jailed 6Nov1717

[jerbidoc@jaws.greatwhite.com (jerry and judy)]

 I scanned this in hurriedly so please forgive...

                                        It had all begun when Wilhelm Ernst
finally persuaded a respect-
                                     able and well-dowered widow to marry
his heir, Ernst Augustus.
                                     This lady's brother, Prince Leopold of
Anhalt-Cothen, a gifted
                                     musical amateur, met Bach at his new
brother-in-law's palace, and
                                     was so impressed by his genius that he
forthwith offered him the
                                     position of Kapellmeister at Cothen.
Several considerations prompted
                                     Bach to entertain the offer.  As a
member of the ducal household
                                     he was hedged in by a thousand
irritating restrictions, not the
                                     least of which forbade him to visit
the heir presumptive and his
                                     wife, with whom the Duke was
constantly quarreling.  In defiance
                                     of this ukase, Bach's friendship with
Ernst Augustus and his con-
                                     sort continued on so intimate a
footing that the Duke became suspicious.
                                     Any chance of closing the rift between
Bach and his em-
                                     employer was precluded when the Duke
passed over Bach's head in
                                     appointing a new Kapellmeister, the
highest musical honor in his
                                     gift.  Smarting from this indignity,
Bach proceeded to his triumph
                                     at Dresden, and came back with his
mind made up.  He informed
                                     Prince Leopold of his unwillingness to
leave Weimar, and the deal
                                     was closed in August, 1717.
                                       When Bach applied for his release,
the Duke was furious.  In-
                                     nately opposed to change as something
inherently wrong, he saw
                                     in the threatened departure of one of
his best musicians a deter-
                                     mination on his heir's part to
interrupt the smooth tenor of his
                                     life.  He refused.  Bach insisted, and
on November 6 the Duke placed
                                     him under arrest.  During his
incarceration, which lasted almost a
                                     month, Bach seems to have imitated the
examples of Cervantes,
                                     Bunyan, and other geniuses who
suffered imprisonment, by con-
                                     continuing to work at his art.  The
one thing he did not do was change
                                     his mind. Torture being out of
fashion, the Duke had to give in,
                                     and on December 2 he granted this
stubborn servant permission
                                     to go elsewhere.  On that date Bach's
official career as an organist.
                                     came to an end. Little more than a
week later, he was settled at
                                     Cothen.
                                       The move as a drastic one.  From a
worldly point of view, it
                                     meant promotion, more prestige, and
more pay.  Bach had always
                                     coveted the title of Kapellmeister,
and for some years had needed an
                                     income more nearly commensurate with
the demands of rapidly
                                     growing family.  The attitude of his
new patron was like a tonic to
                                     his flagging spirits.