Bach, the name of a celebrated musical family in Germany. In no department of science, art, or literature has any single family ever achieved such distinction, either from the number of its members who have devoted themselves to the same pursuit, or the talents, genius, and learning which they have manifested in it, as that of Bach in music. Fifty individuals at least of this name, whose lives spread over a period of 2 1/4 centuries, would deservedly occupy an extended space in an exclusively musical cyclopaedia. I. Veit, the founder of the German family of the name, was originally a baker by trade, a Protestant in religion, at Presburg in Hungary, whence about the year 1600 he was driven by persecution, with his family, and sought a refuge in one of the small cities of Thuringia. He had received a musical education, and was noted for his skill upon the guitar. II. Hans (Johannes), the eldest son of Veit Bach, and the ancestor of most of those of whom mention will be made, was a manufacturer of tapestry and town musician at Wechmar in Gotha. He died in 1626, leaving three sons: Johann, horn in 1604, who was appointed organist and director of the city music at Erfurt, which offices he retained from 1635 till his death in 1673; Ciiristopii, born in 1613, died in 1661; and III. Heinrich, born at Wechmar in 1615, died at Arnstadt in 1690. He was instructed in music by his father until, needing a teacher of greater knowledge, he was sent to his brother Johann at Erfurt, where in a few years he became a very accomplished organist and musician in the fashion of that epoch.

He was employed in these capacities successively by the city authorities of Schweinfurt and Erfurt, until he was called in 1641 to Arnstadt as organist, a place which he filled with great honor till his death. - The Bachs of the next (the fourth) generation were nine in number. IV. Johann AEgidins, the second and the most noted of the three sons of Johann, born in 1645, died in 1717. Upon the death of his father he succeeded him as organist and director of the city music at Erfurt. V. Georg Christoph, eldest son of Christoph, born in 1642, died in 1697, was cantor and composer at Schweinfurt. VI. Johann Ambrosins, brother of the preceding, born in 1645, died in 1695. He was a court and city musician at Eisenach, a sound theorist and of repute in practical music, and was the father of the great Johann Sebastian. VII. Johann Christoph, eldest of the two sons of Heinrich, born in 1643, died in 1703. He stands in musical history as one of the very first of German organists, contrapuntists, and composers of his era. He studied music with his father so successfully as at the age of 22 to be called to Eisenach into the service of the court and city, as organist.

At the time in which he lived but little music comparatively appeared from the press, and the works of one who lived the retired life of an organist in a small Saxon city could scarcely become known out of his own immediate sphere. His compositions, of which he left a vast number in manuscript, composed for the church and court where he officiated, prove, says Gerber, "that he was truly a great man, as rich in invention as he was strong in the power of musical expression of emotion." A century after his death, at the time when Mozart, Haydn, and Gluck had become models in composition, selections from his works were performed in Hamburg with great success, exciting no small degree of astonishment by their freshness, beauty, and freedom from the trammels of the dry contrapuntal school. So far as the musical taste of his age allowed, his works in general are found to be melodious and truly vocal, at the same time being remarkably full in harmony and very grand in effect. One of his compositions, dated 1684, is a motet in free style, in which, among the (at that time) novelties of construction and harmony, is found the extreme sharp sixth.

On the back of the sheet upon which it is written is another piece of sacred music in 22 parts, obbligato, the harmonic relations of which to the motet are perfect. The list of his works contains also a motet for St. Michael's day in 22 real parts, a piece of wedding music in 12 parts, another motet for eight voices, instrumented for two choirs and orchestras, a solo for an alto voice with accompaniment for violin, three viols di gamba, and bass, etc. VIII. Johann Michael, brother of the preceding, 2d son of Heinrich, was born at Arnstadt about 1660, and became organist and city scribe in one of the Thurin-gian towns. He was an industrious and effective composer for the church, harpsichord, and organ. One of his vocal works, performed in Berlin a few years ago, surprised every auditor by its beauty and modern coloring. His daughter became the first wife of Johann Sebastian Bach. - The family tree gives 17 Bachs of the next (the fifth) generation, of whom the most distinguished were the following: IX. Johann Bernard, eldest son of J. AEgidius, born Nov. 23, 1676, died June 1, 1749. He was organist of the Merchants' church of his native city, Eisenach, of a church in Magdeburg, and in 1703 successor of Johann Christoph as court and city organist at the former place.

