BACH, FRIEDEMANN. 



BACKHUYSEN', LUDOLPH. 



of Anbalt-Cnthen, in which lie continued lix year. In 1723 be was 

 Hi-rotor of niiwie and cantor to St. Thomas's School *t 

 , which place he held till hi death. On the decease of Prince 

 t of Anbalt-CVthrn, he wrote a funeral cantata, in which are 

 OHM of hit 6n<-t double chonuea. He now accepted two situation* 

 whkh wre little more than honorary ka|*llmritter to the Duke of 

 WdsMofels, and court composer to tlio King of Poland, elector of 



n't second ton, Carl Pbilipp Emanurl, entered the service of 

 Frederic the Great in 1740. The king often expressed a desire to 

 receive a visit from John Sebastian, who, after cousiderabb delay, 

 went to Potsdam, just as the kind's concert was on the point of com- 

 mencing; and was cordially welcomed by Frederic, who suspended 

 the concert that he might at once witness his musical powers. During 

 the evening Bach asked his majeity for a subject on which he might 

 play a fugue. This was immediately given, for the king wrote music 

 very readily, and the voluntary task was executed most satisfactorily. 

 The royal dilettante then asked for another fugue, to bs in six parts, 

 which was immediately executed, to the astonishment of all present 

 Aftrr his return to Leipzig he composed the subject given him by the 

 king, in three and six parts, and had it engraved, under the title of 

 Muidkalisches Opfer' (Musical Offering), and dedicated it to the 

 inventor. 



Bach's uninterrupted studies affected his eyes, and an operation 

 which was tried on them having proved unsuccessful, he became quite 

 Kin I. His constitution was also affected, and he continued declining 

 for half a year. Ten days before hii death he wu suddenly enabled 

 to see again ; but in a few hours he was attacked by apoplexy, and 

 after lingering some time, be expired on the 30th of July, 1750, in 

 the sixty-sixth year of his age. He was twice married, and had by 

 his first wife seven children ; by his second, thirteen ; in all, eleven 

 sons and nine daughter*. 



So great was Sebastian Bach as an organ-player, that he had only 

 ono rival ; but that one was Handel, and something similar might be 

 said of him as a composer for the organ. Bach s compositions, in 

 almost every class, are very numerous ; of these, perhaps the most 

 generally known out of Germany are his ' Clavecin biuu-Tempdrd,' or 

 Preludes and Fugues in all the tones and semitones, major and minor, 

 which were composed as exercise for his son* ; but his vocal works ore 

 more likely to maintain his popularity with the general public. Among 

 them are the funeral cantata before mentioned, a maguilicat, a motet, 

 several ' choral*,' or psalm-tunes, and, above all, his ' Passionsmusik,' 

 which in a work of great genius as well as science. 



Bach's fame has of late years been steadily advancing with Engli-h 

 musicians, in proportion with the advance among them of a higher 

 scientific culture. In London, following the example of various cities 

 of Germany, there was in 1850 a Bach Society formed by several of 

 the leading members of the musical profession, for the special study 

 and practice of the compoiitions of Sebastian Bach. Some of his 

 great works have since been performed for the lir.-t time in London, 

 and listened to with interest by the general public. But it is not 

 to be expected that his works will ever be what is termed popular. 

 Their immense difficulty will always prevent his grout works froni 

 being frequently played ; and their grandeur is not likely to be felt 

 by the uninttructed auditor to whom their elaborate structure is un- 

 familiar. The graatoeu and power, and the consummate science of 

 IJoch, can be pprecite I only by the highly educated musician ; and 

 with him the name of Bach will be sure to stand, among the very fore- 

 most in the list of musical . composer*. During the last few years 

 some approaches have been made towards collecting and publishing a 

 complete edition of his numerous works ; several of his more important 

 vocal pieces, his grand mass in B minor, &c., have been i.-nued by the 

 Leipcig Bach Society; and many of bis instrumental pieces have 

 appeared under the editorial care of M. Pet. r of Leipzig. 



BACH, Fill KUKM ANN, eldest ron of Seb.istian, followed in his 

 father's footsteps aa a performer. Ho preferred playing extempora- 

 neously, and therefore left but little behind him ; but aornu few fugues 

 which are published, are undeniable proofs of his knowledge and 

 talent. He died at Berlin in 1784. iu very distressed circumstance'. 



BACH, CARL PHILIP EMANUEL, second son of Sebastian, was 

 born at Weimar in 1714. He was educated as a civilian, but adopted 

 music as his profession. In 17:18 he went to Berlin, and entered the 

 srvios of Frederic the Great in 1740. In 1767 hesucceededTclemanu, 

 as mosie-dinotor at Hamburg, end likewise became ' kapellmeister' to 

 the king's sister the Princess Amelia, lie died in 1788. Emanuel 

 Bach composed much for the piano-forto, and it has been said that 

 Haydn was much indebted to him for bis stylo; but this may be 

 firly doubud. His works scarcely stem to justify the panegyrics 

 which have been lavished on hii iiowers of composition. 



BACH, JOHANN CHRISTIAN, called Bach of Milsn, and after- 

 wards of London, waa not instructed by his father, but received hi 

 musical education chieBy in luly. He came to England in 1763, to com- 

 pose for II e King's Tlieatre, and produced some operas, which were supe- 

 rior to most of the works then in vogue, but have long ben forgotten. 

 Boon after the marriage of George III., Christian was appointed music- 

 Jtwjptor to Queen Charlotte, of which office he enjoyed the salary 

 tUl Us death. In conjunction with Abel he commenced and carried 

 on for nearly twenty years a series of subscription concert*, which 



were extremely successful. He composed much, and of all kin. is, but 

 his works are now scarcely remembered. H died in I.onil.in in 1782. 



