lightly
dismissed; and though his answers to the complaints of the authorities
(every word of which makes amusing reading in the archives of the church)
were spirited rather than satisfactory, and the _consistorium_ had to add
to their complaints the grave scandal of his allowing a "strange maiden" to
sing in the church,[1] Bach was able to maintain his position at Arnstadt
until he obtained the organistship of St Blasius in Muehlhausen in 1707.
Here he married his cousin, easily identified with the "strange maiden" of
Arnstadt; and here he wrote his first great church cantatas, _Aus der
Tiefe_, _Gott ist mein Koenig_ and _Gottes Zeit_.

Bach's mastery of the keyboard attracted universal attention, and prevented
his ever being unemployed. In 1708 he went to Weimar where his successes
were crowned by his appointment, in 1714, at the age of twenty-nine, as
_Hofkonzertmeister_ to the duke of Weimar. Here the composition of sacred
music was one of his most congenial duties, and the great cantata, _Ich
hatte viel Bekuemmerniss_, was probably the first work of his new office.
In 1717 Bach visited Dresden in the course of a concert tour, and was
induced to challenge the arrogant French organist, J. Louis Marchand, who
was making himself thoroughly disliked by the German musicians who could
not deny his powers. Bach was first given an opportunity of listening
secretly to Marchand's playing, then a competition on the organ was
proposed, and a day was fixed for the tournament at which all the court and
all the musical celebrities of the town were to be present, to see nothing
less than the issue between French and German music. Marchand took up the
challenge contemptuously, but it would appear that he also was allowed to
listen secretly to Bach's playing, for on the day of the tournament the
only news of him was that he had left Dresden by the earliest coach.

This triumph was followed by Bach's appointment as _Kapellmeister_ to the
duke of Coethen, a post which he held from 1717 to 1723. The Coethen period
is that of Bach's central instrumental works, such as the first book of the
_Wohltemperirtes Klavier_, the solo violin and violoncello sonatas, the
Brandenburg concertos, and the French and English suites.

In 1723, finding his position at Coethen uninspiring for choral music, he
removed to Leipzig, where he became cantor of the Thomasschule, being still
able to retain his post as visiting _Kapellmeister_ at Coethen, besides