Today we continue with the second question of our slowly ripening music quiz for TriviaPark.com, which is starting to look as though it will come out on the challenging side, particularly if you don’t happen to be some kind of music student. Don’t worry, however, because…
We’ve got your Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), the composer one generally means when speaking of ‘Bach’ without qualification, was but the most outstanding member of an exceptionally musical family. Indeed, several of the other Bachs retain some renown as composers to this day. All four listed here are in that category. Three are J.S. Bach’s own sons. The fourth was a grandson. Which?
- Johann Christian Bach
- Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach
- Wilhelm Friedemann Bach
- Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach
To be fair, Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach (1759-1845), only son of J.S. Bach’s fourth son Johann Christoph Friedrich, is less well known today than some of his uncles and forebears, to say nothing of J.S. himself. Wilhelm Friedrich nevertheless lived a long and productive musical life as a conductor and composer. One of his works, Dreyblatt, is most unusual in being written for three pianists playing at the same instrument (‘six hands’). There is a considerable repertoire of such music for just two players (‘four hands’), but for reasons of physical space that is usually seen as the upper limit. To get around it, Dreyblatt is designed for performance by a tall performer flanked by two much smaller ones. The center player reaches around his companions to address the lowest and highest ranges of the keyboard while they take care of the middle.
