On December 14, 1788, Karl Philipp Emanuel Bach died having enjoyed the blessings of God that were showered upon him because his dad Johann Sebastian Bach put God first in his life.
God’s word says: Proverbs 20:7 “The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.”
Karl’s blessings began when he was born on March 14, 1714, in Germany. He was the second son. And his father was his musical teacher.
- 1723. He entered his father’s choir at age ten.
- 1731. He entered the University of Leipzig as a law student.
- 1733. Karl applied for the position of church organist, but did not get it.
- 1738. He got his degree, but decided to abandon his legal career and devote himself to music. A couple months later he got an appointment in the service of the crown prince of Prussia, and then was the harpsichordist for Frederick the Great where he mainly played flute for 28 years.
- 1740. He became a member of the royal household.
- 1743. An attack of the gout that troubled Bach all his life, forced him to go to a spa for treatment.
- 1744. He married Johanna Maria Dannemann, and had three children.
- 1749. During his stay at Berlin, he wrote the musical piece, “Magnificat,” in which he shows more traces than normal of his father’s influences.
- 1756. He wrote an Easter cantata, several symphonies, concert works, at least three volumes of songs.
On April 2, 1768, Bach took over as director of sacred music in Hamburg on Easter Sunday. One of his responsibilities was to teach music, but he payed someone else to teach at the school. This left him free to carry out his main responsibility to organize music in Hamburg’s five main churches. According to a report made after Bach’s death, the number of musical performances was 200 a year.
A hymn sample is as follows:
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Soon May the Last Glad Song Arise
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Sources
The picture and information on Karl can be found at: http://www.hoasm.org/XID/BachCPE.html
Paul Lagass and Columbia University, The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. (New York; Detroit: Columbia University Press; Sold and distributed by Gale Group, 2000).
Information on Karl can be found at: http://www.naxos.com/composer/bachcpe.htm
Information on Karl can be found at: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/cpebach.html
Sir William Henry Hadow, Encyclopaedia Britannica: (Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 1961). Vol. 2, page 874.
Paul Eckert, Steve Green's MIDI Hymnal: A Complete Toolkit for Personal Devotions and Corporate Worship., Electronic ed. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1998).
