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J.S. Bach is most probably the most influential composer in the Western world music and beyond. His influence upon composers and composition began with the musicians who surrounded him. He selected and instructed musicians for orchestras and choirs in Weimar and Leipzig. His work as Thomaskantor included teaching instrumental and vocal lessons to the church musicians and later to the musicians of the court orchestra. J.S. Bach was also a teacher of his own children, four of whom would become important composers (Wilhelm Friedemann, Carl Philipp Emanuel, Johann Christoph Friedrich and Johann Christian), and of his second wife, Anna Magdalena.
J.S. Bach was an influential teacher and certainly a very good one, since under his wings excellent composers in their own right have emerged. Of the Mühlhausen, Weimar and Köthen periods should be mentioned Johann Martin Schubart, J.S. Bach's successor in Weimar, was also one of his first pupils, as was Johann Kaspar Vogler. Also Johann Tobias Krebs, Johann Gotthilf Ziegler, Johann Schneider, and Johann Bernhard Bach, the son of J.S. Bach's eldest brother. It may be partly accidental that we do not know of a greater number of J.S. Bach's pupils from these periods. An interesting case is Bernhard Christian Kayser who followed his teacher from Köthen to Leipzig.
Still, it is certain that it was not until he was in Leipzig that J.S. Bach was busiest as a teacher. He trained there not only pupils at the Thomaschule (Thomaners), but also young men who have come to Leipzig to study with him (private instruction, gaining experience mainly in playing various instruments, but a few also have good adult voices). Among his Leipzig pupils must be mentioned Heinrich Nicolaus Gerber, Johann Ludwig Krebs, son of the above-mentioned musician, Johann Friedrich Agricola, Gottfried August Homilius, Johann Philipp Kirnberger, Christoph Transchel, Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, Johann Christoph Altnickol and Johann Christian Kittel. One of his pupils, Johann Friedrich Doles, became later Thomaskantor himself and a leading composer of Protestant church music.
With great assistance from Thomas Braatz I compiled in July 2014 a list of all known pupils of J.S. Bach from all periods of his activity as a teacher, including Mühlhausen, Weimar and Köthen, and of course, Leipzig. The list contained the names of 146 pupils and students with whom J.S. Bach had musical contact during his Leipzig tenure with special emphasis upon the Thomaners and University of Leipzig students, but with the inclusion as well of some private music students who do not fall into either category.
Although 146 seemed quite impressive at the time, I believed that the actual number of pupils at the Thomasschule during J.S. Bach's 27-year tenure years as Thomaskantor (1723-1750) was even bigger. And indeed, I discovered that in 2012 and 2013, staff at the Bach-Archiv Leipzig, headed by Dr. Peter Wollny, carried out systematic research into the lives and careers of the 325 Thomaner who had attended the boarding part of the choir school during J.S. Bach's period. One in every four J.S. Bach Thomaner worked in later life as a church musician or schoolteacher. Thanks to this detailed research work in East German archives, numerous documents have been found which throw light on the life and teaching principles of the choir school.
In order to make the list of Bach's pupils the BCW as comprehensive and as complete as possible, I contacted the researchers of Bach-Archiv Leipzig, Michael Maul, Christine Blanken and Bernd Koska and found them very willing to cooperate. They provided me with a lot of material, especially two major documents:
- Bernd Koska: Dissertation "Bachs Thomaner als Kantoren in Mitteldeutschland" (Beeskow 2018), Anhang VII.1 Die Alumnen der Thomasschule 1710-1760.
- Bernd Koska: Bachs Privatschüler in Bach-Jahrbuch 2019,
With their help the list of Bach's pupils on the BCW has increased threefold: from 146 to 451! See:
https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Other/Pupil-List.htm
The list includes all persons who might be J.S. Bach's pupils, according the following categories:
A = undoubtedly. According to the current state of knowledge, have undisputedly enjoyed J.S. Bach's private lessons.
B = probalby was a J.S. Bach's pupil (dubious).
C = most probably not. Persons who have been wrongly treated in the past as J.S. Bach's pupils.
D = unknown. Person who attended the Thomasschule during J.S. Bach's tenure, but it is not known if he actually studied with him.
I have also created/updated on the BCW bio pages of all the pupils, using material from the documents above and from any other source I had found.
In order to present a complete picture, I have added 3 lists:
Alumni of the Thomasschule in Leipzig during Bach's Tenure:
https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Other/Pupil-Richter.htm
List of Bach's Private Pupils:
https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Other/Pupil-Private.htm
List of Bach's Copyists:
https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Other/Copy-List.htm
I believe this is now the most comprehensive database of Bach's pupils on the web. If you are aware of a name missing from this list, or want to correct/add details in the biography of a Bach's pupil on on the BCW, please do not hesitate to inform me. |
