Blog

Feb 4, 2012

This article is one in a series of occasional pieces on the interrelation of Art and Politics, written by Larry W. Allen for Southern California Early Music Society and is reprinted with their gracious permission.

In the light of contemporary discussion regarding political controls over the employment of artists and the content of their works, it may be of interest to explore how the politico-religious life of 18th-century Germany influenced the work and lifestyle of one of the foremost musicians of the age - Johan Sebastian Bach.

In that century, Germany was not a country, but a region with a shared language and culture that contained about 200 principalities of varying extent, 63 ecclesiastical states, and 51 free cities.

With one exception, none of these were "independent" in the modern sense; all recognized the overlordship of a non-German sovereign.  Most were under the suzerainty of the Holy Roman Emperor (an elected post held by the King of Austria for much of this and the preceding century), others were under the King of Poland or the King of France, and the bishoprics were under the Holy See in Rome.

The exception, of course, was Prussia.  Formerly ruled by the Hohenzollern Elector Frederick Wilhelm of Brandenburg as Duchy under the suzerainty of the King of Poland, it had been ceded to him as a sovereign realm in 1660 as a result of German successes in the first northern war.  However, it was to be 41 years before a Hohenzollern would be granted permission (by the Holy Roman Emperor) to call himself "King," and that only "in Prussia."

Frederick Wilhelm and his successors consistently pursued one goal:  the forging of a nation-state equal in power to any other in Europe.  To this end, the Hohenzollern dynasty aggressively pursued improvements in the military, economic and civil administrative realms.

The late 17th and early 18th centuries in Brandenburg-Prussia were a period of centralization of power at the expense of the nobility and civic authorities.  It was a time marked by government inducements to commerce, the promotion of education at all levels, from primary to university, and the building of a professional standing army (Europe's first, established in 1656).  Surprisingly, in light of the Prussian reputation, but rational considering their relative weakness of the realm, the Hohenzollerns proposed a policy of eschewing war in favor of diplomacy.

There were, of course, other powerful entities in Germany:  the Electorates of Hanover and Saxony, certain bishoprics and some of the free cities.

It was in the principalities of Hanover, Thuringia, and Saxony that J.S. Bach was to spend his career (spanning 1700-1750), and there has been speculation as to the reasons why Bach remained away from the center of power in such a "provincial" setting.  But these states were provincial in neither the political nor cultural sense.

With respect to great-power politics, we note that the Electors of Saxony managed to hold the kingship of Poland for all but five years of the period 1697-1763.  The Elector George Louis of Hanover became George I of England in 1714 as a result of an act of Parliament recognizing his mother, Sophia, as heiress to the throne.

So too, as to culture:  Bach lived at the height of the German Enlightenment.  All over Germany universities were being established, books of science, mathematics, philosophy, politics and literature were being published, and the decorative and fine arts were encouraged by patronage of the courts.  The Dresden capital of the Elector Frederick Augustus II of Saxony was known as "Florence on the Elbe"; the court was among the most opulent and devoted to the arts in all Germany.  In comparison, the contemporary ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, King Frederick Wilhelm I (r. 1713-1740), has been characterized as a "disagreeable, miserly, avaricious, course, vulgar, gouty drill sergeant."

The German Enlightenment was not absent in Brandenburg-Prussia, but the finances to support any but the most central state were scarcer.  The princes in most of Germany had revenues from their own estates plus taxes to support them.  In Brandenburg-Prussia, however, taxes went to the central administration, and in 1717, even the lands of the nobility became subject to taxation.  Thus it is not surprising that the Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg, who was taken by Bach's music and for whom Bach prepared the Brandenburg Concerti in 1721, had a smaller orchestra than Bach's employer, Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen (in Saxony), and consequently probably never had the works performed.

Bach's devotion to Lutheranism has been widely noted, but he clearly did not consider it as circumscribing his employment opportunities:  he was employed for six years (1717-1723) at the Calvinist court at Anhalt-Cöthen, and in 1733 presented portions of the Mass in B-minor to the Catholic Elector Friedrich Augustus II of Saxony (who was soon to follow his father as King of Poland) in hopes it would lead to a job.  Bach received the title "Court Composer to his Royal Majesty and Serene Electoral Highness" from the Elector/King, but no job.

Religion, of course, along with nepotism, bribery and personal favoritism, played its part in the filling of both courtly and civic musical posts.  It was unlikely that any Protestant would be employed in the bishoprics or German Principalities allied with the French.  Similarly, Bach had to pass an interview on the minutiae of Lutheran doctrine before he was given the post of Cantor/City Music Director at Leipzig (Saxony) in 1723.  Bach refused to become organist at Lübeck (Electorate of Hanover) because of the requirement to marry Büxtehude's daughter; he was not selected for organist in the free city of Hamburg when the successful candidate paid a bribe; and he quit the position of Capellmeister at Anhalt-Cöthen (Saxony) when the Prince's new wife proved unreceptive to music.

Bach and his employers in Leipzig quarreled almost immediately, but the emoluments of the position, both in prestige and remuneration exceeded that of almost any other in Germany except at a major court.  We have seen that in the 1720's and 30's neither the Elector of Saxony/King of Poland nor the King of Brandenburg-Prussia were interested in his services, and the court of Hanover was centered in London (and had the services of Händel available besides).  With respect to possible career moves, Bach seems to have reached a dead end.

In 1740, King Frederick Wilhelm II ("the Great") succeeded to the throne of Prussia.  Unlike his father, Frederick the Great was artistic, musical and literary; like his father, he was a competent general and administrator.  Within five months, Charles VI, King of Austria and Holy Roman Emperor, died without a male heir.  The War of the Austrian Succession immediately ensued, as Frederick the Great, the Electors of Bavaria and Saxony and the Kings of France and Spain attempted to dismember the empire that Charles VI had bequeathed to his daughter, Maria Theresa.  A "musical renaissance" at the court in Potsdam would have to await Frederick's military campaigns into Silesia and Bohemia.

It was only after the conflict that Bach at age 62 was invited to the court of Potsdam in 1747.  Well received, he improvised a three-part fugue on a musical theme set out by the King, which he subsequently expanded into The Musical Offering.

There is no evidence that Bach used this visit to pump for a job; the squabbling in Leipzig had quieted, and Bach was clearly using his time not in the composition of works for his civic or cantoral duties, but in the composition/assembly of large-scale works epitomizing the structure and grandeur of the Baroque:  The Musical Offering, the B-minor Mass and The Art of the Fugue. The latter remained unfinished when Bach died at Leipzig in 1750.