CHAPTER VII. BACH AS A TEACHER

It not infrequently happens that talented composers and players are incapable of imparting their skill to others. Either they have never troubled to probe the mechanism of their own facility, or, through the excellence of their instructors, have taken the short cut to proficiency and allowed their teacher and not their own judgment to decide how a thing should be done. Such people are useless to instruct beginners. True, they may succeed in teaching the rudiments of technique, assuming that they have been properly taught themselves. But they are certainly unqualified to teach in the full sense of the word. There is, in fact, only one way to become a good teacher, and that is to have gone through the discipline of self-instruction, a path along which the beginner may go astray a thousand times before attaining to perfection. For it is just this stumbling effort that reveals the dimensions of the art. The man who has adventured it learns the obstacles that obstruct his path, and how to surmount them. To be sure, it is a lengthy method. But if a man [pg 93] has patience to persevere he will reap a sure reward after an alluring pilgrimage. No musician ever founded a school of his own who has not followed such a course, and to his experience his teaching has owed its distinctive character.

This is so with Bach, who, only gradually discovering his full stature, was thirty years old before unremitting application raised him above the difficulties of his art. But he reaped his reward. Self-discipline set him on the fairest and most alluring path that it has ever been given to a musician to tread.

To teach well a man needs to have a full mind. He must have discovered how to meet and have overcome the obstacles in his own path before he can be successful in teaching others how to avoid them. Bach united both qualities. Hence, as a teacher he was the most instructive, clear, and definite that has ever been. In every branch of his art he produced a band of pupils who followed in his footsteps, without, however, equalling his achievement.

First of all let me show how he taught the Clavier.173 To begin with, his pupils were made to acquire the special touch of which I have already spoken.174 To that end for months together he made them practise nothing but simple exercises [pg 94] for the fingers of both hands, at the same time emphasising the need for clearness and distinctness. He kept them at these exercises for from six to twelve months, unless he found his pupils losing heart, in which case he so far met them as to write short studies which incorporated a particular exercise. Of this kind are the Six Little Preludes for Beginners,175 and the Fifteen Two-part Inventions,176 both of which Bach wrote during the lesson for a particular pupil and afterwards improved into beautiful and expressive compositions. Besides this finger practice, either in regular exercises or in pieces composed for the purpose, Bach introduced his pupils to the use of the various ornaments in both hands.

Not until this stage was reached did Bach allow his pupils to practise his own larger works, so admirably calculated, as he knew, to develop their powers. In order to lessen their difficulty, it was his excellent habit to play over to them the pieces they were to study, with the remark, “That's how it ought to sound.”177 It would be difficult to exaggerate the helpfulness of this method. The pupil's interest was roused by hearing the piece properly played. But that was not [pg 95] the sole result. Without the help thus given the pupil could only hope to overcome the difficulties of the piece after considerable effort, and would find it much less easy to realise a proper rendering of it. As it was, he received at once an ideal to aim at and was taught how to surmount the difficulties the piece presented. Many a young performer, still imperfect after a year's practice, probably would master his music in a month if he once had it played over to him.

Bach's method of teaching composition was equally sure and effective.178 He did not begin with the dry details of counterpoint, as was the custom of other teachers in his day. Still less did he burden his pupils with the physical properties of sound, which he held to be matter for the theorist and instrument-maker rather than the composer. He started them off at once on four-part harmony over a figured Bass, making his pupils write each part on a separate stave in order to impress on them the need for accurate harmonic progression. Then he passed to Hymn tunes, setting the Bass himself and making his pupils write the Tenor and Alto parts. In time he let them write the Bass also. He insisted on correct harmony and on each part having a real melodic line. Every musician knows what models [pg 96] Bach has left us in this form. The inner parts of his four-part Hymn-tunes are so smooth and melodious that often they might be taken for the melody. He made his pupils aim at similar tunefulness, and until they showed a high standard of merit did not permit them to write compositions of their own. Meanwhile he aimed at cultivating their feeling for pure harmony and for the order and connection of ideas and parts by familiarising them with the compositions of others. Until they had acquired facility in those qualities he neither permitted them nor held them competent to put pen to paper.

