July 2002 - Nr. 7
The Bach Archive
- Leipzig’s Hidden Treasure -
TWIG - The baroque Bose house, where the great German composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), spent much time during his 27 years as music director of the city of Leipzig, and which stands in the shadows of the Thomaskirche where he served as cantor, is a must on the itinerary of every visitor to the city. But few visitors ever see the true treasures stowed in the small rooms of the house: the vast holdings of the Bach Archive of Leipzig. Experts have uncovered many traces of the work and life of J.S. Bach in the house, which belonged to the composer’s friend, the trading magnate Georg Heinrich Bose, in the early 18th century.
The archive was founded in 1950 by musicologist Werner Neumann, with the support of the city of Leipzig and the federal state of Saxony. Its purpose is to collect and examine literary and documentary material about the life, work and history of the artistic creations of J.S. Bach and his family - and to present his work to the public through exhibitions, lectures, guided tours and publications. Although the city has been blessed with a rich musical life and has taken pains to preserve the Bach legacy since the 18th century, until the archive was created, a Bach research facility never had an institutional home in Leipzig. Research into editions, traditions and performance practices of Bach’s day was long dependent upon the personal involvement of individuals. The archive that today enjoys great international prestige was built upon a bequest from J.S. Bach’s widow and papers administered by the choir of the Thomaskirche.
Today the scholarly library contains some 7,300 books, 8,350 volumes of musical notation, 4,115 recordings, 500 graphical folios, 91,500 photocopies of Bach sources as well as special collections of Bach’s manuscripts and prints from the early 18th and 19th centuries. The archive houses the second-largest collection of original Bach sources after the State Library in Berlin.
Renowned musicologist and Harvard professor Christoph Wolff, director of the archive since January 2001, wants to turn the institution into the premiere address for international Bach research. Wolff’s objective is to open the archive, museum and collection to the public, thereby raising the worldwide profile of the composer’s former workplace and, by extension, the "Bach City" itself. He has also opened other portals of access: "The archive has entered the computer age," says archive spokesman Joerg Clemen, thus promoting exchanges with other institutions involved in Bach research. The Leipzig archive maintains close ties with the Packard Humanities Institute, the America Bach Society and Harvard University. The archive has been added to a list of the most important German cultural institutions, which has brought it elevated status at home, as well.
Future projects include making the archive’s library catalogue accessible online and creating a universal Bach data bank with a digital collection of Bach editions that can be updated as it grows, says Wolff. "The initiative for an improved and versatile presence on the Internet is there. Internet programs for the library, museum and research are under construction, " Wolff says. Access to and use of the most important collection of Bach literature and recordings in the world is also to be simplified.
Since 1950, the archive has organized the biennial International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition for young musicians, and since 1999, the annual Bach festival. The Bose house, which also hosts 50 concerts in its "summer hall" each year, is also a center for Bach preservation in Germany. The Leipzig institution is involved in producing the New Bach Edition, a catalogue of Bach’s works and the publication of scholarly editions by the Bach family as well as the complete edition of the works of J.S. Bach’s sons, Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.
Despite support from national, state and local sources, the Bach Archive’s financial situation remains strained. The archive relies heavily on donations for acquisition of important items for its collection and for restoration of manuscripts and rare prints. In June 2001, a non-profit organization was established to provide the archive with financial support.
