“Bach's Offering to the Musical King: Frederick the Great of Prussia" at the German American Heritage Center -- November 12.
Sunday, November 12, 2 p.m.
German American Heritage Center, 712 West Second Street, Davenport IA
Aside from his many military and political achievements, Frederick the Great was also an accomplished flutist, composer, and a lover of the arts. Among the musicians in his court was Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, son of the legendary Johann Sebastian. And on November 12, visitors to Davenport's German American Heritage Center are invited to Find out about what happened on an infamous “Take Your Father to Work Day” in Dr. Jacob Bancks' presentation Bach's Offering to the Musical King: Frederick the Great of Prussia, a chance to learn about the extraordinary and unique work of art that resulted when Prussia’s most enlightened king met Europe’s greatest composer.
Frederick II (1712-1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death. Frederick was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled King in Prussia, declaring himself so after annexing Royal Prussia from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772. Prussia greatly increased its territories and became a major military power in Europe under his rule, the leader consequently becoming known as Frederick the Great and nicknamed "Old Fritz." In his youth, Frederick was more interested in music and philosophy than in the art of war, which led to clashes with his authoritarian father. However, upon ascending to the Prussian throne, he attacked and annexed the rich Austrian province of Silesia in 1742, winning military acclaim for himself and Prussia. He became an influential military theorist whose analyses emerged from his extensive personal battlefield experience and covered issues of strategy, tactics, mobility, and logistics.
Frederick was a supporter of enlightened absolutism, stating that the ruler should be the first servant of the state. He modernized the Prussian bureaucracy and civil service, and pursued religious policies throughout his realm that ranged from tolerance to segregation. He reformed the judicial system and made it possible for men of lower status to become judges and senior bureaucrats. Frederick also encouraged immigrants of various nationalities and faiths to come to Prussia, although he enacted oppressive measures against Catholics in Silesia and Polish Prussia. He supported the arts and philosophers he favored, and allowed freedom of the press and literature.
The fifth child and second surviving son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel (C. P. E.) Bach was an influential composer working at a time of transition between his father's Baroque style and the Classical style that followed it. His personal approach, an expressive and often turbulent one known as empfindsamer Stil or "sensitive style," applied the principles of rhetoric and drama to musical structures. His dynamism stands in deliberate contrast to the more mannered galant style also then in vogue. To distinguish him from his brother Johann Christian, the "London Bach," who at this time was music master to Queen Charlotte of Great Britain, C. P. E. was known as the "Berlin Bach" during his residence in that city, and later as the "Hamburg Bach" when he succeeded Telemann as Kapellmeister there.
Born in the small town of Fairmont, Minnesota, Bach's Offering to the Musical King presenter Jacob Bancks, Ph.D., and his family have made their home in the Quad Cities since 2011. He makes many contributions to local musical life, serving as associate professor on the faculty of Augustana College; directing the choir of St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church; writing program notes for the Quad Cities Symphony; lecturing on music at the German American Heritage Center; and co-hosting a monthly educational program on WVIK public radio. In addition to the QCSO, he has composed frequently for local ensembles, including the Moline High School Orchestra, the Quincy Symphony, and Davenport's Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. A 2019 recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowship, Dr. Bancks has earned awards, honors, and commissions from organizations including the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, BMI, the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music, and the U.S. Department of Education.
Bach's Offering to the Musical King: Frederick the Great of Prussia will be presented in Davenport's German American Heritage Center on November 12, admission to the 2 p.m. program is free for Heritage Center members and $5 for non-members, and more information is available by calling (563)322-8844 and visiting GAHC.org.
