Printed music only played a subordinate role in the music trade during the first half of the 18th century. Klaus Hortschansky (1935–2016), who researched this extensively, wrote in a summary: “A significant part of the music trade was in the hands of the musicians themselves until the end of the 18th century. Copied manuscripts had always been traded, which musicians and their colleagues sought to use for profit. They allowed copies to be made to order from their private collections, loaned manuscripts for copying for a fee or offered for sale copies they had made of their own compositions or those of others.” (Hortschansky 1971, pages 83f.)
Johann Nikolaus Forkel (1749–1818), who was interested in cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach, provides an example of this trade: “Friedem. Bach […] asked me for 20 Louisd’or [1 Louisd’or = 5 Taler] for the ownership of the annual cycle, but 2 Louisd’or to just look through them. At the time I was not rich enough […] so I decided to copy some of the very best pieces from this cycle myself for my 2 Ld’or communication fee.” (Dok III, page 327) It can also be shown that Johann Sebastian Bach provided music for copying and obtained income from it. Religious figural music played a major role in central German towns. Those responsible needed a large collection of music to perform the required works on Sundays and Feast days. Documents in Ronneburg, which have been thoroughly examined by Michael Maul and Peter Wollny, give an idea of what was undertaken for this. (Maul/ Wollny 2003, pages 100 ff.) The town cantor of Ronneburg, Johann Wilhelm Koch (1704–1745), was able to claim the postage for this correspondence as expenses, and these documents have survived. These show that he maintained contacts in central Germany as far as Hamburg, Güstrow or Fulda. He requested manuscripts and loaned them to copy for his own collections. Contacts with Johann Sebastian Bach between 1732 and 1740 are also evident in these documents. Bach is named in nine documents, and more than twenty mention “Leipzig”. But the correspondence was even more intensive, as shown by letters from the Bach household to Johann Wilhelm Koch. Another clue to the renting out of manuscripts is a note by Johann Sebastian Bach on the first page of the score of the Sanctus (BWV 232); on the vocal part he noted: “NB. The scores are in Bohemia with Graf Sporck”. (NBA II/1a, page 102) But renting out was not without risks. In reply to one request, Johann Sebastian Bach wrote in 1742 that the “written out parts were lent to a bass singer called Büchner” but who had “not yet returned them”. In this letter we also read that he did not wish to give out a certain score any longer, “because I have lost several things in this way” (Dok II, page 388) This risk could be avoided by not lending the manuscripts out but having the copies made at home.
Research on married couples in the early modern period (see Wunder 1992) prove convincingly that the cooperation of couples in professional life was usual at that time. (See also “Johann Sebastian and Anna Magdalena Bach - a Working Couple: Unofficial Performances”) If the Bachs acted differently with the music trade, this would have to be proved. However, this would be difficult, because although very few documents about Anna Magdalena Bach’s life have survived, there are clues that she was involved in the trade of manuscripts, even with this sparse number of sources. A copy that she made of the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin (BWV 1001-1006) and the Suites for Cello Solo (BWV 1007-1012) were in the possession of Georg Heinrich Ludwig Schwanberg (1696–1774). He wrote in the middle of the cover containing these copies: “Pars 1. Violino Solo senza Basso composèe par Sr. Jean Seb: Bach. Pars 2. Violoncello Solo. senza Basso. composèe par Sr. J. S. Bach. Maitre de la Chapelle et Directeur de la Musique a Leipsic”. (See Figure 1)
Figure 1: Label by Georg Heinrich Ludwig Schwanberg on the cover containing the Sonatas und Partitas for Violin solo and the Suites for Cello solo (BWV 1001–1012
At the bottom right he added: “ecrite par Madame Bachen. Son Epouse” – written out by Mrs. Bach, his wife. (Schulze 1980, pages 45 ff.) This note (see Figure 2) is highly significant. Based on this, Anna Magdalena Bach’s handwriting could be identified in other copies. (Dadelsen 1957, pages 27 ff.)
Figure 2: Enlargement of Figure 1
“ecrite par Madame Bachen. Son Epouse. ” – written out by Mrs. Bach, his wife.
Other copies by Anna Magdalena Bach have survived in private collections. Heinrich Abraham von Boyneburg (1713–after 1776?) owned the Sonata for Violin and Continuo (BWV 1021) which she had copied. (NBA, VI/1, pages 118 ff.) In 1799 his nephew Christoph Ernst Abraham von Boyneburg sent a copy made by her of the Partita BWV 831 in the early c-minor version to Johann Nikolaus Forkel. (Schulze 2017, page 461)
In the Bach household, their livelihood was earned with music. The trade with music was part of this. Johann Sebastian Bach would have been very thorough regarding the income from this source. One letter to a relation, who had lived and worked in the household for several years, at least hints at this. He asked for a copy of the “Prussian Fugue” and received the reply that he could have it for 1 Taler. (Dok I, page 117 f.) Thus, we can assume that the copies made by Anna Magdalena Bach were sold or traded for some other benefit. These examples show that she was actively involved in the trade with copied manuscripts that took place in her household. Unfortunately, we do not know the proportion of the overall family’s income that this generated.
The skills needed for the music trade and the experience she gained doing this will have been very beneficial in her widow years. This will be the subject of the next article.