"J.D." Bach, perhaps?

Synopsis

Among life's major milestones, a young adult's first job has to rank pretty high on the list. A first run-in with the law might also be considered a milestone of sorts, albeit one most of us would rather forget.

On today's date in 1703, an 18-year old German musician named Johann Sebastian Bach was offered his first major job as an organist at a church in Arnstadt. Bach was supposed to play for two hours each Sunday and accompany the hymn singing at Monday and Thursday services. Bach was paid pretty well for a youngster just starting out, and had plenty of free time to spend on his own original compositions.

Maybe all that free time was a mixed blessing, as just two years later the Armstadt constabulary reported that late one August night the 20-year old Bach had crossed paths with a bassoonist who claimed Bach had been making some disparaging remarks about his playing.

Bach said something to the effect that it wasn't his fault if the bassoonist sounded like a nanny goat. A shouting and/or shoving match ensued. Alcohol might have been a contributing factor. Bach's dagger may or may not have been drawn.

Fortunately, the Armstadt constabulary broke everything up before anyone got hurt, hauled in both Bach and the bassoonist, and warned them to keep their noses clean in the future.

Music Played in Today's Program

J.S. Bach (1685 – 1750) Prelude and Fugue in C, S. 531 Kevin Bowyer, organ Nimbus 5500

On This Day

Births

• 1781 - Austrian composer, violinist, and conductor Michael Umlauff, in Vienna; He conducted the orchestra, chorus, and soloists assembled for the premiere performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at Vienna's Kärtnertor Theater on May 7, 1824; After the totally deaf Beethoven set the initial tempos for each movement, the performers were instructed to ignore Beethoven if he continued to beat time, and to follow Umlauf;

• 1874 - Venezuelan-born French composer, conductor and music critic Reynaldo Hahn, in Caracas;

• 1875 - English light music composer Albert William Ketèlbey, in Aston;

Deaths

• 1919 - Italian composer Ruggero Leoncavallo, age 62, in Montecatini;

• 1975 - Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich, age 68, in Moscow;

• 1988 - Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi, age 83, in Rome;

Premieres

• 1862 - Berlioz: opera "Beatrice and Benedick," in Baden-Baden at the Neues Theater, with the composer conducting; The libretto (by Berlioz himself) is based on Shakespeare's comedy "Much Ado About Nothing";

• 1949 - Orff: opera "Antigone," in Salzburg at the Felsenreitschile;

• 1972 - London premiere of Andrew Lloyd-Webber: musical "Jesus Christ Superstar";

• 1978 - Dave Brubeck: oratorio “Beloved Son,” at the American Lutheran Women’s Convention in Minneapolis, Minn., with Richard Sieber conducting;

• 1979 - Hanson: ballet "Nymph and Satyr" in Chautauqua, Tennessee;

• 1988 - Peter Maxwell Davies: Symphony No. 5, during a BBC Proms Concert at London's Royal Albert Hall, by the Philharmonia Orchestra, with the composer conducting;

Others

• 1703 - J.S. Bach appointed organist at Neuekirche, Arnstadt (see also: August 4 and 14)

• 1928 - Australian-born American composer Percy Grainger marries Swedish poet and painter Ella Viola Strom at the Hollywood Bowl in front of an audience of 22,000 concert-goers; Grainger conducted the LA Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of his "To a Nordic Princess," dedicated to his bride.