14 Dec 1809)

    

   Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (b Weimar, 22 Nov 1710; dBerlin, 1 July 1784). Composer and organist, eldest son of (7) Johann Sebastian (24) and Maria Barbara Bach.

   Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (b Weimar, 8 March 1714; d Hamburg, 14 Dec 1788 ). second surviving son of (7) Johann Sebastian Bach (24) and his first wife, Maria Barbara.

   Gottfried Heinrich Bach (b Leipzig, 26 Feb 1724; d Naumburg, bur. 12 Feb 1763). Eldest son of Johann Sebastian (24) and Anna Magdalena Bach. Although he was mentally handicapped, he was evidently a good keyboard player and, according to his half-brother Carl Philipp Emanuel (46), showed ‘a great genius, which however failed to develop’

   Johann Gottfried Bernhard Bach (47) (b Weimar, 11 May 1715;d Jena, 27 May 1739). Son of Johann Sebastian (24). He was a pupil of his father, and was organist of the Marienkirche in Mühlhausen, 1735–7. He then became organist of St Jacobi in Sangerhausen (a position for which his father had applied in 1702). He left Sangerhausen in spring 1738, with what intention is not known. In a letter of 26 May 1738 Johann Sebastian complained bitterly of his ‘undutiful son’, whose character was apparently unstable and who had got into debt. He matriculated as a law student at Jena University on 28 January 1739, but died only a few months later ‘of a high fever’.

   Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (b Leipzig, 21 June 1732; d Bückeburg,26 Jan 1795 ). Composer, son of (7) Johann Sebastian Bach (24) and Anna Magdalena Bach. He is known as the ‘Bückeburg Bach’.

   Johann [John] Christian Bach (50) (b Leipzig, 5 Sept 1735; d London, 1 Jan 1782). Composer, youngest son of (7) Johann Sebastian Bach. As a composer he was the most versatile of J.S. Bach’s sons and the only one to write Italian operas. He was an important influence on Mozart and, with C.F. Abel, did much to establish regular public concerts in London.

   Log in to Reply

2. John Howell says

   January 1, 2012 at 12:31 pm

   About Buxtehude’s daughter:

    

   Yes, I’ve often made fun of that particular situation, even mentioning it in my music history class.  But we really don’t need any more “invented” stories about famous musicians.  We already have more than enough, and some of them (like “Amadeus”) have been enshrined in film, which means they MUST be right, right?!!

    

   I’ve come to realize that a 17th or 18th century man had two overriding duties to his children:  to make sure that his sons were well-trained and able to support a growing family, and to make sure that his daughters were well-married and would be taken care of.  That was the default behavior.  Do we even KNOW how many of Bach’s 20 children were girls, or what kind of talent they may have had?  Heck, do we even know any of their NAMES?!!!  Someone might, but I’ve never seen them.  All we do know is the four SONS who in fact became well-known and in some cases surpassed their father’s fame.

    

   So of COURSE Buxtehude was concerned that his one remaining daughter be well settled, since he was getting along in years.  No blame there.  And really, no overt indication that the poor girl in question was or was not, in Kurt’s words, “a big, ugly, German daughter.”  We simply don’t know, any more than we actually know why Mozart never managed to secure the court appointment his father hoped for (or whether he actually WANTED such an appointment, having been around European aristocracy from his earliest years!).

   All the best,

   John

   Log in to Reply