Bach, Schweitzer, and Music Today

By Destiny MacCarthy

Well known for his impact on the church, education, and music, German composer Johann Sebastian Bach pursued his dream career despite being orphaned at age 10. Bach spent many years working in Protestant churches and teaching choral students. He became the director of church music for St. Thomas’s Church in Leipzig in 1723 and worked that position until his death in 1750. Today, pursuing a career in music has become more difficult due to the cost of education. Not going to college is an option; however, having a sustainable income without a degree, as a musician, is more challenging.

Two Major Figures in Different Times

Born in 1685, Bach had a mournful start to life as both of his parents died by the time he was ten years old. His eldest brother took him in and sent him to St. Micheal’s Church in Ohrdruf, Saxa-Gotha-Altenburg, where he studied and performed music. His brother also taught him on the Clavichord. In 1700, Bach was enrolled in St. Michael’s School in Lüneburg where he saw much more European culture. After graduating, he worked in several different churches as the organist or choral director including, the chapel of Duke Johann Ernst III in Weimar, Blasius Church in Mühlhausen, and later, St. Thomas Church in Leipzig where he composed much of his work. He is remembered today for his impact on church music of his time and for his compositions which number over one thousand.

In the Harwell Goodwin Davis Library at Samford University, there is a painting with Johann Sebastian Bach and another musician, Albert Schweitzer (see below). President Thomas E. Corts gave this painting to Samford as a gift in honor of his wife as a part of the Marla Haas Corts Missionary Biography Collection.

Albert Schweitzer was born almost two hundred years after Bach in 1875. He served as a theologian, physician, philosopher, and musician. He was taught piano and learned about counterpoint at Kaiser Wilhelm University in 1893. He performed many of Bach’s organ compositions as he was dedicated to restoring the historic pipe organ and to studying Bach. He also served as a medical missionary in Africa.

The Demanding Life of Musicians

In his early career, Bach ran into some issues in Arnstadt. Peter Williams described Bach’s relationship with the students saying, “the way he fulfilled his duties and his relations with the student players… apparently did not go so well.” (Williams 2004, 30).  In one event, Bach was not satisfied with one of his instrumentalists and called him a “Zippel Fagottist.” There are several English translation of this German phrase, but the most common is “nanny-goat bassoonist!” This resulted in a brawl instigated by the insulted student, J. H. Geyersbach. Later, Bach received lessons from Johann Adam Riencken, an organist and composer, and was absent from work for four months when he had only requested four weeks. This upset his employer and later that year (1706), Bach applied for an organist position in the Blasius Church in Mühlhausen. This rough start would not be the end of his troubles.

The deaths in Bach’s family did not stop with his parents. Bach married his first wife, Maria Barbara, in 1707. He had seven children with here before she died of an unknown cause in 1720 while Bach was away on a trip. Only four of his children with Barbara survived. In 1721, Bach married his second wife, Anna Magdalena. With her he had thirteen children, yet only six lived into adulthood. These sorrows likely affected Bach’s future compositions.

Bach’s music went unnoticed and was not appreciated until about fifty years after his death in 1750. A study of Bach’s life and art was published in 1802 by German writer Johann Nikolaus Forkel. Albert Schweitzer played a large role in sharing Bach’s work in the early 1900s with his literature and organ playing. The Bach-Gesellschaft was founded in the 1950s. Robert Schumann encouraged its founding, and its purpose was to publish Bach’s complete works.

The life of any musician has its own unique difficulties. Even through work issues, family deaths, and scrutiny, Bach faced his own issues head on, continuing to pursue his dream. He did not anticipate his fame, yet his hard work produced marvelous pieces which has inspired many musicians throughout the centuries.

J.S. Bach and Albert Schweitzer
Location: Harwell Goodwin Davis Library
Samford University, 800 Lakeshore Dr. Birmingham, AL 35229
Form: Painting
Artist: Connie Erickson
Donor: Thomas E. Corts
Installed: 2000

References:

Williams, Peter F. 2004. The Life of Bach. Cambridge, University Press.

Herz, Gerhard. 1985. Essays on J.S. Bach. Michigan, UMI Research Press

Stiller, Günther. 1984. Johann Sebastian Bach and Liturgical Life in Leipzig. St. Louis, Concordia Publishing House.

Destiny MacCarthy ’27 was a student in UCS 102: Memorials and the Future in Samford University’s Howard College of Arts & Sciences in spring 2024.