Anna Magdalena Bach (née Wilcke or Wilcken) (22 September 1701 – 22 February 1760) was the second wife of Johann Sebastian Bach.
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Biography
She was born at Zeitz, in Saxony, to a musical family. Her father, Johann Caspar Wilcke, was a trumpet player, and her mother, Margaretha Elisabeth Liebe, was the daughter of an organist. While little is known about her early musical education, she was employed as a singer by 1721, and likely had already known Bach for some time.
Johann S. Bach married Anna December 3, 1721, seventeen months after his first wife Maria Barbara Bach had died. Together they had thirteen children during the period between 1723 and 1742, seven of whom died at a young age:
- Christiana Sophia Henrietta (* 1723; † 1726)
- Gottfried Heinrich (* 1724; † 1763)
- Christian Gottlieb (* 1725; † 1728)
- Elisabeth Juliana Friederica, called "Liesgen" (* 1726; † 1781)
- Ernestus Andreas (* 1727; † 1727)
- Regina Johanna (* 1728; † 1733)
- Christiana Benedicta (* 1729; † 1730)
- Christiana Dorothea (* 1731; † 1732)
- Johann Christoph Friedrich, the 'Bückeburg' Bach (* 1732; † 1795)
- Johann August Abraham (* 1733; † 1733)
- Johann Christian, the 'London' Bach (* 1735; † 1782)
- Johanna Carolina (* 1737; † 1781)
- Regina Susanna (* 1742; † 1809)
Their marriage was a happy one to which their common interest in music contributed. Johann Sebastian wrote a number of compositions dedicated to her, most notably the two Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach. She regularly helped him transcribe his music.[2]
During the Bach family's time in Leipzig Anna Magdalena organized regular musical evenings featuring the whole family playing and singing together with visiting friends. The Bach house became a musical centrum in Leipzig.
After Bach's death in 1750, his sons came into conflict and moved on their separate ways. This left Anna Magdalena living alone with her two youngest daughters and her stepdaughter from her husband's first marriage. While they remained loyal to her, nobody else in the family helped economically[3]. Anna Magdalena became increasingly dependent upon charity and handouts from the city council. She died on 27 February 1760. She was buried in an unmarked pauper's grave at Leipzig's Johanniskirche (St. John's Church). The church was destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II.
A possible composer
Recently, it has been suggested that Anna Magdalena Bach composed several musical pieces bearing her husband's name[4]. Associate Professor Martin Jarvis of the School of Music at Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia, claims that she wrote the famed six cello suites (BWV 1007–1012), and was involved with the composition of the aria from the Goldberg Variations (BWV 988).[5], the claim which is dismissed more recently by Yo Tomita.[6]
Biographical sources
- Geiringer, Karl (1958) Die Musikerfamilie Bach: Leben und Wirken in drei Jahrhunderten. Unter Mitarbeit von Irene Geiringer. München. Beck. ISBN 3406069851
Her fictive autobiography "The Little Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach" was written in 1925 by the English author Esther Meynell[7]. This sentimental narration of the family life of Bach is not based on any sources and is probably far from the personality of Anna Magdalena Bach.
A compilation of material about Anna Magdalena Bach has been published by Maria Hübner in 2005, "Anna Magdalena Bach. Ein Leben in Dokumenten und Bildern", completed by a biographical Essay of Hans-Joachim Schulze.[8]
See also
- Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach
- The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach – a Straub-Huillet film about Johann Sebastian and Anna Magdalena Bach
Notes and references
- ^ Art historian and Bach portrait expert Teri Noel Towe believes there is a chance that the two people shown may be Bach and his wife Anna Magdalena: http://www.npj.com/thefaceofbach/QCL12.html
- ^ Anna Magdalena Bach as copyist: discussions on Bach-cantatas.com
- ^ Koch-Kanz, Swantje & Luise F. Pusch (1988) "Die Töchter von Johann Sebastian Bach", in: Pusch, Luise F. Hg. 1988. Töchter berühmter Männer: Neun biographische Portraits. Frankfurt/M. Insel TB 979. S. 117-154. ISBN 3458326790
- ^ Bach works were written by his second wife, claims academic. The Telegraph, 22 April 2006
- ^ Scholar says Bach's wife may have composed some of his work, CBC news, 25 April 2006
- ^ [1] 'Anna Magdalena as Bach’s Copyist', Understanding Bach 2 (2007)
- ^ Meynell, Esther (1925) "The Little Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach" Reprinted 2007 by Library Reprints ISBN 1422742024
- ^ Maria Hübner (ed.) (2004). Anna Magdalena Bach - Ein Leben in Dokumenten und Bilder. Including a biographical essay by Hans-Joachim Schulze. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig, 2004. ISBN 3-374-02208-1
External links
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