He distinguished himself especially in his choral preludes, and by his overtures in Telemann's style. X. Johann Sebastian, in some respects the greatest musician that has lived, third and youngest son of Johann Ambrosius, born at Eisenach, March 21, 1G85, one month after the birth of Handel at Halle, died at Leipsic, July 30, 1750. At a very early age he lost his mother, and had hardly completed his 10th year when his father died also. The little orphan was then placed under the care of his brother Johann Christoph, organist at Ohrdruff. with whom he continued his musical studies and began the practice of keyed instruments - the harpsichord and organ. His pupilage here was short, being ended by the death of Christoph, which occurred shortly afterward. He then found a place as treble singer in a choir at Liineburg, not many miles from Hamburg, remaining there until his voice changed, with the advantages of an excellent school and the best musical instruction, and in the receipt of a small stipend, yet sufficient for his boyish necessities.

His enthusiasm for the organ and his zeal for music in other forms and styles, at this period, are sufficiently attested by his foot journeys to Hamburg to hear Reinke, the great organist, and to Celle to listen to the French band in the service of the prince. With the change in his voice came the loss of his place and the necessity of entering upon a new field. Like Handel, he had studied the violin, and it was now his resource. At the age of 18 he journeyed to Weimar, and entered the service of the court there as violinist. His leisure hours were still devoted to the organ, to counterpoint, and composition, and in less than two years, though hardly 20 years of age, he was called to Arnstadt to fill the place of organist, i probably in the church where his father's uncle Heinrich had so long officiated. The three years spent in Arnstadt were years of most devoted study, and during that time he developed those powers which afterward placed him above all rivalry. Besides the labor which he devoted to the working out of his own conceptions, he let nothing escape him which appeared from the pens of Bruhns, Reinke, and Buxtehude. He was so charmed with the works of the last named that he went to Lti-beck to hear him play, and prolonged his visit to a stay of three months, merely to listen to him in the church, for his acquaintance he did not make.

In 1707 he accepted a call to Mtlhl-hausen, and the following year returned to Weimar in the capacity of court organist. Encouraged by the continued applause of the court, he exerted himself to the utmost, and his principal compositions for the organ date during the seven years of his service there. In 1714 he became concert master to the duke, with the additional duty of composing and conducting the vocal music of the ducal chapel. Here, doubtless, began the enormous list of works in every form of sacred music, which, mostly in manuscript, are preserved in the musical libraries of Berlin, Leipsic, and other cities. Here, too, he had constant practice in writing orchestral works and instrumental chamber music, and tit-ted himself for a larger stage of action. In 1717 Marchand, then at the head of French organists, appeared in Dresden, and charmed King Augustus so greatly by his skill as to receive an offer of a very large salary to enter his service. Volumier, also a Frenchman, the concert master of the king, invited Bach to the capital to a trial of skill with Marchand. The Saxon accepted the invitation, and through the kindness of Volumier had an opportunity of hearing his rival. With the knowledge and consent of Augustus, Bach sent his challenge to the French artist, which was accepted.

At the time fixed, Bach appeared at the house of the minister where the contest was to take place. The king and company waited long, but Marchand came not. At length came news that he had left the city early that day by extra post. The greatness of the German organist, however, more than made good the loss. Bach returned to Weimar, but soon after accepted the office of kapellmeister to the court at Kothen, where he remained, composing for and directing the orchestra, till 1723, when the city authorities of Leipsic elected him to the position of musical director and cantor of the Thomas school. At the age of 38, then, Bach, rich in all that study of theory, hearing the best models of his age and country, practice as member and leader of orchestras, and constant exercise in composition for church and concert room, could give him, devoted himself to teaching and to the working out of his lofty conceptions of the musical art. Twenty-seven years he thus lived and labored, surrounded by his pupils and his large family of sons, composing music sacred and secular in all the forms then known except the opera and dramatic oratorio, and leaving as the fruits of those years a mass of compositions which, for number, variety, and excellence, form perhaps the most astonishing monument of musical genius and learning.

