Leipzig Celebrates Bach’s Musical Heritage Year Round

Johann Sebastian Bach lived and worked in Leipzig for 27 years. His music lives on.

For many, Liepzig is almost synonymous with the composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach wrote the majority of his works during his 27 year residence in Leipzig.

His music is celebrated each year in the churches and concert halls where it was first performed. Born in Eisenach in 1685, Bach moved to Leipzig from Köthen after his employer,Prince Leopold of Anhalt, got married and his bride’s lack of interest in the arts led to a decline in the support given to music at the Cöthen court.

In 1722 Bach entered his candidature for the prestigious post of Director musices at Leipzig and cantor of the Thomasschule there. In April 1723, after the preferred candidates, Messrs. Telemann and Graupner, had withdrawn, Bach was offered the post and accepted it. When Bach was appointed as the Bach remained as cantor of St. Thomas Choir, the post already had a Protestant tradition dating back a hundred and seventy years.

During his early years in Leipzig he composed prodigious quantities of church music, including four or five cantata cycles, the Magnificat and the St. John and St. Matthew Passions. Bach remained in Leipzig for the rest of his life, often in conflict with the authorities, but a happy family man and a proud and caring parent.

Under his cantors, St. Thomas Choir became known far and wide as a hallmark of the town, particularly because of the large number of visitors to the Leipzig trade fairs. Founded in 1212, St. Thomas’ Boys Choir consists of boys aged 9 and 18 years of age and is Leipzig’s oldest institution. St. Thomas Church sets the stage for the choir which has been world famous for generations.

Over the past few years, The St. Thomas’ Church Society and others have helped raise over $11 million to renovate the interior of the church and thereby preserve its tradition of music and worship. Each year on Ascension Day, the highlight of city activity is the Leipzig Bach Festival. In 2000, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach (July 28) who is buried in Leipzig an estimated 72,000 music lovers visited to the city for the 10 day event.

The 2002 Leipzig Bach Festival is scheduled for May 3 – 12.
Tickets can be ordered by calling: 001-49-341-91 37 333 or by email: bachfest.info@bach-leipzig.de (order your tickets now!) For further information, see www.bach-leipzig.de and www.germany-tourism.de/e/1585_2532.html

“The number of people coming to the Leipzig Bach Festival has been increasing every year,” said Leipzig’s Cultural Commissioner Dr. Georg Girardet. “The interesting thing is that an increasing portion of them are from West Germany and abroad.

What people also should know is that Bach concerts are performed all year long in Leipzig, not just at the annual festival.” Every Friday at 6, the St. Thomas Choir sings a Bach concert at the St. Thomas Church. On Saturdays at 3, visitors can catch another Bach concert that often features musicians from the Leipzig Philharmonic Orchestra. For Sunday Mass there are performances by the St. Thomas Choir as well as special concerts at Easter
and Christmas.

Leipzig is a place where Bach cannot only be heard, but also seen. Churches, museums, archives, libraries, publishing houses, art galleries and the Gewandhaus (concert hall) are all fascinating places to visit for those interested in Bach. Between the musical events that take place nearly every week visitors can view contemporary artifacts and original documents, and join in the debate over Bach that has continued ever since.

“People appreciate this town as an historical place,” said Dr. Girardet. Next to the church, he notes, is the St. Thomas School, rebuilt in 1900, where Bach lived and worked. Bach’s orignial documents are stored in only two places: Berlin and Leipzig. The largest Bach collection is at the Leipzig Bach Archive, run by a professor from Harvard. It is both a research center and a museum. There is also the Bose House, a 17th century dwelling where the Bose family, who were close friends of the Bach family, once lived.—