Johann Sebastian Bach’s Grandson: The Last Composer of the Bach Dynasty

by Emily E. Hogstad  September 10th, 2026

It’s well known that Johann Sebastian Bach had 20 children. Several of his sons became accomplished composers in their own right.

But what about the next generation?

Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach (1759–1845) was the grandson of Johann Sebastian – and the last member of the family to pursue composition professionally.

Today we’re taking a look at his life, his career, and five of his most interesting works.

Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach’s Background and Training

Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach

Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach was born on 24 May 1759.

He was the son of composer Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (the fifth son of Johann Sebastian Bach) and his wife, singer Lucia Elisabeth Münchhausen. We wrote about their marriage here: https://interlude.hk/christoph-friedrich-bach-and-lucia-elisabeth-munchausen/.

Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach

Wilhelm was one of eight children, only half of whom survived infancy. He was the only boy to live to adulthood, and therefore the only one who pursued music professionally.

His music education began under his father. Later he went to Hamburg to study with an uncle, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, usually referred to as C.P.E. Bach.

In 1778, when he was nineteen, he and his father went to London to visit yet another uncle, Johann Christian Bach, whom Wilhelm studied with until Johann Christian died in 1782.

He may have been the only person ever to study with three of Johann Sebastian’s sons.

Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach’s Career

After Johann Christian Bach’s death, Wilhelm returned to the Continent, embarking on a concert tour in the Netherlands and France.

In 1786, he was named the Kapellmeister in Minden, Germany, a small town a hundred miles south of Hamburg.

King Friedrich Wilhelm II

The following year, his life and career took a turn when King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia visited Minden.

The king was impressed by a work of Wilhelm’s that he heard during his trip, and hired Bach as Kapellmeister for his own court.

In 1788, Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach became Kapellmeister in Berlin, a position he held for over twenty years. Part of his duties included teaching music to Prussian princes.

He married twice. In 1798, he married a woman named Charlotte Elerdt. She had two daughters, Caroline and Juliane, before dying young in 1801.

He remarried a woman named Wilhelmine the following year and had two more children: Auguste and Friederike.

Of the four children, only Caroline and Auguste survived past childhood.

Caroline lived until 1871, becoming the last surviving direct descendant of Johann Sebastian Bach.

Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach’s Retirement

In 1811, at the age of fifty-two, Wilhelm retired from his Kapellmeister duties after the Prussian royal family granted him a pension. He continued living in Berlin, where he appeared as a pianist and composer.

He reappeared in music history in 1843, when he travelled to Leipzig, where a monument to Johann Sebastian Bach was being dedicated.

While there, he met a young Robert Schumann, who described him as “a very old, agile gentleman of 84 years old with snow-white hair and expressive features.”

He also corresponded with Felix Mendelssohn, who, with the help of his Bach-loving family, had done much advocacy for Johann Sebastian Bach’s music.

Wilhelm died a few years later, in 1845.

He was open-eyed about his legacy, acknowledging the discrepancy in talent between himself and his grandfather, and is remembered for his wry remark, “Heredity can tend to run out of ideas.”

Today we’re looking at five of Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach’s works.

Symphony No. 2 in G major  

This is a slender, spirited three-movement symphony.

The outer movements are sparkly and mischievous, with a serene, noble slow movement that prominently features horn calls reminiscent of genteel hunting horns.

Sestetto Concertante  

This is an elegant work for clarinet, two horns, violin, viola, and cello, written around 1800.

The varied, unconventional instrumentation would have helped it to carry in a large aristocratic space, and it is easy to imagine it as background music for a charming, gossipy, candlelit event.

Westphalens Freude  

“Westphalens Freude” (“Westphalens Joy” or “Triumph! Triumph Westphalia!”) was a cantata published in 1791, composed for orchestra, chorus, and vocal soloists.

This is the work celebrating King Friedrich Wilhelm that so impressed the monarch that he invited Bach to work in Berlin.

Toccata  

Just like his famous grandfather, Wilhelm wrote works for solo organ.