Mozart and Handel alone can at all come in competition with him in this regard. Of the few works from his pen which appeared in his lifetime, most are said to have been engraved upon copper by himself with the assistance of his son Friedemann, and this labor, added to his others so numerous, finally cost him his sight. A few years later, at the age of 65, an attack of apoplexy carried him to the tomb. He was twice married, and left 10 sons, all of them fine musicians, and several of them among the very first of that great period in the history of the art of which Mozart, Haydn, and Gluck were the chief ornaments. This great musician had no cause to complain of a want of due apprecia-tion, either as organist or composer. Very soon after his establishment in Leipsic, the duke of Weissenfels conferred upon him the title of kapellmeister, with the emoluments of the office, without requiring his personal attendance at court; and in 1736 Augustus of Saxony created him "royal Polish and Saxon electoral court composer." In 1747 he was persuaded to accept an invitation from Frederick II., king of Prussia, to visit Berlin and Potsdam. Notice was given the king of his arrival in the latter city, just as a private concert in the palace was to begin. "Gentlemen," said Frederick, "old Bach has come!" The old organist was instantly sent for, and without affording him time to change his dress, he was brought to the palace.

The king had several of Silbermann's pianofortes in various apartments - one may still be seen there - and to these in succession Bach was taken and called upon to try their powers. At length the king gave him a theme for a fugue, which was so wrought out as to afford him the highest gratification, and he immediately afterward demanded an extemporaneous fugue in six parts. Bach thought a moment, and, selecting the theme, worked it up to the astonishment not only of the king but of the several distinguished musicians present. Upon his return to Leipsic he wrote out the fugue, added to it another in three parts, and a ricercar also in six, both upon the same theme, together with other specimens of his powers, and published them with the title of "A Musical Offering." The only works by Bach published during his life are exercises for the harpsichord, in three parts, which appeared at intervals; an air with 30 variations; six choral preludes in three parts for the organ; variations in canon upon the choral Vom Himmel hoch; and the "Musical Offering." The rest of his works, left in manuscript, have come out one by one, or still remain imprinted.

The Bach society at Leipsic, having over 500 members in all parts of the art world, has been engaged since 1850 in publishing a complete collection of his works. Among them are found five complete sets of vocal pieces for the church, for all the Sundays and festivals of the year; a great collection of oratorios, masses, magnificats, sanctus, pieces for birth, wedding, and funeral occasions, and not a few comic compositions; five "passions," so called, compositions to which the accounts of the suffering and death of Christ, as given by the evangelists, furnish the text; more than 100 sacred cantatas are preserved in the library of the Thomas school alone. "The Well-tempered Clavier," a collection of 48 preludes and 48 fugues, is known to every earnest student of the pianoforte, as remarkable in its adaptation to the purpose of enabling the performer to conquer the difficulties of that instrument. His works for organ, harpsichord, orchestra, and every solo instrument in use a century since, are as numerous and effective as his vocal compositions, and begin again to form a part of the programmes in the principal concerts of central Europe. As a virtuoso upon keyed instruments, Bach seems to have anticipated the wonderful effects produced in our own days by Thalberg, and even Liszt. In his own age he was in this regard - as has been said of Shakespeare as a poet - so far above all others as to have no second.

The fingering invented by Bach was the basis of his son Emanuel's work upon the pianoforte, which opened a new era for the instrument, and led the way, through Mozart and Clementi, to the extraordinary perfection exhibited by the virtuosos of our own time. To it he was brought by his own works, for, as he himself said, "he had often been compelled to study long at night how to play the compositions which he had written during the day." Perhaps the most striking points in Bach's compositions are the marvellous invention they exhibit, and their extraordinary grandeur, power, and science. - Of the sixth generation of the Bach family, some 30 in number, the more distinguished were the following: XI. Johann Ernst, born at Eisenach, June 28, 1722, died in 1781. He was educated at the Thomas school and the university of Leipsic, made jurisprudence his profession, and settled as an advocate in his native city. But he was a Bach, and music early drew him from the law. At the age of 28 he was made asssistant organist to his father, and finally appointed kapellmeister by the duke at Weimar. Life at court proved disagreeable to him, and upon the death of the duke he returned to Eisenach and to his former position.

