Synopsis
On today’s date in 1723, Johann Sebastian Bach began his formal duties as the new Cantor of the St. Thomas School in Leipzig, a city that would remain his home for the next 27 years.
A newspaper item datelined Leipzig had appeared the previous day, noting: “This past Saturday at noon, four wagons loaded with household goods arrived here from Cöthen; they belonged to the former Princely Cappelmeister Johann Sebastian Bach, now called to Leipzig as Cantor. He himself arrived with his family on two carriages at 2:00 and moved into the newly renovated apartment in the St. Thomas School.”
Bach was not the first choice for the appointment, and it’s clear from the proceedings of the Leipzig Town Council that they were more concerned with Bach as a teacher rather than Bach as a composer. Providing quality music for services at St. Thomas Church might have been foremost in Bach’s mind, but the council seemed to think that was definitely not as important as teaching Latin to the young students of the St. Thomas School.
One council member, a certain Dr. Steger, after reluctantly voting for Bach, even wanted it on record that in his opinion, “Bach should make compositions that were not theatrical.” It’s not on record what poor Dr. Steger thought of Bach’s intensely dramatic St. Matthew Passion, or the hundreds of brilliant crafted cantatas that Bach would provide, week in and week out, for the next 20 years.
Music Played in Today's Program
J.S. Bach (1685-1750): Cantata No. 73; Leonhardt Consort; Gustav Leonhardt, conductor; Teldec 44279
On This Day
Births
1883 - Italian opera composer Riccardo Zandonai, in Sacco, Trentino
1932 - American composer Pauline Oliveros, in Houston, Texas
1953 - American composer Anne LeBaron, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Deaths
1971 - French composer and organist Marcel Dupré, 85, in Meudon
Premieres
1846 - Lortzing: opera Der Waffenschmied (The Armorer), in Vienna at the Theater an der Wien
1866 - Smetana: The Bartered Bride (first version) in Prague at the Provisional Theater
1923 - Hanson: Symphony No. 1 (Nordic), in Rome, composer conducting
1927 - Stravinsky: opera-oratorio Oedipus Rex, at the Sarah Bernhardt Theater in Paris (in concert performance; first staged performance took place in Berlin on Feb. 25, 1928)
1938 - Piston: ballet The Incredible Flutist, in Boston
1962 - Britten: oratorio War Requiem, in the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral in England
1991 - Harrison Birtwistle: opera Gawain in London at the Royal Opera House (Covent Garden), Elgar Howarth conducting
1995 - Alla Pavlova: Symphony No. 1 (Farewell Russian), in Moscow at the Concert Hall of the Union of Russian Composers, by the Russian Philharmonia, Konstantin Krimets, conducting
Others
1723 - Bach’s first cantata performance in Leipzig (Cantata No. 75, Die Elenden Sollen Essen), presented at St. Nicolai Church, the day before his official induction as Cantor in that city
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About Composers Datebook®
Host John Birge presents a daily snapshot of composers past and present, with timely information, intriguing musical events and appropriate, accessible music related to each.
He has been hosting, producing and performing classical music for more than 25 years. Since 1997, he has been hosting on Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Service. He played French horn for the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and performed with them on their centennial tour of Europe in 1995. He was trained at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy.