1 Burney, Charles, The Present State of Music in Germany, the Netherlands, and United Provinces (London, 1773)Google Scholar. Autobiography issued in translation by Ebeling, C. D. and Bode, J. J. C. as Tagebuch einer musikalischen Reise (Hamburg: Bode, 1773)Google Scholar. For a discussion of these sources as well as of Bach and the topic of biography see Oleskiewicz, Mary, ‘Like Father, Like Son? Emanuel Bach and the Writing of Biography’, in Music and Its Questions: Essays in Honor of Peter Williams, ed. Donahue, Thomas (Richmond, VA: Organ Historical Society, 2007)Google Scholar.

2 Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel, Autobiography. Verzeichniß des musikalischen Nachlasses, with annotations by William S. Newman (Buren: Frits Knuf, 1991), 199–200Google Scholar. My translation.

3 ‘[Bach] says in his autobiography that his appointment became official only after the prince succeeded to the throne (as Frederick II) on 31 May 1740, but he then had the honour of accompanying the “first flute solo” played by the new king “alone at the harpsichord”. The first mention of Bach in the court budget is as one of “those who joined the Kapelle in 1741”, so he must initially have been paid from the prince's privy purse.’ Leisinger, Ulrich, ‘Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel’, in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, ed. Sadie, Stanley and Tyrrell, John (London: Macmillan, 2001) volume 2, 388Google Scholar. Oleskiewicz has also made a close examination of many of Emanuel Bach's statements about Berlin, including the chronology of his appointment; ‘Like Father, Like Son?’, 260ff.

4 Wagner, Günther, ‘Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel’, in Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik, second edition, ed. Finscher, Ludwig (Kassel and Stuttgart: Bärenreiter and Metzler, 1994–2008)Google Scholar, Personenteil 1, column 1313.

5 The original record can be found in D-Bga, I. HA Rep. 36 Geheimer Rat Hof- und Güterverwaltung, Nr. 2435, 10.

6 For a discussion of payments to Bach from Frederick's privy purse (in the Schatoull-Rechnung) see Oleskiewicz, ‘Like Father, Like Son?’, 263–264.

7 According to the earlier years of the Tageskalender, Crown Prince Frederick was with his garrison at Ruppin frequently in 1738. There were extended periods of residence, especially in April and May. Another time when extra musicians might have been required was for the birthday celebration of the queen in mid-March. After June of 1738, though, there would have been far less call for musical entertainment at Ruppin or Rheinsberg because the king became very ill and his imminent death was expected. He recovered, but the family was gathered at Potsdam for the duration of his acute illness. Frederick was then occupied with travel and the formal review of his troops for most of the rest of the summer and was at Rheinsberg for most of the autumn. If Bach was called to Ruppin, it seems most likely that it would have taken place in the spring (between March and May). See Droysen, Hans, ‘Tageskalender des Kronprinzen Friedrich von Preußen vom 26. Februar 1732 bis 31. Mai 1740’, Forschungen zur brandenburgischen und preussischen Geschichte 25 (1913), 103–106Google Scholar.

8 See ‘Feierlichkeiten in Halle bei der Regierungsveränderung im Jahre 1740’ in the Hallisches patriotisches Wochenblatt, Drittes Quartal, 31. Stück, Sunday, 1 August 1840, 977.

9 Droysen, Hans, ‘Tageskalender Friedrichs des Großen vom 1. Juni bis 31. März 1763’, Forschungen zur brandenburgischen und preussischen Geschichte 29 (1916), 100Google Scholar.

10 For a more detailed discussion of this topic and of Frederick's musical hiring at this time see Ellen Exner, ‘The Forging of a Golden Age: King Frederick the Great and Music for Berlin, 1732 to 1756’ (PhD dissertation, Harvard University, 2010), 182–186.

11 It is not known exactly what Frederick's ensemble might have been doing during the period of mourning. We do know, though, that Frederick's Kapellmeister, Carl Heinrich Graun, was sent to Italy to recruit singers. Clearly, he at least was not needed at the time. Furthermore, Frederick went to war against Maria Theresa of Austria in December of 1740, so he would not have called much upon his musicians except when he was actually in residence, which would have been seldom.

