Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, in a portrait by Wilhelm Weitsch

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (November 22, 1710 – July 1, 1784) was the eldest, and by common repute the most gifted son, of Johann Sebastian Bach; a famous organist, a famous improvisor, and a complete master of counterpoint. This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... November 22 is the 326th day (327th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events April 10 - The worlds first copyright legislation became effective, Britains Statute of Anne Ongoing events Great Northern War (1700-1721) War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713) Births January 3 - Richard Gridley, American Revolutionary soldier (d. ... July 1 is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 183 days remaining. ... 1784 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Johann Sebastian Bach (21 March 1685 O.S. – 28 July 1750 N.S.) was a German composer and organist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra and solo instruments drew together almost all of the strands of the baroque style and brought it to its ultimate maturity. ... Counterpoint is a musical technique involving the simultaneous sounding of separate musical lines. ...

Unlike the rest of the family, he was a man of idle and dissolute habits, whose career was little more than a series of wasted opportunities. Born in Weimar and educated at Leipzig, he was appointed in 1733 organist of St. Sophia's Church at Dresden, and in 1746 became organist of the Liebfrauenkirche at Halle; his father's influence was enough to secure him the latter position without the usual trial performance. See also Weimar Republic. ... (help· info) [] (Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk) is the largest city in the Federal State (Bundesland) of Saxony in Germany. ... Events February 12 - British colonist James Oglethorpe founds Savannah, Georgia. ... Dresden is the capital city of the German Federal State of Saxony and situated in a valley on the River Elbe. ... Events January 8 - Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Stirling April 16 - Battle of Culloden brings an end to the Jacobite Risings October 22 - The College of New Jersey is founded (it becomes Princeton University in 1896) October 28 - An earthquake demolishes Lima and Callao, in Peru Catharine de Ricci (born 1522... Map of Germany showing Halle Halle (also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish from Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia) is the largest town in the German Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt. ...

With his father's death in 1750, the stabilizing influence in Friedemann's life seems to have disappeared, and he lived an unhappy life in Halle, from which he frequently traveled to seek other employment. In 1762, he was offered the post of Kapellmeister to the court of Darmstadt, but for some reason he did not accept the position. Two years later, in 1764, he walked off the job in Halle, ending his employment there and indeed his formal employment anywhere. Thenceforward he led a wandering life until, on the 1st of July 1784, he died in great poverty at Berlin, aged 74. Events March 2 - Small earthquake in London, England April 4 - Small earthquake in Warrington, England August 23 - Small earthquake in Spalding, England September 30 - Small earthquake in Northampton, England November 16 – Westminster Bridge officially opened Jonas Hanway is the first Englishman to use an umbrella James Gray reveals her sex... 1762 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland (federal state) of Hessen in Germany. ... 1764 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1784 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

His compositions, very few of which were printed, include many church cantatas and instrumental works, of which the most notable are the fugues, polonaises and fantasias for clavier, and an interesting sextet for strings, clarinet and horns. Several of his manuscripts are preserved in the Royal Library at Berlin; and a complete list of his works, so far as they are known, may be found in Eitner's Quellen Lexikon. Cantata (Italian for a song or story set to music), a vocal composition accompanied by instruments and generally containing more than one movement. ... In music, a fugue is a type of piece written for counterpoint for several independent musical voices. ... Typical rhythm of a Polonaise The polonaise (Polish: polonez, chodzony; Italian: polacca) is a rather slow dance of Polish origin, in 3/4 time. ... The fantasia (also English fantasy, German fantasie, French fantaisie) is a musical composition with its roots in the art of improvisation. ... Clavier is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. ... A Sextet is a formation containing exactly six members. ... A bass clarinet, which sounds an octave lower than the more common Bb soprano clarinet. ... The horn is a brass instrument that consists of tubing wrapped into a coiled form. ...

A commonly-used numbering system is that of Martin Falck, who published a catalog of Friedemann's music in 1913. For example, F. 12 stands for the celebrated "Twelve Polonaises" that were completed by 1765. Opus is a Latin word which means work (in the sense of a work of art). Some composers musical pieces are identified by opus numbers which generally run either in order of composition or in order of publication. ... 1913 (MCMXIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 1765 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

Additionally, Friedemann along with his brother Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach provided important information to Johann Nikolaus Forkel, the first biographer of Johann Sebastian Bach. The biographical information supplied by Friedemann and Emanuel was utilized in the biography of Sebastian that Forkel published in 1802. However, unlike Emanuel, Friedemann was an exceedingly poor custodian of Sebastian's music, much of which he, like Emanuel, inherited on their father's death. Not only did a good deal of Friedemann's share of this music disappear unaccountably, but in some cases he is known to have claimed credit for music written by his father (such as the Organ Concerto, BWV 596; because Friedemann wrote his own name on Sebastian's autograph score, it was mistakenly attributed to Friedemann when it was first published in the 19th century). Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (Weimar, March 8, 1714 – December 14, 1788) was a German musician and composer, the second son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach. ... Johann Nikolaus Forkel (February 22, 1749–March 20, 1818), was a German musician, musicologist and music theorist. ... --69. ... Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (Bach Works Catalogue) is the numbering system used to identify musical works by Johann Sebastian Bach. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach is not to be confused with Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach, his nephew, also a composer. Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach (May 27, 1759 – December 25, 1845), son of Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach and the only grandson of Johann Sebastian Bach to gain fame as a composer. ...

Further reading

• Eugene Helm, "Wilhelm Friedemann Bach," in Christoph Wolff et. al., The New Grove Bach Family. NY: Norton, 1983 (ISBN 0393300889), pp. 238-50.

References

• This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, a publication in the public domain.