Home > Wilhelm Friedemann Bach

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 1747 became musical director of the Liebfrauenkirche at Halle. The latter office he was compelled to resign in 1764, and thenceforward he led a wandering life until, on the 1st of July 1784, he died in great poverty at Berlin, aged 74.

His compositions, very few of which were printed, include many church cantatas and instrumental works, of which the most notable are the fugueFor the use of the word in psychology see fugue state In music, a fugue is a type of piece written in counterpoint for several independent musical voices. A fugue begins with its subject (a brief musical theme) stated by one of the voices playing alone.s, polonaiseThe polonaise polonez chodzony is a rather slow dance of Polish origin, in 3/4 time. Before Fryderyk Chopin, the polonaise had a rhythm quite close to that of the Swedish semiquaver or sixteenth-note polska, and the two dances have a common origin. From Cs and fantasiaThe fantasia (also Eng. fantasy Ger. fantasie Fr. fantaisie is a musical composition with its roots in the art of improvisation. Because of this, it seldom approximates the textbook rules of any strict musical form. In the Baroque and Classical music erass for clavierClavier is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Liege. On January 1st, 2004 Clavier had a total population of 4,158 (2,053 males and 2,105 females). The total area is 79. 12 km² which gives a population density of 52. 55 inhabitants per km²., and an interesting sestet for strings, clarinetThe clarinet (sometimes historically spelled clarionet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. A person who plays the clarinet is called a clarinettist. Professional clarinets are made from African hardwood, often grenadilla or (rarely) Honduran r and hornFor the instrument—i. French horn see horn (instrument). Horn" is also used as a slang term for any wind instrument. A horn is a hollow, pointed projection of the skin of various animals. In ruminant artiodactyls, the horns are paired and take various fors. 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.

He is not to be confused with Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst BachWilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach ( 1759— 1845), son of Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach and the only grandson of Johann Sebastian Bach to gain fame as a composer. He was music director to Frederick William II of Prussia. He said "Heredity can tend to run out o, his nephew, also a composer.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. 1911 Britannica