![Johann Sebastian Bach](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Johann_Sebastian_Bach.jpg)
The Bach family refers to several notable composers of the
baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
and
classical periods of music, the best-known of whom was
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
(1685–1750).
A family genealogy was drawn up by Johann Sebastian Bach himself in 1735 when he was 50 and was completed by his son
Carl Philipp Emanuel.
Ancestors of Johann Sebastian Bach
![Wechmar Bachhaus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Wechmar_Bachhaus.JPG)
Four branches of the Bach family were known at the beginning of the 16th century; a Hans Bach of
Wechmar, a village between
Gotha
Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...
and
Arnstadt
Arnstadt () is a town in Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany, on the river Gera about south of Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia. Arnstadt is one of the oldest towns in Thuringia, and has a well-preserved historic centre with a partially preserved town ...
in
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and larg ...
, is known to have been alive in 1561. He is believed to be the father of
Veit Bach
Vitus "Veit" Bach (around 1550 – 8 March 1619, Wechmar) was a German baker and miller who, according to Johann Sebastian Bach, founded the Bach family, which became one of the most important families in musical history.
Life and family
Veit ...
.
* Veit (Vitus) Bach (c. 1550–1619, Wechmar) was, according to Johann Sebastian's genealogy, "a white-bread baker in
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
" who had to flee Hungary because he was a
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
, settling in Wechmar. He "found the greatest pleasure in a little
cittern
The cittern or cithren ( Fr. ''cistre'', It. ''cetra'', Ger. ''Cister,'' Sp. ''cistro, cedra, cítola'') is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is d ...
which he took with him even into the mill";
* His son
Johannes Bach I (c. 1580–1626) "'" (lit. "the player"), was the first professional musician of the family. He "at first took up the trade of baker, but having a particular bent for music," he became a piper;
* His second grandson
Christoph Christoph is a male given name and surname. It is a German variant of Christopher.
Notable people with the given name Christoph
* Christoph Bach (1613–1661), German musician
* Christoph Büchel (born 1966), Swiss artist
* Christoph Dientzenho ...
(c. 1613–1661) was an instrumentalist;
* His first great-grandson
Johann Ambrosius was a violinist, and the father of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Others born before 1685
Johann Ambrosius' uncle,
Heinrich Heinrich may refer to:
People
* Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
* Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
*Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...
of
Arnstadt
Arnstadt () is a town in Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany, on the river Gera about south of Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia. Arnstadt is one of the oldest towns in Thuringia, and has a well-preserved historic centre with a partially preserved town ...
, had two sons:
Johann Michael and
Johann Christoph. The latter was once thought to be the author of the
motet
In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...
' (I will not leave you), which is now confirmed to be Johann Sebastian Bach's (
BWV
The (BWV; ; ) is a catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990. An abbreviated version of that second edition, known as BWV2 ...
159a). Another descendant of Veit Bach,
Johann Ludwig, was revered more than any other ancestor by Johann Sebastian, who copied twelve of his church
cantata
A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir.
The meaning of ...
s and sometimes added work of his own to them.
Descendants of Johann Sebastian Bach
Of the seven children that Johann Sebastian Bach had with his first wife
Maria Barbara Bach
Maria Barbara Bach ( – buried 7 July 1720) was the first wife of composer Johann Sebastian Bach. She was also the daughter of his father's cousin Johann Michael Bach.
Life
Maria Barbara Bach was born at Gehren, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, to ...
, his second cousin, only three survived. Two of these had musical careers of their own:
Wilhelm Friedemann and
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and sec ...
(the "Berlin Bach", later the "Hamburg Bach").
After his first wife died, Johann Sebastian Bach married
Anna Magdalena Wilcken, a gifted soprano and daughter of the court trumpeter of Prince
Saxe-Weissenfels
Saxe-Weissenfels (german: Sachsen-Weißenfels) was a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire from 1656/7 until 1746 with its residence at Weißenfels. Ruled by a cadet branch of the Albertine House of Wettin, the duchy passed to the Electorate of Saxony u ...
. They had 13 children, of whom
Johann Christoph Friedrich (the "Bückeburg Bach") and
Johann Christian (the "London Bach") became significant musicians. A further four survived into adulthood:
Gottfried Heinrich; Elisabeth Juliane Friederica (1726–1781), who married Bach's pupil
Johann Christoph Altnickol
Johann Christoph Altnickol, or Altnikol, (baptised 1 January 1720, buried 25 July 1759) was a German organist, bass singer, and composer. He was a student, copyist and son-in-law of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Biography
Altnikol was born in Berna bei ...
; Johanna Carolina (1737–1781); and Regina Susanna (1742–1809).
Of Bach's surviving children, only five would marry. Of these, Johann Christian would have no children from his marriage to the soprano Cecilia Grassi. Carl Philipp Emanuel, who married Johanna Maria Dannemann, would have three surviving children. Of these children the youngest,
Johann Sebastian (1748–1778) was a gifted painter who died young. None of Emanuel's children would marry or have offspring, with his bloodline dying out with the presumed death of his daughter Anna Carolina Philippina (1746–1804).
