Johann Sebastian Bach (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Johann Sebastian Bach |
| Country of production | GDR , Hungary |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1985 |
| length | 415 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Lothar Bellag |
| script | Lothar Bellag, Klaus Eidam |
| production | Eva-Marie Martens |
| camera | András Szalai |
| occupation | |
| |
Johann Sebastian Bach is the title of a four-part television film , which in the years 1983 and 1984 in cooperation of the television of the GDR with the Hungarian television was and the life of the German composer Johann Sebastian Bach portrays. It was published on the occasion of Bach's 300th birthday.
action
Part one: the challenge
Johann Sebastian Bach works as an organist and conductor for Duke Wilhelm Ernst in Saxony-Weimar . He does not like the fact that Bach also makes music for his nephew Ernst August I. Meanwhile, there are disagreements between the court orchestra and the haughty composer Louis Marchand , who is at court and who has left his former job, Versailles, after ten years in disgrace.
After Wilhelm Drese became the new Hofkapellmeister instead of Bach , Bach accepted the offer from Prince Leopold , who promoted music , to become Hofkapellmeister in Anhalt-Köthen . At the same time Marchand organized a musical competition in Dresden ; Bach travels to Dresden without the Prince's approval and becomes Marchand's only competitor.
Duke Wilhelm Ernst refuses to let Bach go to Anhalt-Köthen. Meanwhile, Bach emerged victorious in Dresden; Marchand had left the day before the competition after hearing Bach play the harpsichord without any problems across all keys. After his success in Dresden, Bach was placed under arrest by the Duke in Weimar . But when Wilhelm Ernst endangered his own reputation through his actions on the basis of Bach's reputation gained in Dresden, he dismisses Bach. So Bach can leave for Köthen with his wife Maria Barbara and their children .
Second part: are you with me ...
Bach accompanies Prince Leopold to Karlsbad . There he was asked by Leopold's cousin Christian Ludwig , the Margrave of Brandenburg, to compose six concerts, the later “ Brandenburg Concerts ”. After his return to Koethen, the shocked Bach learns of the death of his wife Maria Barbara; she leaves him four children.
In grief, Bach wants to leave Koethen, but his application to the St. Jacobi Church in Hamburg fails because the church fathers demand that Bach pay him money.
At home, Bach devotes himself to the composition of his “ Well-Tempered Clavier ” and the lessons of his son Wilhelm Friedemann Bach ; a little later the “Brandenburg Concerts” are also completed.
During rehearsals for his cantata “ Serene Leopold ” on Leopold's birthday, Bach met the singer Anna Magdalena Wilcke , whom he married a little later. Prince Leopold also marries, his cousin Friederike Henriette von Anhalt-Bernburg , who soon turns out to be hostile to music. Prince Leopold turns away from music and turns to the military.
Then Bach learns that a new cantor is being sought at the Leipzig School of St. Thomas . Despite Anna Magdalena's concerns about the poor working conditions in Leipzig, Bach agrees, among other things, to enable his sons to attend university in Leipzig.
Third part: storms and years
Bach is soon dissatisfied with his job in Leipzig, on the one hand because of the workload, on the other hand because people want to dictate the music for the church services for him. He also struggles with a lack of talent among the Thomas students singing in the St. Thomas Choir .
Bach then accepts Zimmermann's offer to run the “ Collegium musicum ” in his coffee house . So Bach finds the opportunity to write the harpsichord concertos ; In addition, he and his lyricist Christian Friedrich Henrici (pseudonym: “Picander”) are planning a monumental setting of the Passion based on the Gospel of St. Matthew , the later “ St. Matthew Passion ”.
With the “St. Matthew Passion” he encounters the incomprehension of his superiors, since his employment contract forbids him to make his music “operatic”; In addition, he is accused of negligence in his work as a teacher at the Thomas School. As the conflict escalates, the church council cuts Bach's salaries.
The situation only improves for Bach when his Weimar friend Johann Matthias Gesner becomes the new rector of the Thomas School and enables Bach, among other things, to perform his “ Christmas Oratorio ”. A little later, Bach was also honored by the Hereditary Prince of Kassel. But after three years Gesner has to leave Leipzig again; Vice-Rector Johann Heinrich Ernesti is his successor. But there are also tensions between Ernesti and Bach over the replacement of the position of prefect of the choir in the St. Thomas' Choir.
Bach felt his position had been strengthened when he was appointed court composer by Count Kayserling. Around this time, Bach stopped composing sacred cantatas and concentrated on secular works such as the “ Goldberg Variations ” and the “ Peasant Cantata ”, which was a great success.
When Bach wanted to perform the “ St. John Passion ” again, the council forbade him to do so because he allegedly did not have the text approved.
Fourth part: the order of the stars
The now 62-year-old Bach is confronted with new musical styles, which his sons Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel follow.
Bach is invited to an audience by the Prussian king Friedrich II , Carl Philipp Emanuel's employer, and receives a topic from him for improvisation. Back in Leipzig, Bach dedicated himself to the theme of the king and composed the " Musical Sacrifice " from it.
Meanwhile, Bach lets his daughter Liesgen and her fiancé Johann Christoph Altnikol persuade him to join the " Corresponding Society of Musical Sciences " founded by Lorenz Christoph Mizler ; in this way he wants to preserve his compositions for posterity. Elias Gottlob Haußmann , the painter of the portrait he made for this purpose, explains to Bach the background to his art.
While Bach plans to engrave his “ Art of Fugue ” in copper so that it can be published, his eyesight is diminishing. Bach gives Altnikol a better job, who hesitated for lack of money to hold Liesgen's hand; the two lovers can get married.
However, with the copper version of his “Art of Fugue”, Bach no longer has time for his other tasks. In the meantime, he worries that the council might secretly look for a successor for him. Bach places his son Johann Christoph Friedrich in a position with Count Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst zu Schaumburg-Lippe .
When Bach was diagnosed with cataracts , he dared an operation by the English eye specialist John Taylor . Despite his steadily deteriorating health, Bach accepted Johann Gottfried Müthel as a student, but saw that he was only able to teach him to a very limited extent. In the meantime, Henrici hopes to be able to work on cantatas again with Bach soon.
When Bach receives a visit from his daughter Liesgen, he collapses and dies ten days later on July 28, 1750. He leaves his family with a fortune of only 1,122 thalers .
production
After his successful portrayal of Martin Luther in the five-part series of the same name (1983), Ulrich Thein was again engaged to portray the main character. Thein, who had studied music, practiced for several months so that he could represent the organ playing authentically. Two thirds of the music was re-recorded especially for the film. You can hear Matthias Eisenberg on the organ, the Neue Bachische Collegium Musicum zu Leipzig , the university choir of the Karl Marx University under the direction of Max Pommer , the Berlin Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Kurt Sanderling , and the Gewandhausorchester . Adelheid Vogel performed as a soprano . The film was shot in the GDR, the ČSSR and Hungary. Initially, a co-production with France was planned, but this did not materialize in the end. Isabelle Huppert was therefore also in discussion for the role of Anna Magdalena Bach . Lothar Bellag later favored Dagmar Manzel for the role that Franziska Troegner ultimately received.
DVD release
The four-part film was published in full on two DVDs in 2009 as part of the Great Stories series by Studio Hamburg .
Web links
- Johann Sebastian Bach in theInternet Movie Database(English)
- Film information about Johann Sebastian Bach at Bach Cantatas (English)