More of Bach's Own Words
Despite working hard to gain Bernhard employment first in Muehlhausen and then in Sangerhausen, Bach now had to mop up (again) after his son when he unexpectedly left Sangerhausen. Bach wrote another letter (dated May 24, 1738) to Mr. Klemm:
With
what pain and sorrow . . . I frame this reply, Your Honor can judge for
yourself as the loving and well-meaning father of Your Honor’s most beloved
offspring. Upon my (alas! misguided) son
I have not laid eyes since last year, when I had the honor of enjoying many courtesies
at Your Honor’s hands. You Honor is also
not unaware that at that time I duly paid not only his board but also the Muehlhausen
draft (which presumably brought about his departure at that time), but also
left a few ducats behind to settle a few bills, in the hope that he would now
embark upon a new mode of life. But now
I must learn again, with greatest consternation, that he once more borrowed
here and there and did not change his way of living in the slightest, but on
the contrary has even absented himself and not given me to date any inkling as
to his whereabouts . . . .
Since, moreover, various creditores have presented their claims to me, and I can hardly agree to pay these claims without my son's oral or written confession of them (in which I am supported by all laws), therefore I most obediently request Your Honor to have the goodness to obtain precise information as to his whereabouts, and then you only need to be good enough to give me definite notification so that one last effort may be made to see whether with God's help his impenitent heart can be won over and brought to a realization of his mistakes.
source: The Bach Reader, edited by Hans T. David and Arthur Mendel, rev. ed. (New York: Norton, 1966), pp. 160-61
Since, moreover, various creditores have presented their claims to me, and I can hardly agree to pay these claims without my son's oral or written confession of them (in which I am supported by all laws), therefore I most obediently request Your Honor to have the goodness to obtain precise information as to his whereabouts, and then you only need to be good enough to give me definite notification so that one last effort may be made to see whether with God's help his impenitent heart can be won over and brought to a realization of his mistakes.
source: The Bach Reader, edited by Hans T. David and Arthur Mendel, rev. ed. (New York: Norton, 1966), pp. 160-61
posted by Stahlkes @ 11:22 AM
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