Bach's Fight for Freedom

Ten-year-old Frederick Muller is a poor boy who lives with his mother Gerta and father Josef in an early 18th century Prussian dukedom. Josef is the Duke's butler and will do anything to impress the duke. Josef is also estranged from Frederick, who does not want to be a servant of the Duke, but rather a stonemason. On Frederick's birthday, during a party Frederick was invited to, Johann Sebastian Bach storms in and argues with the Duke about his working conditions and the music that they both say should be played in the chapel, Bach says new and happier music should start being played, but the duke prefers only dirges or, as he calls them, "the old hymns". In order to impress the duke once more, Josef makes Frederick Bach's assistant. At first, Bach is annoyed at Frederick but starts to see Frederick as a friend and they spend a lot of time together.

Josef starts to hate Bach when Bach takes Frederick to the Red Palace, the home of the Duke's nephew, Prince August, for a performance. Bach is again angered that he was defeated for the role of the Concertmaster by Melchior, as the Concertmaster is bound to retire in a month, angering the Duke. The final straw is when Bach applies for another position for Prince Leopold in Cothen, angering the Duke and the concertmaster. They arrest Bach, separate Frederick from Bach, and put Frederick on probation. Meanwhile, Josef gets enraged when Frederick still supports Bach, but Frederick is fed up with how his family still has to continue to pander to the Duke and declares Bach is freer than Josef and anyone else in the household. Frederick runs away and Josef storms up to Bach's jail and rips up his music. Bach is able to play without his music, saying that he learned it from memory. Josef begs Bach to not drive Frederick away from him, but Bach tells him that he (Josef) is the only one who can drive Frederick away. Realizing his mistake, Josef leaves.

The next day, Prince August and his fiancé Elonora try to free Bach but the Duke dismisses it, comparing Bach to a slave, but Frederick and Josef enter at that very moment, convincing the others to free him, saying Bach's music makes him feel free, and a man's soul cannot be held prisoner. The Duke, admitting defeat, lets Bach go free. The film ends with Bach and Frederick, who has decided to play music like Bach, playing for a crowd. The Duke and concertmaster, representing the Old Guard, sit dejectedly near the crowd and the Duke states that he still liked the "Old Hymns" and the concertmaster agrees.

• Ted Dykstra as Johann Sebastian Bach
• Kyle Labine as Frederick Muller
• Ian D. Clark as Josef Muller
• Rosemary Dunsmore as Gerta Muller
• Kevin Jubinville as Prince August
• Ross Petty as the Concertmaster
• Eric Peterson as the Duke
• Tanya Posival as Maria Bach
• Jaroslav Kubes as Melchior
• Ann Tabler as Elonora

• Bach's Fight for Freedom on IMDb
• Bach's Fight for Freedom at AllMovie