Johann Sebastian Bach: biography, video, interesting facts, creativity. Bach, Johann Sebastian - a short biography Bach's life in short
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH - SELECTED MUSIC
The surname Bach and the word "musician" were synonyms in Germany for several centuries, because this ancient family gave the world 56 musicians, but only in the fifth generation was born the one who was destined to glorify the surname -. His biographer later wrote that Johann's work emitted such a bright light that its reflection caught on all representatives of the family. This man became the pride of his fatherland, it seemed as if the very art of music patronized him. However, during the life of the great composer, he could hardly be considered the chosen one of fate.
Influenced by brother
At first glance, life's journey Johann Sebastian Bach may seem like nothing particularly different from the biographies of other German musicians who lived in the 17th-18th centuries. He was born in 1685 in the small town of Eisenach in Thuringia. Bach was orphaned early - he was only 9 years old, when his mother died, and a year later his father. His elder brother Johann Christoph, who was an organist in a neighboring town, took him in for his upbringing. First Johann Sebastian studied music under the guidance of his brother and school cantors, later he moved to the Lower Saxon city of Lüneburg, where he attended a school at the church. He mastered the technique of playing the harpsichord, violin, viola, organ, in addition, Johann Sebastian was a choir singer, and later became an assistant cantor after a voice mutation.
Already in his youth, Bach was clearly aware of his vocation in organ music. He constantly studied the art of improvisation on the organ from the best German masters of the time. Subsequently, these skills will become the basis of his mastery. It is worth adding to this and Johann Sebastian's acquaintance with various genres of European music. He took part in concerts of the Celle court chapel, which was distinguished for its love of French music, visited Lubeck and Hamburg, and had the opportunity to study the compositions of Italian masters in the school library.
Young perfectionist
Johann Sebastian was already a fairly educated and experienced musician after school, but his craving for learning did not leave him throughout his life. He was interested in everything that could broaden his professional horizons even a little. Bach's career was characterized by perfectionism and the eternal desire for self-improvement. It was not by chance that he occupied this or that position, each step of his musical hierarchy (from organist to cantor) earned by perseverance and work. And with every step, the practicing musician turned into a composer, whose creative motives and accomplishments went far beyond the goals set for Bach.
In 1703 he became court musician for Duke Johann Ernst in Weimar. A few months later they started talking about him as a prominent performer. Then Bach was invited to Arnstadt to take the position of church organ superintendent. In the Church of St. Boniface, Johann Sebastian worked with a well-tuned instrument, which expanded his performing and composing possibilities. In Arnstadt, he wrote many organ works, but over time he had problems communicating with the local authorities. Bach was not satisfied with the level of training of choral singers, and local officials showed him dissatisfaction with the musical accompaniment of the choral performance, which allegedly confuses parishioners.
Bach's large family
In Arnstadt, Johann Sebastian fell in love with his cousin Maria. Despite the relationship, the lovers decided to get married, but their the family union was short-lived. Maria lived only 36 years old, although she gave birth to 7 children to the composer. Only four of them survived. Bach's second wife was Anna Magdalena, who was 16 years younger than him. But such a difference in age did not prevent Anna from becoming a caring mother for her husband's grown-up children. She gave Johann Sebastian 13 more heirs, coped well with housekeeping and was sincerely interested in her husband's achievements in the musical field.
Looking for perspectives
When Bach was offered to become organist in Mühlhausen in 1706, he undoubtedly changed his job. The position was profitable and provided Johann Sebastian with clearly greater opportunities than in Arnstadt, but it turned out to be insufficient to contribute to the development of church music, as Bach believed. By this time, he had already accumulated an extensive repertoire and, without seeing for himself prospects, wrote a letter of resignation to the city magistrate.
Diverse activities awaited Johann Sebastian Bach in the castle church and chapel at the court of Duke Ernst of Saxe-Weimar. In Weimar, the composer managed to complete several of his iconic works - Toccatu and Fugue in D minor, Passacaglia in C minor, as well as the famous Book of Organ, a guide for novice organists. Bach became famous far beyond the city limits, as an expert in improvisation and the best advisor in terms of organ construction. The Weimar period also includes the failed competition between Johann Sebastian and the famous French organist Louis Marchand, overgrown with myths, who decided to concede to his rival before the meeting.
Weimar and Keten experience
The composer's dream of regularly writing church music came true after his appointment as vice-conductor in 1714. Under the terms of the contract, Bach had to create new works every month. Johann Sebastian was no less active in the role of accompanist. Weimar's intense musical life gave the composer the opportunity not only to get to know European music closely, but also to create under its influence. He made organ arrangements for concerts, clavier arrangements by Tomaso Albinoni and Alessandro Marcello.
In Weimar, Bach first turned to the genre of suite and solo violin sonata. The instrumental experiments of the master were not in vain - in 1717 he was invited to Keten and offered take the post of Grand Duke Kapellmeister. The most favorable creative atmosphere reigned here. Prince Leopold was a passionate music lover and, moreover, a musician who played the viola and harpsichord and had outstanding vocal abilities. Johann Sebastian was supposed to accompany the singing and playing of the prince, but his main responsibility was to lead the orchestra members of the chapel. Here the composer's creative interests shifted to the instrumental sphere. In Keten he wrote orchestral suites, concertos, sonatas for violin and cello. Immediately he continued his pedagogical work and created compositions, as he said, for musical youth who strive for learning. The first among them is Wilhelm Friedemann Bach's Notebook. He started it in 1720 for his first child and future composer. In addition to chorales and dance miniatures, it contains prototypes of the Well-Tempered Clavier and the two and three-part Inventions. In a couple of years, he will complete these meetings.
Simultaneously with the annual increase in the number of Bach's students, his pedagogical repertoire was also replenished. This legacy of Johann Sebastian has become a school of performing arts for generations of musicians.
Completion of Bach's wanderings
With a wealth of experience and an enviable repertoire, Bach stepped one step further in his career and became the music director of Leipzig and cantor of the St. Thomas School. This city became the last point on the map of Bach's wanderings. Here he reached the top of the service hierarchy. While the magistrate allocated funding for the creation of liturgical music, the energy of Johann Sebastian as a cantor knew no bounds. He attracted experienced professional musicians to perform. His Leipzig work combined the knowledge and skills acquired in Weimar and Keten. Every week he created cantatas and wrote more than one and a half hundred, at the same time he composed two of his famous works on the theme of the Gospel - "Passion for John" and "Passion for Matthew." In total, he wrote four or five passions, but only these have been completely preserved to this day.
