Sentimental journey: Follow the footsteps of 'the Great Bach'
After a music stand for choir singers marked with the initials "E.B." was discovered in Hamburg's St. Peter's Church in 2012, the city's music culture minister received an email asking if he'd ever heard of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.
It was kind of a shocking question, says Alexander Steinhilber, who is also a musicologist and university professor. After all, how could one not know of the composer who was referred to by Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven as "Bach the Great?"
"He was nearly forgotten. I decided that something needed to be done to raise the profile of ‘the Hamburg Bach,' " Steinhilber told a group gathered at the Bach Museum in Leipzig earlier this year.
A host of festivities has been organized to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the composer's birth. Titled "CPE Bach 1714," it encompasses 320 events in six cities throughout the year.
Born March 8, 1714, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach may not be so well known now as his father, Johann Sebastian Bach, but in his own lifetime he was far more famous. A prolific composer and musical innovator with a genial disposition who became a publishing marvel, C.P.E. Bach spent 30 years as a musician in the court of Frederick the Great in Berlin, so he's also sometimes also called "the Berlin Bach." He had a reputation for pushing the envelope, and was considered a rebel for reflecting his feelings in his music in what's known as the "sentimental" style.
The second surviving son of J.S. Bach was born into a family overflowing with musical talent; even his godfather was a famous composer and multi-instrumentalist, Georg Philipp Telemann. His mother Barbara was likely a singer, although it is not known for sure. Working alongside his father as a performer and scribe since he was a teen, C.P.E. longed to leave his own mark on the musical world.
His sensitive style became popular because he was a savvy publisher who taught many students who helped spread his music far and wide, according to Bach scholar Christine Blanken, author of "Traveling with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach."
The cities where he lived and worked - Hamburg, Weimar, Leipzig, as well as Frankfurt (Oder), Potsdam and Berlin - have joined forces to make C.P.E. Bach better known. They've organized a series of festivals, concerts, museum exhibits, symposiums, tours and more.
You don't need a great knowledge of classical music to appreciate learning about the history of C.P.E. Bach; it's easy to drink in the charm and beauty of the places that inspired him. Here's a sampling of things to see and do in the culturally rich cities where this prolific composer lived and worked.
Weimar
C.P.E. Bach was born in this charming city in Thuringia on March 8, 1714. The city center was bombed during World War II but has been lovingly restored. Once part of East Germany, it has quaint cobblestone lanes, palaces, shops, restaurants and museums; more than a dozen are part of "Classical Weimar," a UNESCO World Heritage site. Hear a concert at the Church of St. Peter and Paul where Martin Luther preached and Bach was baptized. The Duchess Anna Amalia Library has one of the most famous research collections of literature and cultural history in Germany. Visit the homes and archives of the great writers Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, and the last home of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. The Bauhaus Museum has more than 300 exhibits of art and design of the movement founded by Walter Gropius in 1919. Weimar has a dark history, too. Hitler visited the city more than 40 times and the site of the infamous Buchenwald concentration camp is nearby.
Concerts are held in Weimar throughout the year, including early music during the Festival at Ettersburg Palace (June 5-15) and contemporary offerings during the Kunstfest Arts Festival Aug.22-Sept. 7. The annual Bachfest Weimar is held in late April through early May. Every two years, the Bach Bienniel takes place. Explore traditional and improvisational Bach during Thuringia Bach Weeks Festival (March 27-April 19, 2015), which kicks off with the Lange Nacht der Hausmusik (Long Night of House Music). That evening, more than 100 residents invite music lovers into their homes to hear free intimate concerts.
Leipzig
In 1723, J.S. Bach moved his family here, and in 1731 C.P.E. enrolled as a law student at Leipzig University where he no doubt gained some of the business acumen he later displayed in publishing and marketing his compositions. While Leipzig was heavily bombed by the British and Americans during World War II, many of its charming town squares and buildings have been restored to their former glory. Today, the city is still a hub of higher education, as well as business, research and music, and in 2015 it will celebrate its 1,000th birthday.
