JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
(COMPOSER)
(31 March 1685 - 28 July 1750)
Johann Sebastian Bach born in Eisenach, Saxe-Eisenach, was a German composer,
organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works
for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the
Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity.
Although he did not introduce new forms, he enriched the prevailing German
style with a robust contrapuntal technique, an unrivalled control of harmonic,
rhythmic and melodic organization in the adaptation of rhythms, forms and
textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France.
Revered for their intellectual depth, technical command and artistic beauty,
Bach's works include the "Brandenburg concertos", the "Goldberg Variations", the
"Partitas", "The Well-Tempered Clavier", the "Mass in B minor", the "St Matthew
Passion", the "St John Passion", the "Magnificat", "The Musical Offering", "The
Art of Fugue", the "English and French Suites", the "Sonatas and Partitas for
solo violin", the "Cello Suites", more than 200 surviving cantatas, and a
similar number of organ works, including the celebrated "Toccata and Fugue in D
minor and Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor".
In Weimar, he had the opportunity to play and compose for the organ, and to
perform a varied repertoire of concert music with the duke's ensemble. A master
of contrapuntal technique, Bach's steady output of fugues (is a contrapuntal
composition in two or more voices, built on a subject or theme that is
introduced at the beginning and recurs frequently in the course of the
composition) began in Weimar. The largest single body of his fugal writing is
"Das wohltemperierte Clavier" (The well-tempered keyboard).
During his tenure at Weimar, Bach started work on the "Little Organ Book".
This contains traditional Lutheran chorales (hymn tunes), set in complex
textures to assist the training of organists.
Bach began once again to search out a more stable job that was conducive to
his musical interests. Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, hired Bach to serve as
his Kapellmeister (director of music). Prince Leopold, himself a musician,
appreciated Bach's talents, paid him well, and gave him considerable latitude in
composing and performing. The prince was Calvinist and did not use elaborate
music in his worship; thus, most of Bach's work from this period was secular,
including the Orchestral suites, the Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello and the
Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin. The well-known "Brandenburg Concertos"
date from this period. Bach composed secular cantatas, as the "Die Zeit, die Tag
und Jahre macht, BWV 134a".
The church and city government at Mühlhausen agreed to his plan for an
expensive renovation of the organ at St. Blasius's. Bach, in turn, wrote an
elaborate, festive cantata - "Gott ist mein König, BWV 71" - for the
inauguration of the new council in 1708. The council was so delighted with the
piece that they paid handsomely for its publication, and twice in later years
had the composer return to conduct it. That same year, Bach was offered a better
position in Weimar.
In 1723, Bach was appointed Cantor of Thomasschule, adjacent to the
Thomaskirche (St. Thomas's Lutheran Church) in Leipzig, as well as Director of
Music in the principal churches in the town. This was a prestigious post in the
leading mercantile city in Saxony, a neighboring electorate to
Thuringia.
Apart from his brief tenures in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen, this was Bach's
first government position in a career that had mainly involved service to the
aristocracy. This final post, which he held for 27 years until his death,
brought him into contact with the political machinations of his employer, the
Leipzig Council.
In 1747, Bach went to the court of Frederick II of Prussia in Potsdam, where
the king played a theme for Bach and challenged him to improvise a fugue based
on his theme. Bach improvised a three-part fugue on Frederick's pianoforte, then
a novelty, and later presented the king with a "Musical Offering" which consists
of fugues, canons and a trio based on the "royal theme", nominated by the
monarch.
The final work Bach completed was a chorale prelude for organ, dictated to
his son-in-law, Johann Altnikol, from his deathbed.
Bach's health may have been in decline in 1749; Bach died on 28 July 1750 at
the age of 65.
Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected throughout Europe
during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognized as a great composer
until a revival of interest and performances of his music in the first half of
the 19th century. He is now generally regarded one of the main composers of the
Baroque style, and as one of the greatest composers of all time.
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