Bach. Wilhelm Friedemann (the “Halle” Bach)

Bach. Wilhelm Friedemann (the “Halle” Bach), eldest son of Johann Sebastian; b. Weimar, Nov. 22, 1710; d. Berlin, July 1, 1784. He was a pupil of his father. He studied at the Thomasschule in Leipzig (1723–29), and also studied violin with J.G. Graun in Merseburg (1726). In 1729 he enrolled at the Univ. of Leipzig, where he took courses in mathematics, philosophy, and law. In 1733 he became organist of the Sophien-kirche in Dresden. In 1746 he was appointed organist of the Liebfrauenkirche in Halle, a post he held until 1764. In 1774 he went to Berlin. As a composer, he was highly gifted. His music reflects the influences of the Baroque and Rococo styles. An ed. of selected works was begun by the Abteilung für Musik der Preussischen Akademie der Künste; vol. I contains four trios (Leipzig, 1935). His Sinfonias opp. 64 and 65 have been ed. by W. Leber-mann (Mainz, 1971), opp. 67–71 by M. Schneider (Leipzig, 1914). His piano compositions have been ed. by W. Rehberg in Die Sôhne Backs (1933); three excerpts are in K. Geiringer, Music of the Bach Family: An Anthology (Cambridge, Mass., 1955). His organ works are printed in E. Power Biggs and G. Weston, eds., W.F. Bach: Complete Works for Organ (N.Y., 1947).

Bibliography

C. Bitter, Carl Philip Emanuel und W.F. B. und deren Brüder (2 vols., Berlin, 1868); M. Falck, W.F. B.: Sein Leben und seine Werke (Leipzig, 1913); K. Stabenow, J.S. Bachs Sohn (Leipzig, 1935); K. Geiringer, The Bach Family: Seven Generations of Creative Genius (N.Y., 1954); H. Franck, F, der Sohn J.S. Bachs (Berlin, 1963).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire