“they can bring me much honor even after my death”: C. P. E. Bach as Compiler of His Estate Catalogue

Abstract:In the last decade of his life, C. P. E. Bach was much concerned with his place in music history. In various letters he talks about his “swan song” (the oratorio Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu), about plans to complete his oeuvre, and about destroying his juvenile pieces. Parallel to this, he must have worked intensively on a new comprehensive catalogue of his own works, which replaced older inventories and eventually served as the basis for the Nachlaß Verzeichnis published by his heirs in 1790. Bach designed a chronological numbering system for his contributions to various genres of instrumental music, while the vocal works were registered in a less systematic fashion. The numbers and references to the place and date of composition found in the Nachlaß Verzeichnis correspond with entries on the title pages of his autograph manuscripts, the so-called house copies. An analysis of these entries shows that Bach’s work was guided not only by the principle of bibliographic correctness, but also by his aim to shape the recognition of his identity and public persona as well as his accomplishments as a composer for posterity.