Lecture report
Title: The Bach dynasty throughout its music
Duration: 3 lectures one hour each.
When mentioning the name Bach, it is the image of Johann Sebastian which comes to mind. The lecture focuses on the fact that, notwithstanding, the Bachs were a dynasty that flourished mostly in Thuringia for about three hundred years from 1520. Within this dynasty we find an important pleiad of outstanding musicians who were active before Johann Sebastian, and of whom a full wealth of vocal and instrumental music is extant. We assume, however, that Johann Sebastian represents the summing-up in music craftmanship and topmost accomplished composer of the dynasty.
The goal of the lecture cycle is to showcase the history of the Bach dynasty through the music composed by its most outstanding musician members. The lecture is a cycle divided in three sessions. Each session is focused on one of the three branches that surged from the dynasty. Hence, lecture 1 shows the onset of the dynasty from 1520, and then focus on Johann Bach (1604-1673) and the Erfurt branch. Lecture 2 develops the Arnstadt branch from Heinrich Bach (1615-1692) with special focus on Johann Christoph (1642-1703), his brother Johann Michael (1648-1694), and the former’s elder son Johann Nikolaus (1669-1753). Lecture 3 is devoted to the Eisenach branch from Christoph Bach (1613-1661), featuring Georg Christoph (1642-1697), his elder son, and the latter’s offspring up to his grandson Johann Elias (1705-1755), who formed the Franconian branch; and then the twins Johann Christoph (1645-1693) and Johann Ambrosius (1645-1694), the latter bearing the merit of being Johann Sebastian’s father. In the end, a glance to the Meiningen branch is made through the figure of Johann Ludwig Bach (1677-1731).
The lectures are illustrated by iconography of the regions of Thuringia and Franconia, the area where the dynasty developed. The digital image of the Ursprung (genealogy) on Johann Sebastian Bach’s own script, together with the Emmertsche Tafel (from Schweinfurt, Franconia) are closely analysed. Musical examples of the extant vocal and instrumental works of each member of the dynasty approached, complete the illustrative contents of the lectures.
Presentations
Date: 2019, September 9th, 10th and 12th
September 9th: Erfurt Branch
September 10th: Arnstadt Branch
September 12th: Eisenach Branch
Location: Theology Institute, La Plata, Argentina
Flyer:
sesquialteramusic 