In Leipzig, the composer again took over the duties of the conductor and became the head of the student Musical Society. With this group, Bach gave weekly concerts for a secular audience, which made an invaluable contribution to the musical life of the city. Researchers believe that it was in Leipzig that a special kind of concertos for the clavier by Johann Sebastian originated. These were, in modern terminology, remixes - arrangements of his own concertos for violin or violin and oboe.
Unforgotten genius
In 1747, Johann Sebastian was invited to visit the royal residence in Potsdam to improvise on a novelty among musical instruments - the piano. The composer asked the theme Frederick II himself. Inspired by this idea, Bach created a grandiose cycle "Musical Offering", which is considered an incomparable monument of contrapuntal (polyphonic) art. In parallel with this creation, the composer completed the cycle "The Art of the Fugue" conceived many years ago, which contained all kinds of canons and counterpoints.
By the end of his life, Johann Sebastian lost his sight, and his loving Anna Magdalena helped him in his work. His name gradually began to get lost among other musicians, but, contrary to popular myth, the great composer was not consigned to complete oblivion. died in 1750. His grave was lost over time and only in 1894 the remains of the composer were accidentally discovered during the reconstruction of the church.
Numerous published and manuscript works of Bach were collected by his students and simple connoisseurs of the composer's work, because he, like no one in a time generous with talents, managed to combine the incompatible, completing the evolution of many genres.
Surname Johann Sebastian Bach translated from German means "stream". Once, using this analogy, he said that “not a stream, but the sea there must be a name for him, "meaning the scale of the genius's creativity.
Bach's older brother had a collection of works by famous composers of the time, which he hid from Johann Sebastian in a cabinet with grates. Nine-year-old Bach somehow pulled out a music collection at night and rewrote it under the moonlight. One day, his brother found him, took the notes and sent him to bed. In tears, Johann Sebastian shouted that he would write such music himself, or even better. Time has shown that the boy kept his promise.
Updated: April 7, 2019 by the author: Elena
In the last years of his life, contemporaries considered Bach's music inappropriate to fashion. Today, many generations of musicians around the world have graduated from schools named after the great composer.
It is interesting that almost fifty relatives of the greatest German organist were engaged in music, which means that Johann was by no means the only gifted musician in his family.
Youth
In the spring of 1685, Johann Sebastian Bach was born into a family of professional musicians. It is believed that the boy became a musician in the fifth generation. His father served as a musician at court, living in the city of Eisenach. Perhaps due to heredity, Johann gravitates towards music from an early age.
At the age of nine, having lost alternately both parents, Bach completely passes into the care of his older brother. Who, in turn, in his free time, is actively involved in the boy's musical education, teaching him to play the organ and the clavier.
At the age of fifteen, the young man goes to the city of Luneburg, enrolling in a vocal school on the spot. During his studies at St. Michael's School, Johann Sebastian develops in many ways. Acquaintance with famous composers and constant travels inspired the young man to test himself, trying on the role of a composer. So, in 1700, Bach begins to write his music, being under the supervision of his brother, who provided Johann all possible help in his musical development.
After school vocal service
- After graduating from school in Luneburg, the young performer was sent to Weimar to serve as a musician at the court of Duke Ernst. The talented organist was invited to a service at the New Church in Arndstadt, where a cantata composed by him will be performed for the first time. Defending his demands and views, the young composer invites a woman to sing in the church choir. This fact was accomplished for the first time and, in the opinion of the management, could not be combined with church music.
- The move to Mühlhausen in 1707 was marked by a new work by the composer in the church of St. Blasius. The new job pays well and gives you the opportunity to do what you love while continuing to create. Bach managed to work in the new city for a year. Having managed to successfully marry his cousin this year and publish his first cantata, the composer leaves for Weimar.
- Returning to a familiar city, the musician receives a higher salary for work and more freedom for creativity. Johann's service is also held by the court organist. It is in Vermara that the children of the musician are born. In addition to children, during the nine years of his life in the city of Bach, he creates his best compositions. Toccatas and fugues, sunny cantatas that give a flight of feelings and organ music received their birth. Bach's resignation was forced by the unpleasant act of the duke, who placed a musician of a much lower level instead of a talented composer in a higher place. For his act, Johann Sebastian spent a whole month in prison, after his release, the musician and his family left for Ketten. So Bach leaves the next city, which brought him the birth of children.
The subsequent habitat will remain with the composer for ten long years. Here he will work for Prince Leopold as Kapellmeister. Shocked by the composer's virtuosity, the Margrave of Brandenburg asks Bach to write a series of concertos in the Italian spirit, filling them with a part of the German spirit. While composing the Brandenburg Concertos, Maria Barbara, who was the beloved wife of the creator, dies. Trying to drown out the pain of loss, the composer writes music in one breath, filling it with the brightest notes of the soul.
Having finished composing, the musician sends concerts to the margrave, who, over time, forgets about his request and priceless compositions remain gathering dust on the shelf for a long time. Needing a homemaker, a year after the death of his wife, Johann remarries a woman with a beautiful voice, who becomes a mother to his children. A marriage of convenience becomes a happy one. Subsequently, the family acquired thirteen children.
Missing organ music, at the first opportunity that arose, the composer wrote The Passion for John and took a job as a cantor at the Church of St. Thomas. Moving to Leipzig becomes the last in the composer's life. For the next seven years of his life, Bach, being on the rise, creates the wonderful Passion according to Morpheus. The piece is distinguished by its extraordinary lightness due to the absence of percussion and brass instruments in it. In addition to updating the works of the choir and orchestra, the musician creates cantatas containing texts from the gospel, as well as concerts for harpsichord and cello. Showed the genius of music and the amazing "Mass in B minor". Having visited King Frederick II, Bach presents the "Musical Offering" to the ruler... In return, the musician gets nothing.
At the end of July 1950, at the age of 65, the world's greatest composer dies in Leipzig, the city that became his last home.
The legacy of the German musician remains unchanged, his children, also gifted with talent in music, follow in the footsteps of their father. In recent years, the composer began to lose his sight dramatically. Having undergone several unsuccessful operations aimed at restoring vision, complications arise and the world loses the great German organist.
The grand maestro Johann Sebastian Bach managed to write more than a thousand works during his long life. A devout Protestant, Bach reworked church works in the Baroque style. Many of his masterpieces relate specifically to religious music. His work spans all significant musical genres except opera. The composer from Germany went down in history as a virtuoso, a brilliant teacher, the best conductor, and also as a professional organist.