12 For more on Johann Sebastian Bach's 1741 visit see Maul, Michael, ‘“Dein Ruhm wird wie ein Demantstein, ja wie ein fester Stahl beständig sein”: Neues über die Beziehungen zwischen den Familien Bach und Stahl’, Bach-Jahrbuch 87 (2001), 7–22Google Scholar. Maul also offers insight into C. P. E. Bach's relationship with the Stahl family, which was prominent and very well connected.

13 Johann Elias Bach reports that this is the reason Agricola went to Berlin in late 1741 – in other words, just months after Bach would have been hired. See ‘Die Briefentwürfe des Johann Elias Bach’, in Leipziger Beiträge zur Bach-Forschung 3, ed. Odrich, Evelin and Wollny, Peter (New York: Olms, 2000)Google Scholar. Letter No. 83: An Johann Ernst Bach in Eisenach, 9. January 1742 (181): ‘Mons. Agricola is vor etwa einem Viertheil Jahr nach Berlin auf Einrathen des dasigen Herrn Vettern [C. P. E. Bach] gegangen’.

14 The undated title-page reads: ‘Sei Sonate / per Cembalo / che all' Augusta Maestà / di / FEDERICO II. / Rè di Prussia / D. D. D. / l'Autore / Carlo Filippo Emanuele Bach / Musico di Camera di S:M. / Alle spese di Balth: Schmid / in Norimberga’. The catalogue of Bach's estate reports that the individual sonatas were composed in 1740, 1740, 1741, 1741, 1741 and 1742 respectively. It also says that the collection appeared in 1743, although 1742 is the more commonly cited date.

15 Wolff, Christoph, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 401Google Scholar.

16 See, for example, Miesner, Heinrich, ‘Graf v. Keyserlingk und Minister v. Happe, zwei Gönner der Familie Bach’, in Bach-Jahrbuch 31 (1934), 100–115Google Scholar.

17 Spitta, Philipp, Johann Sebastian Bach, revised edition (Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1979), volume 2, 715–716Google Scholar.

18 Spitta, Philipp, Johann Sebastian Bach, trans. Bell, Clara and Fuller Maitland, J. A. (London: Novello, 1899), volume 3, 236Google Scholar.

19 The reference to Rochlitz is from Für Freunde der Tonkunst, volume 4 (Leipzig: Carl Cnobloch, 1832), 283Google Scholar. The original passage reads: ‘Zwar vollendete er seinen akademischen Kursus, und da der Vater in Leipzig Gelegenheit gefunden hatte, mit einer vornehmen und reichen Familie aus Liefland, deren ältester Sohn in Leipzig studirte und nun bald eine Reise durch Frankreich, Italien und England machen sollte, bekannt zu werden und seinen Emanuel zum Führer des jungen Reisenden zu empfehlen – eine Empfehlung, die von den Aeltern dankbar angenommen worden war: so hätte unser Frankfurter schwerlich ausweichen dürfen, wäre ihm nicht eben da der Ruf vom preußischen Kronprinzen, dem nachherigen König Friedrich II., gekommen, so daß er nun selbständig, auch der Unterstützung des Vaters nicht mehr bedürftig, seinen Entschluß erklären und jene sehr vortheilhafte Anerbietung ausschlagen konnte’ (my italics).

20 ‘Die vornehme Familie wird doch nicht die des Freiherrn von Keyserling gewesen sein?’ Spitta, Johann Sebastian Bach, volume 2, 716, note 38.

21 See, for example, Leisinger: ‘In about 1738 he was offered the opportunity to go on an educational tour abroad as companion to Heinrich Christian von Keyserlingk, a son of Reichsgraf Hermann Carl von Keyserlingk, a patron of J. S. and W. F. Bach’ (‘Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel’, The New Grove, volume 2, 388). Wagner also offers Keyserlingk and, parenthetically, the Prussian Minister von Happe (‘Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel’, Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, Personenteil 1, column 1313). See also Christoph Wolff: ‘Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was given the opportunity, after completing his university studies at Frankfurt an der Oder, to escort a “young gentleman” on a Grand Tour through Austria, Italy, France, and England. This gentleman was none other than the son of Count Keyserlingk in Dresden, one of Bach's most important patrons, and the scheme had clearly been worked out by the two fathers.’ Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician, 401.