Elisabeth Juliane Friederica, known as Liesgen, with Altnickol had three surviving children. Their only son, Johann Sebastian died in infancy in 1740. The elder daughter, Augusta Magdalena (1751–1809) married Ernest Friedrich Ahlefeldt and have four daughters, of whom only one, Christiane Johanne (1780–1816) would survive. From her marriage to Paul Johann Müller, a daughter, Augusta Wilhelmina (1809–1818) was born, though she would die as an infant, ending this line of Bach's descendants.
Of the next generation,
Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach
Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach, also known as ''William Bach'' (24 May 1759 – 25 December 1845) was the eldest son of Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach and the only grandson of Johann Sebastian Bach to gain fame as a composer. He was music di ...
, also known as William Bach (24 May 1759 – 25 December 1845) was the eldest son of Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach and the only grandson of Johann Sebastian Bach to gain fame as a composer. He was music director to
Frederick William II of Prussia. WFE's only son died in infancy. The first born of his three daughters, Caroline Augusta Wilhelmine, lived the longest. She died in 1871 – the last of Bach's descendants to hold the Bach name.
Bach has living descendants via two granddaughters born to Friedemann and Johann Christoph Friedrich, respectively. Anna Philippine Friederike (1755–1804), sister of Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst, married Wilhelm Ernst Colson, a lieutenant in an artillery regiment. They would have five sons and a daughter. While this bloodline was traditionally assumed to have died out with this generation, one of her sons, Johann Christoph Friedrich (1778–1831) married and had offspring with progeny to the modern day.
Friedemann married Dorothea Elisabeth Georgi and would have two sons and a daughter. Both sons died in infancy, with his daughter Friederica Sophia (b. 1757). During the 20th-century scholarship has uncovered several children born to Friederica Sophia, which were hitherto unknown. Friederica Sophia married Johann Schmidt, a footsoldier in 1793 shortly after the birth of an illegitimate daughter. Of this child and a sister little is known.
In 1780 she had given birth to an illegitimate son, of which nothing further is known. Friederica Sophia appears to have left her husband for a man by the name of Schwarzschulz, with whom she had an illegitimate daughter, Karoline Beata (b. 1798) whose descendants eventually emigrated to Oklahoma.
Partial family tree
Expanded genealogy
*
Veit Bach
Vitus "Veit" Bach (around 1550 – 8 March 1619, Wechmar) was a German baker and miller who, according to Johann Sebastian Bach, founded the Bach family, which became one of the most important families in musical history.
Life and family
Veit ...
(about 1550–1619)
**
Johannes Bach I (d. 1626) (son of Veit Bach)
***
Johann(es) Bach III (1604–1673) – the so-called ''Erfurt Line''
****
Johann Christian Bach I
Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...
(1640–1682)
*****
Johann Jacob Bach II (1668–1692)
*****
Johann Christoph Bach IV (1673–1727)
******
Johann Samuel Bach (1694–1720)
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Johann Christian Bach II (1696–)
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Johann Günther Bach II (1703–1756)
****
Johann Aegidius Bach I (1645–1716)
*****
Johann Balthasar Bach (1673–1691)
*****
Johann Bernhard Bach I (1676–1749)
******
Johann Ernst Bach II
Johann Ernst Bach (28 January 1722 – 1 September 1777) was a German composer of the Classical Period. He was the son of Johann Bernhard Bach.
Life
Johann Ernst Bach, the son of Johann Bernhard Bach, was born in Eisenach and baptized on Janua ...
(1722–1777)
*******
Johann Georg Bach I (1751–1797)
*****
Johann Christoph Bach VI (1685–1740)
******
Johann Friedrich Bach II (1706–1743)
******
Johann Aegidius Bach II (1709–1746)
****
Johann Nicolaus Bach I (1653–1682)
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Christoph Bach (1613–1661)
****
Georg Christoph Bach (1642–1697)
*****
Johann Valentin Bach (1669–1720)
******
Johann Lorenz Bach (1695–1773)
******
Johann Elias Bach (1705–1755)
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Johann Michael Bach III (1745–1820) – the music theorist
********
Johann Georg Bach II (1786–1874)
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Georg Friedrich Bach (1792–1860)
****
Johann Christoph Bach II (1645–1693)
*****
Johann Ernst Bach I (1683–1739)
*****
Johann Christoph Bach VII (1689–1740)
****
Johann Ambrosius Bach
Johann Ambrosius Bach (22 February 1645 – ) was a German musician, father to Johann Sebastian Bach.
Life
Johann Ambrosius Bach was born in Erfurt, Germany, the son of musician Christoph Bach (1613–1661). He was the twin brother of Joh ...
(1645–1695)
*****
Johann Christoph Bach III (1671–1721)
******
Johann Andreas Bach (1713–1779)
*******
Johann Christoph Georg Bach (1747–1814)
******
Johann Bernhard Bach II (1700–1743)
******
Johann Christoph Bach VIII
Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...
