Life and Important Facts about Composer Johann Sebastian Bach from our Know the Great Composers and Classical Musicians Series.
About Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer of the Baroque era, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time. He was born on March 31, 1685, in Eisenach, a town in Thuringia, Germany. He came from a musical family, as his father, Johann Ambrosius, was a director of town musicians and several of his relatives were also musicians. He learned to play the violin and the harpsichord from his father, and sang in the church choir as a boy. He also received organ lessons from his uncle, Johann Christoph, who was an organist in Ohrdruf.
Bach’s early life was marked by tragedy, as he lost both his parents by the age of 10. He then moved in with his eldest brother, Johann Christoph, who was also an organist and continued to teach him music. Bach showed great talent and passion for music from an early age, and soon mastered the keyboard and organ. He also studied music theory, composition, and various musical styles from books and manuscripts that he borrowed or copied.
Some fun facts about Bach are:
- He had 20 children from two marriages, but only 10 of them survived to adulthood.
- He was once imprisoned for a month for trying to quit his job as an organist in Arnstadt without permission.
- He composed over 1,000 works in various genres, including cantatas, concertos, fugues, suites, sonatas, passions, oratorios, and masses.
- He was also an expert on organ building and tuning, and often tested and repaired organs in different towns.
- He was blind for the last year of his life due to a botched eye surgery.
Some of Bach’s most important achievements are:
- He developed the well-tempered tuning system, which allowed keyboards to play in all 24 major and minor keys without sounding out of tune.
- He created the Brandenburg Concertos, which are considered some of the finest examples of Baroque orchestral music.
- He wrote The Well-Tempered Clavier, which consists of two sets of 24 preludes and fugues in all keys, and is regarded as a masterpiece of keyboard music.
- He composed the Mass in B Minor, which is one of the largest and most complex works of sacred music ever written.
- He wrote the St. Matthew Passion and the St. John Passion, which are dramatic musical settings of the biblical accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion.
- Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, hired Bach to serve as his Kapellmeister (director of music) in 1717. Prince Leopold, himself a musician, appreciated Bach’s talents, paid him well and gave him considerable latitude in composing and performing. The prince was a Calvinist and did not use elaborate music in his worship; accordingly, most of Bach’s work from this period was secular, including the orchestral suites, cello suites, sonatas and partitas for solo violin, and Brandenburg Concertos. Bach also composed secular cantatas for the court, such as Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht, BWV 134a.
What can we learn from Johann Sebastian Bach? We can learn about his dedication to his craft, his creativity and innovation, his mastery of musical forms and techniques, his devotion to his faith, and his influence on generations of composers and musicians. We can also appreciate his music for its beauty, complexity, emotion, and expression.
Bach’s autograph of the first movement of the first sonata for solo violin, BWV 1001
What can students learn from Johann Sebastian Bach?
Students can learn about the history and culture of the Baroque period, the musical styles and genres that Bach used and developed, the musical theory and practice that Bach applied and taught, the musical instruments and technologies that Bach played and improved, and the musical challenges and opportunities that Bach faced and overcame. Students can also develop their musical skills and appreciation by listening to, playing, or singing Bach’s music.
Some more interesting facts:
Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, hired Bach to serve as his Kapellmeister (director of music) in 1717. Prince Leopold, himself a musician, appreciated Bach’s talents, paid him well and gave him considerable latitude in composing and performing. The prince was a Calvinist and did not use elaborate music in his worship; accordingly, most of Bach’s work from this period was secular, including the orchestral suites, cello suites, sonatas and partitas for solo violin, and Brandenburg Concertos. Bach also composed secular cantatas for the court, such as Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht.
Despite being born in the same year and only about 130 kilometres (80 mi) apart, Bach and Handel never met. In 1719, Bach made the 35-kilometre (22 mi) journey from Köthen to Halle with the intention of meeting Handel; however, Handel had left the town. In 1730, Bach’s oldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann, travelled to Halle to invite Handel to visit the Bach family in Leipzig, but the visit did not take place.
About music style and compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential composers in the history of Western music. He enriched established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France.
Bach’s music is characterized by his use of counterpoint, the playing of multiple melodies simultaneously, and fugue, the repetition of a melody with slight variations, to create richly detailed compositions. He is known for his mastery of counterpoint, harmonization, and motivic development, which set his style of writing far more complex than composers from other countries.
Bach composed hundreds of cantatas, both sacred and secular, for various occasions and festivals. He also composed Latin church music, Passions, Oratorios, and Motets. He often adopted Lutheran hymns, not only in his larger vocal works, but for instance also in his four-part chorales and his sacred songs.
Bach wrote extensively for organ and for other keyboard instruments, such as the harpsichord and the clavichord. He composed many pieces for these instruments, preferring the form of Prelude, or Toccata, and Fugue. He also composed some famous works such as the Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier, which are considered to be models of musical technique and expression.
Bach also composed music for various solo instruments, such as the violin, the cello, the flute, and the lute. He composed concertos, for instance for violin and for harpsichord, and suites, as chamber music as well as for orchestra. Some of his best-known works in this genre are the Brandenburg Concertos and the Orchestral Suites.
Bach’s music reflects his deep understanding of musical structure, harmony, melody, and emotion. His music is admired for its beauty, complexity, elegance, and inventiveness. His music has influenced many composers after him, such as Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, and Schoenberg.
Throughout the 18th century, Bach was primarily valued as an organist, while his keyboard music, such as The Well-Tempered Clavier, was appreciated for its didactic qualities. The 19th century saw the publication of some major Bach biographies, and by the end of that century all of his known music had been printed. Dissemination of scholarship on the composer continued through periodicals (and later also websites) exclusively devoted to him, and other publications such as the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (BWV, a numbered catalogue of his works) and new critical editions of his compositions. His music was further popularised through a multitude of arrangements, including the Air on the G String and “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”, and of recordings, such as three different box sets with complete performances of the composer’s oeuvre marking the 250th anniversary of his death.
Images: From Public Domain
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