Though the Council and the Leipsic Chronicle took little notice of his death, it appears that the Society founded by Mizler caused a funeral ode by the then rector, Dr Ventzky, to be set to music and performed; and he seems to have been much mourned outside Leipsic, as the chief support of serious German music.
Not as a composer, but as a performer, however, was he mourned. It was reserved for later generations to fully appreciate what Hilgenfeldt describes as the “spiritual and everlasting” side of his genius. In those days the composer and performer were one and the same person. No one was considered an artist who could only perform, however well, if he could not also compose; and, especially on the organ, good improvisation was considered the chief qualification of a musician. He was expected to be in a position to extemporise at any time and under any conditions a fugue, or a set of variations on any theme given to him; and his ability in this respect was the criterion by which he was judged. It was natural, therefore, that Bach’s fame during his lifetime should rest more on his extempore performances than on his written compositions, which, remaining in manuscript, would probably serve chiefly as models for his pupils to work from.
Portraits and Statues
Four portraits of Bach are known to have been painted. One, which seems to have been the first, is a half length picture showing him in a dress coat of the fifth decade of the eighteenth century. It belonged to Kittel, and was kept by him as a kind of sacred possession, only to be shown on special occasions, or as a reward to a diligent pupil. It was in a massive gold frame, and hung behind a curtain over the harpsichord in Kittel’s study. On his death it came into the possession of the church of which he was organist.
The second was also a half-length, and belonged to his son Carl Philip Emanuel. It was painted by Hausmann.
The third, also by Hausmann, is shown in our [frontispiece]. It is preserved in the Thomas School, and, according to Becker, was painted on his becoming a member of the Leipsic Musical Society. A fourth, preserved in the Joachimsthal Gymnasium at Berlin, was formerly in the possession of Princess Amalie of Prussia, and seems to have been painted by Geber.
A few good copper engravings were made from the various portraits, and a number of bad lithographs from the engravings. Some successful plaster busts have also been made from the pictures.
Germany is much given to honouring those of her sons who have distinguished themselves in art by erecting memorials to them in public places: but not till nearly one hundred years after his death was such a monument thought of for Bach. In 1840, Mendelssohn gave an organ recital in the Thomas Church, with the object of opening a fund for this purpose with the proceeds, and on April 23, 1843, a medallion by Knauer was solemnly unveiled on the walls of the Thomas Church. The opportunity was taken of performing many of Bach’s compositions; and amongst those present was the last descendant of the great man, with his wife and two daughters. This was William Bach, then 81 years of age, a son of the Bückeburger Bach.
In 1864 a large new organ was erected in the New Church at Arnstadt “in honour of Johann Sebastian Bach,” containing his portrait over the keyboards: and in 1884 a Bach festival was held at Eisenach on the occasion of the unveiling of a fine bronze statue of the composer in the Market-place.