Follow the Music Trail with 16 mileposts marked by steel ribbons on the cobblestones and pavement, leading from the home of the Gewandhaus Orchestra, past the Mendelssohn memorial, a monument to Richard Wagner, Max Klinger's huge sculpture of Beethoven and the Leipzig Opera house, among other notable sites. J.S. Bach (1685-1750) was appointed choirmaster and organist at St. Thomas' Church and his grave is here. Regular services and concerts are still held, featuring the famous St. Thomas' Boys Choir. Immerse yourself in the lives and music of the talented family at the Bach Museum, which currently has an interesting exhibit on the life and work of C.P.E. Bach. Hear unique performances of Bach's cantatas by the Leipzig Baroque Orchestra in residence at the museum. With programs and interactive displays for children and adults, the museum brings the music of J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach and many of their relatives to life. The Leipzig Bach Festival (June 13-22) offers more than 100 concerts, lectures and church services. Stop for a meal or a coffee at the Coffee Baum, one of the oldest coffeehouses in Europe that has a museum about the history of coffee and the musicians and intellectuals who frequented the cafe. Learn about the Peaceful Revolution that germinated at St. Nicholas Church and spread to the city's streets and squares, leading to the reunification of Germany.
Hamburg
Today a bustling and cosmopolitan port, Hamburg is one of Germany's wealthiest cities. In the 18th century, it was Germany's most important musical city. In 1768 C.P.E. Bach succeeded his godfather, Telemann, as musical director of the city's five main Lutheran churches and lived here until his death on Dec. 14, 1788.
At the Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe (Arts & Crafts), learn about the life of C.P.E. Bach and hear what it might have been like to attend a concert during the "Age of Sensibility" through the exhibit "Make Music from the Soul." Musicians perform on many of the exhibit's period instruments - clavichords, harpsichords and stringed instruments like the viola da gamba, which produce gentle sounds meant to be heard by intimate audiences in the salons of Europe.
Take in a concert now through mid-June while the city is hosting the first Hamburg International Music Festival. It includes myriad talks and concerts by all types of musical organizations including Hamburg's three orchestras - the North German Radio (NDR) Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra - as well as popular, rock, jazz and pop performers. A new 2,150-seat, glass-walled home for NDR Symphony Orchestra called the Elbphilharmonie is rising up on top of an old warehouse and is expected to be completed next year with the first concerts in 2017. Step into the past at Laeiszhalle, a neo-Baroque concert hall first opened in 1908.
Hamburg, with more than 1.8 million people, is the second largest city in Germany after Berlin. Situated on the River Elbe at the confluence of the Alster and Bille, it has many lovely parks and inner-city lakes that draw its active residents to the water. Relax on an evening boat cruise or rent a bike and navigate this bustling city like many of the locals do. The city's famous canals and old brick warehouses that still house merchants selling rugs and other wares are a maze of history worth exploring.
Be sure to visit the churches where C.P.E. Bach served as music director, including St. Katherin's and the shining St. Michael's. Originally built in 1750, St. Michael's suffered during the war and several fires. Now restored to its former glory, the church has five organs, including a magnificent 6,674-pipe organ that has an interesting hidden "echo" organ in the rafters. After C.P.E. Bach died, his body was buried in the vaulted cellar under a simple sandstone slab.
Nancy Olesin is arts & entertainment editor of GateHouse Media New England. She can be reached at nolesin@wickedlocal.com or 508-626-4446.
If you go:
German National Tourist Office: www.germany.travel
CPE Bach 1714 events: cpebach.de/en
Leipzig: www.leipzig2015.de
Hamburg: english.hamburg.de
Weimar: www.weimar.de/en. Thuringia Bachweeks, www.thueringer-bachwochen.de
Getting There: Lufthansa has direct flights from Boston to Frankfurt, with convenient connections to Hamburg and other German cities. www.lufthansa.com
Deutsche Bahn has quiet, fast, clean and convenient trains between most cities and towns. www.bahn.com