Bach required his pupils in composition to work out their musical ideas mentally. If any of them lacked this faculty he admonished him not to compose and discountenanced even his sons from attempting to write until they had first given evidence of genuine musical gifts. Having completed their elementary study of harmony, Bach took his pupils on to the theory of Fugue, beginning with two-part writing. In these and other exercises he insisted on the pupil composing away from the Clavier.179 Those who did otherwise he ridiculed as “Harpsichord Knights.” In the second place he required rigorous attention to each part and its relation to the concurrent parts, permitting none, not even an inner one, to break off before it had finished what it had to say. He insisted upon a correct relation between each note and its predecessor. If he came upon one whose derivation or destination was not perfectly clear he struck it out as faulty. It is, indeed, a meticulous exactitude in each individual part that makes [pg 98] Bach's harmony really multiple melody. Confused part-writing, where a note that belongs to the Tenor is given to the Alto, or vice versa, or the haphazard addition of extraneous parts to a chord which suddenly shows an increase of notes as if fallen from the sky, to vanish as suddenly as they came, are faults found neither in his own nor his pupils' writing. He regarded his musical parts as so many persons engaged in conversation. If there are three, each of them on occasion may be silent and listen to the others until it finds something relevant to say itself. But if, at an interesting point of the conversation, an interloping voice intervened, Bach regarded it as an intruder and let his pupils understand that it could not be admitted.

Notwithstanding his strictness on this point, Bach allowed his pupils considerable licence in other respects. In their use of certain intervals, as in their treatment of harmony and melody, he let them experiment within the limits of their ability, taking care to discountenance ugliness and to insist on their giving appropriate expression to the character of the composition. Beauty of expression, he postulated, was only attainable on a foundation of pure and accurate harmony. Having experimented in every form himself, he liked to see his pupils equally adventurous. Earlier teachers of composition, for instance, Berardi,180 [pg 99] Buononcini,181 and Fux,182 did not allow such liberty. They were afraid to trust their pupils to encounter difficulties, and short-sightedly prevented them from learning how to overcome them. Bach's system was wiser, for it took his pupils farther, since he did not limit their attention, as his predecessors did, to the harmonic structure, but extended it to the qualities that constitute good writing, namely, consistency of expression, variety of style, rhythm, and melody. Those who would acquaint themselves with Bach's method of teaching composition will find it fully set forth in Kirnberger's Correct Art of Composition.183

As long as his pupils were under his instruction Bach did not allow them to study any but his own works and the classics. The critical sense, which permits a man to distinguish good from bad, develops later than the aesthetic faculty and may be blunted and even destroyed by frequent contact with bad music. The best way to instruct youth is to accustom it early to consort with the best models. Time brings experience and an instructed judgment to confirm the pupil's early attraction to works of true art.

[pg 100]

Under this admirable method of teaching all Bach's pupils became distinguished musicians, some more so than others, according as they came early or late under his influence, and had opportunity and encouragement to perfect and apply the instruction they received from him. His two eldest sons, Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emmanuel, were his most distinguished pupils, not because he gave them better instruction than the rest, but because from their earliest youth they were brought up amid good music at home. Even before they began their lessons they knew what was good. On the other hand, others, before they became Bach's pupils, either had heard no good music or their taste had been already vitiated by contact with bad. It at least attests the excellence of Bach's method that even his pupils thus handicapped took high rank in their profession and distinguished themselves in one or other of its branches.184

Bach's first pupil was JOHANN CASPAR VOGLER, who received instruction from him in his early days at Amstadt and Weimar and, on Bach's testimony, was an exceedingly able player. He became organist, and later burgomaster, at Weimar, retaining his professional position. Some Choral [pg 101] Preludes by him for a two-manualed Organ with pedals were engraved about 1737.185

Other pupils of Bach who became famous were:

