er
man than his father.

The nine years Bach spent at Weimar, under the patronage of the Duke
Wilhelm Ernest, were years rich in results. His office was that of
Concert Master, and Leader of the Choir at Ducal Chapel. The duties not
being very exacting, he had plenty of time to foster his bent. Freed
from all apprehension along the line of the bread-and-butter question he
devoted himself untiringly to his work. It was here he developed that
style of fingering that was to be followed by the players on the
harpsichord, and which further serves as the basis for our present
manner of piano-playing. Bach was the first man to make use of the thumb
in organ-playing, and I believe it was James Huneker who once said that
"Bach discovered the human hand."

Bach made a complete study of the mechanism of the organ, invented
various arrangements for the better use of the pedals, and gave his
ideas without stint to the makers, who, it seems, were glad to profit by
them. Even then Weimar was a place of pilgrimage, although Goethe had
not yet come to illumine it with his presence. But the traditions of
Weimar have been musical and artistic for four hundred years, and this
had its weight with Goethe when he decided to make it his home.

In Bach's day, pilgrims from afar used to come to attend the musical
festivals given by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar; and these pilgrims would go
home and spread the name of Johann Sebastian Bach. Many invitations used
to come for him to go and play at the installation of a new organ, or to
superintend the construction of an organ, or to lead a chorus. Gradually
his fame grew, and although he might have lived his life and ended his
days there in the rural and peaceful quiet of Weimar, yet he harkened to
the voice and arose and went forth with his family into a place that
afforded a wider scope for his powers.

As Kapellmeister to the Court at Kothen he had the direction of a large
orchestra, and it seems also supervised a school of music.

When the Court moved about from place to place it was the custom to take
the orchestra, too, in order to reveal to the natives along the way what
good music really was. This was all quite on the order of the Duke of
Mantua, who used to travel with a retinue of two hundred servants and
attendants.

On one such occasion the Kothen Court went to Carlsbad. The visit
extended itself to six months, when Bach became impatient to return to
his family, and was allowed to go i