X-Nico

4 unusual facts about Weimarer Passion


Christian Friedrich Witt

While on his deathbed, Johann Sebastian Bach was commissioned to substitute for him and perform a Passiontide work for the court chapel (the Weimarer Passion BWV deest (BC D 1)).

Weimarer Passion

The year 1717 proved to be a pivotal one in the life and career of the then Court Organist and Concertmaster to the main Court of William Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, Johann Sebastian Bach.

At any rate, during this flurry of activity, Bach had also received a commission from Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg to compose and perform a Passion setting for his court for Good Friday (his then Kapellmeister, Christian Friedrich Witt, was on his deathbed).

In 1716, his co-employer Ernest Augustus I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach had married Princess Eleonore Wilhelmine of Anhalt-Köthen (an event that Bach probably participated in and for which he provided music).



see also