	1. HOMILIUS, of Dresden. He was not only an excellent organist but a distinguished composer of church music as well.186
	2. TRANSCHEL, of Dresden. He was a fine musician and performer on the Clavier. There exist in MS. six Polonaises by him which perhaps are superior to those of any composer but Wilhelm Friedemann Bach.187
	3. GOLDBERG, of Königsberg. He was a very finished player on the Clavier, but without any marked talent for composition.188
	4. KREBS, Organist at Altenburg. He was not only a player of the first rank, but also a prolific composer for the Organ, Clavier, and of church music. He was fortunate in having Bach's instruction for nine years.189
	5. ALTNIKOL, Organist at Naumburg. He was Bach's son-in-law and is said to have been a very competent player and composer.190
	6. AGRICOLA, Court Composer at Berlin.191 He is less known as a composer than as a theorist. He translated Tosi's192 II canto figurato from Italian into German and provided the work with an instructive commentary.
	7. MÜTHEL, of Riga. He was a good Clavier player and wrote for that instrument. His Sonatas and a Duet for two Claviers attest his ability as a composer.193
	8. KIRNBERGER,194 Court Musician at Berlin to the Princess Amalia of Prussia.195 He was one of the most distinguished of Bach's pupils, full of genuine enthusiasm for his art and eager to assure its interests. Besides his exposition of Bach's system of teaching composition, we are indebted to him for the first logical treatise on harmony, in which he sets forth his master's teaching and [pg 103] practice. The first work is entitled Kunst des reinen Satzes, and the second, Wahre Grundsätze zum Gebrauch der Harmonie.196 He served the interests of his art also by other writings and compositions, and was an excellent teacher. The Princess Amalia was his pupil.
	9. KITTEL, Organist at Erfurt. He is a sound, though not a finished, player, and is distinguished as a composer by several Organ Trios, so excellent that Bach himself might have written them. He is the sole survivor (1802) of Bach's pupils.197
	10. VOIGT, of Anspach,198 and an organist named SCHUBART199 were mentioned to me by Carl Philipp Emmanuel as having been Bach's pupils. He knew nothing about them except that they entered his father's house after he left it.200

[pg 104]

I have said already that Bach's sons were his most distinguished pupils. The eldest, WILHELM FRIEDEMANN BACH, came nearest to his father in the originality of his genius. His melodies have quite a different character from those of other composers. They are exceedingly clever, elegant, and spontaneous. When performed with delicacy, as he played them, they cannot fail to charm every hearer. It is greatly to be regretted that he preferred to follow his fancy in extemporisation and to expend his genius on fugitive thoughts rather than to work them out on paper. The number of his compositions therefore is small, but all are beautiful.

CARL PHILIPP EMMANUEL BACH, who comes next, went out into the world sufficiently early to discover that it is a good thing for a composer to have a large public behind him. Hence, in the clearness and easy intelligibility of his compositions, he approaches the popular style, though he scrupulously avoids the commonplace.201 Both he and his elder brother admitted that they were [pg 105] driven to adopt a style of their own by the wish to avoid comparison with their incomparable father.

JOHANN CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH BACH, Concertmeister at the Court of Bückeburg, imitated Carl Philipp's style, but was not his equal. According to Wilhelm Friedemann, he was the best player among the brothers, and the most effective performer of their father's Clavier compositions.

JOHANN CHRISTIAN BACH, called “Bach of Milan,” and afterwards “Bach of London,” was the youngest son of Bach's second marriage and of too tender an age when his father died ever to have had lessons from him. Hence, perhaps, the absence of Bach's style in his music. He was, in fact, a popular composer universally admired in his day.202

CHAPTER VIII. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

Distinguished as a player, composer, and teacher, Bach was also an indulgent father, a good friend, and a loyal citizen. His paternal devotion is shown by his care for his children's education, and he was equally assiduous in the performance of his civil and social duties. His acquaintance was agreeable to everybody. Every lover of music, whatever his nationality, was sure of a friendly reception at his house, and his sociability and reputation caused him to be seldom without visitors.

As an artist Bach was exceptionally modest. Notwithstanding his pre-eminence in his profession, a superiority of which he could not but be conscious, and in spite of the admiration and respect daily shown him, he never gave himself airs. If he was asked the secret of his mastership he would answer, “I was made to work; if you are equally industrious you will be equally successful,”203 a [pg 107] remark which made no allowance for his own exceptional genius. His opinion of other composers and their work was invariably fair and generous. Naturally, much of their work struck him as somewhat trivial, viewed from his own altitude. But he never uttered a harsh criticism, unless it were to a pupil, to whom he held himself bound to say what he thought. Still less did he presume on his acknowledged superiority to indulge in braggadocio, as often happens with performers brought into touch with those whom they regard as their inferiors. Herein Bach's modesty went so far that he never spoke voluntarily of his frustrated contest with Marchand, though the latter was the challenger.204 Many absurd stories are told of Bach; for instance that, dressed up as a village schoolmaster, he liked to enter a church and ask the organist to let him play a Choral, in order to enjoy the astonishment excited by his playing, or to hear the Organist declare, “This must be Bach or the Devil.”205 He always ridiculed such stories, and indeed had too much respect for his art to make it cloak his vanity.