He was an industrious and successful composer for the church, and while at Weimar produced a great number of orchestral works. Few of his compositions were printed. XII. Wilhelm Friedeniann, eldest son of Johann Sebastian, born at Weimar in 1710, died in Berlin, July 1, 1784. Of all the Bachs born since Sebastian, this man seemed by nature the best fitted to succeed to the high position which his father held in the art. His genius was of the highest order, and the progress which he made in childhood under his father's instructions gave -rise to the brightest hopes for the future. In his early and extraordinary mastery both of the practice and theory of music, he seems to have more nearly rivalled Mozart than any other. His compositions were remarkable for their power and depth, and by his command of the harpsichord and organ in reproducing instantly any musical idea which occurred to him, he aroused the wonder of all who heard him. He studied the violin with the celebrated Graun, afterward concert master to Frederick II. of Prussia, with equal success. He passed through regular courses of instruction at the Thomas school, and then entered the university at' Leipsic, where he devoted himself to jurisprudence and mathematics.

To the latter science he specially inclined, and retained his fondness for it throughout life. Music, however, was not neglected, and in his 23d year he was called to Dresden as organist in the Sophia church. He remained there till 1747, when he removed to Halle as music director and organist, where he remained about 20 years, and hence is often named in musical works "the Halle Bach." At the age of 57 he gave up his place, and departed to Leipsic, with nothing certain in view. During the remaining 17 years of his life, without a fixed position, he was a sort of vagabond, teaching and practising music in Brunswick, Gottingen, and Berlin, dying in a miserable condition at the age of 74. This man was recognized by all his contemporaries as the greatest musical genius then living. Unfortunately he was also a man of execrable temper, rude in his manners, almost brutal; possessed of a professional pride which rendered him intolerable to other artists; absent-minded in the highest degree; and a drunkard. During his long residence in Halle he was a constant source of trouble at the church of which he was organist.

When on his way thither, he would sometimes forget his errand and wonder why the bells were ringing; sometimes he would enter the church at one door, forget himself, and pass out at the other. He often gave the organ-blower the keys of the instrument in order that, in case of his forgetfulness, some one else might take his place. Sometimes he would forget himself while at the instrument, and play on until the patience of priest and people was alike exhausted. In consequence of a severe reproof upon such an occasion, the now old man gathered up his worldly possessions and went off to Leipsic. The works of Friedemann Bach are few in number, but these few are such as to cause every musician to deplore the sad waste of genius and talent which his life exhibits. XIII. Karl Philipp Emauuel, sometimes called the Hamburg Bach, third son of Johann Sebastian, born in Weimar, March 14, 1714, died in Hamburg, Sept. 14, 1738. In his childhood he was thoroughly grounded in music, practical and theoretical, and afterward followed his brother Friedemann to the Thomas school and university in Leipsic. Like him, too, he studied jurisprudence there, and pursued the science further in Frankfort-on-the-Oder. In this city he founded and directed a musical society, which often sang compositions from his pen.

At the age of 24 he removed to Berlin, where he lived privately till 1740, when he was appointed chamber musician and accompanist to Frederick II. in that monarch's flute solos. In 1767 he accepted a call to Hamburg as music director. He was one of the most prolific composers of his time, and his works were popular to such a degree, that the list of those published during his life surpasses in extent that of any German composer until the appearance of Joseph Haydn. He was equally great in all departments of composition except the lyric drama, in which he had no call to exert his powers. The choruses of his oratorio "Israel in the Wilderness,1' and of some of his more extended works for the church, place him nearer Handel, perhaps, in their power, beauty, and ravishing vocal effects, than any other composer. As a writer of songs, odes, and psalms, he surpassed all his contemporaries, and some of his collections reached their 4th and 5th editions soon after their publication. As a symphonist and writer of chamber music he held the first rank.

