Köthen Castle

Köthen Castle

Köthen Castle (German: Schloss Köthen) is a castle in the German city of Köthen (Anhalt). Situated in a relatively flat landscape, it was protected by a moat. Formerly a ducal seat, it now belongs to a foundation for the preservation of sites in Saxony-Anhalt.[1]

The castle has connections with the composer Johann Sebastian Bach who was employed by Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen. It is one of the locations for Köthen's biannual Bach festival.[2]

Since the nineteenth century the castle has housed an important bird collection which was sold to Frederick Ferdinand, Duke of Anhalt-Köthen by the ornithologist Johann Friedrich Naumann.[3]

History

This architectural ensemble in the historical center of the city was the Residence of the Princes and Dukes of Anhalt from 1244 to 1847. After 1603, it was the seat of the Anhalt-Köthen line. In 1806, the principality was elevated to duchy. With the death of Duke Henry in 1847, the Anhalt-Köthen line became extinct.

In the 17th century it was the seat of the Fruitbearing Society, a society for the promotion of the German language.

Bach at Köthen

Johann Sebastian Bach worked in Köthen during the period 1717-1723 as Hofkapellmeister of Prince Leopold. Bach's first wife Maria Barbara died in Köthen in 1720. His second wife Ana Magdalena was employed at the court as a singer at the time of their marriage in 1721. After the Bach family moved to Leipzig in 1723, Johann Sebastian continued to write occasional pieces for the court for a few years until the prince died.

Religious music was not often required from Bach at Köthen because the court was Calvinist. However, a series of secular cantatas such as Der Himmel dacht auf Anhalts Ruhm und Glück, BWV 66a were dedicated to the prince. Bach also worked on important instrumental works during these years, the Brandenburg Concertos (or least their final versions, see note1) and the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier. There is some uncertainty as to how many works Bach wrote at Köthen. For example, some pieces such as the Violin Concerto in A minor survive in versions from Leipzig but may have been written before.

Notes

1.^ In 1719 on the recommendation of Bach, the court acquired a new harpsichord from Michael Mietke. This was probably the instrument for which Bach composed Brandenburg concerto no.5 as a show-piece.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Website of Kulturstiftung Sachsen-Anhalt". www.dome-schloesser.de (in German). Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  2. ↑ "Bach Festival". Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  3. ↑ "Naumann Museum".
  4. ↑ Krickerberg (2001). Grove Music Online (www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic). Subscription required.

Sources

  • Dieter Krickerberg: 'Mietke', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 2007-05-18).

Publication of the second edition of The New Grove by Macmillan was accompanied by a Web-based version, Grove Music Online. The Dictionary and its website are now part of Oxford University Press.

Coordinates: 51°45′14″N 11°58′36″E / 51.7538°N 11.9767°E / 51.7538; 11.9767


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