The little band of enthusiasts set out as the apostles of a new religion. Wesley proclaimed his championship of Saint Sebastian, as a sacred mission, in the defence of truth and justice, against the idolaters of Handel—quite unconscious how necessarily such a combat must resolve itself into mere partisanship, and the very bigotry which he opposed. He has, however, the credit of having convinced the redoubtable Burney of the injustice of his published opinion of Bach, and also of being the first in England to observe, what Forkel had seized upon independently abroad, that of his “characteristic beauties” “air” was “one of the chief and most striking.”[82] No doubt his wonderful playing of the organ did something to make Bach known in England; but it was long before he was really accepted. The movement, in fact, for a time subsided; it was roused again into life by the energetic work of Mendelssohn, who declared it was high time that the “immortal master, who is on no one point inferior to any master, and in many points superior to all, should no longer be forgotten.” He prepared the road for the successful labours of Sterndale Bennett, who, as the most prominent English musician, was able to force Bach into notice in London. In 1849, a year before the foundation of the German Bach-Gesellschaft, he established the Bach Society, with the main object, however, not of publishing, but of producing the works of Bach. By this the S. Matthew Passion was performed in 1854 and 1858, to be followed by part of the High Mass, and lastly by the Christmas Oratorio. Moreover, as musical professor at Cambridge, Sir

William extended the study of Bach in a wider circle; and it was taken up by many provincial associations. In the meanwhile Schumann’s widow was asserting, by her wonderful playing, the rightful place of Bach’s clavichord works among the treasures of the pianist. At length in 1871, the S. Matthew Passion was produced at Westminster Abbey, and since that time, there, or in S. Paul’s Cathedral, the Passion Music and the Christmas Oratorio have taken their constant position as the special services of Holy Week and the new year. Other churches in London, notably S. Anne’s, Soho, have taken up the example, and the formation of the Bach Choir has added a new zeal to the cultivation of the master. If England was late in acknowledging his greatness, nowhere now are his works performed more regularly, and nowhere does he stand in so wide and so assured a popularity.

PEDIGREE OF MUSICIANS IN THE BACH FAMILY

(Composers are distinguished by spaced type)

VEIT BACH,
d. 1619
(Cithara),
Wechmar.
┌───────┴────────┐
Lips
(See page [130]).		HANS,
d. 1626
(Der Spielmann),
Arnstadt.
┌───────────┬─────┴──────┐
Johann,
1604-1673
(Town Musician
and Organist)
Erfurt.
CHRISTOPH,
1613-1661
(Town Musician),
Erfurt and
Arnstadt.
Heinrich,
1615-1692
(Organist),
Arnstadt.
Johann,
1604-1673
(Town Musician
and Organist),
Erfurt.
┌───────────────┼───────────────┐
Johann
Christian,
1640-1682
(Viol),
Erfurt and
Eisenach.		Johann
Aegidius,
1645-1717
(Viol),
Erfurt.
│		Johann
Nikolaus,
1653-1682
(Viola-da-Gamba),
Erfurt.
┌──┴───┐┌────┴────┐
Johann
Jakob,
1668-1692
(Town
Musician),
Eisenach.		Johann
Christoph,
1673-1727
(Cantor and
Organist),
Gehren.		Johann
Bernhard,
1676-1749
(Organist),
Eisenach.
│
│
Johann
Ernst,
1722-1777
(Capellmeister),
Weimar.		Johann
Christoph,
1685-post
1735
(Town
Musician),
Erfurt.