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Based on the findings of Arnstadt’s archivist Karl Müller, Kurt Hermann Frickel’s Bach genealogy, and other sources, the article clarifies the identities of Bach’s two cousins: Barbara Catharina Bach (1680–1709) and Barbara Katharina aka Catharina Barbara Bach (1679–1737). In Bach studies of the late twentieth century and on, the identities of these two cousins merged into one. This confusion led to two erroneous conclusions: 1) the misidentification of the girl Bach accompanied to her home and who witnessed Bach’s famous street brawl with the student Heinrich Geyersbach; and 2) the misidentification of this person as a sister of Maria Barbara, whom Bach eventually married. The author untangles this confusion and establishes the identity of Bach’s companion on 4 August 1705.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)12-19
JournalMin-Ad: Israel Studies in Musicology Online
Volume18
StatePublished - 2021

    Research areas

  • Johann Sebastian Bach, Barbara Catharina Bach, Barbara Katharina Bach, Catharina Barbara Bach, Maria Barbara Bach, Organist Bach case, Karl Müller

    Scopus subject areas

  • Music

ID: 85191994