They say that behind every successful man there is a woman!
In Bach's case there were two - his wives Maria Barbara (d.1720) and Anna Magdalena (d.1760) who, between them, not only bore him 20 children, but were also during their respective lives the 'rocks' that kept this ever-growing family on an even keel. Little is known about Maria Barbara, mother of Wilhelm Friedemann (b.1710) and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (b.1714), except for the sad circumstances of her sudden illness and death in July 1720 aged just 36; Bach was away at the time and only learnt the news on his return home, by which date she had already been buried. He was stunned. This situation is in stark contrast to our expectations of receiving such news today, isn't it?
However just seventeen months later on 3 December 1721 Bach married twenty year-old Anna Magdalena Wilcke at Cöthen. Together for the next twenty eight years, most of which were spent at Leipzig*, they shared a deep devotion and affection that not only enabled Bach to fulfil his considerable and demanding duties, but also sustained a large household complete with students and other visiting friends and colleagues, all given warm hospitality and hosted at their lodgings in the Thomasschule, next to the Thomaskirche in Leipzig's Thomaskirchhof (Illustrated c.1735). The Anna Magdalena Notebooks (1722) and (1725) Bach provided undoubtedly testify to the respect in which she was held musically and her importance in his life.
Referred to in one letter as 'our honoured Mama', Anna Magdalena not only became step-mother to Bach's surviving children by Maria Barbara, but she also bore him a further thirteen, a number of whom either died within days or after a few months. Such occurrences were commonplace, as infant mortality was considered just another hardship to be borne alongside the poverty, medical and other social inadequacies of the day. The Bachs also had their fair share of parental worries too. Sons Johann Gottfried Bernhard (b. 1715 by Maria Barbara) and Gottfried Heinrich (b. 1724 by Anna Magdalena) both had personal and social difficulties to overcome. So any perception that such problems are a 21st century phenomenon can be quickly dispelled. Knowledge of life with the Bachs provides another bridge between the centuries, drawing the composer's life, times and his treasury of music perhaps ever closer to us today.
A matchless partner
Anna Magdalena was born into a musical family. A gifted musician herself, she became a successful professional singer and later appeared in concerts with her husband as circumstances allowed, for example with the Leipzig Collegium, within the family home and when accompanying Bach on his many trips away from the city. Bach's Cantata for solo soprano BWV 204 (dating 1726-27) might well have been composed with Anna Magdalena in mind, for scholars now believe that it may have been written for a family occasion. However, she would not have been able to take part in performances of the weekly church cantatas Bach provided for the Leipzig services. The solo soprano/treble part would have been sung by one of the boys of the Thomanerchor.
Anna Magdalena's work as one of her husband's copyists would surely have helped to compensate for any restrictions that were placed on her regarding public performances, and invaluably so. Examples of her musical handwriting include various cantatas, the Violin Sonatas and Partitas, the Six Cello Suites among others. Apart from this and her family and friends, her pleasures also included gardening and her delight at receiving a gift of carnations - perhaps plants for a window box? - is well documented.
Anna Magdalena's 250th anniversary in 2010
Life after Bach, however, was not so agreeable. Apart from the personal loss of her illustrious husband, family support was also limited and she knew great hardship, eventually dying in penury on 27 February 1760 aged 59. The 250th anniversary of her death enables us to reflect upon the central role she played in Bach's life on all fronts - as wife and mother, hostess, a copyist, fellow musician and Confidante - during arguably the most significant years of his compositional life; the years that brought us for example, five cycles of church cantatas, the great Passions and Oratorios and his assembly of material for publication during the 1740s. We remember Anna Magdalena with affection and thanks.
* The Bachs left Cöthen for Leipzig in 1723
Margaret Steinitz
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