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III) Beethoven’s Transcriptions and Studies on the Works of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach

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Ludwig van Beethoven – Transcriptions and Studies on the Works of Wilhelm Friedmann Bach

List of transcriptions and studies that Beethoven made of the works of Wilhelm Friedmann Bach (1710 – 1784)

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach: A Life Between Genius and Misfortune

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, born on 22 November 1710 in Weimar, was the eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach and his first wife, Maria Barbara. From the very beginning, he was singled out as the most gifted of the Bach children. His father, who was both a stern teacher and a visionary musician, invested enormous energy in his training. The Clavier-Büchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, compiled by J.S. Bach in 1720, stands as a testament to this dedication: a carefully designed pedagogical notebook that guided the boy through the intricacies of keyboard technique, counterpoint, and composition.

As a youth, Wilhelm Friedemann studied at the St. Thomas School in Leipzig, where his father was Cantor, and later pursued studies in law, philosophy, and mathematics at the University of Leipzig. This broad education gave him a cultivated mind, but music remained his true calling. By his early twenties, he had already acquired a reputation as a brilliant organist and improviser, capable of dazzling audiences with spontaneous fugues and elaborate fantasies.

In 1733, he was appointed organist of the Sophienkirche in Dresden, a prestigious post that allowed him to display his virtuosity. His improvisations became legendary, and contemporaries spoke of his ability to weave complex counterpoint with an almost effortless fluency. Yet, despite his fame as a performer, he was restless and ambitious. In 1746, he accepted a new position as organist at the Liebfrauenkirche in Halle, where he remained for nearly two decades.

It was in Halle that his difficulties began to surface. Wilhelm Friedemann was a man of uncompromising independence, unwilling to bend to the expectations of church authorities or civic patrons. His temperament, combined with a certain disdain for bureaucratic routine, led to repeated conflicts. Eventually, in 1764, he resigned from his post without securing another stable position. From that moment on, his life became increasingly precarious.

Unlike his brother Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, who thrived in the courts of Berlin and Hamburg, Wilhelm Friedemann never found a patron who could support his genius. He drifted between Leipzig, Braunschweig, and Berlin, surviving through teaching, occasional performances, and the sale of manuscripts. Though admired by connoisseurs, he was often regarded as difficult, even unreliable. His refusal to compromise—artistically or personally—isolated him in a world that was beginning to favor the clarity and elegance of the Classical style over the dense expressiveness of the late Baroque.

Musically, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach occupies a fascinating position. His works—keyboard polonaises, fugues, fantasias, symphonies, chamber music, and sacred cantatas—reveal a composer who stood at the crossroads of two eras. On the one hand, he inherited the rigorous counterpoint of his father; on the other, he embraced the Empfindsamer Stil, the “sensitive style” that sought to capture fleeting emotions and sudden contrasts. His music is often daring, unpredictable, and deeply personal, qualities that make it strikingly modern to contemporary ears.

Yet, much of his output remained unpublished during his lifetime, and many works were lost. What survives suggests a composer of extraordinary originality, one who might have achieved far greater recognition had circumstances been kinder.

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach died in Berlin on 1 July 1784, in poverty and relative obscurity. He left behind no secure legacy, no institutional position, and no family to preserve his memory. For decades, his name was overshadowed by those of his brothers and, of course, by the towering figure of his father. Only in the twentieth century did scholars and performers begin to rediscover his music, recognizing in it a voice of rare intensity and individuality.

Today, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach is remembered as both a tragic figure and a musical pioneer


Landsberg Sketchbook 5 page 48

Shedlock 06 – Beethoven’s Chamber Works and Counterpoint Studies (1892)

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Beethoven Sketch Books by By J. S. Shedlock, B.A. On Musical Time (1892 – 1895)

VI) – MUSICAL TIME November 1, 1892

BEETHOVEN’S SKETCH BOOKS.

By J. S. Shedlock, B.A.

(Continued from p. 392.)

CHAMBER MUSIC, &c.

Of the two Sonatas for pianoforte and violoncello (Op. 5), No. 1 in F is only represented by the opening bars of the principal theme of the Allegro:—

with the second bar in the form in which it appears at the commencement of the development section; also—

and other rough memoranda which indicate that Beethoven was working at the first movement. Of the Sonata in G minor (No. 2) there is more to be said. There is a long sketch of a piece, apparently for pianoforte and some stringed instrument, in which occurs the following—

The piece was never finished, and from these and other passages we may perhaps consider the G minor Sonata indirectly evolved from it. The opening phrase in the major key of this sketch presents, indeed, a foreshadowing of the Trip of the third movement of Beethoven’s Symphony in A, for it commences—

and a little farther on we have

which certainly recalls the prominent horn passage in the same movement.