[pg 108]

At musical parties where Quartet or other instrumental music was performed, Bach liked to play the Viola, an instrument which put him, as it were, in the middle of the harmony in a position from which he could hear and enjoy it on both sides. On those occasions he would sometimes join in a Trio or other piece on the Harpsichord. If he was in the mood and the composer was agreeable, he would, as has been told already, extemporise a new Trio from the Continuo part, or, adding a new part, convert the Trio into a Quartet. But these were the only occasions on which he was ready to display his great powers before others. One Hurlebusch, of Brunswick,206 a conceited and arrogant Clavier player, once visited Bach at Leipzig, not to hear him play, but to play to him. Bach received him politely and listened patiently to his very indifferent performance. On taking leave Hurlebusch made Bach's eldest sons a present of his published Sonatas, exhorting them to study them diligently. Bach, knowing the kind of music his sons were wont to play, smiled at Hurlebusch's naïveté but did not permit him to suspect his amusement.207

Bach was fond of listening to the music of other composers. If he and one of his elder sons [pg 109] happened to be in church when a Fugue was played, directly the subject had been stated he always pointed out how it ought to be developed. If the composer knew his business and fulfilled Bach's anticipations, he was pleased and nudged his son to draw his attention to the fact. Is this not evidence of his impartial interest in other people's compositions?

I have mentioned already the composers whom in his youth Bach esteemed, loved, and studied. Later, when experience ripened his critical faculty, he had other favourites, among them Imperial Kapellmeister Fux, Handel, Caldara,208 Reinhard Keiser, Hasse,209 the two Grauns,210 Telemann,211 Zelenka,212 Benda,213 etc., and, in general, the distinguished musicians at Dresden and Berlin. He was acquainted with all except the first four of those I mention. In his youth Bach was intimate with Telemann.214 He also had a very warm regard [pg 110] for Handel and often expressed a desire to know him. As Handel, like himself, was a famous performer on the Organ and Clavier, many in Leipzig and its neighbourhood wished to bring the two great men together. But Handel, then living in London, never found time for a meeting during the visits he paid to Halle, his native town. On his first visit in 1719, Bach was at Cöthen, only some twenty miles distant. As soon as he was informed of Handel's arrival he lost not a moment in setting out to visit him, but on his arrival found that Handel had returned to England. At the time of Handel's second visit, between 1730 and 1740,215 Bach was prevented from leaving Leipzig by indisposition. But no sooner was he advised of Handel's arrival at Halle than he sent his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann, to beg him to visit Leipzig, an invitation which Handel was unable to accept. In 1752 or 1753, when Handel paid his third visit to Germany,216 Bach was dead. He had always expressed the strongest desire to know Handel, and the Leipzig people were disappointed in their wish to hear the two great men together.

While Hasse was Kapellmeister at Dresden both the Opera and Kapelle flourished. Bach [pg 111] had many friends at Dresden, who held him in high regard. Among them may be mentioned Hasse and his wife, the celebrated Faustina.217 They often visited Leipzig and were admirers of the Cantor's rare talents. Hence, at Dresden he was always received in the most respectful manner and often visited the Opera, generally accompanied by his eldest son. When the time for their journey approached Bach would say in fun, “Well, Friedemann, shall we go to Dresden to hear the pretty tunes218 again?” Innocent as the jest was, I am sure Bach would not have uttered it to any but his son, who already could distinguish between great music and agreeable trifles.

Bach was never in a position to make what is called a brilliant fortune.219 He held a fairly lucrative office, but his income had to maintain and educate a large family. He neither possessed nor sought other means of livelihood, and was too absorbed in his art and work to think of accepting engagements which, in those days, and to a man of his genius, certainly would have brought riches. Had he possessed a taste for travel he would, as even one of his detractors admits, have “drawn [pg 112] upon himself the admiration of the whole world.” But he preferred a quiet domestic life, constant occupation in his work, with contentment and a moderate competence, like his forbears. His modesty, however, did hot prevent him from receiving manifold proofs of regard and affection and marks of honourable distinction. Prince Leopold of Cöthen, Duke Ernst August of Weimar,220 and Duke Christian of Weissenfels, all showed sincere regard for him, which must have been the more agreeable to him seeing that they were all sound judges of music. At Berlin, as at Dresden, he was universally honoured and respected. If we add to these testimonies the fact that he captured the admiration of all who heard him play or were acquainted with his music, then we may be sure that Bach, “singing for himself and the Muses,” received at the hands of Fame the recognition he valued most, and cherished it far more than the trivial honour of a ribbon or gold chain.

