Biography of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist and violinist.
During his lifetime, he worked as a teacher and organist and was a prolific composer of choral works, concertos, and preludes.
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Bach is widely considered one of the greatest classical composers of all time. His best works include:
Choral «Passions» such as the Saint Matthew Passion, the Saint John Passion. Mass in B minor. Organs – Toccata and fugue for organ in D minor. Brandenburg Concertos, esp. No.3 and No.5.Violin Concertos.Goldberg Variations (piano).Well-Tempered Clavier (48 Preludes and Fugues).Early Life.
Johann Sebastian Bach He was born on March 31, 1685 in Eisenach, Saxe-Eisenach (modern Germany) into a musical family.
His father (Johann Ambrosius Bach) was the director of the local musicians in the city.
At just 10 years old, the young Bach lost both of his parents and was raised by his older brother, Johann Christoph.
His brother was an organist at a local church, and he taught the young men to play the clavichord.
Living with his older brother also allowed Bach access to sheet music, which he would pore over and copy for his own access.
Bach was a good student both academically and musically; it was said that he had an ‘extraordinarily fine high-pitched voice’.
When he was 14 years old, he was awarded a scholarship to the prestigious St Michael’s School in Luneburg.
Luneburg was an important cultural center in Europe and by studying there, Bach had access to new composers and also to people from the most important social circles in Germany. In particular, Bach was influenced by the style of the organist George Böhm.
Weimar
Leaving school in 1703, Bach was appointed court musician at Duke Johann Ernst’s chapel in Weimar.
Here his reputation as an organist grew. But, despite his musical talent, Bach was often at odds with his employer because Bach was interested in traveling and concentrating on composing rather than other tasks.
Despite his musical talent, the authorities were not happy with Bach. Throughout his life, Bach often came into conflict with his employers; Bach became frustrated at not having time to compose and having inadequate choirs to deal with.
However, his growing reputation as an organist allowed him to continue to receive good offers.
In 1706, he was dismissed, but Bach was able to obtain an improved position at St. Blasius in Muhlhausen.
He married Maria Barbara Bach, a second cousin. They had seven children. After two years in Muhlhausen, Bach returned to Weimar, where he obtained a position as music director at the ducal court.
The composition
Bach was able to devote more time to composition. He was also influenced by Italian composers, such as Vivaldi and Torelli. Bach incorporated aspects of the Italian style into his growing repertoire of compositions.
He composed a wide range of fugues and preludes that were published as the «Well-Tempered Clavier», a range of compositions containing a fugue and prelude in each minor and major key.
Bach stayed in Weimar for nine years, before leaving after deteriorating relations with his employers.
Court records suggest that Bach was jailed for four weeks due to his stubbornness and the dispute with his employers.
In 1717 Bach moved to Kothen where he enjoyed the patronage of Prince Leopold of Anhalt Kothen.
After Maria, his first wife, died suddenly in 1720, he remarried a year later to Anna Wilcke, a young singer, 17 years Bach’s junior.
They had at least 13 children, many of whom became significant musicians in their own right.
leipzig
The next quote from Bach was perhaps his most significant. He was appointed Director of Music at the main churches in Leipzig and at the University of Leipzig.
His position also included teaching Latin to young students (a job he often delegated), and he was also required to produce a cantata for Sunday services. Bach used to make his own compositions.
He worked late into the night, despite the noise of the unruly students. He was far from ideal conditions for a composer, but Bach was remarkably prolific, despite his busy schedule and the father of several children.
In 1729, he also took the direction of a secular musical ensemble. This encouraged him to broaden his compositions away from purely ecclesiastical music.
In 1733, Bach composed what is considered his greatest work: the Mass in B minor. A choral work of unprecedented imagination and musical complexity.
Bach was a devout Lutheran Christian and his religious works are the most significant part of his canon. There is a rich religious devotion in his works, especially the Passions of Matthew and Saint John.
Bach’s musical legacy.
Bach is considered to be the pinnacle of the Baroque period. His music is famous for his skill in counterpoint; this involves playing different melodies at the same time to compose music with several layers on top of each other.
His works also have a very strong and dynamic energy, especially his compositions for the organ. He, too, took simple melodies and wove a tight score around an oft-recurring theme, with slight variations.
His music was often considered too radical and revolutionary for some church figures. The Lutheran tradition was a reaction to the ornamentalism of Catholicism, many of Bach’s pastors believed that music should be simple.
Poor eyesight
Bach believed that his music was an opportunity to highlight «…the glory of God» and, in the case of the Passions, to give the audience a real, moving experience of the gospels.
Bach’s musical radicalism was one of the reasons why he was not highly regarded as a composer in his time. Although Bach could at least claim the support of Martin Luther, who said that music was very important to religious faith.
Towards the end of his life, Back developed poor eyesight, and a British surgeon made an unsuccessful attempt to cure him. He died shortly after, on July 28, 1750, at the age of 65.
Throughout his life, Bach learned from a wide range of musical sources and reinvigorated these various influences with his own developments and innovations. During his lifetime, Bach was regarded as a great organist and teacher. A contemporary wrote about Bach’s organ playing.
‘His feet seemed to fly over the pedals as if they were winged, and mighty sounds filled the church.’ – Constantine Bellermann
But his musical compositions were not always highly regarded. For a long time, his reputation as a composer was minimal.
However, from the mid-19th century, his musical works were increasingly performed to critical acclaim.
In particular, Felix Mendelssohn’s interpretation of the Saint Matthew Passion was a major turning point in Bach’s reputation.
In the 20th century, Pablo Casals popularized Bach’s cello suites and played his favorite Bach pieces every day.
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