The descriptions in such biographical articles were nearly exclusively based on the 'Nekrolog', often copied with errors. Other 18th century biographical material įor the remainder of the century short biographies of the composer appeared in reference works like Johann Adam Hiller's Lebensbeschreibungen berühmter Musikgelehrten und Tonkünstler neurer Zeit, Ernst Ludwig Gerber's Historisch-biographisches Lexikon der Tonkünstler and Friedrich Carl Gottlieb Hirsching's Historisch-literarisches Handbuch. With less than 20 pages it is the most comprehensive 18th-century publication on the composer's life. Bach's obituary īach's 'Nekrolog' was published in 1754 in the fourth volume of Mizler's Musikalische Bibliothek. Bach's entry in Johann Gottfried Walther's 1732 Lexikon is a rare exception in giving biographical information on the composer. Ĭontemporary publications, like Johann Mattheson's Beschützte Orchestre, Johann Adolph Scheibe's Critischer Musicus and Lorenz Christoph Mizler's Musikalische Bibliothek, rather write about Bach's music than about his life. Other contemporary sources include archived reports, like those of the decisions of the Leipzig city council. There are however some letters by the composer in which he gives autobiographical detail, including the letter he wrote in 1730 to Georg Erdmann, and the letter he had joined to the score of his Mass for the Dresden court in 1733. There is little biographical material to be found in the compositions published during his lifetime: the glimpse perceived from the dedication of The Musical Offering to Frederick the Great being a small exception. He declined Johann Mattheson's invitation to write an autobiographical sketch for inclusion in the Ehrenpforte. No writings by Johann Sebastian Bach were published during his lifetime. Little was published about Bach's life in the 18th century, his 'Nekrolog' (obituary) being the most extended biographical note about the composer's life.Ĭontemporary biographical sources

The 1754 last volume of the Musikalische Bibliothek (IV, 1) contained Bach's obituary. Its fourth part (first published in April 1738) contained an article defending Bach's art against the criticism Johann Adolph Scheibe had published in May 1737. Title page of the first volume of Mizler's Musikalische Bibliothek (1739).

Wolff bach