I add that, in 1747, Bach became a member of the “Society of the Musical Sciences,” founded by Mizler, only because we owe to the circumstance his admirable Choral Variations on Vom Himmel hoch.221 He presented them to the [pg 113] Society on his admission and they were engraved subsequently.222

CHAPTER IX. BACH'S COMPOSITIONS

To have produced so many great works in all forms of musical expression Bach necessarily must have been a prolific writer. For if a composer be the greatest genius in the world, unless he constantly exercises his art he cannot hope to produce real masterpieces. Superlative excellence is the fruit of indefatigable application. Yet in Bach's case we should be wrong to acclaim as masterpieces all the products of his great activity just because masterpieces at length were the fruit of it. Already in his early compositions we find undeniable evidence of genius. But they are blemished by faults, passages poor in quality, extravagant, insipid, that are hardly worth preserving, though of interest to the student who wishes to trace from its source the development of Bach's genius.

It is not difficult to distinguish with exactitude those of Bach's early compositions which are of the first excellence; for he has been at pains to give us the clue. As he did not publish his first work until he was about forty years [pg 115] old 223 we are justified in assuming the merit of what, at so mature an age, he thought worthy to put into print, and in concluding generally that all his engraved works are of first-rate merit.224

With respect to his unpublished compositions, and they are by far the most numerous, we must in order to distinguish their merit rely partly on a critical examination of their texts, partly on Bach's own judgment. Like all great composers, he was continually working on his compositions with a view to making them still more finished. Indeed, he actually attempted to improve some of them that were already perfect. Any that were susceptible of improvement he improved, even those already engraved. Such is the origin of the variant readings of his works found in older and more recent texts. By constantly retouching his compositions Bach aimed at making them indisputable masterpieces. In this category I place most of what he wrote before the year 1725, as I show in detail in the following catalogue. A great [pg 116] many compositions subsequent to 1725, which for reasons easily understood are still in MS., bear too evidently the stamp of perfection to leave us in doubt whether to class them as early essays or as the finished work of an accomplished master.

The following are those of Bach's works which have been engraved:

