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Music for Courtly Occasions His realm and the number of his subjects (about 5000) were small, but his love of music was all the greater. Even as a child, Prince Leopold of Cöthen had shown unmistakable musical talent, and when, at the age of 13, he had achieved a certain degree of proficiency on the viola da gamba, he persuaded his mother to employ musicians – three of them to start with – to play chamber music with him. Three years earlier his father had died, leaving the mother to attend state matters until her eldest son came of age. After Leopold had completed a period of education at the Berlin Ritterakademie (school for knights), she sent him, accompanied by servants, on the extended tour usual in princely families, aimed at broadening his mind and enriching his youth. For three years Leopold worked at polishing his skills as a gambist, violinist and harpsichordist in The Netherlands, England, France and Italy, and before assuming the throne assembled his own orchestra – a ‘collegium musicum’ – modelled on what he had seen at various courts. King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia had just dissolved his Hofkapelle in favour of the military, and Leopold was able to obtain the services of seven of these first-class musicians at his residence some 100 kilometres north of Weimar, where he installed a certain Augustin Reinhard Stricker as his Hofkapellmeister. In 1716 he relieved his mother of the not very demanding matters of state, and at the same time augmented his orchestra once more. This placed at his disposal a powerful orchestral tool comprising three violinists, two flautists, two trumpeters, a double bassist, cellist, oboist, bassoonist, timpanist and organist, three additional ‘ripienists’ (less skilled musicians) and three vocalists. In December 1717, after having released Kapellmeister Stricker, Leopold placed at the head of his orchestra – having virtually enticed him away from his post as leader of the Duke of Weimar’s orchestra – a musician who, despite his mere 32 years, already enjoyed in Thuringia and Saxony an almost legendary reputation as organist, violinist, harpsichordist and composer: Johann Sebastian Bach. Even in external matters he did everything he could to ensure that Bach would remain on his staff; the composer received the second-highest salary in the whole miniature state, with his singer-wife bringing in half as much again, and at the christening of one of his sons (who died early) Leopold assumed the role of godfather. The Prince was of the reformed faith, which meant that the church services were not of the musically elaborate kind. Bach was thus not required to produce cantatas for each Sunday service and was instead free to devote himself to the composition of instrumental music. The six Brandenburg Concertos, the four Orchestral Suites, the Violin Concertos and other orchestral works, some of which have been lost, were all composed between the beginning of 1718 and 1723 – the year Bach became Thomaskantor in Leipzig. Bach’s contract of employment has not come down to us, but it may be presumed to have been similar in most respects to the one signed by Joseph Haydn when he entered the services of Prince 2
Esterházy in 1761. This would imply that Bach and his musicians, clad in the prescribed uniform, were obliged to be in attendance at all courtly occasions, and to supply background music for mealtimes, balls, processions, funerals and such family events as christenings and wedding celebrations. Just at what times and for which occasions the four Suites were composed can no longer be ascertained. The works, which consist of a slow introduction (‘Ouverture’) and several movements of traditional and modern dance music, were certainly first heard by Leopold’s guests in Cöthen. Bach also performed them later in Leipzig, where he gave regular concerts at two of the city’s larger cafes with the local collegium musicum, which was made up of students and other citizens. 훿 Uwe Kraemer · Translation: J & M Berridge
Virtuosi Saxoniae Suite in C BWV1066 Andreas Lorenz oboe I · Guido Titze oboe II · Günter Klier bassoon Suite in B minor BWV1067 Eckart Haupt flute · Roland Straumer violin I · Heinz-Dieter Richter violin II Friedemann Jähnig viola · Joachim Bischof cello · Werner Zeibig double bass Suite in D BWV1068 Ludwig Güttler trumpet I · Mathias Schmutzler trumpet II · Roland Rudolph trumpet III Thomas Käppler timpani · Roland Straumer violin Suite in D BWV1069 Ludwig Güttler trumpet I · Mathias Schmutzler trumpet II · Roland Rudolph trumpet III Andreas Lorenz oboe I · Guido Titze oboe II · Manfred Krause oboe III · Günter Klier bassoon Basso continuo Joachim Bischof cello · Werner Zeibig double bass · Friedrich Kircheis harpsichord Ludwig Güttler director Recordings: December 1990 & January 1991 (BWV1068), October 1991 (BWV1069), March (BWV1066) & May (BWV1067) 1992, Lukaskirche, Dresden Recording producer: Bernd Runge · Balance engineer: Eberhard Richter Recording engineer: Horst-Dieter Käppler · Editing: Thomas Albrecht 1992 Edel Gesellschaft für Produktmarketing mbH 훿 2014 Brilliant Classics · Licensed from Edel Germany GmbH
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