On another sheet there are actual sketches for the first movement of the G minor Sonata, and from their close resemblance to the printed version the work must have been already far advanced. For a well-known passage in the Coda Beethoven, however, writes—

followed by

not one of which represents the master’s latest word; this was how he tried, tried, and tried again. In chapter 46 of his “ Zweite Beethoveniana ” Nottebohm describes two sketch books of the years 1798 and 1799, both of which are of importance in connec­tion with the history of the origin of the Quartets (Op. 18). In the second of these books (formerly in in the possession of Aloys Fuchs, afterwards in that of F. A. Grasnick) there are sketches of the first, second, and last movements of the Quartet in A (Op. 18v No. 5). Nottebohm also informs us that some sheets of that sketch book are missing. The half sheet marked 152 in our Notirungsbuch may very possibly be one of those missing sheets: On it we find variation 3 of the Andante indicated thus—

and variation 5 thus—

Then there is a long sketch of the Finale almost down to the double bar, with the second subject in E presented in a somewhat different version from the printed one—

By the way, the resemblance of this theme to the one in A flat in the Rondo of the Sonata pathetiquc is striking. Beethoven was engaged in writing both works at about the same period. Of another work, the Septet which also then engaged his attention, we seem to catch a glimpse in the following—

 

Those three up-beat quavers are in the Sonata Quartet, and Septet themes—

In other cases it will also be found interesting to compare works composed at the same time, and to note certain outward resemblances of figure and theme; but to thi» attention has already been called. See, for instance, the Sonata (Op. 53) and the Quartet in B minor (Op. 59, No. 2). On sheet 81 there is a long sketch of the Andante of the Pianoforte Quintet in E flat. (Op. 16), which was played by. Beethoven at Vienna on April 2, 1798. The theme is given, but in less ornate fashion than the printed version—

The form of the oboe solo passage seems to have been, for a time, uncertain. We have –

and at the tpo of the page, probably an afterthought –

The bars leading to the second antry of the theme on the pianoforte are written somewhat à la Listz, thus –

and so, with certain differences, the sketch (which occupies a whole page) goes clown to the very last bar of the movement. In the other side of the page is a fairly long sketch of a movement in E with the superscription Symphonies. In another part of  the Notirungsbuch, and on similar paper to the above, is the second subject of the Rondo of this Quintet—

The Notirungsbuch contains the Minuetto and Trio of the Sextet [Op. 71), written out in score; on another sheet there are a few bars relating to the Finale of this work. Mention has been made in these articles of fugue themes and of fugal work, relating evidently to the days when Beethoven was being initiated into the mysteries of counterpoint by his teacher, Albrechsberger, but to our previous remarks and illustrations one or two additions of interest maybe made. On the first page of a half sheet (marked 45) the first eight bars of Handel’s great Fugue in G minor—

are written down. Why Beethoven wrote thus much and no more it is, of course, impossible to say. The eighth bar, with a plain bar-stroke, is immediately followed by a scale passage in 6-8 time. This is not the only bit of Handel to be found In the sketch books. In one there is the commencement of “I know that my Redeemer liveth,” written down in a sort of score-sketch (for flute, clarinet, and bassoon). Among a lot of short sketches we come across the following light Canonsc imitation—

and on another sheet the two following canons in the unison—

On page 158 there is an interesting  fugue à quatre of thirty-eight bars on tlie following theme—

From the Notirungsbuch, as of old from the enchanted gardens of Armida, it is indeed difficult to escape, though our subject-matter is by no means exhausted. On many a page are unfinished sketches which tempt one to pause and speculate as to what they were or what they might have become; there are mysterious notes, reminding one of the eccentricity and genius displayed by Turner ih some of his drawings, and’tempting one to unravel their secrets; and there are mystic signs, like the hand­writing on the wall, but, alas! without a Daniel to decipher them. For the present, however, we must leave’ this magic and fascinating volume. It is to be hoped that the patience of our readers has not been too severely taxed; for it is one thing to gazeon the master’s sketches, another thing to describe them. The style of writing, the size or shape of the notes, indicates now care, now impatient haste ; the scratchings out and alterations give, as it were, a reflection of the composer’s processes of thought; the colour of the notes (in pencil, black or red ink) suggests varying degrees of meaning; and finally the juxtaposition of sketches differing in key and character, and the confusion which reigns supreme on many a page, present almost a photograph of the vivid workings of the master’s brain. Without a sight of all these things even the most interesting of the sketches quoted lose much of their life and importance; they bear a relation to the autograph sketches somewhat similar, perhaps, to that which the handmarks themselves of Beethoven bore to the thoughts by which he was possessed when he penned them. In our concluding article next month we shall speak about the birth of a Symphony—-viz., the “ Pastoral.”