Although this Toccata may not be as forcefully virtuosic as Johann Sebastian’s, it is pleasantly triumphant and explores a range of the instrument’s timbres.

Das Dreyblatt  

This is an unusual (to put it mildly) work written for one keyboard, three players, and six hands.

The centre player is to be a large man, and the ones on the sides are to be petite women.

In an era when playing piano duets was one of the few socially acceptable times for unmarried men and women to be physically close, this piece takes the sexual subtext of the genre and makes it quite explicit!

Conclusion

Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach may not have matched his grandfather’s towering genius – as he himself cheerfully admitted.

But his long life gave him a unique vantage point on musical history, bridging the world of Johann Sebastian Bach and the early Romantic era of Schumann and Mendelssohn.

If you’d like to explore more of the Bach family tree, we’ve written more about it here: https://interlude.hk/the-bach-family-eight-fascinating-relatives-of-johann-sebastian/.

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6 Violin-Like Instruments From Around the World

by Emily E. Hogstad  September 5th, 2026

The violin is one of the most recognisable instruments in the world – but it is far from the only instrument of its kind.

Across cultures and centuries, musicians have developed bowed string instruments that share the violin’s basic logic: strings, a resonating body, and a bow.

Some of these instruments predate the violin; others were built to solve problems the violin couldn’t. All of them are worth knowing.

Here are six violin-like instruments from around the world.

Stroh Violin  

The Stroh violin was invented by electrical engineer Johannes Matthias Augustus Stroh in 1899.

Unlike a traditional violin, it replaces the wooden body with a metal diaphragm and attached horn, which amplify the sound and project it outward.

Stroh violin or Horn-violin

This made it perfect for the early recording era, when it was difficult for recording equipment to capture the sound of acoustic string instruments.

However, it was more expensive to manufacture than a traditional violin, and once recording technology advanced, the instrument became obsolete.

The Stroh violin is largely forgotten today, but is still admired as a historical curiosity.

Electric Violin   

Electric violins are violins equipped with an electronic pickup that transmits sound to an amplifier.

The pickup is attached to the bridge, body, or fingerboard.

Electric violins don’t need to hew to traditional designs, and many don’t. It’s common to see instruments with five or more strings, frets, or carbon fibre bodies – enough differences to differentiate the electric violin as a separate instrument from its acoustic counterpart.

A traditional acoustic violin and a modern electronic violin from Marc Capuano

The electric violin’s roots stretch back to the 1920s. Jazz violinist Stuff Smith (1909-1967) was among the first to bring the electric violin to prominence. By the 1930s, they were being sold commercially.

Apache Fiddle  

The Apache are indigenous people native to the southwestern United States.

One of their musical instruments is called the “tsii’ edo’a’tl”, which, translated literally, means “wood that sings.” However, it is better known in English as the Apache fiddle.

Arizona Apache fiddle, from the Musical Instrument Museum – Phoenix, Arizona

The Apache fiddle is made from the stem of a thick-stalked plant, such as agave.

One or two strands of natural material – such as horsehair – serve as strings. The player stops the strings with their fingers and draws a bow across them.

To create more friction between the string and the bow, the player might apply sticky pine pitch onto the bow – similar to how rosin is used for violin bows.

Historically, the instrument is known for its role in Apache courtship rituals.

Pochette   

We wrote a whole article on the pochette here: https://interlude.hk/the-violin-in-your-pocket/

Pochettes (French for “pockets”) were miniature violin-like instruments that first appeared in the 1400s. They were favoured by dancing masters due to their portability.

Decorated pochette

The instrument is played tucked onto the player’s chest.

The pochette is usually tuned one octave above a violin’s range, and its sound is shriller. Its range is also notably smaller; in fact, a player can’t shift above third or fifth position without running out of string to stop.

Erhu   

An erhu is an ancient two-stringed Chinese instrument. Its predecessor instruments first appeared during the Tang Dynasty (600–900 CE).

Erhu in the Mets

Over the following centuries, the erhu evolved into a folk instrument most often seen in southern China.

