[11] Bach’s appointment is dated 14th June, 1707. The signatures of three members of the consistory are absent; they offer a pathetic excuse. Their houses had just been burnt to the ground in a great fire that had laid waste much of the town, and they were destitute even of the means of signing their names, hätten keine Feder oder Tinte, wären wegen des Unglücks so bestürzet, dass sie an keine Music dächten; wie es die anderen Herren machten wären sie zufrieden: Spitta, i. 851 f.
[12] The description of the scene, in somewhat sesquipedalian Latin, is quoted by Spitta, i. 801.
[13] Note to Quintilian, Inst. Orat. 1. xii. 3, in Spitta ii. 89.
[14] Forkel, Life of J. S. Bach, pp. 30 f., E. T., London, 1820.
[15] The early works for organ have already been enumerated, above pp. 21 f.
[16] An excellent catalogue of this edition is contained in Alfred Doerffel’s Thematisches Verzeichniss, u.s.w., Leipzig, 1867.
[17] He might indeed just go too far, as we may see from the complaints made against Bach when at Arnstadt (above p. [25]).
[18] Handel too was a student of Legrenzi, as a motive in one of his oratorios bears witness.
[19] Mattheson proposed the theme some years later, without stating its derivation, to a candidate for examination on the organ: Spitta, i. 634 f.
[20] This fugue is based upon the G minor violin-sonata, and possibly was composed at Coethen.