Towards the end of 1713, Johann Sebastian Bach made a trip to the town of Halle to advise on the enlargement of the organ at the Liebfrauenkirche. The organist Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow—the revered and well-respected teacher of Handel—died in 1712, and the pastor apparently pressed Bach to apply for the vacant position.
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Bach was officially offered the post at a meeting on 13 December 1713, and since he seemingly agreed, they sent him a formal contract on 14 December. However, Bach replied on 14 January 1714 that he had not been released from Weimar and was asking for clarification on duties and salary. When he was told that his salary would not be increased, Bach approached the Duke in Weimar with a request to become Konzertmeister. Bach finally refused the Halle post, and the committee accused him of having used their offer as leverage to extract more money from the Duke.
Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantata “Himmelskönig, sei willkommen,” BWV 182
Bach wrote them a long letter on 19 March, and he remained on good terms with Halle as he was employed as an organ examiner in 1716. In the meantime, however, there was some good news in the family as Maria Barbara had given birth to a healthy boy on 8 March 1714. The boy was baptised Carl Philipp Emanuel on 10 March 1714, with Georg Friedrich Telemann as one of his godfathers. It was immediately clear that C.P.E. had enormous musical talents, and his father’s eventual move to Leipzig was also motivated by his desire to provide a university education for his son.
The Marktkirche Unser Lieben Frauen in Halle
It has been suggested that there was once some kind of Clavierbüchlein für Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach containing early compositions by Wilhelm Friedemann, and works by the young C.P.E. himself. Regrettably, this musical primer must have been destroyed. Johann Sebastian, in the meantime, was busy composing himself. On 23 March 1714 it was decreed that cantatas should in future be rehearsed in the chapel. And on Palm Sunday, 25 March 1714, the Cantata BWV 182 gloriously welcomed the coming of Christ and of his son C.P.E.
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