BACIOCCHI, MARIE A WB HI, ISA P.uNAl'AK IT., t!,,- eldest 

 of the sisters of Napoleon I., born at Ajaccio in Corsica, in 1777, 

 received her early education in the Koyal school of Si.-Cyr, near Paris. 

 When that institution was suppressed by the National Convention, in 

 1 7 .'-', Marie Anne Bonajrte returned to Corsica, whence the emigrated 

 with her mother and sinters to Marseille, the English having occupied 

 her native island. At Marseille she married, in 1797, her countryman 

 Captain Baciocchi, a retired officer of the former Royal Cornican 

 regiment. In the following year she removed to Paris, where her 

 brother Lucieu was a member of tho Council of the Five Hundred, 

 and she undertook to do tlie honours of his saloon. Here she became 

 acquainted with several literary and scientific men, with whom she 

 loved to di-pute upon all sorts of topics. She rose in rank and station 

 with the rest of her family, in consequence of her brother Napoleon's 

 elevation to supreme power. After his assumption of the imperial crown, 

 Napoleon made Baciocchi and his wife Prince ami Prince** of Piomliiuo, 

 and soon after of Lucca, when Marie Anne assumed the name of 

 Elisa, In 1806 she received the principality of Massa and Carrara. 

 Her administration for in it her husband had no share was upon 

 the whole beneficial to Lucca, where she fixed her residence. In 

 March, 1809, Napoleon by a decree appointed the Princess Elisa to be 

 Grand Duchess of Tuscany, and to administer in his name the three 

 departments into which that country was divided as a part of the 

 French empire. Her husband was not named iu the imperial decree. 

 In consequence of this now appointment, the Princess Kli.-a removed 

 to Florence, where she kept her court until the downful of Napoleon. 

 She was by no means popular at Florence, partly, perhaps, becau-e she 

 was there a mere lieutenant of her imperious brother, and as such was 

 obliged to enforce all his obnoxious measures the conscription, the 

 burdensome taxation, the rigorous police, Ac. But it seems also as if 

 her removal to a larger sphere of administration bad rendered ElUa 

 more haughty, harsh, and self-willed. She became very fond of 

 military pomp and parade. In 1814, when the allied armies advanced 

 into Tuscany, Eli*a left Florence, and in the following year went to 

 Heimburg, near Vienna, where her sister Caroline Murat had taken up 

 her residence. She afterwards removed to Bologna in tho Papal States, 

 where she went by the name of Countess of Campugnano. She died 

 at Bologna, of n nervous fever, in August 1820, leaving a eon, Frederic 

 Baciocchi, who died at Rome iu 1883 of a fall from Ida horse, and a 

 daughter, who married Count Camerata of the Papal States. Tho 

 father, Felico Baciocchi, purchased the splendid palace of Rauuzzi at 

 Bologna and the title of a Roman prince, and died there in 1841. 

 (Lcsur, Annitaire Ilulorique; Duchesge d'Abrantcs, Salons de Parii; 

 Biographic Univerielle.) 



'BACK, SIR GEORGE, was born at Stockport in 1700, and entered 

 early into the naval service of his country. In 1809, when serving as 

 midshipman on board the < Arethusa,' he was taken prisoner by thu 

 French, and only recovered his liberty on the termination of the war. 

 Having little hope of employment during the peace, he turnrd his 

 energies into another direction. He accompanied Sir John Franklin 

 on his northern voyage in 1818; and afterwards iu the first and second 

 voyages of the same commander (in 1819 and 1823) to explore the Arctic 

 Regions. Like the rest of his associates, ho suffered great privations in 

 these voyages, and endured severe hardships, but his ardour was 

 unchecked. In 1833 he offered to undertake an overland journey in 

 search of Captain Ross, who had left England in 1829 to attempt the 

 Nortli-West Passage, and had been long unheard of. Back's offer waa 

 accepted : he left England in February, accompanied by Dr. King, and 



<!ed by the North American lakes, and the Hudson's Bay 

 lories, to the shores of the Polar Sea. While on his way he was made 

 acquainted with the safo return of Captain H 



proceed for the purpose of extending the geographical knowledge of 

 thoce regions. From SUK.-OX Lake he descended a river, now named 

 the Back River, impeded by rapids, dangerous falls, and band-b.mk-. 

 till he reached the Polar Sea at Coekbum liny, in 67 N. lat., 90" 

 W. long. He can-fully examined the coasts, and traced them ss far as 

 Bathurst Inlet. He also made some interesting observations on the 

 aurora boroalis, and its influence upon tho compa-s. For these services 

 he was raised to the rank of captain in 1835. In 183C, Captain Back 

 received the command of the ' Terror,' in the expedition to examine 

 the cuasts between Regent Inlet and Cape Turnagaiu : but 1. 

 caught in tho ice, and only with great difficulty saved his VC-M:!. II 

 then returned to England, mi I in 1338 was knighted, mid received a 

 medal from tho Geographical Society for his exertions iu extending 

 geographical knowledge. Sir George has written two works on the 

 of his labour* 'A Narrative of the Expedition along the 

 Shores of the Arctic Ocean in the years 1833, 1834, i.n.l Is:;;. ;' and 

 'A Narrative of an Expedition undertaken with a View to Geographical 

 Disco 1 



, I.tM >( >!,!'H, .- celebrated marine-painter, was born 



I n in 1C31. 1'ieiii:: intended by his parents for a mercantile 



.mi, he was sent to Amsterdam at tlio age of eighteen, and 



placed in the counting houe of M. Bartholot, an eminent merchant ; 



and it was while in the employment of that gentleman that he 



first manifested the possession of a talent for painting. The latent 



faculty however was stimulated l>y the picturesque objects which tlie 



