Composer. The oldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach, he was born in Weimar, Germany. He received an excellent musical education from his father, who wrote Book I of the "Well-Tempered Clavier" (1723) primarily for his use. Bach became organist at the Dresden Sophienkirche in 1733 and at the Halle Liebfrauenkirche in 1746. His compositions include seven concertos, over 40 keyboard works, 33 sacred cantatas, chamber music, and 10 symphonies. Of these, the Concerto for Two Harpsichords (c. 1773) and the Symphony in F Major are considered his finest. Like many in his family Bach was musically gifted, but he lacked their discipline and work ethic. His freethinking attitude towards religion did not endear him to the church officials who employed him, and he indulged in dissolute habits. After his father's death in 1750, he lost a number of the elder Bach's unpublished manuscripts and tried to pass others off as his own. In 1764 he abruptly quit his job at Halle and never held another permanent post. He died in obscurity in Berlin, leaving his wife and daughter destitute. Bach's music is equally erratic. Stylistically it vacillates between the Baroque and the Classical, sometimes within the same work; some of it is quite good and there are flashes of an originality exceeding that of his famous brother, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. But overall his life was one of squandered opportunities and unfulfilled promise.
Composer. The oldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach, he was born in Weimar, Germany. He received an excellent musical education from his father, who wrote Book I of the "Well-Tempered Clavier" (1723) primarily for his use. Bach became organist at the Dresden Sophienkirche in 1733 and at the Halle Liebfrauenkirche in 1746. His compositions include seven concertos, over 40 keyboard works, 33 sacred cantatas, chamber music, and 10 symphonies. Of these, the Concerto for Two Harpsichords (c. 1773) and the Symphony in F Major are considered his finest. Like many in his family Bach was musically gifted, but he lacked their discipline and work ethic. His freethinking attitude towards religion did not endear him to the church officials who employed him, and he indulged in dissolute habits. After his father's death in 1750, he lost a number of the elder Bach's unpublished manuscripts and tried to pass others off as his own. In 1764 he abruptly quit his job at Halle and never held another permanent post. He died in obscurity in Berlin, leaving his wife and daughter destitute. Bach's music is equally erratic. Stylistically it vacillates between the Baroque and the Classical, sometimes within the same work; some of it is quite good and there are flashes of an originality exceeding that of his famous brother, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. But overall his life was one of squandered opportunities and unfulfilled promise.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
Gravesite Details
The Luisenstädtischer Kirchhof (defunct) is only recognizable as a small park, the grave of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach has not been preserved. Today a stele in the Luisenstadt church park with a portrait of Bach commemorates the artist and the lost tomb
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