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LEIPZIG 2: 1729-1740 - The Collegium Musicum
Much is often made in current biographical notes, of Bach's disputes with the Council. When fuller, more detailed and more recent research is taken into account these records may perhaps give an unbalanced picture of Bach's life there at that time. there is no doubt whatsoever that he was widely respected as a composer, musician, teacher, organist, and specialist in organ construction. This reputation was to grow steadily, as Bach's reputation widened, and as he added the official title of Court Composer to the Dresden Court - the Electoir of Saxony and King of Poland. This comfortable security of position combined with the fact that Bach had established, during his first six or seven years' tenure, a more than sufficient repertoire of cantatas (it has been suggested that he composed in total some 300), allowed him to widen his musical scope of activity.
Bach would now begin to devote more time to activities outside Leipzig; to examine for musical appointments, to advise on organ building, to lend support from time to time to such private establishments as at Cöthen and Weißenfels, where he was honorary Capellmeister from 1729-1736. In particular, Bach had become famous, not only as an organist and improvisator, but as an expert in the organ's construction. As a result he was frequently asked to advise on new organ specifications and to test newly completed instruments with a thorough and detailed examination and report, as was the custom of the time. Bach developed a close working relationship with his contemporary, the celebrated Saxon organ-builder Gottfried Silbermann, who was also a personal friend of the Bach family and godfather to Carl Philipp Emmanuel. Bach may well have played any number of Silbermann's instruments, almost all of which were located in Saxony. In 1733 Bach petitioned the Elector of Saxony in Dresden for an official title, enclosing copies of the Kyrie and Gloria from the b-minor Mass; though unsuccessful, Bach tried again this time with the backing of his Dresden patron Count von Keyserlingk. Thereafter he received the title, and signed himself as Dresden Hofcompositeur. By way of acknowledgment Bach presented a two-hour recital on the new Silbermann organ in the Frauenkirche (tragically destroyed in the Second World War and now being actively rebuilt).
It is on record that the Council reprimanded Bach in August 1730 for leaving his teaching duties in the overworked hands of his junior colleague, Petzold; for not properly disciplining his choirs, and for his frequent unauthorized journeys away from Leipzig. Bach did not try to justify himself, which further annoyed the Council, and so they attempted to diminish his income. This drove Bach to write to his school-friend Erdmann in Danzig, asking him to find him a 'convenient post' where he could escape the 'trouble, envy and persecution' which he had perpetually to face in Leipzig.
The city would have lost Bach if his friend Gesner had not intervened on his behalf. Gesner had just taken over the post of headmaster at the Thomasschule after the death in 1729 of the former headmaster, and he used his influence to settle the situation between Bach and the authorities, and to secure him better working conditions. Between May 1730 and June 1732 alterations and improvements were made to the Thomasschule buildings, including the addition of two upper floors and some exterior "restyling". The choral forces were much diminished during this period and so Bach produced a number of solo cantatas, several for soprano (Anna Magdelina?) and violin or viola obbligato (probably played by Bach himself). The school buildings were reopened on June 5, 1732 with cantata BWV Anhang 18. At the opening speech, Gesner stressed the need for music within the foundation - which must have given Bach some hope for a brighter future in the school.
But unfortunately, in 1733 Gesner left Leipzig to take up an appointment as professor at the University of Göttingen. His successor was Johann August Ernesti, 29 years old, a former senior member of the Thomasschule staff. Ernesti had entirely new ideas on education: Classics and Theology were out of date, and there must be more stress on subjects that would be useful in secular life. This led to disputes with Bach who particularly wanted more time to train his choirs and musicians.
This renewal of the old disputes with the school and church authorities, along with the general bad feeling associated, must have been a considerable discouragement; in any case it is apparent that from then on, Bach appeared less and less eager to provide the Council with church music. Salvation came however in the form of the Collegium Musicum; when Bach became its permanent director in 1729 he began to receive official recognition of the high regard in which he was generally held. It is worth examining the activities of this musical group in some detail as it gives a closeup view of everyday cultural life in the Leipzig of the 1730s.