The early years and youth of Bach
Johann was the last child in the family of Johann Ambrosius Bach and Elizabeth Amber. He was born on March 31 in 1685. The history of this family has always been associated with music and its manifestations. Since the 16th century, many of Bach's relatives were known to be quite professional musicians. Johann Sebastian's own father lived in German Eisenach. There he performed work on the preparation of concerts, as well as on the reproduction of music for the flock. At the age of 9, the future virtuoso lost his mother, and soon his father. Bach's elder brother Christoph took the boy to him. The relative, who took care of the orphan, also worked as an organist in a nearby town. There Bach entered the gymnasium, and he also learned to play the organ and his clavier with a relative.
During his studies, Johann got acquainted with the works of South German performers, studied the music of the German North and French South. At the age of fifteen, Johann Sebastian moved to live in Luneburg. Until 1703 he managed to study at St. Michael's School. As a teenager, Bach traveled extensively in Germany. Looked at Hamburg, appreciated Celle, as well as the province of Lübeck.
In a religious school, Johann acquired knowledge of church and religion, the history of many countries and geography, exact sciences, French, Latin and Italian. In an educational institution, Bach communicated with the children of the local nobility and musicians.
For a musician, Bach was well educated. He had a qualitative understanding of many secular spheres, was an excellent student, absorbed knowledge like a sponge.
Master: Life Path
After graduating, Bach got a job as a court performer under the auspices of Duke Ernst. After a brilliant service, about a year later, Johann was assigned the caretaker of the organ in the temple. Thus began his work in Arnstadt. Since his work duties took Bach 3 days a week, and the instrument in the church was in excellent condition, he had a lot of time to write his own musical creations.
Despite extensive contacts and patronage of employers, Johann still had a conflict with the city authorities, as he was saddened by the preparation of choral performers. In 1705, Johann left for Lubeck for a couple of months to learn to play as masterly as the Danish organist Buxtehude played.
Bach's trick did not go unnoticed. After that, the authorities brought charges against Bach, which consisted of the non-standard accompaniment of the choir's music, which embarrassed the community. Indeed, Johann's work could not be called purely secular or only religious. In his works, the incompatible was combined, mixed what in reality was simply impossible to combine.
After that, in 1706, Johann changed his place of service. He moved to a more prestigious position in the parish of St. Blasius. Then he had to move to the small town of Mühlhausen. There, in a new place, Johann Sebastian came to the court. He was given a good salary. And the working conditions in the new church were much better. There Bach drew up a detailed plan for the restoration of the church organ. The church authorities fully approved the restoration plan. In 1707, Johann Sebastian proposed to his cousin Maria. Later, 7 children were born in the Bach family, unfortunately, three of them died in infancy.
Fed up with the old way of life, Johann Bach went in search of a different position. The former employer did not want to let Bach go and even tried to arrest him for persistent requests for dismissal, but in 1717 Prince Leopold personally accepted Bach as his conductor. Working successfully under the prince, Bach created many new works.
In 1720, on July 7, Johann Sebastian's young wife Maria suddenly died. Deeply overwhelmed by the tragedy, Johann wrote a musical essay, expressing his grief with the help of the partita in D minor for solo violin. This work later became his trademark. When Bach's wife passed away, an elderly relative who lived in the Bach family until the end of her days helped him take care of the children.
After a year of mourning and lamenting about his lost lover, Johann Bach met Anna Wilke. The girl was reputed to be a gifted singer who performed at the court of the duke. A year later, their wedding took place. In the second marriage, Johann had 13 children. Seven babies died at an early age.
When the vicissitudes of life subsided, Bach became the manager of the choir of St. Thomas and at the same time a teacher at the church school. Unfortunately, over the years, Johann Bach began to lose his visual acuity, but the great composer did not give up and continued to write music, dictating the notes to his son-in-law.
In recent years, Bach worked by ear; his later musical insinuations are considered the richest and most complex than his early creations.
Johann Bach passed away on July 28, 1750. The great maestro was buried in the Church of St. John, there was a church nearby, where he served for 27 years. Then, on July 28, 1949, the composer's remains were transferred to the parish of St. Thomas. The transfer was due to military actions that destroyed his tomb. In 1950, a bronze tombstone was installed on the grave of the virtuoso, and this year was proclaimed the year of the legendary musician.
The cult art of the virtuoso
Organ music was at the forefront of Bach's works. He wrote 6 trios of sonatas for organ, the famous "organ book", as well as many lesser-known compositions.
Clavier is an area that was interesting for Bach just like other musical directions. It was for playing the clavier that English suites were created, as well as famous melodies with many variations.
Chamber music for ensembles included musical pieces for cellos, lute, flute, and of course organ. Bach's vocal insinuations were expressed in passions, cantatas and masses.
The phenomenon of the German composer is well revealed in the discipline "Bahokovedenie". Since his works are so extensive that they are studied separately by musicians from all over the world.
The legendary composer did not only create music for a secular and religious audience, he wrote his sonatas and parts for the productive training of young musicians. It was for them that Bach's most complex and most exciting musical creations were written. After all, among other things, Johann Bach was an excellent teacher.
Outstanding German composer, organist and harpsichordist Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21, 1685 in Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany. He belonged to an extensive German family, most of which had been professional musicians in Germany for three centuries. Initial musical education (playing the violin and harpsichord) Johann Sebastian received under the guidance of his father, a court musician.
In 1695, after the death of his father (his mother had died earlier), the boy was taken into the family of his older brother Johann Christoph, who served as the church organist at St. Michaelis Church in Ohrdruf.
In the years 1700-1703, Johann Sebastian studied at the school of church singers in Lüneburg. During his studies, he visited Hamburg, Celle and Lubeck to get acquainted with the work of famous musicians of his time, new French music. During these years he wrote his first works for organ and clavier.
In 1703, Bach worked in Weimar as a court violinist, in 1703-1707 - as a church organist in Arnstadt, then from 1707 to 1708 - in the Mühlhasen church. His creative interests were then mainly focused on music for organ and clavier.
In 1708-1717, Johann Sebastian Bach served as court musician for the Duke of Weimar in Weimar. During this period, he created numerous choral preludes, organ toccata and fugue in D minor, Passacaglia in C minor. The composer wrote music for the clavier, more than 20 sacred cantatas.
In the years 1717-1723, Bach served with the Duke of Anhalt-Ketensky Leopold in Keten. There were written three sonatas and three partitas for solo violin, six suites for solo cello, English and French suites for clavier, six Brandenburg concertos for orchestra. Of particular interest is the collection "The Well-Tempered Clavier" - 24 preludes and fugues, written in all keys and in practice proving the advantages of the tempered musical system, around the approval of which there was heated debate. Subsequently, Bach created the second volume of The Well-Tempered Clavier, also consisting of 24 preludes and fugues in all keys.
