Set in the early 18th century Prussian states, Johann Sebastian Bach, in his 30s and a chapelorganist, is enraged. It is bad enough his boss, the Duke, stifles his creativity. Now the bumbling fool has given him 10-year-old Frederick Muller, a servant he suspects is a spy! But soon, the temperamental composer recognizes a kindred soul in his new assistant, for both know too well what it is like not to be able to follow your dream.
The film has been broadcast in over 100 countries in many languages and has been shown in music classes.
Plot
Ten-year-old Frederick Muller is a poor but honest and free-thinking boy who lives with his mother Gerta and father Josef in an early 18th century Prussiandukedom. Josef is valet to the aging, bad-tempered and somewhat foolishly stubborn duke, whom he will do anything to win the favor of. Josef is also estranged from Frederick, who would rather be a stonemason than a servant to the duke. On Frederick's birthday, during a party Frederick was invited to, Composer Johann Sebastian Bach storms in and argues with the Duke and his right-hand man, the Concertmaster, about his working conditions and the music that they both say should be played in the chapel. Bach wants to play new and happier music as it "lifts people up", but the duke stubbornly prefers only dirges or, as he calls them, "the old hymns". To further impress the Duke, Josef decides to make Frederick Bach's assistant. Seeing this as a way to restrain Bach's obstinate behavior and keep him under their thumb, The Concert Master, his assistant Melchior, and the Duke agree. At first, Bach is annoyed at Frederick, who is equally annoyed by the fact that he is doing this on his father's orders. But gradually, Bach comes to see the honest Frederick as a friend and they spend a lot of time together.
Feeling threatened by Bach's influence on his son, Josef starts to hate Bach, especially when Bach takes Frederick to the Red Palace, the home of the Duke's nephew, Prince August, for a concert performance. After Frederick innocently and happily tells his parents about the Red Palace, Joesf leaks the information to the Duke, who has Bach defeated for the role of the Concertmaster by Melchior, as the Concertmaster is bound to retire in a month. An enraged Bach confronts the Duke. Frederick confronts his father, who tells him that Bach's insubordinate behavior should be punished. Frederick protests, stating that Bach wants to share his musical capabilities and is frustrated with the creative constraints the Duke oppresses on him. Frederick scathingly declares that Bach is more of a man than his father is, straining their relationship further.
Frederick continues to spend time with Bach, who sympathizes with the boy's frustration. During a meal with Bach's family he is invited to, Frederick's disappointment in his own family peaks and he opens up to Bach about his disappointment in his father. Bach tells Frederick of his experience with his father and that he shouldn't be too hard on his father.
Bach announces to Frederick has been offered a musical position for Prince Leopold in Köthen and asks Frederick to assist him. Unbeknownst to either of them, a jealous Josef overhears them and reports this to the Duke. This proves to be the final straw for the Duke and the concertmaster. They angrily confront Bach. When Bach stands his ground, the duke orders his arrest. Frederick tries to help Bach escape but they are stopped by Josef. The duke's guards throw Bach in a cell, separating him from Frederick. Frederick, meanwhile, is placed on probation. Frederick worries about Bach, causing further friction between him and his father. Josef is enraged that Frederick still supports Bach. Fed up with how his family still has to continue to pander to the Duke, Frederick declares Bach is freer than Josef and anyone else in the household and that he is sick and tired of the Duke before storming off in anger. A bitter and bereaved Josef storms up to Bach's jail and rips up his music, believing it will render the composer powerless. Bach, however, is able to play without his music, saying that he learned it from memory. Humiliated, 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 and that he should listen to his son, 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 (who both have reconciled) 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. Realizing the futility of the situation, The Duke, admits defeat and lets Bach go free. Frederick reunites with Bach as he personally sets him free. The film ends with Bach and Frederick, who has decided to play music like Bach, playing for a crowd. Josef looks on, finally proud of his son. 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.
Kapellmeister from German Kapelle (chapel) and Meister (master), literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in its meaning and is today used for denoting the leader of a musical ensemble, often smaller ones used for TV, radio, and theatres.
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German Classical period composer and musician, the fifth child and second surviving son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach.
Johann Joachim Quantz was a German composer, flutist and flute maker of the late Baroque period. Much of his professional career was spent in the court of Frederick the Great. Quantz composed hundreds of flute sonatas and concertos, and wrote On Playing the Flute, an influential treatise on flute performance. His works were known and appreciated by Bach, Haydn and Mozart.
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach was a German composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was the second child and eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach. Despite his acknowledged genius as an improviser and composer, his income and employment were unstable, and he died in poverty.
