"In 1787, Carl Friedrich Cramer published one of the most curious documents of eighteenth-century music history: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Fantasia in C minor of 1753, with two monologues set to the music by the poet Henrich Wilhelm von Gerstenber" (Richards 25) The first verse is to be the words of Socrates as he contemplates death. The second verse is a paraphrase of Hamlet's "to be or not to be" monologue. This text setting is a prime example of Sturm und Drang and how it transitioned from a literary movement into music. Below is a translation of the lyrics from German to English. There is also a recording of the C Minor Fantasia below. Read through the two verses and then listen. Do you think that this is an accurate text setting?

No, no the serious high figure, the approaching hour shall not terrify me, the hour of decay. Death! I know thee, figure of genius, spirit, high messenger of heaven. The spirit thou soarest, the sweep of light. Immortality radiates from thou, spirit, 'tis thou, who in the vale where I fervently sought thou often whispered immortality into my heart. oh you rejoicing in me, oh my soul you are immortal. I shall drink the source of light on heavenly shores. I am blessed! Immortality from its full, silver stream! ah! where the song of the stars sounds, there immortality. From its silver stream. Idea oh beam of light in me, ah I succumb to you! Cup of death, refreshing draught, I thirst for you. o summoner in the night! o summoner of death! Blessed are you, I follow you. He dies still pale from poison, his unbound spirit soars free from poison out of the murder's den.
To be or not to be, that is the question. Death! Sleep! Sleep and dream, black dream! Dream of death! To dream it ha! The blissful dream! To look at life! The vale of tears! Where shyness lurks! malice laughs! innocence weeps! o no! o no! it would rather be desirable for you, soul, to slumber into not being! To awake into the light of being! to look upward at delight o soul! life! to see them all who loved us not mourning them anymore! the new reunion sounds gloriously in tender arms! then o abundant joy! The heavenly tear falls! Where is a dagger! a sword? to flee into the grave of being? to die ah! the great death of final being! where is a dagger! a sword? to pass away the vale of malediction into the grave of being down to life.

A Excerpt from Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments

(...) In order to control all shades from pianissimo to fortissimo the keys must be gripped firmly and with strength. However, they must not be flogged; but on the other hand there must not be too much restraint. It is not possible to describe the contexts appropriate to the forte or piano because for every case covered by even the best rule there will be an exception. The particular effect of these shadings depends on the passage, its context, and the composer, who may introduce either a forte or a piano at a given place for equally convincing reasons. In fact, composite passages, including their consonances and dissonances, may be marked first forte and, later, piano. This is a customary procedure with both repetitions and sequences, particularly when the accompaniment is modified. But in general it can be said that dissonances are played loudly and consonances softly, since the former rouse our emotions and the latter quiet them (exercise a). An exceptional turn of a melody which is designed to create a violent affect must be played loudly. So-called deceptive progressions are also brought out markedly to complement their function (b). A noteworthy rule which is not without foundation is that all tones of a melody which lie outside the key may well be emphasized regardless of whether they form consonances or dissonances and those which lie within the key may be effectively performed piano, again regardless of their consonance or dissonance (c).
(...) If the Lessons are played on a harpsichord with two manuals, only one manual should be used to play detailed changes of forte and piano. It is only when entire passages are differentiated by contrasting shades that a transfer may be made. This problem does not exist at the clavichord, for on it all varieties of loud and soft can be expressed with an almost unrivaled clarity and purity. A loud, boisterous accompaniment must always be balanced by a stronger melodic touch.
(This is the standard English translation by William J Mitchell, Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments. New York: Norton, 1949. Emphases mine.)

Compositional Style of C.P.E. Bach

“In studying Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s compositional process, one cannot ignore the fact that his career lasted some fifty years and spanned the highly significant change in musical style that occurred during the middle of the century. Bach wrote his first concerto in 1733, when he was nineteen, and his last in 1788, the year of his death” (Wade 59). Bach’s compositions draw from both the late Baroque and the early Classical periods, and hence his music is often viewed as transitory into that of Haydn and Mozart. Had Bach been composing a few years earlier or a few years later, how differently would his music been received?

The reception of C.P.E. Bach’s compositions is proof of how critical the time in which a composer is living and working affects the style and process of the composer. Bach’s desire to subscribe to one style or another (more often that of the Classical period) exemplifies how much composers take the audience into account while writing. There is evidence of Bach cutting measures and rearranging his compositions in order to better follow the phrase model of the Classical period. I believe that Bach’s desire to “fit” into the fabric of the musical community hindered his musicking. Had he denounced both the Baroque and Classical styles and instead of attempting to fit in between them, risen above them with his own style, would he have earned the acclaim of Mozart and Haydn?

"Musically, C.P.E. Bach chose not to imitate his father's mastery of counterpoint, preferring to pioneer classical forms such as the concerto and sonata, and to expand the harmonic scope available to composers. Although his reputation has suffered owing to comparison with his illustrious forbear and those who he influenced, such as Mozart and Haydn, his pieces still hold much appeal for the performers and audiences of today" (Alexander Street Press). Take a look at both of these performances. The juxtaposition of the two interpretations show how it is very true that C.P.E. Bach is very popular with performers, both of classical and non-classical styles. I am very fascinated with nontraditional interpretations of classical music. I think that this is a great example of how we should push our thinking and expand our idea of what is "good" music.

Take a look at these two performances of C.P.E. Bach's

Biographical Information

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was born on March 8, 1714 in Weimar, Thuringia, Germany. He is the second son of J.S. Bach and Maria Barbara Bach. He began his studies at St. Thomas School at Leipzig at ten years old. He later studied law at two German universities. After completing his degree, he decided to abandon a legal career for a life of music. His first appointment was service to the crown prince of Prussia. C.P.E. Bach was one of the foremost clavier-players in Europe and composed numerous sonatas for the piano. “Through the latter half of the 18th century, the reputation of C.P.E. Bach stood very high. W.A. Mozart said of him, "He is the father, we are the children." The best part of Haydn's training was derived from a study of his work. Ludwig van Beethoven expressed for his genius the most cordial admiration and regard. This position he owes mainly to his clavier sonatas, which mark an important epoch in the history of musical form. Lucid in style, delicate and tender in expression, they are even more notable for the freedom and variety of their structural design; they break away altogether from the exact formal antithesis which, with the composers of the Italian school, had hardened into a convention, and substitute the wider and more flexible outline which the great Viennese masters showed to be capable of almost infinite development” (Oron 2).