The "Notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach" was started in Keten, which includes, along with plays by different authors, five of the six "French suites". In the same years, "Small Preludes and Fuguettes. English Suites, Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue" and other clavier works were created. During this period, the composer wrote a number of secular cantatas, most of which have not survived and received a second life with a new, spiritual text.
In 1723, the performance of his "Passion for John" (a vocal and dramatic work based on the Gospel texts) took place in the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig.
In the same year, Bach received the post of cantor (regent and teacher) in the church of St. Thomas in Leipzig and the school at this church.
In 1736, Bach received the title of Royal Polish and Saxon Elector Court Composer from the Dresden court.
During this period, the composer reached the heights of skill, creating magnificent examples in different genres - sacred music: cantatas (about 200 survived), "Magnificat" (1723), masses, including the immortal "High Mass" in B minor (1733), Passion according to Matthew (1729); dozens of secular cantatas (among them - the comic "Coffee" and "Peasant"); works for organ, orchestra, harpsichord, among the latter - "Aria with 30 Variations" ("Goldberg Variations", 1742). In 1747 Bach wrote a cycle of plays "Musical Offers", dedicated to the Prussian king Frederick II. The last work of the composer was The Art of the Fugue (1749-1750) - 14 fugues and four canons on one theme.
Johann Sebastian Bach is a major figure in world musical culture, his work is one of the heights of philosophical thought in music. Freely crossing the features not only of different genres, but also of national schools, Bach created immortal masterpieces that stand above time.
In the late 1740s, Bach's health deteriorated, especially with a sudden loss of vision. Two unsuccessful cataract surgeries resulted in complete blindness.
He spent the last months of his life in a darkened room, where he composed the last chant "Before Thy throne", dictating it to his son-in-law, the organist Altnikol.
On July 28, 1750, Johann Sebastian Bach died in Leipzig. He was buried in the cemetery near St. John's Church. Due to the lack of a monument, his grave was soon lost. In 1894, the remains were found and reburied in a stone sarcophagus in the Church of St. John. After the destruction of the church by bombing during the Second World War, his remains were preserved and reburied in 1949 in the altar of the Church of St. Thomas.
During his lifetime, Johann Sebastian Bach was famous, but after the death of the composer, his name and music were forgotten. Interest in the work of Bach arose only in the late 1820s, in 1829 by the composer Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy in Berlin, a performance of St. Matthew Passion was organized. In 1850, the Bach Society was created, which sought to identify and publish all the composer's manuscripts - 46 volumes were published in half a century.
With the mediation of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy in 1842 in Leipzig, the first monument to Bach was erected in front of the building of the old school at the Church of St. Thomas.
In 1907, the Bach Museum was opened in Eisenach, where the composer was born, in 1985 - in Leipzig, where he died.
Johann Sebastian Bach was married twice. In 1707, he married his cousin Maria Barbara Bach. After her death in 1720, in 1721 the composer married Anna Magdalena Wilcken. Bach had 20 children, but only nine of them survived their father. Four sons became composers - Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784), Karl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788), Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782), Johann Christoph Bach (1732-1795).
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
During his life, Bach wrote over 1000 works. All significant genres of that time are represented in his work, except for opera; he summarized the achievements of the musical art of the Baroque period. Bach is a master of polyphony. After the death of Bach, his music went out of fashion, but in the 19th century, thanks to Mendelssohn, it was rediscovered. His work had a strong influence on the music of subsequent composers, including in the 20th century. Bach's pedagogical works are still used for their intended purpose.
Biography
Childhood
Johann Sebastian Bach was the sixth child in the family of musician Johann Ambrosius Bach and Elisabeth Lemmerhirt. The Bach family has been known for its musicality since the beginning of the 16th century: many of Johann Sebastian's ancestors were professional musicians. During this period, the Church, local authorities and the aristocracy supported the musicians, especially in Thuringia and Saxony. Bach's father lived and worked in Eisenach. At this time, the city had about 6,000 inhabitants. Johann Ambrosius's work included organizing secular concerts and performing church music.
When Johann Sebastian was 9 years old, his mother died, and a year later his father, having managed to marry again shortly before. The boy was taken to his elder brother, Johann Christoph, who served as organist in neighboring Ohrdruf. Johann Sebastian entered the gymnasium, his brother taught him to play the organ and the clavier. Johann Sebastian was very fond of music and did not miss an opportunity to study it or study new works. The following story is known that illustrates Bach's passion for music. Johann Christoph had a notebook with scores of famous composers in his closet, but, despite Johann Sebastian's requests, he did not let him familiarize himself with it. Once the young Bach managed to extract a notebook from his brother's always locked cabinet, and for six months on moonlit nights he copied its contents for himself. When the work was already completed, the brother found a copy and took away the sheet music.
While studying at Ohrdruf under the guidance of his brother, Bach got acquainted with the work of contemporary South German composers - Pachelbel, Froberger and others. It is also possible that he became acquainted with the works of composers from Northern Germany and France. Johann Sebastian observed the maintenance of the organ, and may have taken part in it himself.
At the age of 15, Bach moved to Luneburg, where in 1700-1703 he studied at the singing school of St. Michael. During his studies, he visited Hamburg, the largest city in Germany, as well as Celle (where French music was held in high esteem) and Lubeck, where he had the opportunity to get acquainted with the work of famous musicians of his time. Bach's first works for organ and clavier also belong to the same years. In addition to singing in the a cappella choir, Bach probably played the school's three-manual organ and the harpsichord. Here he received his first knowledge of theology, Latin, history, geography and physics, and also, possibly, began to study French and Italian. At the school, Bach had the opportunity to communicate with the sons of famous North German aristocrats and famous organists, primarily with Georg Boehm in Lüneburg and Reinken and Bruns in Hamburg. With their help, Johann Sebastian may have gained access to the largest instruments he has ever played. During this period, Bach expanded his knowledge of the composers of that era, primarily about Dietrich Buxtehude, whom he respected very much.
Arnstadt and Mühlhausen (1703-1708)
In January 1703, after completing his studies, he received the position of court musician from the Weimar Duke Johann Ernst. It is not known exactly what his responsibilities were, but most likely this position was not related to performing activities. During his seven months of service in Weimar, his reputation as a performer spread. Bach was invited to the post of organ superintendent in the church of St. Boniface in Arnstadt, located 180 km from Weimar. The Bach family had long-standing ties with this oldest German city. In August, Bach took over as organist of the church. He only had to work 3 days a week and his salary was relatively high. In addition, the instrument was well maintained and tuned to a new system that expanded the capabilities of the composer and performer. During this period, Bach created many organ works, including the famous toccata and fugue in D minor.