The Bach family refers to several notable composers of the baroque and classical periods of music, the best-known of whom was Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). A family genealogy was drawn up by Johann Sebastian Bach himself in 1735 when he was 50 and was completed by his son Carl Philipp Emanuel.
Johann Georg Pisendel was a German Baroque violinist and composer who, for many years, led the Court Orchestra in Dresden as concertmaster, then the finest instrumental ensemble in Europe. He was the leading violinist of his time, and composers such as Tomaso Albinoni, Georg Philipp Telemann and Antonio Vivaldi all dedicated violin compositions to him.
Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Köthen. Today, he is best remembered for employing Johann Sebastian Bach as his Kapellmeister between 1717 and 1723.
Johann Christoph Bach was a German composer and organist of the Baroque period. Johann Christoph was an older cousin of Johann Sebastian Bach who would later describe him in his Genealogy as "the profound composer", suggesting a solid reputation not only within the family but also in wider musical society. He is not to be confused with Johann Sebastian Bach's son, Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach.
Johann Ernst III, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, was a duke of Saxe-Weimar.
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the Brandenburg Concertos; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard works such as the Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier; organ works such as the Schubler Chorales and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor; and vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach revival he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music.
Christian Friedrich Witt, or Witte was a German composer, music editor and teacher.
Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, was a duke of Saxe-Weissenfels-Querfurt and member of the House of Wettin.
Charles Frederick Horn was an English musician and composer. Born in Germany, he emigrated to London with few possessions and no knowledge of the English language, yet rose to become a music teacher in the Royal Household. As an editor and arranger, he helped introduce the music of Johann Sebastian Bach to England.
Mein Name ist Bach is a 2003 Swiss film directed by Dominique de Rivaz. The premiere took place within the framework of the 56th Locarno Film Festival, which was held from August 6 to August 16, 2003. It was Switzerland's submission to the 77th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee.
Friedemann Bach is a 1941 German historical drama film directed by Traugott Müller and starring Gustaf Gründgens, Leny Marenbach and Johannes Riemann. The film depicts the life of Johann Sebastian Bach's son Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. It is based on Albert Emil Brachvogel's novel Friedemann Bach. Wilhelm Friedemann Bach is shown as a gifted son trying to escape his father's shadow.
The Weimarer Passion, BWV deest, is a hypothetical Passion oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, thought to have possibly been performed on Good Friday 26 March 1717 at Gotha on the basis of a payment of 12 Thaler on 12 April 1717 to "Concert Meister Bachen". It is one of several such lost Passions. Both the text and music are lost, but individual movements from this work could have been reused in latter works such as the Johannes-Passion. At one time, it was thought that the work set chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel of Matthew to music, with interspersed chorales and arias, but current consensus is that it is possible that the text reflected a synopsis of two or more Gospel texts, as well as the interspersed chorales and arias.
Lobet den Herrn, alle seine Heerscharen, BWV1147, BWV Anh. 5, is a church cantata text by Christian Friedrich Hunold which was performed, most likely in a setting by Johann Sebastian Bach, for the twenty-fourth birthday of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen on 10 December 1718. The composition is lost, but its libretto survives in a 1719 print.
Immortal Waltz is a 1939 historical drama film directed by E. W. Emo and starring Paul Hörbiger, Dagny Servaes, and Maria Andergast.
Ich lasse dich nicht, du segnest mich denn, BWV1164, is a motet for SATB double choir which was attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach when it was first published in 1802. Around 1823 the motet was published as a composition by Johann Christoph Bach, Johann Sebastian's father's cousin, after which its attribution became a matter of discussion among scholars. The motet consists of two movements: the oldest extant manuscript of its first movement was partly written by Johann Sebastian, in 1712, or early 1713 at the latest. Its second movement is without doubt a chorale harmonisation by Johann Sebastian composed before c. 1735, when a version of this setting was copied in the Dietel manuscript, but it is uncertain when, and by whom, it was added to the first movement.
The concerto transcriptions of Johann Sebastian Bach date from his second period at the court in Weimar (1708–1717). Bach transcribed for organ and harpsichord a number of Italian and Italianate concertos, mainly by Antonio Vivaldi, but with others by Alessandro Marcello, Benedetto Marcello, Georg Philipp Telemann and the musically talented Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar. It is thought that most of the transcriptions were probably made in 1713–1714. Their publication by C.F. Peters in the 1850s and by Breitkopf & Härtel in the 1890s played a decisive role in the Vivaldi revival of the twentieth century.
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