	1. Clavierübung, or “Exercises for the Clavier, consisting of Preludes, Allemandes, Courantes, Sarabandes, Gigues, Minuets, etc., for the Diversion of Amateurs. Opus I. Published by the Composer, 1731.” This was Bach's first published work and contains six Suites. The first of them came out in 1726;225 the others followed in successive years until all were engraved together in 1731.226 The work was much noticed at the time. Such compositions for the Clavier had not been seen or heard before, and the man who could play them was sure of a success. Our young players to-day would profit by the study of them, so brilliant, agreeable, expressive, and original are they. In the new edition227 they are entitled, “Exercises for the Clavier.”
	2. Clavierübung, or “Exercises for the Clavier, Part II., consisting of a Concerto in the Italian style and an Overture in the French manner228 for a Clavier with two manuals. Published by Christopher Weigel, Junior, in Nürnberg.”229
	3. Clavierübung, or “Exercises for the Clavier, Part III., consisting of various Organ Preludes to the Catechism and other Hymns, composed for the diversion of amateurs and particularly of competent judges of such works. Published by the Composer.” Besides the Preludes and Fugues for the Organ, all of which are masterly, the book contains four Duetti for the Clavier,230 models of their kind.
	4. Sechs Choräle, or “Six Choral Melodies of different kinds, for an Organ with two manuals and pedal. Zella, in the Thuringian Forest. Published by Johann G. Schübler.”231 They are full of dignity and religious feeling. In some of them, too, we have instances of Bach's original management [pg 118] of the stops.232 Thus, in the second Choral, Wo soll ich fliehen hin, he gives to the first manual an 8 foot, to the second a 16 foot, and to the pedal a 4 foot stop. The pedal has the cantus firmus.233
	5. Clavierübung, or “Exercises for the Clavier, consisting of an Aria with several Variations, for a Clavier with two manuals. Published by Balthasar Schmidt at Nürnberg.”234 This admirable work consists of thirty Variations, some in canon, in a variety of movements and at all intervals from the unison to the ninth, with easy flowing melody. It includes a regular fourpart Fugue,235 several extremely brillant Variations for two Claviers,236 and concludes with a Quodlibet, as it is called, which alone would render its composer immortal, though it is not the best thing in the volume.237 The Variations are models of what such compositions ought to be, though no one has been so rash as to attempt to follow Bach's footsteps. [pg 119] We owe them to Count Kaiserling, formerly Russian Ambassador at the Saxon Electoral Court, who frequently visited Leipzig with Goldberg, already mentioned238 among Bach's pupils. The Count was a great invalid and suffered from insomnia. Goldberg lived in the Ambassador's house, and slept in an adjoining room, to be ready to play to him when he was wakeful. One day the Count asked Bach to write for Goldberg some Clavier music of a soothing and cheerful character, that would relieve the tedium of sleepless nights. Bach thought a set of Variations most likely to fulfil the Count's needs, though, on account of the recurrence of the same basic harmony throughout, it was a form to which he had hitherto paid little attention. Like all his compositions at this period, however, the Variations are a masterpiece, and are the only example he has left us of this form.239 The Count always called them “my Variations” and was never weary of hearing them. For long afterwards, when he could not sleep, he would say, “Play me one of my [pg 120] Variations, Goldberg.” Perhaps Bach was never so well rewarded for any composition as for this. The Count gave him a golden goblet containing one hundred louis d'ors, though, as a work of art, Bach would not have been overpaid had the present been a thousand times as large. It may be observed, that in the engraved copy of the Variations there are serious mistakes, which the composer has corrected in his own copy.240
	6. Einige kanonische Verdäderungen, “Canonic Variations on the Christmas Hymn ‘Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her,’ for an Organ with two manuals and pedal. Published at Nürnberg by Balthasar Schmidt.” The work contains five canonic variations of the utmost ingenuity.241
	7. Musikalisches Opfer, or “A Musical Offering,” dedicated to Frederick II., King of Prussia. The theme received by Bach from the King242 is treated first as a three-part Fugue under the acrostic title “Ricercare” (Regis iussu cantio et reliqua canonica arte resoluta). There follows a six-part “Ricercare” and Thematis regii elaborationes canonicae [pg 121] of various kinds.243 The work includes a Trio for Flute, Violin, and Clavier upon the same subject.244
	8. Die Kunst der Fuge, or “The Art of Fugue.” This work, unique of its kind, did not appear till about 1752, after Bach's death, though the greater part of it had been engraved by his sons during his lifetime.245 Marpurg,246 the leading German musical critic of that day, contributed a preface to this edition which contains many just observations on the value and utility of such treatises.247 But, being too good for the general public, the work found only a small circulation among those who discerned its merit and eagerly bought copies. [pg 122] The plates were never used again and eventually were sold248 by Bach's heirs at the price of old copper. Written by a man of Bach's transcendent genius, and commended as a masterpiece by a critic so highly regarded as Marpurg, a work of this kind, if published in any other country than Germany, would have passed through at least ten editions by now, if only at the bidding of patriotism. But in Germany not a sufficient number of copies was sold to pay for the plates used in engraving the work! The work consists of fugal Variations planned on the most elaborate scale.249 The composer's intention was to show in what a variety of ways the same theme can be treated fugally. The Variations (here called “Contrapunctus”)250 are complete Fugues upon the same theme. The last Fugue of all has three subjects, in the third of which the composer signs his name, B A C H.251 [pg 123] Bach was prevented from finishing it by the disorder of his eyes, and as an operation brought no relief the movement was never completed. It is said that Bach intended to introduce four themes into it and to bring it to an impressive conclusion by inverting them all. All the Fugues in the work are equally smooth and melodious. To make up for the unfinished Fugue Bach concluded the work with a Choral Prelude upon the tune “Wenn wir in höchsten Nöthen sein,” which he dictated to his son-in-law, Altnikol, a few days before his death.252 Of the extraordinary skill it displays I do not speak, save to remark that even in his last illness it proclaims Bach's skill undiminished. The pious resignation and devotion that characterise it move me deeply whenever I play it. Nor should I find it easy to say which I had rather had been omitted, the Choral Prelude, or the conclusion of the unfinished Fugue.
	9. Lastly, after Bach's death, his four-part Chorals were collected by his son, Carl Philipp Emmanuel, and were published by Birnstiel (Berlin and Leipzig), Part I. in 1765, Part II. in 1769.253 Each Part contains one hundred Chorals, [pg 124] mostly taken from the composer's church Cantatas. More recently Kirnberger edited, in four volumes, a collection of Bach's Chorals. They are published by Breitkopf.254 Bach's works, still in MS., consist of compositions for the Clavier, Organ, with and without other instruments, Strings, and the voice. I will enumerate them in that order.