Family ties and an employer passionate about music could not prevent the tension between Johann Sebastian and the authorities, which arose several years later. Bach was dissatisfied with the level of training of the singers in the choir. In addition, in 1705-1706, Bach unauthorizedly left for Lubeck for several months, where he got acquainted with the game of Buxtehude, which caused discontent with the authorities. In addition, the authorities charged Bach with “strange choral accompaniment,” embarrassing the community, and inability to manage the choir; the latter accusation was apparently well founded. The first biographer of Bach Forkel writes that Johann Sebastian walked more than 400 km on foot to listen to the outstanding composer, but today some researchers question this fact.
In 1706, Bach decided to change his job. He was offered a more profitable and high position as organist in the church of St. Blasius in Mühlhausen, a large city in the north of the country. The following year, Bach accepted the offer, taking the place of organist Johann Georg Ale. His salary was increased in comparison with the previous one, and the level of singers was better. Four months later, on October 17, 1707, Johann Sebastian married his cousin Maria Barbara from Arnstadt. Subsequently, they had seven children, three of whom died in childhood. Three of the survivors - Wilhelm Friedemann, Johann Christian and Karl Philip Emanuel - later became famous composers.
The city and church authorities of Mühlhausen were pleased with the new employee. Without hesitation, they approved his costly plan for the restoration of the church organ, and for the publication of the festive cantata The Lord is my King, BWV 71 (this was the only cantata printed during Bach's lifetime), written for the inauguration of the new consul, he was given a large reward.
Weimar (1708-1717)
After working in Mühlhausen for about a year, Bach changed jobs again, this time taking the position of court organist and concert organizer - a much higher position than his previous position in Weimar. Probably the factors that forced him to change jobs were his high salary and a well-chosen composition of professional musicians. The Bach family settled in a house just five minutes walk from the count's palace. The first child in the family was born the following year. At the same time, the elder unmarried sister of Maria Barbara moved to the Bachs, who helped them manage the household until her death in 1729. Wilhelm Friedemann and Karl Philipp Emanuel were born to Bach in Weimar.
In Weimar began a long period of composing clavier and orchestral works, in which Bach's talent flourished. During this period, Bach absorbs musical influences from other countries. The works of the Italians Vivaldi and Corelli taught Bach to write dramatic introductions, from which Bach learned the art of using dynamic rhythms and decisive harmonic schemes. Bach studied the works of Italian composers well, creating transcriptions of Vivaldi's concertos for organ or harpsichord. He could borrow the idea of writing the transcriptions from his employer, Duke Johann Ernst, who was a professional musician. In 1713, the duke returned from a trip abroad and brought with him a large number of sheet music, which he showed to Johann Sebastian. In Italian music, the Duke (and, as can be seen from some works, Bach himself) was attracted by the alternation of solo (playing one instrument) and tutti (playing the entire orchestra).
In Weimar, Bach had the opportunity to play and compose organ works, as well as use the services of the ducal orchestra. In Weimar, Bach wrote most of his fugues (the largest and most famous collection of Bach's fugues is The Well-Tempered Clavier). While serving in Weimar, Bach began work on the Organ Notebook, a collection of pieces for the teaching of Wilhelm Friedemann. This collection consists of adaptations of Lutheran chorales.
By the end of his service in Weimar, Bach was already a well-known organist. The episode with Marchand dates back to this time. In 1717, the famous French musician Louis Marchand came to Dresden. The Dresden accompanist Volumier decided to invite Bach and arrange a musical competition between two famous organists, Bach and Marchand agreed. However, on the day of the competition, it turned out that Marchand (who apparently had the opportunity to listen to Bach's play before) hastily and secretly left the city; the competition did not take place, and Bach had to play alone.
Köthen (1717-1723)
After a while, Bach again went in search of a more suitable job. The old owner did not want to let him go, and on November 6, 1717 he was even arrested for constant requests for resignation - but on December 2 he was released "with an expression of disfavor." Leopold, Duke of Anhalt-Köthensky, recruited Bach as Kapellmeister. The Duke, being a musician himself, appreciated Bach's talent, paid him well and provided him with great freedom of action. However, the duke was a Calvinist and did not welcome the use of sophisticated music in worship, so most of Bach's Köthen works were secular. Among other things, at Köthen, Bach composed orchestral suites, six solo cello suites, English and French clavier suites, as well as three sonatas and three partitas for solo violin. During the same period, the famous Brandenburg Concerts were written.
On July 7, 1720, while Bach was abroad with the duke, tragedy struck: his wife Maria Barbara suddenly died, leaving four young children. The following year, Bach met Anna Magdalena Wilke, a young highly gifted singer (soprano) who sang at the ducal court. They married on December 3, 1721. Despite the difference in age - she was 17 years younger than Johann Sebastian - their marriage, apparently, was happy. They had 13 children.
Leipzig (1723-1750)
In 1723, the performance of his "Passion according to John" took place in the church of St. Thomas in Leipzig, and on June 1, Bach was appointed cantor of this church, while simultaneously serving as a school teacher at the church, replacing Johann Kuhnau in this post. Bach's duties included teaching singing and giving weekly concerts in Leipzig's two main churches, St. Thomas and St. Nicholas. The position of Johann Sebastian also provided for the teaching of Latin, but he was allowed to hire an assistant to do this work for him, so Petzold taught Latin for 50 thalers a year. Bach was promoted to the "music director" of all the churches in the city: his duties included the selection of performers, overseeing their training and the selection of music for performance. While working in Leipzig, the composer repeatedly entered into conflicts with the city administration.
The first six years of his life in Leipzig turned out to be very productive: Bach composed up to 5 annual cycles of cantatas (two of them, in all likelihood, were lost). Most of these works are written in the Gospel texts, which were read in the Lutheran church every Sunday and on holidays throughout the year; many (such as "Wachet auf! Ruft uns die Stimme" and "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland") are based on traditional church chants.
During the performance, Bach apparently sat at the harpsichord or stood in front of the choir on the lower gallery under the organ; on the side gallery to the right of the organ were wind instruments and timpani, to the left were strings. The city council provided Bach with only about 8 performers, and this often became the cause of disputes between the composer and the administration: Bach himself had to hire up to 20 musicians to perform orchestral works. The organ or harpsichord was usually played by the composer himself; if he directed the choir, that place was occupied by the staff organist or one of Bach's eldest sons.
