Bach had moved his family to Cöthen on 4 December 1718, where Prince Leopold had put together an orchestra of eighteen players, all chosen for their high musical standards from all over the country. The reformed Calvinist court at Cöthen had no taste for Lutheran liturgy, and there was no church music at the court. The Prince himself played freely and informally with his Court musicians, and Bach was free to devote himself entirely to the composition of music.

Anna Magdalena Bach © Bachhaus Eisenach

It is hardly surprising that much of his secular music, including several Brandenburg Concertos and Part I of the Well-Tempered Clavier, originate from his tenure in Cöthen. As the Prince traveled frequently, he took Bach and some of the Court musicians along for the journey. They visited the Bohemian town of Carlsbad in 1718 and once again in May 1720. The date of their return has not been recorded, but when they arrived home, Bach was in for a massive shock!

Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, BWV 1049

Title page of the first (1722) Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach

Maria Barbara Bach, whom he had left in perfect health three months early, had died at the age of 36. She was buried on 7 July 1720, and Carl Philip Emanuel reports, “My father returned to find her dead and already buried.” Her death came as a tremendous shock not only to Johann Sebastian but also to four motherless children. Friedemann, Johann Sebastian’s favourite child, tried as best as he could to cheer up his father. On the other hand, Bernhard, her youngest surviving child, took the news of his mother’s passing very badly, and it left him emotionally unstable for the rest of his life. Emanuel was more pragmatic about the loss of his mother, and his older sister Catherina Dorothea stepped in to care for her brothers along with her aunt, Friedelena. Johann Sebastian continued to be incredibly busy with his duties, consoling himself with work. Always a practical and pragmatic man, Johann Sebastian took Anna Magdalena Wilcken as his second wife a year later. Their first daughter Christina Sophia Henrietta was born on 3 May 1723 and died on 29 June 1726, barely 3 years later. It has been said that Bach had two constant companions throughout his life: Music and Death!

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