The Bachs at Christmas

Synopsis

Under the rubric “Bach,” the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians has this entry: “A German family of musicians. From the 16th century to the early 19th, it produced musicians of every kind in number beyond parallel: from fiddlers and town musicians to organists, Kantors, court musicians and Kapellmeisters. The greatest among them was, of course, Johann Sebastian Bach…”

The Grove Dictionary then provides an alphabetical list of the dozens and dozens of musical Bachs and their impressive family tree. Without getting into specifics, we can be reasonably confident that Christmas Day was, if not always “merry,” at least an especially “busy” one for most of them.

For example, on today’s date in 1723, J.S. Bach celebrated his first Christmas as Kantor of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig with performances of a German-language Sacred Cantata, “Christen, ätzet diesen Tag,” and this spectacularly festive setting of the Latin “Magnificat,” or the Song of Mary.

The impressive Bach musical family tree eventually petered out in the mid-19th century. One of the very last of the line, composer Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach, died in Berlin in 1845, at the age of 86—on Christmas Day, in fact. His father was Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, the youngest of J.S. Bach’s composer-children, which meant little W.F.E. could claim J.C.F. as his father and the great J.S. as grandad.

Music Played in Today's Program

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) Magnificat, S. 1082 Gachinger Kantorei and Stuttgart Bach-Collegium; Helmuth Rilling, cond. Hanssler 92.073

On This Day

Births

• 1583 - Baptism of English composer and organist Orlando Gibbons, in Oxford;

Deaths

• 1845 - German composer Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach, age 86, in Berlin; His father was the "Buckeburg" Bach, Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (The last of J.S. Bach's composer-children);

• 1871 - Russian composer Alexander Scriabin (Gregorian date: Jan. 6, 1872);

Premieres

• 1723 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 63 ("Christen, ätzet diesen Tag") and "Magnificat" in E-flat, (S. 243a) performed on the 1st Day of Christmas as part of Bach's first annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1723/24);

• 1724 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 91 ("Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ") performed Christmas Day as part of Bach's second annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1724/25);

• 1725 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 110 ("Unser Mund sei voll Lachens") performed on Christmas Day as part of Bach's third annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1725/27);

• 1728 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 197a ("Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe") probably performed in Leipzig on Christmas Day as part of Bach's fourth annual Sacred Cantata cycle (to texts by Christian Friedrich Henrici, a.k.a. "Picander") during 1728/29;

• 1734 - Bach: Part 1 ("Jauchzet, frohlocket") of the 6-part "Christmas Oratorio," S. 248, in Leipzig;

• 1815 - Beethoven: cantata "Meeresstille und Glückliche Fahrt" (Sea Calm and Prosperous Voyage) and the "Namensfeier" (Name Day Fest) Overture, Op. 115, at the Redoutensaal in Vienna, conducted by Beethoven, at a benefit for the Citizens' Hospital Fund;

• 1818 - Franz Gruber: "Silent Night," in St. Nicholas Church, Obendorf, Germany, composed the night before (Christmas eve);

• 1870 - Wagner: "Siegfried Idyll," at his villa in Switzerland as a combined birthday and Christmas gift to his 33-year old wife, Cosima (she was born on Dec. 24, 1837), Hans Richter playing trumpet and Wagner conducting an ensemble from the top of the staircase; The work is named for their son Siegfried who was six months old on that Christmas morning, and who later also became a composer;

• 1902 - Rimsky-Korsakov: opera "Kashchey the Immortal," in Moscow, Ippolitov-Ivanov conducting (Julian date: Dec. 12);

• 1934 - Shostakovich: Cello Sonata, in Leningrad, by cellist Viktor Kubatsky, with the composer at the piano;

Others

• 1821 - Beethoven finishes his "Hammerklavier" Piano Sonata (No. 29;

• 1931 - First national radio broadcast of a complete opera, Humperdinck's "Hänsel und Gretel," from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera, New York City;

• 1937 - Arturo Toscanini conducts his first radio concert by the NBC Symphony Orchestra, consisting of a Vivaldi concerto in D minor; Mozart Symphony No. 40; and Brahms Symphony No. 1;