BACH'S
CHILDREN
Johann
Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
was the most prolific of the great composers. In his 65 years he produced
1,200 musical works and 20 children. You can find his compositions listed
in an encyclopedia.
But
do you know the names of his 20 children? Here they are, in order of their
appearance:
Catherina
Dorothea (1708-1774)
Wilhelm
Friedemann (1710-1784)
Twins:
Maria Sophia and Johann Christoph (1713-1713)
Carl
Philipp Emanuel (1714-1788)
Johann
Gottfried Bernhard (1715-1739)
Leopold
August (1718-1719)
Christiane
Sophie Henriette (1723-1726)
Gottfried
Heinrich (1724-1763)
Christian
Gottlieb (1725-1728)
Elisabeth
Juliane Friederike (1726-1759)
Ernst
Andreas (1727-1727)
Regine
Johanna (1728-1733)
Christiana
Benedicta (1730-1730)
Christiana
Dorothea (1731-1732)
Johann
Christoph Friedrich (1732-1795)
Johann
August Abraham (1733-1733)
Johann
Christian (1735-1782)
Johanna
Carolina (1737-1781)
Regine
Susanna (1742-1809)
Of the
20 children, 11 were boys and 9 girls. Five of the former bore the name
Johann, one of the latter Johanna. The first 7 children were borne by Bach's
first wife Maria Barbara, who died in 1720, the remaining 13 by his second,
Anna Magdalena, whom he married in 1721.
Ten
of Bach's children died in infancy or soon afterwards, including twins,
Johann Christoph and Maria Sophia, both of whom lived only a few days.
Of those who survived, Wilhelm Friedemann, Carl Philipp Emanuel, Johann
Christoph Friedrich and Johann Christian all became celebrated composers.
Gottfried Heinrich, who lived to the age of 39, was mentally defective.
From the Book of Classical
Music Lists by Herbert Kupferberg