Born: 21 March 1685, Eisenach,
Germany Died: 28 July 1750, Leipzig, Germany
Bach, Johann Sebastian
One of the greatest composers in
Western musical history, Johann Sebastian Bach, was a son of a long dynasty
of musicians. He was born in Eisenach
in the same year as Handel
(1685), yet unlike his internationally famed contemporary, Bach
was only famous in his life as a virtuoso organist,
and was influenced by Buxtehude,
one of the greatest organ players of his time.
Bach
was affected by the religious music of Schütz.
His sacred music includes church organ (Toccata
& Fugue in Dm)
and choral music, like the Mass in B-minor,
the St. Johnand
St. Matthew Passions,
which are among the most important religious pieces in the history of music.
He also wrote many cantatas
and almost 200 of them have survived.
In his last days, he brought polyphony,
the main texture until his era, into
perfection in the "Art of Fugue"
which he never finished. This work stands out as one of the most glorious
of the baroque
works. Only few meaningful polyphonic works
were composed after his death.
But
Bach also wrote secular music. He developed the concerto
grosso,
in which a number of soloists play against the orchestra. Such concerti
are the six "Brandenburg Concertos",
dedicated to the Marquis of Brandenburg. His "Goldberg
Variations"
were written for the harpsichord player of a count, who suffered insomnia
and asked for music that would make him sleep.
After
his death, some of his 20 children, Wilhelm
Friedemann,
Carl Philipp Emanuel,
and Johann Christian Bach,
also became well-known composers. Although later composers like Beethoven
and Mozart
admired his music, it was not until nearly
a century after his death that Mendelssohnexposed
his music to the audience, and only then, did he gain his staggering success
and fame as the man who brought polyphony
to its peak, and one of the greatest composers of all times.
More than 1,000 of his compositions survive, including works in virtually
every musical form and genre in use in 18th-century Germany. His music
is regarded as the high point of the baroque
era, which lasted until the year of his death
(1750).
Modern musicians tend to select
Bach's works as the most popular classical works for their jazz
and pop
arrangements.
- his birthplace in 1685
- organist at the court of one of the two ruling Grand Dukes
- from 1717 - Court Kapellmeister to the young Prince Leopold
- from 1723 - Cantor at the Choir School of St. Thomas