(To be concluded.)

XIII) Beethoven’s Transcriptions and Studies on the Works of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

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Ludwig van Beethoven – Transcriptions and Studies on Palestrina’s Works

List of transcriptions and studies that Beethoven made of the works of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525? – 1594)

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (Palestrina, 1525 ca. – Roma, 2 febbraio 1594)

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c.1525–1594) was the towering master of Renaissance sacred polyphony, whose music came to symbolize the ideals of the Catholic Counter-Reformation.

Giovanni Pierluigi was born around 1525 in the town of Palestrina, near Rome. The exact year of his birth is uncertain, but archival documents confirm his family background: his father was Sante Pierluigi, and his mother Palma Veccia. As a boy he sang in the local cathedral of Sant’Agapito and later in the choir of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, one of the city’s great basilicas. This early immersion in liturgical music shaped his lifelong devotion to sacred composition.

In 1544, Palestrina returned to his hometown as organist of the cathedral of Sant’Agapito. Three years later he married Lucrezia Gori, with whom he had three sons. His fortunes changed dramatically in 1551, when he was appointed maestro di cappella of the Cappella Giulia at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. This prestigious post placed him at the heart of papal musical life.

Palestrina’s career was closely tied to the papal court. In 1555, Pope Julius III, who had been bishop of Palestrina, appointed him to the Sistine Chapel Choir. However, his tenure was short-lived: Pope Paul IV enforced stricter rules requiring celibacy among singers, and Palestrina, being married, was dismissed. Despite this setback, he quickly found new positions at St. John Lateran and later at Santa Maria Maggiore, two of Rome’s most important churches.

By the 1570s he was again associated with St. Peter’s, and in 1571 he became permanent maestro of the Cappella Giulia, a role he held until his death. Over the decades he also worked for powerful Roman families, including the Borghese and the Medici, composing music for their chapels and ceremonies.

Palestrina’s reputation rests on his over 100 Masses, alongside hundreds of motets, hymns, Magnificats, and other liturgical works. His style is characterized by clarity of text setting, smooth melodic lines, and balanced polyphony. Unlike some of his predecessors, who favored dense counterpoint, Palestrina achieved a transparent texture in which the sacred words could be clearly understood—an ideal promoted by the Council of Trent during the Catholic Counter-Reformation. The most famous example is the Missa Papae Marcelli (Pope Marcellus Mass), composed around 1562. According to later legend, this Mass “saved polyphony” by convincing the Council of Trent that elaborate choral music could still serve the clarity of the liturgy. While the story is partly apocryphal, the Mass remains a masterpiece of Renaissance sacred music. Palestrina also wrote secular madrigals early in his career, but after the death of his wife in 1580 he devoted himself almost entirely to sacred music. He even considered entering the priesthood, though he ultimately remained a lay musician.

In his final years, Palestrina enjoyed great prestige. He was sought after as a teacher, advisor, and composer for the papal chapel and Roman nobility. His music was published widely, ensuring his fame across Europe. He died in Rome on 2 February 1594, and was buried in St. Peter’s Basilica, a rare honor that reflected his status as the musical voice of the Roman Church.

Palestrina’s influence was immense. For centuries, his works were studied as the model of perfect counterpoint, and his name became synonymous with the “pure” style of Renaissance polyphony. Composers from Bach to Mozart and beyond admired his mastery. Even today, students of composition often begin their study of counterpoint with the “Palestrina style.”

Beethoven copied Palestrina’s works in his later years: the first

1 – Magnificat in Tertii toni, presumably in 1819, with a modern transcription in Fišman/Beethoveniana, Plate VIIb

2 – Motet “Pueri Hebraerorum”, early 1826, and the autograph is preserved in Vienna, S.155.

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