Like the works of Mozart and Beethoven at a later period, his were censured as being full of strange modulations, crudities, and difficulties; but they made their way in spite of the critics, and became the foundation upon which Haydn erected his temple. While restrained within due limits by the example and instructions of his father, he nevertheless made music the medium of expression for the varying emotions of his naturally poetic spirit, and thoughts sublime, pathetic, and humorous are often combined in a manner then utterly new and surprising. Haydn was a most diligent student of his works, and declared in his old age, when he stood in the musical world with no rival but Mozart, "For what I know, I have to thank Karl Philipp Emanuel Bach." Clementi has the reputation of being the father of modern pianoforte playing. That great man, however, acknowledged in Bach his master. He became what he was through his study of Emanuel's works, and to him we owe the publication of many of them. The works of Bach for this instrument, trios, sonatinas with accompaniment, concertos with orchestra, and sonatas, are numbered by hundreds, the motive of winch he explained by saying, " In my opinion, the grand object of music is to touch the heart, I and this end can never be attained by the , pianist by mere noise, drumming, and arpeggios, at all events not by me." His great work upon the pianoforte, the foundation of all the valuable ones which have since appeared, was the Versuch uber die wahre Art das Klavier zu spielen ("Essay on the true Art of playing the Harpsichord," first part, Berlin, 1759), which reached its third and improved edition before his death; the second part, treating the accompaniment and the free fantasia, was published in 1762. The basis of this work, as may naturally be supposed, was found in the instructions and example of his father.

It interprets and renders available the science of Sebastian Bach. XIV. Johann Christoph Friedrich, known as the Buckeburg Bach, tenth son of Johann Sebastian, born in Leipsic in 1732, died Jan. 26, 1795. He studied jurisprudence like his brothers above named, and like them also afterward devoted himself to music. He received the appointment of kapellmeister at an early age from the duke of Lippe-Schaum-burg, and passed his life in his service at Biicke-burg. His compositions were very numerous, especially for the church, no festival being allowed to pass without a new work from his pen. Although neither as a pianist nor as a composer reaching the rank of his two elder brothers, he was worthy of his name, and besides his salary received valuable presents and testimonials from his patrons. His published works consist principally of songs and chamber music, of which six violin quartets originally appeared in London. XV. Johann Christian, known as the Milan or the London Bach, the eleventh son of Johann Sebastian, born in Leip-sic in 17:55, died in January, 1782. He enjoyed his father's instructions until his 16th year, when upon his death he went to Berlin, to prosecute his musical studies with his brother Emanuel. He bade fair to rival his elder brothers in that style of music which seems to have been in some degree peculiar to the family, and had already produced several smaller compositions successfully, when he was induced, at the age of 19, by some of the Italian vocalists of Berlin, to visit Italy. During a short stay in Milan, he attracted so much attention by his abilities as to be elected one of the organists in the cathedral.

But he devoted himself almost exclusively to composition for the voice, and in 1759, upon his appearance in London, had lost much of his previous skill as a virtuoso upon keyed instruments. His style was so much admired, however, that he endeavored to recover his former great skill, but was never able to fully make up the loss his hands had sustained through disuse. In 1763 he was invited to compose an opera for the London stage, and produced Orione, which had a most successful run of three months. This was followed by a series of works, some entirely of his composition, others partially so. Many of his airs are admirable, and at the time were exceedingly popular, being always natural, elegant, and in the then best Italian style. He was particularly noted for the richness, variety, and beauty of his accompaniments, which showed the influence of his father and elder brothers upon him, and the profoundness of his theoretical studies. His pianoforte music, however, was in a light and pleasing style, very different from that of any other of his name.

Emanuel once reproved him for it, in a letter to which he answered, "I am obliged to use baby talk, that children may understand me." Schubert says of his works: "His church music has great depth, but there is a certain worldly air to it, and one finds therein a sort of taint of corruption. All the operas written by him for Italy, Germany, and England show a master-spirit in the realm of music. This Bach had it in his power to be whatever he would, and he may well be compared to the Proteus of fable. Now he spouts water, now he breathes forth flame. In the midst of the trivialities of fashionable style, the giant spirit of his father may be discovered." His wife, Caacilia Giassi, was long prima donna in the London opera.