Bach recruited sopranos and altos from among students, and tenors and basses - not only from school, but also from all over Leipzig. In addition to regular concerts, paid for by the city authorities, Bach and his choir earned money by performing at weddings and funerals. Presumably, at least 6 motets were written for these purposes. Part of his usual work in the church was performing motets by composers of the Venetian school, as well as some Germans, such as Schütz; while composing his motets, Bach was guided by the works of these composers.
Writing cantatas for most of the 1720s, Bach amassed an extensive repertoire for performances in the main churches of Leipzig. Over time, he wanted to compose and perform more secular music. In March 1729, Johann Sebastian became the head of the Collegium Musicum, a secular ensemble that had existed since 1701, when it was founded by Bach's old friend Georg Philipp Telemann. At that time, in many large German cities, gifted and active university students created similar ensembles. Such associations played an increasing role in public musical life; they were often led by renowned professional musicians. For most of the year, the Collegium of Music held two-hour concerts twice a week at Zimmermann's coffee shop, located near the market square. The owner of the coffee shop provided the musicians with a large hall and purchased several instruments. Many of Bach's secular works, dating from the 1730s, 40s and 50s, were composed specifically for performance in Zimmermann's coffee shop. Such works include, for example, Coffee Cantata and the Clavier-Übung, as well as many concertos for cello and harpsichord.
In the same period, Bach wrote the Kyrie and Gloria parts of the famous Mass in B minor, later adding the rest of the parts, the melodies of which were almost entirely borrowed from the composer's best cantatas. Bach soon secured an appointment as court composer; apparently, he sought this high post for a long time, which was a strong argument in his disputes with the city authorities. Although the entire Mass was never performed in its entirety during the composer's lifetime, today it is considered by many to be one of the finest choral works of all time.
In 1747, Bach visited the court of the Prussian king Frederick II, where the king offered him a musical theme and asked him to compose something on it. Bach was a master of improvisation and immediately performed a three-part fugue. Later, Johann Sebastian composed a whole cycle of variations on this theme and sent it as a gift to the king. The cycle consisted of richercars, canons and trios based on a theme dictated by Frederick. This cycle was called "The Musical Offering".
Another major cycle, The Art of the Fugue, was not completed by Bach, despite the fact that it was written, most likely, long before his death. During his lifetime, he was never published. The cycle consists of 18 complex fugues and canons based on one simple theme. In this cycle, Bach used all the instruments and techniques for writing polyphonic pieces.
Bach's last work was a choral prelude for organ, which he dictated to his son-in-law, practically on his deathbed. The title of the prelude is “Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit” (“Here I appear before Your throne”); this piece often ends the performance of the unfinished Art of the Fugue.
Over time, Bach's eyesight became worse and worse. Nevertheless, he continued to compose music, dictating it to his son-in-law Altnikkol. In 1750, the English ophthalmologist John Taylor, who many modern researchers consider a charlatan, came to Leipzig. Taylor operated on Bach twice, but both operations were unsuccessful, Bach remained blind. On July 18, he unexpectedly briefly regained his sight, but in the evening he had a blow. Bach died on 28 July; it is possible that complications after surgery were the cause of death. The fortune that remained after him was estimated at more than 1000 thalers and included 5 harpsichords, 2 lute harpsichords, 3 violins, 3 violas, 2 cellos, viola da gamba, lute and spinet, as well as 52 sacred books.
During his lifetime, Bach wrote over 1000 works. In Leipzig, Bach maintained friendly relations with university professors. Particularly fruitful was the collaboration with the poet, who wrote under the pseudonym Pikander. Johann Sebastian and Anna Magdalena often hosted friends, family members and musicians from all over Germany. Court musicians from Dresden, Berlin and other cities, including Telemann, the godfather of Karl Philip Emanuel, were frequent guests. Interestingly, Georg Friedrich Handel, Bach's peer from Halle, just 50 kilometers from Leipzig, never met Bach, although Bach tried to meet him twice in his life - in 1719 and 1729. The fates of the two composers, however, were linked by John Taylor, who operated on both shortly before their death.
The composer was buried near the church of St. Thomas, where he served for 27 years. However, soon the grave was lost, and only in 1894 the remains of Bach were accidentally found during construction work; then the reburial took place.
Bachology
The first descriptions of Bach's life were his obituary and a brief chronicle of life, set out by his widow Anna Magdalena. After the death of Johann Sebatian, no attempts were made to publish his biography, until in 1802 his friend Forkel, based on his own memoirs, an obituary and the stories of Bach's sons and friends, published the first detailed biography. In the middle of the 19th century, interest in Bach's music revived, composers and researchers began work on collecting, studying and publishing all of his works. The next major work about Bach was the book by Philip Spitta, published in 1880. At the beginning of the 20th century, the French organist and researcher Albert Schweitzer published a book. In this work, in addition to the biography of Bach, the description and analysis of his works, much attention is paid to the description of the era in which he worked, as well as theological issues related to his music. These books were the most authoritative until the middle of the 20th century, when, with the help of new technical means and careful research, new facts about the life and work of Bach were established, in some places conflicting with traditional ideas. So, for example, it was established that Bach wrote some cantatas in 1724-1725 (earlier it was thought that this happened in the 1740s), unknown works were found, and some previously attributed to Bach were not written by him; some facts of his biography were established. In the second half of the 20th century, many works were written on this topic - for example, books by Christoph Wolff.
Creation
Bach wrote over 1000 pieces of music. Today, each of the famous works has been assigned a BWV number (short for Bach Werke Verzeichnis - catalog of Bach's works). Bach wrote music for various instruments, both spiritual and secular. Some of Bach's works are adaptations of works by other composers, and some are reworked versions of his own.
Organ creativity
By the time of Bach, organ music in Germany already had a long tradition, formed thanks to Bach's predecessors - Pachelbel, Boehm, Buxtehude and other composers, each of whom influenced him in their own way. Bach knew many of them personally.
During his lifetime, Bach was best known as a first-class organist, teacher and composer of organ music. He worked both in the traditional "free" genres of that time, such as prelude, fantasy, toccata, and in more strict forms - chorale prelude and fugue. In his works for organ, Bach skillfully combined features of different musical styles, with which he became acquainted during his life. The composer was influenced both by the music of North German composers (Georg Boehm, with whom Bach met in Lüneburg, and Dietrich Buxtehude in Lübeck), and the music of southern composers: Bach rewrote for himself the works of many French and Italian composers in order to understand their musical language; later he even transcribed several Vivaldi violin concertos for organ. During the most fruitful period for organ music (1708-1714), Johann Sebastian not only wrote many pairs of preludes and fugues and toccata and fugues, but also composed the unfinished Book of Organ - a collection of 46 short choral preludes, which demonstrated various techniques and approaches to composing works on choral themes. After leaving Weimar, Bach began to write less for organ; nevertheless, many famous works were written after Weimar (6 trio sonatas, a collection of "Clavier-Übung" and 18 Leipzig chorales). Throughout his life, Bach not only composed music for organ, but also consulted on the construction of instruments, testing and tuning new organs.
