Following the sensational discovery of previously unknown Bach works at the end of last year, further historical sources relating to Johann Sebastian Bach's church music period have come to light in Leipzig. Around 60 previously unknown files with manuscripts from the composer's circle were discovered in the city archives, including documents by Bach himself as well as the writer Johann Christoph Gottsched and the composer Georg Philipp Telemann, as announced by the Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig.
The files were found at the beginning of last year by the musicologist Bernd Koska as part of the "Bach Research Portal" research project. The evaluation took a long time, as the material was extensive and complex, explained Koska.
New insights into Bach's Leipzig church music
The sources contain letters and letters of application from Leipzig students and document for the first time that the Leipzig Council provided targeted financial support for student singers and instrumentalists. "Leipzig's church music was not based on artistic excellence alone, but on a functioning municipal funding structure," said Koska.
A previously unknown testimony by Johann Sebastian Bach from 1740 for his preferred bass Gottlob Friedrich Türsch is considered to be particularly significant. The researchers also found the oldest surviving letter of application from the composer Georg Philipp Telemann and a testimonial from Gottsched for the composer Johann Friedrich Doles.
The director of the Leipzig Bach Archive, Peter Wollny, spoke of fundamental new findings: "These documents fundamentally change our view of the institutional conditions of church music under Bach: what we see here is cultural promotion with a long-term effect - a principle that has shaped Leipzig for centuries."
Special exhibition at the Leipzig City Archive
The newly discovered manuscripts will be on display in a special exhibition at the Leipzig City Archive until 23 April. The "Bach Research Portal", which was launched in 2023, makes all archival sources on the entire Bach family of musicians digitally accessible to the public for the first time.
In November last year, the Leipzig Bach Archive attracted international attention with the identification of two previously unknown organ works as early works by Johann Sebastian Bach.
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