An accomplished erhu player, Liu Tianhua, introduced the erhu to Beijing in the 1920s, updating the instrument and composing new music for it.

The bodies of many erhus are covered with python skin. In 2005, new regulations were put in place in China requiring documentation of the origins of the skin; today, erhu python skins must come from farm-raised pythons rather than endangered wild specimens.

The player vibrates the skin by bowing the two strings. The two strings are tuned to A and D – interestingly, the same pitches as the middle two strings of a violin.

Hardanger fiddle   

The national instrument of Norway, the Hardanger fiddle has inspired generations of composers, from Edvard Grieg to film composer Howard Shore.

The earliest surviving Hardanger fiddle was built in 1651 by maker Ole Jonsen Jaastad, who lived in the town of Hardanger, Norway.

A Hardanger fiddle made by Knut Gunnarsson Helland. Owned by Monica Skaro, who inherited it from her grandfather Knut Skaro from Geilo, Norway

Although at first glance a Hardanger fiddle looks similar to a modern violin, there are some noteworthy differences.

The fiddle has four main strings like a violin, as well as secondary strings that vibrate sympathetically when particular pitches are played.

A Hardanger fiddle also has a longer scroll and more tuning pegs (to account for the extra strings), a larger bridge designed to facilitate playing on two strings at once, and folk-inspired decorations.

The Hardanger fiddle, like many European folk instruments, has long been associated with the devil. In fact, during religious revivals of the 1800s, many Hardanger fiddles were destroyed.

In 2023, we wrote about the history of the Hardanger fiddle and how Grieg was inspired by it: https://interlude.hk/finding-home-griegs-violin-sonata-no-1/

Conclusion

From the Apache fiddle’s agave stem to the Hardanger fiddle’s sympathetic strings, these six instruments represent just a fraction of the world’s bowed string traditions.

The violin may be the version most familiar to Western ears – but as these instruments attest, the instinct to draw a bow across a string to make it sing is very nearly universal.

Seven of the Most Expensive Pianos Ever Made

 by Emily E. Hogstad  September 4th, 2026

What makes a piano worth millions? The answer, it turns out, varies wildly.

The most expensive pianos in the world include instruments commissioned for billionaires, built for charity, and used to compose some of the most beloved songs ever written. One hid secret documents in a classic film; another toured sites of American tragedy as a symbol of peace.

Today we’re looking at the stories behind seven of the most expensive pianos ever made, going from least expensive to most expensive.

$1.6 million – Steinway & Sons Sound of Harmony Piano

Steinway Sound of Harmony

In 2008, Steinway announced that it had built its most expensive piano to date.

It was commissioned for Chinese art curator Guo Qingxiang. Guo’s job is to buy, sell, and collect high-end artwork for the Dalian Wanda Group, a multinational conglomerate based in Beijing.

Guo began his career focused solely on Chinese art, but has since expanded into buying Western art.

One of the pieces Guo commissioned was a custom Steinway, featuring inlays consisting of forty different types of wood.

The lid features reproductions of art by Chinese painter Shi Qi.

$1.9 million – The Steinway & Sons (RED) Piano

Steinway & Sons Red Pops for Red Parlor Grand © Houston Piano

Most of the pianos on this list were custom-made for the luxury market, but this particular instrument was built for charity.

In 2006, musician Bono from the band U2 and Bobby Shriver of the Kennedy family teamed up to found an organisation called (RED).

The organisation encouraged companies to launch red products to symbolise both love and AIDS awareness.

In 2013, Sotheby’s hosted a charity auction spearheaded by designers Sir Jonathan Ive and Marc Newson, with proceeds benefiting AIDS research.

(RED): The Very Best of Design and Innovation   

At the 2013 edition of the auction, Bono and Coldplay’s Chris Martin performed on a Steinway at the auction before it sold for nearly $2 million.

The proceeds went to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Africa.

$2.2 million – John Lennon’s Piano – Steinway Model Z

Imagine

John Lennon was one of the greatest songwriters of all time, so it’s no surprise that one of his pianos is on the list!

