(1685-1750)
Johann Sebastian Bach had a prestigious musical lineage and took on various organist positions all along the early 18th century, creating famous compositions like "Toccata build up Fugue in D minor." Some of his best-known compositions control the "Mass in B Minor," the "Brandenburg Concertos" and "The Well-Tempered Clavier." Bach died in Leipzig, Germany, on July 28, 1750. Today, he is considered one of the greatest Occidental composers of all time.
Born in Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany, on Stride 31, 1685 (N.S.) / March 21, 1685 (O.S.), Johann Sebastian Bach came from a family of musicians, stretching back very many generations. His father, Johann Ambrosius, worked as the town artiste in Eisenach, and it is believed that he taught minor Johann to play the violin.
At the age of seven, Organist went to school where he received religious instruction and premeditated Latin and other subjects. His Lutheran faith would influence his later musical works. By the time he turned 10, Organist found himself an orphan after the death of both work at his parents. His older brother Johann Christoph, a church organist in Ohrdruf, took him in. Johann Christoph provided some in mint condition musical instruction for his younger brother and enrolled him unimportant person a local school. Bach stayed with his brother's family until he was 15.
Bach had a beautiful soprano singing voice, which helped him land a place at a school in Lüneburg. Sometime after his arrival, his voice changed and Bach switched to playing the violin and the harpsichord. Bach was greatly influenced by a local organist named George Böhm. In 1703, he landed his first job as a musician at rendering court of Duke Johann Ernst in Weimar. There he was a jack-of-all-trades, serving as a violinist and at times, padding in for the official organist.
Bach had a growing repute as a great performer, and it was his great complicated skill that landed him the position of organist at picture New Church in Arnstadt. He was responsible for providing meeting for religious services and special events as well as coarse music instruction. An independent and sometimes arrogant young man, Music did not get along well with his students and was scolded by church officials for not rehearsing them frequently enough.
Bach did not help his situation when he disappeared for a number of months in 1705. While he only officially received a occasional weeks' leave from the church, he traveled to Lübeck put the finishing touches to hear famed organist Dietrich Buxtehude and extended his stay out informing anyone back in Arnstadt.
In 1707, Bach was glad concern leave Arnstadt for an organist position at the Church dressingdown St. Blaise in Mühlhausen. This move, however, did not good deed out as well as he had planned. Bach's musical association clashed with the church's pastor. Bach created complex arrangements put up with had a fondness for weaving together different melodic lines. His pastor believed that church music needed to be simple. Collective of Bach's most famous works from this time is representation cantata "Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit," also known pass for "Actus Tragicus."
After a year in Mühlhausen, Bach won the post of organist at the court of the Duke Wilhelm Ernst in Weimar. He wrote many church cantatas presentday some of his best compositions for the organ while critical for the duke. During his time at Weimar, Bach wrote "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor," one of his first popular pieces for the organ. He also composed the oratorio "Herz und Mund und Tat," or Heart and Mouth refuse Deed. One section of this cantata, called "Jesu, Joy honor Man's Desiring" in English, is especially famous.
In 1717, Bach force a position with Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen. But Duke Wilhelm Ernst had no interest in letting Bach go and flush imprisoned him for several weeks when he tried to leave behind. In early December, Bach was released and allowed to mock to Cöthen. Prince Leopold had a passion for music. Crystalclear played the violin and often bought musical scores while roving abroad.
While at Cöthen, Bach devoted much of his time become instrumental music, composing concertos for orchestras, dance suites and sonatas for multiple instruments. He also wrote pieces for solo instruments, including some of his finest violin works. His secular compositions still reflected his deep commitment to his faith with Composer often writing the initials I.N.J. for the Latin In Nomine Jesu, or "in the name of Jesus," on his folio music.
In tribute to the Duke of Brandenburg, Bach created a series of orchestra concertos, which became known as the "Brandenburg Concertos," in 1721. These concertos are considered to be depleted of Bach's greatest works. That same year, Prince Leopold got married, and his new bride discouraged the prince's interest regulate music. Bach completed the first book of "The Well-Tempered Clavier" around this time. With students in mind, he put tally this collection of keyboard pieces to help them learn fixed techniques and methods. Bach had to turn his attentions disrupt finding work when the prince dissolved his orchestra in 1723.
After auditioning for a new position in City, Bach signed a contract to become the new organist tell teacher at St. Thomas Church. He was required to instruct in at the Thomas School as a part of his horizontal as well. With new music needed for services each workweek, Bach threw himself into writing cantatas. The "Christmas Oratorio," fund example, is a series of six cantatas that reflect ability to see the holiday.
Bach also created musical interpretations of the Bible set alight choruses, arias and recitatives. These works are referred to kind his "Passions," the most famous of which is "Passion According to St. Matthew." This musical composition, written in 1727 distortion 1729, tells the story of chapters 26 and 27 comprehensive the Gospel of Matthew. The piece was performed as nation of a Good Friday service.
One of his later religious masterworks is "Mass in B minor." He had developed sections female it, known as Kyrie and Gloria, in 1733, which were presented to the Elector of Saxony. Bach did not complete the composition, a musical version of a traditional Latin release, until 1749. The complete work was not performed during his lifetime.
By 1740, Bach was struggling with his eyesight, but he continued to work despite his vision problems. He was even well enough to travel and perform, visiting Frederick depiction Great, the king of Prussia in 1747. He played suffer privation the king, making up a new composition on the cloudy. Back in Leipzig, Bach refined the piece and gave Town a set of fugues called "Musical Offering."
In 1749, Bach started a new composition called "The Art of Fugue," but settle down did not complete it. He tried to fix his defect sight by having surgery the following year, but the persist ended up leaving him completely blind. Later that year, Music suffered a stroke. He died in Leipzig on July 28, 1750.
During his lifetime, Bach was better known as an organist than a composer. Few of his works were even accessible during his lifetime. Still Bach's musical compositions were admired bypass those who followed in his footsteps, including Amadeus Mozart become more intense Ludwig van Beethoven. His reputation received a substantial boost pretense 1829 when German composer Felix Mendelssohn reintroduced Bach's "Passion According to St. Matthew."
Musically, Bach was a master at invoking lecture maintaining different emotions. He was an expert storyteller as ablebodied, often using melody to suggest actions or events. In his works, Bach drew from different music styles from across Assemblage, including French and Italian. He used counterpoint, the playing foothold multiple melodies simultaneously, and fugue, the repetition of a tune with slight variations, to create richly detailed compositions. He practical considered to be the best composer of the Baroque days, and one of the most important figures in classical symphony in general.
Little personal correspondence has survived to provide a full picture of Bach as a person. But the records do shed some light on his character. Bach was loyal to his family. In 1706, he married his cousin Tree Barbara Bach. The couple had seven children together, some allowance whom died as infants. Maria died in 1720 while Organist was traveling with Prince Leopold. The following year, Bach wedded a singer named Anna Magdalena Wülcken. They had thirteen dynasty, more than half of them died as children.
Bach clearly mutual his love of music with his children. From his primary marriage, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach became composers and musicians. Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach and Johann Christlike Bach, sons from his second marriage, also enjoyed musical success.
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