Holidays were numerous. A week's vacation was given at the Easter, Michaelmas, and New Year Fairs. At Midsummer the School had a month of half-holidays. Whole holidays were given on the birthdays of the four upper masters. There were no morning lessons on Saints' Days, on the occasion of funeral orations in the University Church, and on the quarterly Speech Days. Hence, though Bach's office carried large responsibility, it left him considerable leisure for composition.
As Cantor Bach had an official residence in the left wing of the School House. In 1723, the Cantor's wing was of two storeys only, dwarfed by the greater elevation of the main edifice and under the shadow of the church. Bach brought to Leipzig four children of his first marriage, and his second wife, Anna Magdalena, presented him with a son or daughter annually from 1723 to 1729. The accommodation of the Cantor's lodging therefore rapidly became inadequate. In the spring of 1731 Bach found a house elsewhere while an additional storey was added to it, which provided a new music-room, a good-sized apartment whence a passage led to the big schoolroom in the main building. The new wing was formally opened and dedicated on June 5, 1732, when [pg 37] Bach's secular Cantata Froher Tag, verlangte Stunden was performed; the libretto being by his colleague Winkler. From thenceforward till his death eighteen years later Bach's occupancy was not disturbed. The wing continued to be the official residence of the Cantor until the School moved to the suburbs of the city in 1877.
In addition to his residence, which he occupied rent free, the Cantor enjoyed a revenue from various and fluctuating sources, amounting in gross to 700 thalers (=£106 per annum). His fixed stipend was only 100 thalers (=£15). About 12 thalers came to him from endowments. In kind he was entitled to 16 bushels of corn and 2 cords of firelogs, together with 2 measures of wine at each of the three great Festivals. From the University, after his successful protest, he received 12 thalers for directing the “old service.” By far the larger part of Bach's income was derived from fluctuating sources. They were of three kinds: (1) School monies, (2) funeral fees, (3) wedding fees. The School monies represented perquisites derived from funds obtained by the scholars, partly by their weekly collections from the public, partly from the four annual processions or perambulations of the city. From the weekly collections a sum of six pfennigs multiplied by the number of the scholars was put aside for the four upper masters, among whom the Cantor ranked third. From the money collected at the [pg 38] New Year, Michaelmas, and St. Martin's Day processions the Rector took a thaler, the Cantor and the Sub-Rector each took one-eleventh of the balance, sixteen thirty-thirds went to the singers, and one-quarter of what remained fell to the Cantor. Out of the money collected on St. Gregory's Day (March 12) the Rector took one-tenth for the entertainment of the four upper masters, and the Cantor took one-third of the residue. For funerals one thaler 15 groschen was paid when the whole school accompanied the procession and a Motet was sung at the house of the deceased. When no Motet was sung the Cantor's fee was 15 groschen. For weddings he received two thalers.
Reckoned in modern currency, and judged by the standard of the period, the Cantor's income was not inadequate and served to maintain Bach's large family in comfort. When he died in 1750, in addition to a mining share valued at 60 thalers, he possessed in cash or bonds about 360 thalers, silver plate valued at 251 thalers, instruments valued at 371 thalers, house furniture valued at 29 thalers, and books valued at 38 thalers. His whole estate was declared at 1158 thalers, or somewhat less than the savings of two years' income. But for the inequitable distribution of his property, owing to his intestacy, which left Anna Magdalena only about 400 thalers and the mining share, Bach's widow and unmarried [pg 39] daughters ought not to have been afflicted with excessive poverty, as in fact they were.
At the beginning of his Cantorate Bach worked amid discouraging and unsatisfactory conditions. The Rector, Johann Heinrich Ernesti, was over seventy years of age in 1723. The School was badly managed, its discipline was relaxed, the better-to-do citizens withheld their sons from it, and its numbers were seriously diminished. In 1717 the junior classes contained only 53 as against 120 in Ernesti's earlier years. The proximity and operatic traditions of Dresden and Weissenfels also had a bad effect; the St. Thomas' boys, after attaining musical proficiency, were apt to become restless, demanding release from their indentures, and even running away to more attractive and lucrative occupations. Moreover, the governors of the School were the Town Council, a body which had little sympathy with or appreciation of Bach's artistic aims and temperament. To these difficulties must be added another. The Town Musicians, on whom Bach relied for the nucleus of his orchestra, were few in number and inefficient.
So long as Ernesti lived, there was little prospect of reform. But, after his death, in October 1729, Bach made vigorous representations to the Town Council. Already he had remonstrated with the Council for presenting to foundation scholarships boys who lacked musical aptitude. The Council [pg 40] retaliated by accusing Bach of neglecting his singing classes, absenting himself without leave, and of other irregularities. He was declared to be “incorrigible” and it was resolved (August 2, 1730) to sequestrate the Cantor's income, in other words, to withhold from him the perquisites to which he was entitled for the conduct of the Church services.[114]
Bach was not deterred from offering, three weeks later (August 23, 1730), a “sketch of what constitutes well-appointed Church music, with a few impartial reflections on its present state of decay” in Leipzig. The document reveals the conditions amid which Bach worked. Its representations may be summarised:
The foundation scholars of St. Thomas' are of four classes: Trebles, Altos, Tenors, Basses.
A choir needs from four to eight “concertists” ( solo singers) and at least two “ripienists” to each chorus part, i.e. a minimum of twelve voices.
The foundation scholars number fifty-five, by whom the choirs of the four Churches, St. Thomas', St. Nicolas', St. Peter's, and the New Church are provided. For the instrumental accompaniments at least twenty players are required: viz., 2 or 3 first Violins, 2 or 3 second Violins, 4 Violas, 2 Violoncelli, 1 Contrabasso, 2 or more Flutes, 2 or 3 Oboi, [pg 41] 1 or 2 Fagotti, 3 Trombe, 1 Timpani. To fill these places there are eight Town Musicians, and at the moment there are no players available for third Tromba, Timpani, Viola, Violoncello, Contrabasso, third Oboe (or Taille).