(1702–1756)
*******
Ernst Carl Gottfried Bach (1738–1801)
*******
Ernst Christian Bach (1747–1822)
*******
Philipp Christian Georg Bach (1734–1809)
*****
Johann Jacob Bach III (1682–1722)
*****
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
(1685–1750) – wed in his first marriage to second cousin
Maria Barbara Bach
Maria Barbara Bach ( – buried 7 July 1720) was the first wife of composer Johann Sebastian Bach. She was also the daughter of his father's cousin Johann Michael Bach.
Life
Maria Barbara Bach was born at Gehren, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, to ...
(1684–1720); in second marriage 1721 to
Anna Magdalena Wilcke (1701–1760)
******
Catharina Dorothea Bach (1708–1774)
******
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (22 November 17101 July 1784), the second child and eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach, was a German composer and performer. Despite his acknowledged genius as an organist, improviser and composer ...
(1710–1784) – the so-called "Dresden Bach" or "Halle Bach"
******
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and sec ...
(1714–1788) – the so-called "Hamburg Bach" or "Berlin Bach"
*******
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
(1748–1778) – painter
******
Johann Gottfried Bernhard Bach (1715–1739)
******
Gottfried Heinrich Bach Gottfried Heinrich Bach (26 February 1724 – 12 February 1763) was the firstborn son of Johann Sebastian Bach by his second wife Anna Magdalena Wilcke. He was born in Leipzig, where his parents had moved the year before his birth.
Gottfried He ...
(1724–1763)
******
Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach
Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (21 June 1732 – 26 January 1795) was a harpsichordist and composer, the fifth son of Johann Sebastian Bach, sometimes referred to as the "Bückeburg Bach".
Born in Leipzig in the Electorate of Saxony, he was ...
(1732–1795) – the so-called "Bückeburg Bach"
*******
Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach
Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach, also known as ''William Bach'' (24 May 1759 – 25 December 1845) was the eldest son of Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach and the only grandson of Johann Sebastian Bach to gain fame as a composer. He was music di ...
(1759–1845) – the so-called "Minden Bach"
******
Johann Christian Bach III (1735–1782) – the so-called "Milan Bach" or "London Bach"
***
Heinrich Bach I (1615–1692) – the so-called ''Arnstadt Line''
****
Johann Christoph Bach I (1642–1703)
*****
Johann Nikolaus Bach II (1669–1753)
*****
Johann Christoph Bach V (1676–)
******
Johann Heinrich Bach II (1709–)
*****
Johann Friedrich Bach I
Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...
(1682–1730)
*****
Johann Michael Bach II (1685–)
****
Johann Michael Bach I (1648–1694)
*****
Maria Barbara Bach
Maria Barbara Bach ( – buried 7 July 1720) was the first wife of composer Johann Sebastian Bach. She was also the daughter of his father's cousin Johann Michael Bach.
Life
Maria Barbara Bach was born at Gehren, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, to ...
(1684–1720) – married
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
(1685–1750)
****
Johann Günther Bach I (1653–1683)
**
Philippus "Lips" Bach (1590–1620) – son of Veit Bach
***
Wendel Bach (1619–1682)
**** (1655–1718)
*****
Nicolaus Ephraim Bach Nicolaus is a masculine given name. It is a Latin, Greek and German form of Nicholas. Nicolaus may refer to:
In science:
* Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer who provided the first modern formulation of a heliocentric theory of the solar syste ...
(1690–1760)
*****
Georg Michael Bach (1703–1771)
******
Johann Christian Bach IV (1743–1814)
*****
Johann Ludwig Bach
Johann Ludwig Bach ( – 1 May 1731) was a German composer and violinist.
He was born in Thal near Eisenach. At the age of 22 he moved to Meiningen eventually being appointed cantor there, and later Kapellmeister. He wrote a large amount of musi ...
(1677–1731) – the so-called "Meininger Bach", composer
******
Gottlieb Friedrich Bach
Gottlieb (formerly D. Gottlieb & Co.) was an American arcade game corporation based in Chicago, Illinois.
History
The main office and plant was located at 1140-50 N. Kostner Avenue until the early 1970s when a new modern plant and office was lo ...
(1714–1785) – court organist, court painter, Meinigen
*******
Johann Philipp Bach
Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...
(1752–1846) – musician, painter
******
Samuel Anton Bach (1713–1781)
***
Johann Bach IV
Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...
(1621–1686) – nephew of Lips Bach
****
Johann Stephan Bach
Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...
(1665–1717)
*
Caspar Bach I (1570–1640) (brother of Veit Bach?)
**
Caspar Bach II (1600–)
**
Heinrich "Blinder Jonas" Bach (−1635)
**
Johann(es) Bach II (1612–1632)
**
Melchior Bach (1603–1634)
**
Nicolaus Bach (1619–1637)
See also
*
P. D. Q. Bach
P. D. Q. Bach is a fictional composer invented by the American musical satirist Peter Schickele, who developed a five-decade-long career performing the "discovered" works of the "only forgotten son" of the Bach family. Schickele's music combines ...
References
Sources
*
*
External links
Bach family tree bach-cantatas.com
{{Authority control
Family trees