Bach FAQ 123
The 100 most important Bach FAQ.
This picture is called "The singende Muse at the Pleiße" ("The singing Muse at the Pleiße") and in the right half of the picture two people are sitting at a table. It is said that Johann Sebastian Bach can be seen here behind a portable organ, and that his wife Anna Magdalena Bach is to the right. It is the only picture of Anna Magdalena Bach to which there are no (!) objections regarding authenticity.
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Bach wasn't rich, and he didn't die rich either. Quite in contrast to Friedrich Handel, who lived at the same time. And he wasn't as famous back then as he is today. In addition, there was the fact that there was no GEMA (... a powerful society representing the financial royalties of musicians in Germany) at that time. In other words, neither Johann Sebastian Bach nor his wife Anna Magdalena Bach benefited when his music was played after Bach's death. Recently, a musicologist and musician discovered that Bach owned shares in a silver mine. But that doesn't even mean that he left debts "on the other side". Even today, anyone can "plunder" his or her savings account, buy shares from a gold mining company and still hardly own any money "at the bottom line". It is a fact that Anna Magdalena urgently asked the Leipzig Council for a pension for the poor - you hardly do that if you had enough money aside - but only received it for half a year. The belongings that Bach left in material assets is documented, and it can also be concluded from this that Anna Magdalena was not wealthy. "Relative poverty" is a popular phrase used to describe the financial situation of Anna Magdalena Bach after the death of the Thomaskantor.
The picture from above again: Now you see Johann Sebastian Bach and Anna Magdalena Bach better.
The only high-resolution picture of Esther Meynell on the internet. Esther Meynell ist die Autorin der Biografie "Die kleine Chronik der Anna Magdalena Bach".
The little short video: Barbara Bach-Hertzog, a cousin of J.S. Bach who now lives in the USA, paints Esther Meynell, the author of the "Little Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach".
100,000s of copies were published by several German publishing companies. However, finally younger biographies replaced this more than successful book.
Ja, eines Tagen mischen wir auch noch Musik von Johann Sebastian Bach zum Mal-Erlebnis.
How nice, Wikipedia no longer opens with the image that Anna Magdalena Bach presents as a young girl with a white cap and blue robe. This is ... namely not Anna Magdalena Bach. Unfortunately this picture is on the right side of the monitor when you google "Anna Magdalena Bach.
No, it's not her: This is not Anna Magdalena Bach (... right at the Google results with the entry AMB).
There is a tribute for Anna Magdalena Bach and you can find it as one of the Bach highlights in and around the Thomaskirche: It is a plaque in the Thomaskirchhof in Leipzig. So there are 7 Bach highlights to experience there: First, of course, the New Bach Monument, then Bach's grave in St. Thomas's Church. Next, the Bach window in the rear part near the organ, when we are already in the church, the Old Bach Monument, if you walk only 20 steps towards the green area or the main entrance of St. Thomas' Church, the Bach archive on the opposite side of St. Thomas' Church, the Bach shop a few steps down from the church and yes ... the aforementioned honor for just ... Anna Magdalena Bach.
© Foto/Quelle/Lizenz:Evergreen68 [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
The tribute for Anna Magdalena Bach ...
Seven good reasons for Bach fans to look forward to the Thomaskirche and the Bach highlights surrounding it.
The New Bach Monument.
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Bach figures and Bach busts in almost all sizes ...
... Little Bach "Turning Box" and a Bach Calendar ...
The Old Bach Monument.
The Bach window in the nave, opposite side with the Bach grave, on the left.
The grave of Johann Sebastian Bach close to The Lord's Table.
The Clavier Booklet, which Johann Sebastian Bach created for his Anna Magdalena Bach, better Anna-Magdalena Bachin anno 1722. Here you can find more information.
I am sorry folks, this whole newspaper article is not available in English. However, my recommendation for all those who are definitely interested: DEEPL a translation website delivers unbelievable results.
If you want to read the latest research results about Anna Magdalena Bach directly and immediately, you are in good hands with the daily newspaper "Frankfurter Allgemeine". Here it is presented excitingly that Bachs second woman was not at all responsible for house and family, but quite active as an entrepreneur. Here you come to the report.
The Thomasschule: Anna Magdalena Bach lived here for 27 years with her husband and many children.
For Bach fans it is a well-known picture of Toby E. Rosenthal, but ... You suspected it ... Anna Magdalena Bach is not authentically depicted here either.
It gets even worse as these two books only make sense for those of you, who speak and can read German.
In 2004 Maria Hübner's paperback "Anna Magdalena Bach: A Life in Documents and Pictures" was published for those of you who are now more interested in AMB. For far less money, but with a much better review, is Eleonore Dehnerdt's paperback "Die Sängerin Anna Magdalena Bach" (The singer Anna Magdalena Bach) concludes my book recommendations.
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