Bach and Telemann: Friends of the Family
PBO’s November concert theme of “Father vs. Son” prompted a closer look at the families into which Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Philipp Telemann were born. A fuller understanding of Bach’s and Telemann’s relationships to their respective families may give insight into their creative development. And, what different families they were! Georg Philipp Telemann was born in 1681 to a respected family of Magdeburg. In the year of Bach’s birth (1685), the death of Telemann’s father left four-year-old Georg surrounded by a family that would prove unsupportive of his musical life. The budding musical talents of young Telemann were evident, but developed largely through self-education. His interest in composition ran parallel to his ability to perform on several instruments. Counter to his family’s intention that he become a lawyer, Telemann launched his musical career while a university student in Leipzig.
In contrast, Johann Sebastian Bach’s musical family was a legend in its own time. This dynasty of professional town and church musicians grew in the conservative Lutheran soil of Thuringia. Under the shadow of Wartburg Castle, where Martin Luther had translated the New Testament, generations of the Bach family had passed down musical talents and training. By the age of ten, Johann Sebastian was orphaned by the deaths of his mother and father. Johann Sebastian and a younger brother were placed in the care of their older brother, Johann Christoph. Through the tutelage of his organist brother, Johann Sebastian’s musical world expanded to include lineages beginning with Pachelbel— Johann Christoph’s teacher—as well as Kerll, Froberger, Böhm, and Buxtehude. From beyond Germany, the works of Lully, Marchand, Frescobaldi, and others became known through manuscript scores. Bach’s and Telemann’s paths crossed in Leipzig, where Telemann founded the Collegium Musicum later directed by Bach during his time as Thomaskantor. Their friendship is best evidenced by Johann Sebastian’s having Georg Philipp stand as godfather and namesake for Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.
Despite dissimilar familial attitudes toward music, these two musical masters shared certain aspects of humanity. Both were fathers to large families, each remarrying after the death of his first wife. Telemann’s first wife, Amalie Louise, died after the birth of their daughter. His second marriage produced nine children, but proved so stormy that Georg and “seconda” Maria Catharina eventually lived apart. In sharp contrast, Bach’s marriage to Maria Barbara brought seven children into a loving home before she died in 1720. Three infants did not reach adulthood, but their firstborn, Catharina Dorothea (1708-1774), began a century of sibling lives that extended until the death of Regina Susanna in 1809. The sons of Johann Sebastian and Maria Barbara are well known: Wilhelm Friedemann, Carl Philipp Emanuel, and the troubled Johann Gottfried Bernhard.
Bach’s second marriage to Anna Magdalena gave the world not only the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, but also seven surviving children from thirteen births. Johann Christoph Friedrich and Johann Christian became successful musicians. Gottfried Heinrich, Elisabeth Juliane Friederica, Johanna Carolina, and Regina Susanna are not identified as musicians. Yet, along with the Telemann siblings, all were witnesses to the remarkable talents and creativity of families who expressed themselves in music of perennial power.
EVENT:
Experience Father vs Son: Two Bachs & Two Harpsichord
Truncated All Ages Concert
November 15, 2025 | 2:00 PM
Sanctuary Hall at First Congregational
1126 SW Park Ave. Portland, OR 97205
Tickets still available
November 15, 2025 | 7:00 PM
Sanctuary Hall at First Congregational
1126 SW Park Ave. Portland, OR 97205
Tickets still available
November 16, 2024 | 3:00 PM
Kaul Auditorium
3017 SE Woodstock Blvd
Portland, OR 97202
Tickets still available
Subscribers get the best seats and prices.
Get tickets to any of this season’s concerts!