In Bach's time, the city of Leipzig already had an established tradition of Collegia Musica - secular musical organizations, run mainly by the students of the city's famed university - dating back at least to the middle of the preceding century, if not its beginning. Many of Leipzig's most famous musicians were connected with the students' musical activities (among them several Thomaskantors) and contributed music of the highest quality. Various such groups came and went. At the beginning of the1700s, two new ones - which were to enjoy a comparatively long existence - were founded by two young men at the University who were eventually to number among the most celebrated composers of their time. One was established in 1702 by the redoubtable Georg Philipp Telemann; the other was begun six years later, by Johann Friedrich Fasch. Fasch's organization ultimately fell to the direction of Johann Gottlieb Görner, the director of music at the University and a constant musical rival of Bach's. After Telemann left Leipzig the leadership of his Collegium was taken by Balthasar Schott, the Neukirche organist.
In the spring of 1729, Schott moved to a new position in Gotha, and Bach took over directorship of the Collegium.
The story of Bach's Collegium Musicum is closely bound to a Leipzig coffeeshop-proprietor named Gottfried Zimmermann. The concerts were given on Zimmermann's premises, probably under his auspices. During the winter, the group played every Friday night, from 6 to 8pm, in Zimmermann's coffee house on the Cather Strasse, centrally placed close to the Marktplatz. In the warmer months, the music was moved outdoors, to Zimmermann's coffee garden "in front of the Grimma gate, on the Grimma stone road" - so the address is given in contemporary reports, with summer performances on Wednesdays, from 4 to 6pm.
That Gottfried Zimmerman was not only a restaurateur and impresario, but also a music-lover and quite possibly a competent musician, is indicated by the fact, as confirmed by several contemporary newspaper reports, that he frequently re-equipped his establishment with the latest musical instruments for use by the Collegium and other musical guests. One of his prize possessions in the late 1720s was "a clavcymbel of large size and range of expressivity" which made it a Leipzig attraction in itself. It was replaced by an even finer instrument in 1733.
Two types of concerts were given: ordinaire and extraordinaire. The former were the normal run of performances; the latter were for special celebrations (kings' birthdays and the like), and were usually marked by elaborate festive cantatas, with trumpets and drums in full splendor. (Bach adapted many of these works into church pieces; the Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248, for example, is made up primarily of such adaptations). About the regular concerts we know less; the Leipzig newspapers, in general, only bothered to announce the extraordinaire events. Presumably, instrumental music was heard, ranging from clavier solos through sonatas to orchestral works. It was doubtless here that Bach's concerti for one or several harpsichords received their performances, many of these having been adapted from earlier (eg violin) concertos, or from concertos by other composers (eg Vivaldi). Occasionally, too, vocal music might be given; such an example is the Coffee Cantata, BWV 211, first presented in 1732. It is also on record that works of Handel, Vivaldi, Telemann, Locatelli, Albinoni and others were performed.
Admission was charged for the extraordinaire concerts, and also for those occasional "special concerts" (Sonder-konzerte) which featured distinguished visiting artists. The regular concerts were probably free.
These concerts were serious events, given outside of the regular coffee shop hours, and were thus not merely an ornament to the usual diversions offered there. The performances of the Collegium were, in fact, hardly different from what we consider to be normal concert procedure today. Indeed, the word "concert" began to be used expressly in connection with the Collegium during its later years.
The schedule of weekly performances, the composition of new works, rehearsing them, arranging programs, etc., reveals that the Collegium Musicum was no mere diversion for Bach. The fact is that this was, for much of his later life, his central artistic activity, the church becoming almost peripheral. In the years with the Collegium Bach satisfied a side of himself that certainly must have lain dormant since the happy and fruitful period at Cöthen. He remained its director from 1729 until the death of Gottfried Zimmermann in 1741.
Bach then paid a visit to Berlin and the court at Potsdam where his son Emanuel was harpsichordist to King Frederick the Great, returning home via Dresden in order to see his patron Count von Keyserlingk, whom he presented with the set of variations now known as the Goldberg variations after the count's harpsichordist. He would return again to Potsdam in 1747.
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