In December 1970, shortly after the Beatles’ breakup, he bought an upright Steinway Model Z piano.

He went on to compose his early solo work, including the song “Imagine”, on this instrument.

John Lennon The making of Imagine 1971   

After Lennon’s murder in 1980, the piano found its way to a private collector. When that collector decided to sell it in 2000, the instrument went to auction.

Pop star George Michael submitted the winning bid of £1.45 million, which, in 2000 dollars, was roughly $2.2 million.

Beginning in 2006, the instrument was displayed at various sites of American violence, such as the assassination of President Kennedy, the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building, and the mass shooting at Virginia Tech.

This evolved into the Imagine Piano Peace Project in 2007, and videos were filmed of performers playing “Imagine” on the piano at these sites. Those videos would then be used for fundraising.

The piano has since been on display at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, and at the Beatles pilgrimage site, Strawberry Field, outside of Liverpool.

$2.4 million – Steinway & Sons Fibonacci Piano

Fibonacci spiral

In 2013, when Steinway wanted to celebrate the construction of its 600,000th piano, the company turned to artisan furniture maker Frank Pollaro.

He responded with an instrument inspired by the Fibonacci sequence. A Fibonacci sequence is a sequence in which each number is the sum of the two preceding ones.

Patterns and proportions dictated by Fibonacci sequences often occur in nature, such as in the spiral of an unfolding fern. Here, they appear as carvings on the piano.

The Fibonacci Piano was created out of six logs of Macassar ebony and took over six thousand hours to craft.

Pollaro said of the project, “Combining the universal languages of music and mathematics suddenly made perfect sense.”    

$2.5 million – Steinway & Sons Pictures at an Exhibition

Pictures at an Exhibition

© steinway.com

Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” is a famous piano suite written in 1874. It was inspired by an exhibit of Viktor Hartmann’s works, the artist friend of Mussorgsky.

To make their “Pictures at an Exhibition” piano, Steinway & Sons took direct inspiration from the suite – and the art that had inspired it.

The Making of “Pictures at an Exhibition” Steinway Piano by Paul Wyse   

Renowned artist Paul Wyse painted reproductions of Hartmann’s surviving works onto the white case of a Steinway. He also added portrayals of viewers strolling past and taking in the art.

The striking interior of the lid features a massive landscape of the Bogatyr Gates in Kyiv, the subject of the famous final movement of “Pictures at an Exhibition,” known as “The Great Gate of Kyiv.”

As of 2026, this piano has been listed for sale at $2.5 million.

$3 million – C. Bechstein Louis XV

Bechstein

In 2013, to celebrate its 160th anniversary, the C. Bechstein piano company designed a sumptuous piano model named the Louis XV.

It was a recreation of an instrument made for the court of Queen Victoria, which has since been lost.

This modern piano boasts a gilded case decorated with carvings and paintings inspired by the Rococo style of artist Antoine Watteau.

A team of highly skilled artisans banded together to create this extraordinary reproduction, and it took a full three years to design and craft.

C. Bechstein “Louis XV” grand piano: Dudana Mazmanishvili performs Barcarole by Chopin   

However, the Bechstein Louis XV has not been without controversy. The piano’s keys, like the original inspiration, are made of ivory – a material banned for sale in many countries, due to its connections with poaching.

At the time of its construction, it was sent to China. Today it is in the Potsdam Palace in Germany.

$3.4 million – The piano from Casablanca

Casablanca

The classic 1942 film Casablanca takes place in a nightclub owned by Rick Blaine (played by Humphrey Bogart).

Rick’s Café Américain is teeming with refugees – as well as the government officials who are seeking to arrest or kill them.

Blaine has chosen the piano’s interior as a hiding place for important papers, called letters of transit, that will allow their carriers to move easily through war-torn Europe.

Blaine’s ex, Ilsa Lund (played by Ingrid Bergman), visits the cafe. She is wistful and still in love with him. She encourages the house pianist Sam to “Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By.'” He agrees, reluctantly.  