22 Miesner, ‘Graf v. Keyserlingk’, 110.

23 Miesner, ‘Graf v. Keyserlingk’, 110.

24 A recent theory by Rashid-S. Pegah suggests a much earlier start to the relationship between Emanuel Bach and King Frederick. See his ‘Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach und Kronprinz Friedrich in Preußen: Die erste Begegnung?’, Bach-Jahrbuch 94 (2008), 328–332Google Scholar. In this article Pegah suggests that a ‘fils de Back’ mentioned in a letter of 8 June 1735 from Crown Prince Frederick to his sister Wilhelmine was certainly C. P. E. Bach. His conclusion is that Frederick must have already been aware of Bach in 1735. The letter, however, does not identify specifically which ‘fils de Back’ Frederick heard, and it also expresses doubt on Frederick's part as to the musician's level of polish (‘his taste is not yet formed’). Pegah's conclusion, that Frederick must have already known of the Bach family in the 1730s, is alluring, but in the context of the rest of the correspondence, it seems possible that Franz Benda, another one of Frederick's musicians, could be the source of Frederick's knowledge: Benda stopped in Leipzig on his way from Frederick's residence at Ruppin to Wilhelmine's palace at Bayreuth. See Hiller, Johann Adam, Lebensbeschreibungen berühmter Musikgelehrten und Tonkünstler neuerer Zeit (Leipzig, 1784), 44Google Scholar.

25 We know that C. P. E. Bach also enjoyed a relationship with Minister von Happe because he dedicated a trio sonata to him (Wq157). The source of this information is a note on C. P. E. Bach's own title-page in the hand of the collector Böhmer [Behmer]: ‘NB. ist des Hl. CBach / eigene Hand, u. vor / den seel. Hl. Etats Minister / v. Happe von ihm verfertigt, / aus dessen musicalischen / Nachlaß ich es erhalten. Behmer’. The source is in a private collection in North America. See Chamber Music: Trio Sonatas II, ed. Wolff, Christoph, in Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: The Complete Works, series 2, volume 2 (Los Altos: Packard Humanities Institute, 2011), xviiiGoogle Scholar. See also Miesner, ‘Graf v. Keyserlingk’, 100–115. In addition, there is a recent theory that C. P. E. Bach's Trauungs-Cantate (h824a) might have been intended for a member of the Happe family; see note 29.

26 Miesner, Heinrich, ‘Aus der Umwelt Philipp Emanuel Bachs’, Bach-Jahrbuch 34 (1937), 132–143Google Scholar.

27 The Keyserlingk family is also nobility from Courland, and not Livland. This detail might actually remove both families from contention – unless we assume that Rochlitz got it completely wrong, in which case we have no information whatsoever regarding the identity of Bach's potential companion.

28 Margrave Carl's Kapelle roster is given in Marpurg, Historisch-Kritische Beyträge zur Aufnahme der Musik (Berlin: G. A. Lange, 1754–1762), volume 1 (1754), section (Stück) 2, 156ff. His status as beneficiary of his uncle's will is established by Besseler, Heinrich, ‘Markgraf Christian Ludwig von Brandenburg’, Bach-Jahrbuch 43 (1956), 26Google Scholar.

29 Arias and Chamber Cantatas, ed. van Boer, Bertil, in Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: The Complete Works, series 6, volume 4 (Los Altos: Packard Humanities Institute, 2010)Google Scholar. The rubric on a (possibly autograph) source that was in the library of Königsberg (now Kaliningrad) reads: ‘Cantate auf die Vermählung des Hrn. Von G. und des Fräul. G componieret von Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’. It also provides a date, ‘1765?’, with question mark included. This, of course, is several years before Grotthuß's wedding took place. Bach's own works catalogue (Verzeichniß des musikalischen Nachlasses) also reflects uncertainty about the date, so the chronology indicated in the sources is doubly unhelpful. Other early sources that have recently come to light seem similarly to suggest a date prior to Grotthuß's wedding for the work's composition. See Bertil van Boer's Introduction to the edition, especially xiii–xiv.