Johann Sebastian Bach (1685  -  1750)

KEY DATES.

1685   Born 21 March at Eisenach in 
           North Germany, the son of 
           Johann Ambrosius Bach, court
           musician.
1700  Chorister at St. Michael`s 
           church Luneburg, taught by
           organist Georg Bohm.       
1703  Appointed organist at the New
          Church at Arnstadt.
1707  Marries his cousin Maria 
          Barbara Bach; they have seven     
          children, including later
          composers Wilhelm Friedemann
          Carl Philipp Emanuel.
1708  Becomes organist to the Duke of 
          Saxe-Weimar.
1717  Appointed Kapellmeister to
         court of Anhalt-Cothen.  
1720  Maria Barbara dies; Bach 
          marries Anna Magdalena       
         Wilcken; 13 children follow,    
         including Johann Christian (later 
        `London Bach`)
1723  Appointed Kantor at the
          Thomasschule, Leipzig.
1740  Eyesight begins to fail.
1750  Dies in Leipzig, 28 July.     

Johann Sebastian Bach was born 21st March 1685 at Eisenach in North Germany and died 28th July 1750 in Leipzig.  He was born into a great musical family.  His father Johann Ambrosius Bach was director of the towns musicians, and all his uncles were professional musicians.  Bach learned to play the violin and harpsichord and learnt the basics of musical theory before the age of 10.  His mother died in 1694 and his father died 8 months later.  At this time, aged 10 he moved in with his older brother Johann Christoph Bach who taught him how to play the clavichord.  At his own initiative, Bach attended St. Michael`s school in Luneburg for two years.  After graduating he held several music posts across Germany :  he served as director of music to Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Kothen, Cantor of the Thomasschule in Leipzig and Royal Court Composer to Augustus III.  Bach``s health and sight declined in 1749 and he died the following year probably by a combination of pneumonia and a stroke.  Bach`s abilities as an organist were respected throughout Europe during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognised as a great composer until a revival of interest and performances of his music in the first half of the 10th century.  He is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time. .
(Read more ...).....(Biographical video - Life and Works 1/2).........(Biographical video - Life and Works 2/2)

HIS PLACE IN HISTORY

Statue of Bach in Leipzig.

Bach`s grave at St. Thomas`s church, Leipzig.

Johann Sebastian Bach lived during the late Baroque period of music (from
about 1680 to 1750) Much of the music of this period sounds rich and grand.  It was also, for the most part, based on long established musical forms.
Bach came from a family of several generations of musicians.  He held various court and church appointments, as organist and choirmaster - also singer and violinist - before settling down in Leipzig. Bach wrote in many already venerable forms and styles : the polyphonic forms of fugue and canon (weaving themes together according to strict rules); the German Protestant Church Passion and Cantata; the even older form of the Church Mass; and suites of dances, for solo instruments, or various instrumental ensembles.  He crowned each, in turn, with a final touch of glory, just before they were supeseded by the new and very different styles of the 18th-century Classiclal period.  The only important kind of Baroque music that Bach did not write was opera.  He left that to his contemporary, Handel.

     KEY WORKS.

1705  Toccata & Fugue in D
           minor, for organ.
1713   Cantata No. 208 
          "Where Sheep May 
           Safely Graze"
1714   The Little Organ Book.
1721   Brandenburg Concertos
1722  The Well-Tempered
          Clavier, first book.
1723  St. John Passion;
          Cantata No. 147 
          (including "Jesu, Joy of
          Man`s Desiring)
1727  St. Matthew Passion.
1729  Suite No. 3 in D 
          including `Air on a G 
          string`)
1731  Magnificat in D major.
1734  Christmas Oratorio.
1735  Italian Concerto.
1741  Goldberg Variations.
1742  The Well-Tempered
          Clavier, second book.
1747  The Musical Offering.
1749  Mass in B minor; The   
          Art of the Fugue
          (unfinished)       

Bach and Buxtehude.

St. Mary`s Church, Lubeck.

In 1705, Bach took four weeks leave from his job as organist at Arnstadt to visit St. Mary`s Church in Lubeck - home to the great organist Dietrich Buxtehude.  Bach was captivated by the music and by the splendour of the place, its 40-piece orchestra and fine choir being in sharp contrast to his own humble church.
When he returned to Arnstadt, worshippers were confused by the sudden key changes and elaborations which Bach now incorporated  into his organ playing.  A letter of complaint duly arrived from the church authorities, which he ignored.  But the writing was on the wall: Bach knew the time had come to move on, and within a year he gave in his notice while he still had the choice....
(Read more...)

MOST FAMOUS WORK.

St. Matthew Passion

The Passion is a type of oratorio, setting music to the Gospel accounts of the events leading up to Christ`s crucifixion.  Bach`s St. Matthew Passion is one of the grandest in scale, and most moving, of all the choral setting of the Passion story.

Religious Works.

Bach wrote over 200 religious cantatas, most of which were composed while he was at Leipzig from 1723 to 1750.  As the Kantor, he was expected to produce choral works almost on a weekly basis. Bach was a member of the Lutheran church, and there is no doubt that he drew a great deal of inspiration from his faith.  He also produced numerous anthems. motets, oratorios and sacred songs, not to mention a wealth of organ music. Bach`s greatest sacred offerings. however, are undoubtedly the B minor Mass and the Passions - St. Matthew and St. John.  It remains a mystery why, although Bach`s work was admired in his day by many, including Handel, it took almost two centuries after his death for his true greatness to be universally recognised.