Historical Figure
Johann Sebastian Bach
d. 1750
German composer (1685–1750)
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Biography
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the orchestral Brandenburg Concertos; solo instrumental works such as the cello suites and sonatas and partitas for solo violin; keyboard works such as the Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier; organ works such as the Schübler Chorales and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor; and choral works such as the St. Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. He is known for his mastery of counterpoint, as heard in The Musical Offering and The Art of Fugue. Felix Mendelssohn precipitated the Bach Revival with a performance of the St. Matthew Passion in 1829. Ever since, Bach has been acclaimed as one of the greatest composers of classical music.
In Their Own Words (3)
To the glory of the most high God alone, and that my neighbour may be educated thereby.
Epigraph to the Orgelbüchlein, cited from Carl Hermann Bitter Johann Sebastian Bach (Berlin: Ferdinand Schneider, 1865), vol. 1, p. 145; translation from Rush Rhees (ed.) Ludwig Wittgenstein: Personal Recollections (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1981), p. 182 , 1865
Where there is devotional music, God with his grace is always present.
Annotation in a copy of the Calov Bible, cited from John Butt (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Bach (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), p. 256; translation from ibid., p. 46 , 1997
Like all music, the figured bass should have no other end and aim than the glory of God and the recreation of the soul; where this is not kept in mind there is no true music, but only an infernal clamour and ranting.
Quoted in Ludwig Prautzsch Bibel und Symbol in den Werken Bachs, p. 7 ; translation from Albert Schweitzer (trans. Ernest Newman) J. S. Bach (New York: Dover, 1966), vol. 1, p. 167 , 1966
Timeline
The story of Johann Sebastian Bach, told in moments.
Working as organist and chamber musician at the ducal court in Weimar. He's also a husband, a father, and a troublemaker. When he tries to leave for a better job in Cothen in 1717, the duke jails him for a month for demanding his dismissal. Bach sits in jail and writes. He is 32.
Appointed Thomaskantor in Leipzig, responsible for music at four churches and the St. Thomas School. The city council's first two choices turned the job down. Bach composes a new cantata almost every week. He'll produce over 300 in his lifetime. He fights constantly with his employers about money, teaching duties, and the quality of his musicians.
Publishes the Goldberg Variations. The legend says Count Kaiserling commissioned them to cure his insomnia. Bach writes an aria and 30 variations. The harpsichordist Johann Gottlieb Goldberg plays them for the count at night. Bach also produces The Well-Tempered Clavier, 48 preludes and fugues in every major and minor key. A complete atlas of Western tonality.
Dies in Leipzig at 65 from complications after eye surgery. The same traveling surgeon had botched Handel's eyes three years earlier. Bach's last dictated piece is a chorale prelude titled "Before Thy Throne I Now Appear." Four of his twenty children become notable composers. His music is mostly forgotten for 79 years.
Felix Mendelssohn, age 20, conducts the St. Matthew Passion in Berlin. It's the first performance since Bach's death. The audience is stunned. The Bach Revival begins. He's now considered one of the greatest composers who ever lived.
Artifacts (2)
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