The Job Application That Was Never Acknowledged

Have you applied to a job where you thought you were the right person but never even heard back from the potential employer? Wait until you hear this one!

Source: Courtesy/Dreamstine/Davinci

With online employee search engines like Indeed, Careerbuilder and Monster, it’s not uncommon for applicants to never receive acknowledgment of their application, let alone a phone interview or inquiry regarding qualifications. This often leads job applicants feeling discouraged and hopeless about ever landing a job. When counseling those who are job-searching, it’s imperative to provide constant support and encouragement because it’s easy to give up. That’s often when apathy begins to set in and people find very little reason to get up out of bed in the morning.

If you think you have it bad, here’s one that might lift your spirits. The year is 1721 and the young composer, Johann Sebastian Bach was applying for a position as the court composer to court of the Duke (aka “the Marbury”) of Brandenburg. To bolster his chances of being offered such a coveted position, Bach had written six concerti specifically in honor of the Duke. (Talk about padding your résumé!) Bach not only composed the six concerti but also wrote out and orchestrated each and every one by hand, supposedly because he didn’t want to leave the work up to a copy person who might screw it up. And I should mention that each concerto has about three movements, with each having its own unique melodies and characteristics. They’ve become quite popular around the holidays, usually performed by chamber orchestras.

So, Bach submitted the six concerti and anticipated that he would hear from the Marbury to be offered the position of court composer. Unfortunately, the Marbury never had the decency to respond to Bach’s application and instead locked the concerti away until they were sold for a mere pittance, around the time of the Marbury’s death. Hence the six concerti (which later became known as the Brandenburg Concerti) and the Marbury of Brandenburg faded into history (as well he should given that he must have been a colossal narcissist.)

Here’s an interesting footnote. Apparently, Paul McCartney had been to a performance of the Brandenburg in London and was taken with the sound of a peculiar high-pitched trumpet in the 2nd Brandenburg Concerto. He asked his producer, George Martin, if he could find out the name of the instrument, which he did. That's the reason a piccolo trumpet was featured in the Beatles' recording "Penny Lane."