In November 2014, the piano used in this pivotal scene was sold by Bonhams in New York for $3.4 million as part of a sale of movie memorabilia.

The owner’s identity is unknown, but the price they paid is the highest ever for a piano at auction.

Conclusion

The most expensive pianos in the world are worth far more than their materials or craftsmanship alone. Each one has an unforgettable story.

Whether you’re a pianist, a music lover, or simply someone who appreciates an extraordinary object, these are pianos that reward a second look – or listen.

10 Must-Hear Classical Works by Gay Composers

 by Emily E. Hogstad  August 29th, 2026

The history of classical music is full of gay composers: men whose sexuality was an open secret, a source of torment, a creative engine, or simply a fact of life they navigated as best they could.

We’ve written before about which composers were gay and how we know.

This list takes a different approach: ten must-hear works by gay composers, chosen for their greatness, emotional power, and, in many cases, their direct connection to the composers’ identities.

From Tchaikovsky‘s devastating final symphony to John Corigliano’s AIDS memorial, these are not just great works by gay composers; they’re great works, period.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 6   

Tchaikovsky conducted the premiere of his Symphony No. 6 just nine days before he died in 1893.

He dedicated the work to his nephew Vladimir Davydov, whom surviving letters reveal Tchaikovsky had romantic feelings for.

The final movement – a slow, despairing Adagio lamentoso that ultimately fades into silence – breaks every convention of symphonic form.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

The music, combined with how quickly he died, has led to speculation over the years. Some believe his death wasn’t due to cholera, but rather was a suicide triggered by shame over his homosexuality. Although there are still holdouts, most scholars today believe the cholera theory.

Regardless of his cause of death, the fact that he died nine days after its premiere makes its emotional nakedness impossible to shake.

Camille Saint-Saëns – Symphony No. 3   

In 1875, Camille Saint-Saëns married a former pupil half his age. The couple had two sons, both of whom died in infancy in 1878.

After these devastating losses, he abandoned her. He began decamping to North Africa for extended periods, never explaining. Algeria was famous at the time for being a haven for men with same-sex attractions, and he would return there repeatedly.

Charles Reutlinger: Saint-Saëns, ca 1880 (Paris: Bibliothèque nationale)

His Symphony No. 3 was written a few years later, between 1885 and 1886. It stands as his most impressive achievement, with the organ taking a starring role that makes the work both unique and grandiose.

Reynaldo Hahn – Chansons grises   

Reynaldo Hahn is best remembered today as the lover of Marcel Proust, whom he began dating in 1894.

But even after their romantic relationship fizzled out, their ensuing friendship endured as one of the most artistically vital of the Belle Époque.

Reynaldo Hahn (1906)

Born in Venezuela and raised in Paris, Hahn moved in the most glittering artistic circles of the era, equally at home in both salon and concert hall.

His Chansons grises, settings of poems by Paul Verlaine (himself a queer artist), are among the most exquisite French mélodies ever written – intimate, melancholy, and intricately crafted. They may be small in scale, but they’re emotionally enormous.

Karol Szymanowski – Symphony No. 3   

Karol Szymanowski‘s homosexuality is well-documented in his diaries and correspondence, and his mature works are infused with a sensuality that feels drawn from life.

His Symphony No. 3, completed in 1916 and subtitled Song of the Night, sets a poem by the Persian mystic Rumi for tenor, chorus, and orchestra.

Karol Szymanowski

Polish conductor Piotr Deptuch describes it as “an ecstatic night-time love song in which eroticism and transcendence meld into an indissoluble whole.”

Francis Poulenc – Dialogues des Carmélites   

Francis Poulenc was one of the first major composers to be openly gay. He was also Catholic, and lived with the tension between those two identities.

That tension is arguably a major animating force behind Dialogues des Carmélites, his 1957 opera about a group of Carmelite nuns who choose martyrdom rather than renounce their faith during the French Revolution.

The final scene, in which the nuns are led one by one to the guillotine while singing, is one of the most devastating conclusions in operatic history.

