In Anna Magdalena‘s and Johann Sebastian Bach’s time married couples often worked together. For researchers looking back from today, this is usually only apparent after the death of the husband. The wife often continued the business, which they had managed together until then, but it is only from that point that she appears in correspondence. This was already mentioned in “11. Johann Sebastian and Anna Magdalena Bach - a Working Couple: Unofficial Performances”, and here is another example. In 1735 Abraham Vandenhoeck (ca. 1700-1750) founded a publishing house in Göttingen, which still exists today under the name of “Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht”. After his death the publications printed there appeared under the name of his widow. (See Figures 1 and 2, which also show that at that time there were no fixed rules of spelling, even for people’s names.) Anna Vandenhoeck (1709-1787) managed the publishing house for 37 years until her death. She was increasingly supported by Carl Friedrich Ruprecht (1730-1816), who joined the firm in 1748 as an apprentice. Even though Anna Vandenhoeck does not appear in documents while her husband was alive, she must have been active in managing the firm during that time, otherwise she would not have been able to successfully continue the business without interruption. (See Ruprecht 1935, pages 9 ff.)
Figure 1: Example of a publication of the printers managed by the widow Anna Vandenhoeck:
Extract from the title page of Albrecht von Haller: “Essay on Swiss Poetry, seventh Edition, similar to the sixth.”, Göttingen 1751
Figure 2: Example of a publication of the printers managed by the widow Anna Vandenhoeck:
Extract from the title page of Ludwig Timotheus Spittler: “History of the Duchy of Hanover from the Reformation to the End of the Seventeenth Century. Second Part”, Göttingen 1786
Printed material was also published and sold in the Bach family household. The works that Johann Sebastian Bach especially treasured and which he “made publicly available” are listed in his obituary:
“1) First Part of the Keyboard Exercises Consisting of Six Suites.
2) Second Part of the Keyboard Exercises Consisting of a Concerto and an Overture for Two-Manual Harpsichord.
3) Third Part of the Keyboard Exercises Consisting of various Preludes on some Hymns, for the Organ.
4) An Air with Thirty Variations for 2 Manuals.
5) Six Three-Part Preludes for as many Hymns, for the Organ.
6) Some Canonic Variations on the Hymn: From Heaven on High I Come.
7) Two Fugues, a Trio and several Canons on the Theme given by His Majesty the King of Prussia, titled Musical Offering.”
(Dok III, pages 85 f.)
The title pages of many of Johann Sebastian Bach’s printed works have: “Printed by the Author”. (Dok I, pages 224 f., 227 f., 230, 232 ff., 237). This is also true of the Partitas, which he published individually from 1726 before collecting them in the first part of the Keyboard Exercises (BWV 825-830). The other printed works were produced in collaboration with publishers but were also sold by the Bach family. Additionally, they offered printed works by other composers and advertised them in newspapers. (Dok II, pages 169, 256, 258, 262 f. 370, 393, 414 f. 446 f.)
The extent of this trade was of course not comparable to that of the Vandenhoeck business. But the Bach family invested effort in this business and obtained income from it. Anna Magdalena Bach’s part in this becomes evident after the death of her husband. She is listed among the publishers and sellers of the “Art of Fugue” in a Berlin newspaper advertisement of 1751. (Dok II, pages 8 f., Dok V, page 182)
Newspaper advertisements from 1752 have survived that appeared in Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig, Augsburg and Greifswald. In these Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Anna Magdalena’s stepson, announced the publication of a keyboard teaching book. (See Spree 2021, page 260) It appeared under the title “Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments”. Carl Philipp Emanual Bach created a network of agents for the marketing. (See Figure 3) They were the contacts for customers of the work, they sold it in their areas, maintained contact with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, paid him the takings and delivered the printed books. In the university and trade-fair city of Leipzig it was the widowed Frau Capellmeisterin Anna Magdalena Bach who had this responsibility.
Figure 3: Extract from an advertisement of the Greifswald Critical News (Third Volume. Thirteenth Part, page 100) of 29th March for the “Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments” with seven of the twelve agents shown (Greifswald University)
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach worked with his stepmother until her death, and this is evidenced by advertisements from 1759. He was obviously happy with her work, otherwise he would have nominated another agent in Leipzig as he did in Berlin, or terminated the cooperation as he did in other places. Anna Magdalena Bach can only have earned the qualifications for such a task by being involved in the printed music trade during her husband’s lifetime.
It is notable that in the advertisements that appeared after the death of her husband and the move out of the apartment in the St. Thomas school, no address or other information was given as to where she could be reached. Her address was evidently well known among professional circles. This knowledge was lost after her death. A Eucharist register entry shows that in 1752 she lived in Neuer Kirchhof square in Leipzig. (Dok V, page 292)
Carl Philipp Emanual Bach died in 1788. After the death of his wife Johanna Maria (1724-1795) their daughter Carolina Philippina (1747-1804) announced in the Hamburg paper “Independent Correspondences”: “My late father’s and grandfather’s trade in music, which up to now was handled by my late mother, will be continued with great attention by myself.” (CPEB-Dok, page 1293) If in 1795 there was still demand for works of the “grandfather” Johann Sebastian Bach, it can be assumed that his widow Anna Magdalena Bach also sold them. Any assumption that excludes this possibility is primarily due to the idea that she was a helpless and therefore pitiable widow. Even the term “supported woman” (Dok III, page 153) used in her funeral entry cannot be taken as proof that she did not sell her husband’s works and lived in abject poverty. Support payments by the city of Leipzig are known from this time for a widow who had servants. The support office of the city supported women who after the death of their husbands could for financial reasons no longer maintain their standard of living but themselves contributed to their income. (Spree 2021, pages 192 ff., 196 f.)
The extent of the Bach family’s income from the music trade is not known, but we can be sure that Anna Magdalena Bach was involved in it. This trade was not restricted to printed works. The sale of manuscripts played a significant role until the end of the 18th century. This can also be shown for the Bach family and Anna Magdalena Bach participated in this as well. This will be treated in the next article.
Translation: Alan Shepherd
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