Overview of Johann Gottfried Walther
Johann Gottfried Walther (1684–1748) was a distinguished German Baroque organist, composer, music theorist, and lexicographer. Born in Erfurt and closely related to Johann Sebastian Bach—he was Bach's cousin—Walther's career overlapped with Bach's, though Bach's significance in music history is generally considered to be far greater.
Walther’s Contributions and Fascinating Works
Walther is perhaps most renowned as the author of the Musicalisches Lexicon (Leipzig, 1732), a groundbreaking music dictionary. This was the first such German-language lexicon to combine both musical terminology and biographies of composers and performers from the early 18th century. It defines over 3,000 musical terms, drawing from more than 250 sources, and remains a critical reference for Baroque music scholarship.
Walther distinguished himself early, securing his first organist position in Erfurt at age eighteen and later serving as organist at the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Weimar from 1707 until his death. In this role, he also taught music at the ducal court and was a mentor to nobility, such as Prince Johann Ernst.
The friendship and professional collaboration between Walther and J.S. Bach were mutually beneficial. Walther’s expertise in organ composition and theory directly influenced Bach’s development, especially in the field of concerto transcriptions. Walther himself created 14 organ transcriptions of orchestral concertos by Italian and German composers like Albinoni, Vivaldi, and Telemann. These served as models that inspired Bach’s own famous organ transcriptions.