Arnstadt, Mühlhausen (1703–1708)

Bach’s first significant professional positions were as organist at Arnstadt and Mühlhausen. The first was a courtly residence town, the second a larger free city. His years at both must have been pivotal for his development as both organist and composer. They also saw his first marriage, to Maria Barbara Bach, and an extended trip to Lübeck where he encountered the music of Buxtehude. If by then he was not already composing prolifically, with the works of the next few years he established himself as one of Germany’s most original young composers of keyboard music, and during his brief time at Mühlhausen he also produced several impressive vocal works. During the same period, however, a confrontation with the Arnstadt authorities left him unscathed but was a harbinger of future tensions with employers.