Other clavier creativity
Bach also wrote a number of pieces for the harpsichord, many of which could be played on the clavichord. Many of these creations are encyclopedic collections that demonstrate various techniques and methods of composing polyphonic works. Most of Bach's clavier works, published during his lifetime, were contained in collections called "Clavier-Übung" ("clavier exercises").
* "The Well-Tempered Clavier" in two volumes, written in 1722 and 1744, is a collection, each volume of which contains 24 preludes and fugues, one for each common key. This cycle was very important in connection with the transition to systems for tuning instruments, which make it equally easy to perform music in any key - first of all, to the modern equal temperament scale, although it is not known whether Bach used it.
* Three collections of suites: English suites, French suites and Partitas for clavier. Each cycle contained 6 suites, built according to the standard scheme (allemand, chime, saraband, gigue and an optional part between the last two). In English suites the allemande is preceded by a prelude, and between the sarabanda and the gigue there is exactly one movement; in the French suites, the number of optional parts increases, and the preludes are absent. In the partitas, the standard scheme is expanded: in addition to the refined introductory parts, there are additional ones, and not only between the sarabanda and the gigue.
* Goldberg Variations (circa 1741) - melody with 30 variations. The cycle has a rather complex and unusual structure. Variations are based on the tonal plan of the theme rather than the melody itself.
* Various pieces such as "French Style Overture", BWV 831, "Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue", BWV 903, or "Italian Concerto", BWV 971.
Orchestral and chamber music
Bach wrote music for both individual instruments and ensembles. His works for solo instruments - 6 sonatas and partitas for solo violin, BWV 1001-1006, 6 suites for cello, BWV 1007-1012, and a partita for solo flute, BWV 1013 - are considered by many to be among the composer's most profound creations. In addition, Bach composed several pieces for solo lute. He also wrote trio sonatas, sonatas for solo flute and viola da gamba, accompanied only by the bass general, as well as a large number of canons and richercars, mostly without specifying the instruments for performance. The most significant examples of such works are the cycles "The Art of the Fugue" and "The Musical Offering".
Bach's most famous orchestral works are the Brandenburg Concertos. They were so named because Bach, having sent them to Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Sweden in 1721, thought of getting a job at his court; this attempt was unsuccessful. Six concerts were written in the genre of concert grosso. Other extant works of Bach for orchestra include two violin concertos, a concerto for 2 violins in D minor, BWV 1043, and concertos for one, two, three, and even four harpsichords. Researchers believe that these concertos for harpsichords were just transcriptions of older works by Johann Sebastian, now lost. In addition to concerts, Bach composed 4 orchestral suites.
Vocal works
* Cantatas. For a long period of his life, every Sunday Bach in the church of St. Thomas directed the performance of the cantata, the theme of which was chosen according to the Lutheran church calendar. Although Bach performed cantatas by other composers, in Leipzig he composed at least three complete annual cycles of cantatas, one for every Sunday of the year and every church holiday. In addition, he composed a number of cantatas in Weimar and Mühlhausen. In total, Bach wrote more than 300 cantatas on spiritual themes, of which only about 195 have survived to this day. Bach's cantatas vary greatly in form and instrumentation. Some of them are written for one voice, some for the choir; some require a large orchestra to play, and some require only a few instruments. However, the most frequently used model is as follows: the cantata opens with a solemn choral introduction, then recitatives and arias for soloists or duets alternate, and everything ends with a chorale. As a recitative, they usually take the same words from the Bible that are read this week according to the Lutheran canons. The closing chorale is often anticipated by a chorale prelude in one of the middle sections, and sometimes also appears in the opening section as a cantus firmus. The most famous of Bach's spiritual cantatas are Christ lag in Todesbanden (no. 4), Ein "feste Burg" (no. 80), Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (no. 140) and Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben "(No. 147). In addition, Bach composed a number of secular cantatas, usually dedicated to some events, for example, a wedding. Among the most famous secular cantatas of Bach are two Wedding cantatas and a comic Coffee cantata.
* Passions, or passions. Passion for John (1724) and Passion for Matthew (c. 1727) - works for choir and orchestra on the gospel theme of the suffering of Christ, intended to be performed at Vespers on Good Friday in the churches of St. Thomas and St. Nicholas. Passions are one of the most ambitious vocal works of Bach. It is known that Bach wrote 4 or 5 passions, but only these two have fully survived to this day.
* Oratorios and Magnificats. The most famous is the Christmas Oratorio (1734) - a cycle of 6 cantatas to be performed during the Christmas period of the liturgical year. The Easter Oratorio (1734-1736) and the Magnificat are rather extensive and elaborate cantatas and are smaller in scope than the Christmas Oratorio or Passions. The Magnificat exists in two versions: the original (E-flat major, 1723) and the later and famous (D major, 1730).
* Mass. The most famous and significant mass of Bach is the Mass in B minor (completed in 1749), which is a complete cycle of the ordinary. This Mass, like many other works of the composer, includes revised early works. The Mass was never performed in its entirety during Bach's lifetime - for the first time this happened only in the 19th century. In addition, this music was not performed as intended due to the duration of the sound (about 2 hours). In addition to the Mass in B minor, we have survived 4 short two-part Masses by Bach, as well as separate parts like Sanctus and Kyrie.
The rest of Bach's vocal works include several motets, about 180 chorales, songs and arias.
Execution
Today, performers of Bach's music are divided into two camps: those who prefer authentic performance, that is, using the instruments and methods of the Bach era, and those who perform Bach on modern instruments. In the time of Bach, there were no such large choirs and orchestras as, for example, in the time of Brahms, and even his most ambitious works, such as the Mass in B minor and Passions, do not involve performance by large groups. In addition, in some of Bach's chamber works, the instrumentation is not indicated at all, so today very different versions of the performance of the same works are known. In organ works, Bach almost never indicated the registration and change of manuals. Of the stringed keyboard instruments, Bach preferred the clavichord. He met with Zilberman and discussed with him the structure of his new instrument, contributing to the creation of the modern piano. Bach's music for some instruments was often transposed for others, for example, Busoni transposed organ toccata and fugue in D minor and some other works for piano.