Francis Poulenc

It is a work about faith, fear, and the courage it takes to hold fast to your identity – written by a man who knew something about all three.

Samuel Barber – Adagio for Strings   

Samuel Barber lived for forty years with fellow composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who wrote the libretti for two of his three operas. It was one of classical music’s great creative partnerships – and one of its great love stories.

Barber wrote his Adagio for Strings in 1936, when he was just twenty-six, and he and Menotti were staying together in Austria.

Conductor Arturo Toscanini asked to see the score of the work, then returned it without comment – which Barber perceived as a snub.

But Menotti followed up with Toscanini to clarify what the gesture had meant. As it happened, Toscanini had already memorised the score and scheduled a performance – he was returning the score as a favour.

It would become Barber’s breakthrough piece, securing a place in American culture; it is often performed at high-profile events commemorating national tragedies.

Aaron Copland – Appalachian Spring   

Aaron Copland is often regarded as the great American composer: the man who defined what American classical music sounds like.

His music has often been used in conservative political campaigns, but the irony is that Copland was a gay Jewish man from Brooklyn who was involved with far-left groups during the 1930s and 1940s.

Aaron Copland, 1962

His ballet Appalachian Spring, written in 1944 for Martha Graham, is his most beloved work, and his most quintessentially American.

It depicts a young couple settling on the Pennsylvania frontier, and its central theme – a set of variations on the Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts” – has become one of the most recognisable melodies in American music.

Benjamin Britten – Peter Grimes   

Benjamin Britten and tenor Peter Pears were personal and professional partners for nearly forty years, and their relationship was one of the most creatively fertile in music history.

Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears

Pears endlessly inspired Britten. He wrote role after role for his distinctive tenor voice, and the two performed together constantly: an artistic partnership so all-encompassing that it becomes impossible to separate Britten’s music from their love story.

Peter Grimes, which premiered in 1945, was the work that announced Britten as a major operatic voice. It tells the story of a fisherman (played by Pears in the premiere) whose inability to conform to his community’s expectations leads to his destruction.

The parallels to Britten’s own experience as a gay man in mid-century England are not subtle – or accidental.

Leonard Bernstein – Symphony No. 2, The Age of Anxiety  

Leonard Bernstein married actress Felicia Montealegre in 1951. Both went into the marriage with their eyes open about the fact that he preferred men.

Bernstein became one of the most charismatic and commanding figures in American musical life, working tirelessly as a conductor, composer, educator, and celebrity. He spent decades navigating the gap between his public image and his private self, fully understanding that no conservative orchestra boards would ever tolerate hiring an openly gay music director.

Leonard Bernstein

His Symphony No. 2, subtitled The Age of Anxiety, is based on W.H. Auden’s poem of the same name. The poem, itself written by a gay man, grapples with questions about modern alienation, isolation, and the search for connection – the same kinds of issues Bernstein himself had dealt with in his personal life.

The symphony is brilliant and ultimately restless, which feels appropriate; Bernstein never totally resolved the questions about identity that Auden raised.

John Corigliano – Symphony No. 1  

John Corigliano composed his Symphony No. 1 in 1988 as a response to the AIDS crisis, dedicating it to friends he had lost – and was losing – to the epidemic.

By that point the death toll in the American gay community was catastrophic, and the silence from the government and mainstream culture was deafening.

John Corigliano

Its first movement is subtitled “Apologue: Of Rage and Remembrance.”

Corigliano’s Symphony No. 1 is one of the few major orchestral works to emerge directly from the AIDS crisis, and one of the most powerful. Its emotional immediacy makes it a must-hear work.

Conclusion

Gay composers have been present at every stage of classical music history, from the courts of Louis XIV to the concert halls of the 20th century.

Their sexuality shaped their music in ways both direct and oblique – sometimes as a source of anguish, sometimes as a quiet fact of life, and sometimes (as with Corigliano) as an explicit subject.

All of these works can stand on their own; no one needs to know their composers were gay to appreciate them.

But knowing more about their stories can help deepen our connection to composers and music alike.