Hans Bach

Hans [Johann] Bach was a violinist and court musician born in Andelsbuch, in Vorarlberg, around 1555, and died in Nürtingen on 1 December 1615. He is placed within the courts of southern Germany in the final decades of the sixteenth century, when the instrumental music of the so-called Spielmann, itinerant musicians who served as performers and jesters, held a regular place in palace life.

Around 1585 he entered the service of the court at Stuttgart, in the Duchy of Württemberg, where he worked as a violinist and also as jester to Duke Ludwig. In 1593 he accompanied the dowager duchess Ursula to the court at Nürtingen, where he remained until his death. He apparently travelled frequently, both alone and as part of the court retinue.

Only the text of one narrative song from 1614 survives from his output, dedicated to a visit to the town of Weil; its style recalls that of the late medieval tradition of Oswald von Wolkenstein. Two portraits of him survive, an etching from around 1605 and an engraving from 1617.

His family origins are not known with certainty. He was probably related in some way to the Wechmar branch of the Bach family, although his Protestant faith and his origin in Habsburg territories are the only features that link him to that family. His image came to be confused with that of another Spielmann, Hans Bach, trained in Gotha.