Numerous “lightweight” and modernized versions of his works contributed to the popularization of Bach's music in the 20th century. These included today's well-known tunes performed by the Swingle Singers and Wendy Carlos's 1968 "Switched-On Bach" recording that used a newly invented synthesizer. Bach's music was also processed by jazz musicians such as Jacques Lussier. Among Russian contemporary performers, Fyodor Chistyakov tried to pay tribute to the great composer in his 1997 solo album "When Bach Wakes Up".
The fate of Bach's music
In the last years of his life and after the death of Bach, his fame as a composer began to wane: his style was considered old-fashioned in comparison with the burgeoning classicism. He was better known and remembered as a performer, teacher and father of the Jr. Bachs, primarily Karl Philip Emanuel, whose music was better known. However, many major composers such as Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin knew and loved the work of Johann Sebastian. For example, when visiting St. Thomas Mozart heard one of the motets (BWV 225) and exclaimed: "There is a lot to learn here!" - after which, having asked for notes, studied them for a long time and enthusiastically. Beethoven greatly appreciated Bach's music. As a child, he played preludes and fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier, and later called Bach “the true father of harmony” and said that “his name is not the Stream, but the Sea” (the word Bach means “brook” in German). Chopin locked himself in a room before concerts and played Bach's music. Johann Sebastian's works have influenced many composers. Some themes from the works of Bach, for example, the theme of toccata and fugue in D minor, were used many times in the music of the 20th century.
The biography, written in 1802 by Johann Nicholas Forkel, who knew Bach personally, spurred the interest of the general public in his music. More and more people were discovering his music. For example, Goethe, quite late in his life who became acquainted with his works (in 1814 and 1815 in the city of Bad Berk, some of his clavier and choral compositions were performed), in a letter from 1827 he compared the feeling of Bach's music with “eternal harmony in dialogue with yourself. " But the real revival of Bach's music began with the performance of the St. Matthew Passion in 1829 in Berlin, organized by Felix Mendelssohn. Hegel, who attended the concert, later called Bach "a great, true Protestant, strong and, so to speak, erudite genius, whom we have only recently taught to appreciate fully again." In subsequent years, Mendelssohn's work continued to popularize Bach's music and the composer's rise to fame. In 1850, the Bach Society was founded, the purpose of which was to collect, study and distribute the works of Bach. In the next half century, this society carried out significant work on the compilation and publication of the corpus of the composer's works.
In the XX century, the awareness of the musical and pedagogical value of his works continued. Interest in Bach's music spawned a new movement among performers: the idea of authentic performance became widespread. Such performers, for example, use the harpsichord instead of modern pianos and smaller choirs than was the case in the 19th and early 20th centuries, wanting to recreate the music of the Bach era exactly.
Some composers expressed their respect for Bach, including the motif BACH (B-flat - la - do - c in Latin notation) in the themes of their works. For example, Liszt wrote a prelude and fugue on the BACH theme, and Schumann wrote 6 fugues on the same topic. The same theme was used by Bach himself, for example, in the XIV counterpoint from The Art of the Fugue. Many composers took an example from his works or used themes from them. Examples are Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, the prototypes of which are the Goldberg Variations, Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues, inspired by The Well-Tempered Clavier, and the Brahms Cello Sonata in D major, the finale of which includes musical quotes from Art fugue ". Bach's music is one of the best creations of mankind recorded on Voyager's golden disc.
Bach monuments in Germany
* Monument in Leipzig, erected on April 23, 1843 by Hermann Knaur at the initiative of Mendelssohn and according to the drawings of Eduard Bendemann, Ernst Ritschel and Julius Hübner.
* Bronze statue at Frauenplan in Eisenach, designed by Adolf von Donndorf, delivered on 28 September 1884. At first it stood on the Market Square near the Church of St. George, 4 April 1938 was moved to Frauenplan with a shortened pedestal.
* Bronze statue of Karl Seffner on the south side of St. Thomas in Leipzig - May 17, 1908.
* Bust by Fritz Ben in the Walhalla monument near Regensburg, 1916.
* Statue of Paul Birr at the entrance to the church of St. George at Eisenach, installed on April 6, 1939.
* Monument to Bruno Eiermann in Weimar, first erected in 1950, then removed for two years and reopened in 1995 in Democracy Square.
* Relief by Robert Propf in Köthen, 1952.
* Wooden stele by Ed Garison on Johann Sebastian Bach Square in front of the Church of St. Blasius in Mühlhausen - August 17, 2001.
* Monument in Ansbach, designed by Jürgen Goertz, installed in July 2003.
Notes (edit)
1. Documents of the life and work of I.-S. Bach - genealogy of the Bach family
2. I. N. Forkel. About the life, art and works of I.-S. Bach, chapter II
3. Bach's manuscripts were found in Germany, confirming his training with Boehm - RIA Novosti, 08/31/2006
4. Documents of the life and work of I.-S. Bach - Bach's Interrogation Protocol
5. A. Schweitzer. Johann Sebastian Bach - Chapter 7
6. I. N. Forkel. About the life, art and works of I.-S. Bach, chapter II
7.M.S. Druskin. Johann Sebastian Bach - p. 27
9. Documents of the life and work of I.-S. Bach - church book entry, Dornheim
10. Documents of the life and work of I.-S. Bach - Organ Reconstruction Project
12. I. N. Forkel. About the life, art and works of I.-S. Bach, chapter II
14.M.S. Druskin. Johann Sebastian Bach - p. 51
15. Documents of the life and work of I.-S. Bach - an entry in the church book, Köthen
16. Documents of the life and work of I.-S. Bach - Minutes of the meeting of the magistrate and other documents related to the move to Leipzig
17. Documents of the life and work of I.-S. Bach - Letter to J.-S. Bach Erdman
18. A. Schweitzer. Johann Sebastian Bach - Chapter 8
19. Documents of the life and work of I.-S. Bach - Message from L. Mitsler about the Collegium Musicum concerts
20. Documents of the life and work of I.-S. Bach - Quellmalz on the operations of Bach
21. Documents of the life and work of I.-S. Bach - Inventory of Bach's legacy
22. A. Schweitzer. Johann Sebastian Bach - Chapter 9
23.M.S.Druskin. Johann Sebastian Bach - page 8
24. A. Schweitzer. I.-S. Bach - chapter 14
26.http: //www.bremen.de/web/owa/p_anz_presse_mitteilung?pi_mid=76241 (German)
27.http: //www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV244-Spering.htm (English)
28.http: //voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/music.html (English)
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