Camille Saint-Saens
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (March 8, 1714 – December 14, 1788) was a German musician and composer, the second of five sons of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach. He was one of the founders of the Classical style, composing in the Rococo and Classical periods.
Life and works
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was born in Weimar.
When he was ten years old he entered the St. Thomas School at Leipzig, of which in 1723 his father had become cantor, and continued his education as a student of jurisprudence at the universities of Leipzig (1731) and of Frankfurt (Oder) (1735). In 1738, at the age of 24, he took his degree, but at once abandoned his prospects of a legal career and determined to devote himself to music.
A few months later he obtained an appointment in the service of the Frederick II of Prussia ("Frederick the Great"), the then crown prince, and upon Frederick's accession in 1740 Carl Philipp became a member of the royal household. He was by this time one of the foremost clavier-players in Europe, and his compositions, which date from 1731, include about thirty sonatas and concert pieces for his favourite instrument.
His reputation was established by the two sets of sonatas which he dedicated respectively to Frederick the Great and to the grand duke of Württemberg; in 1746 he was promoted to the post of chamber musician, and for twenty-two years shared with Carl Heinrich Graun, Johann Joachim Quantz, and Johann Gottlieb Naumann the continued favour of the king.
During his residence in Berlin, he wrote a fine setting of the Magnificat (1749), in which he shows more traces than usual of his father's influence; an Easter cantata (1756); several symphonies and concerted works; at least three volumes of songs; and a few secular cantatas and other occasional pieces. 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 set Mit veränderten Reprisen (1760-1768) and a few of those für Kenner und Liebhaber. Meanwhile he placed himself in the forefront of European critics by his Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen, a systematic and masterly treatise which by 1780 had reached its third edition, and which laid the foundation for the methods of Muzio Clementi and Johann Baptist Cramer.
In 1768 Bach succeeded Georg Philipp Telemann as Kapellmeister at Hamburg, and in consequence of his new office began to turn his attention more towards church music. The next year he produced his oratorio Die Israeliten in der Wüste, a composition remarkable not only for its great beauty but for the resemblance of its plan to that of Felix Mendelssohn's Elijah, and between 1769 and 1788 added over twenty settings of the Passion, and some seventy cantatas, litanies, motets, and other liturgical pieces. At the same time, his genius for instrumental composition was further stimulated by the career of Joseph Haydn. He died in Hamburg on December 14, 1788.
Legacy and musical style
Through the latter half of the 18th century, the reputation of C.P.E. Bach stood very high. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who also had a close relationship with Johann Christian Bach said of Carl Philipp, "He is the father, we are the children." The best part of Haydn's training was derived from a study of his work. Ludwig van Beethoven expressed for his genius the most cordial admiration and regard. This position he owes mainly to his klaviersonaten (piano sonatas), which mark an important epoch in the history of musical form. 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 exact formal antithesis which, with the composers of the Italian school, had hardened into a convention, and substitute the wider and more flexible outline which the great Viennese masters showed to be capable of almost infinite development.
The content of his work, though full of invention, lies within a somewhat narrow emotional range, but it is not less sincere in thought than polished and felicitous in phrase. Again, he was probably the first composer of eminence who made free use of harmonic colour for its own sake since the time of Lassus, Monteverdi, and Gesualdo,[citation needed] and in this way also he takes rank among the most important pioneers of the First Viennese School. His name fell into some neglect during the 19th century, with Robert Schumann notoriously opining that "as a creative musician he remained very far behind his father"; in contrast, Johannes Brahms held Emanuel Bach in high regard and edited some of his music. Today, students very frequently play Emanuel's Sonaten für Kenner und Liebhaber, his oratorios Die Israeliten in der Wüste and Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu, and several harpsichord concertos such as those in G major (Wq. 3) and D major (Wq. 11). Also, his Flute Concerto in D Minor (Wq. 22), due to its unparalleled mellifluous opening movement, has been performed by the greatest flautists worldwide, including Jean-Pierre Rampal. Rampal's recording is sadly out of print as of 2006, it features the Paris Opera orchestra conducted by Pierre Boulez and was published by Harmonia Mundi, HMP 390545.
Further reading
A list and critical account of his voluminous compositions may be found in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1980). A complete edition entitled Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: The Complete Works is underway and scheduled to be completed by 2014.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
External links
- A Tribute to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - Sketch of the composer's life with extensive references.
- Complete Catalogue of C.P.E. Bach's oeuvre (French)
- Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
- Free scores by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach in the Werner Icking Music Archive
- Website of the edition Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: The Complete Works.
- Finding the Lost Manuscripts of C.P.E. Bach Greater Boston Arts
- Free Public Domain Scores by C.P.E. at IMSLP
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bach, Karl Philipp Emanuel (older German spelling) |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Classical composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 8, 1714 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Weimar, Thuringia, Germany |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 14, 1788 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Hamburg, Germany |
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