Bach, Wilhelm Friedemann (EN)

Bach Wilhelm Friedemann, *22 November 1710 Weimar, †1 July 1784 Berlin, eldest son of Johann Sebastian and Maria Barbara, German composer and organist, known as Bach of Dresden or Halle. He learned to play the organ and harpsichord from his father. From 1723, he was a student at the Thomasschule zu Leipzig [St Thomas School], and in 1726–27, he took violin lessons from J.G. Graun in Merseburg. From 1729 to 1732, he studied law at the University of Leipzig. From 1733 to 1746, he held the position of organist at the court church of St Sophia in Dresden. During this period, he composed many instrumental works – Harpsichord Concertos in F major and D major, numerous harpsichord sonatas and polonaises, and symphonies – which were performed at the Dresden court. In 1746, Wilhelm Friedemann settled in Halle, where he took up the position of music director at the city’s three principal churches: St Maurice, St Ulrich, and St Mary, serving also as organist at the last of these. His duties included composing cantatas for church feast days, as well as directing the school and municipal choirs and an orchestra drawn from the Collegium Musicum members and town musicians. In his early years in Halle, Wilhelm Friedemann enjoyed great popularity, but his eccentric lifestyle led to conflicts with the city authorities, as a result of which he resigned from his positions in 1764. During this time and later, Wilhelm Friedemann unsuccessfully applied for the position of organist in Wolfenbüttel and Brunswick, and declined the position of court musician in Darmstadt that had been offered to him earlier. From 1770, he lived in Brunswick, earning his living by giving music lessons and playing the organ; he also gave concerts in Göttingen and Wolfenbüttel. In 1774, he moved to Berlin, where he also gave organ concerts and, for a short time, conducted musical events at the court of the Princess Amalia of Prussia. In the last years of his life Wilhelm Friedemann’s financial difficulties intensified, and he died in isolation from the musical world. 

In Wilhelm Friedemann Bach’s work, Baroque polyphony was gradually replaced by the north German galant style, with its characteristic homophonic texture. Wilhelm Friedemann’s mastery of compositional technique and rich melodic inventiveness were manifested primarily in his harpsichord and chamber works, which heralded the new artistic trends typical of the Sturm und Drang period. According to 18th-century accounts, Wilhelm Friedemann was a master of improvisation and organ playing; this aspect of his personality is also emphasized by contemporary music historians. The lack of a complete edition of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach’s works makes it difficult to study and evaluate his compositional output.

Literature: C.H. Bitter Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach und Wilhelm Friedemann Bach und deren Brüder, 2 vols., Berlin 1868; K. Zehler Wilhelm Friedemann Bach und seine hallische Wirksamkeit, “Bach-Jahrbuch” VII, 1910; M. Schneider Das sogenannte Orgelkonzert d-moll von Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, “Bach-Jahrbuch” VIII, 1911; M. Falek Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Leipzig 1913, new edition W. Gurlitt, Lindau 1956 (contains a thematic catalog of works); K. Stabenow Johann Sebastian Bachs Sohn, Leipzig 1935; C. Freyse Die Schulhefte Wilhelm Friedemann Bachs, “Bach-Jahrbuch” XXXIX, 1951/52; K. Geiringer The Bach Family: Seven Generations of Creative Genius, New York 1954, French edition, Paris 1955, Dutch edition Arnhem 1956, German edition expanded, Die Musikerfamilie Bach, Leben und Wirken in drei Jahrhunderten, Munich 1958, Spanish edition, Madrid 1962; J. Müller-Blattau Bindung und Freiheit. Zu Wilhelm Friedemann Bachs Fugen und Polonäsen, commemorative book of W. Fischer, Innsbruck 1956, reprint in: Von der Vielfalt der Musik, Freiburg im Breisgau 1966; G.B. Weston Some Works Falsely Ascribed to Friedemann Bach, in: Essays on Music, commemorative book of A.Th. Davison, Cambridge (Massachusetts) 1957; C. de Nys Note sur les polonaises de Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, The Book of the First International Musicological Congress, devoted to the Works of F. Chopin 16th–22nd February 1960, ed. Z. Lissa, Warsaw 1963; W. Braun Material zu Wilhelm Friedemann Bachs Kantatenauffuhrungen in Halle (1746–64), “Die Musikforschung” XVIII, 1965; H.-J. Schulze Eine “Drama per Musica” als Kirchenmusik. Zu Wilhelm Friedemann Bachs Aufführungen der Huldigungskantate BWV 205a, “Bach-Jahrbuch” LXI, 1975; M. Falck Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. Sein Leben und seine Werke mit thematischem Verzeichnis seiner Kompositionen, Hildesheim 1977 (reprint ed. Leipzig 1913); W. Braun W.F. Bach und J.Ph. Kirnberger, in: Barockmusik in Berlin, ed. G. Wagner, Berlin 1987; P. Wollny Studies in the Music of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. Sources and Style, dissertation Harvard University 1993.