Bach life. Biography of Sebastian Bach
The Tragedy of the Blind Musician Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach. March 21, 1685 - July 28, 1750
German composer and musician.
During his life, Bach wrote over 1000 works. All significant genres of that time were represented in his work, except for opera ... However, the composer was prolific not only in musical works. Over the years of family life, he had twenty children.
Unfortunately, of this number of offspring of the great dynasty, exactly half survived ...
Dynasty
Johann Sebastian Bach was the sixth child in the family of the violinist Johann Ambrose Bach, and his future was predetermined. All Bachs who lived in the mountainous Thuringia from the beginning of the 16th century were flutists, trumpeters, organists, and violinists. Their musical talent has been passed down from generation to generation. When Johann Sebastian was five years old, his father gave him a violin. The boy quickly learned to play it, and music filled his entire future life.
But a happy childhood ended early, when the future composer turned 9 years old. First, his mother died, and a year later, his father. The boy was taken in by his older brother, who served as an organist in a neighboring town. Johann Sebastian entered the gymnasium - his brother taught him to play the organ and the clavier. But one performance was not enough for the boy - he was drawn to creativity. Once he managed to extract from the always locked cabinet the cherished music book, where his brother had written down the works of the famous composers of that time. At night, secretly, he copied it. When the six-month work was already drawing to a close, my brother caught him doing this and took away everything that had already been done…. It is these sleepless hours in the moonlight that will later adversely affect the vision of J.S. Bach.
By the will of fate
At the age of 15, Bach moved to Luneberg, where he continued to study at school at the school of church singers. In 1707, Bach entered the service at Mühlhausen as organist in the church of St. Blasia. Here he began to write his first cantatas. In 1708, Johann Sebastian married his cousin, also an orphan, Maria Barbara. She bore him seven children, of whom four survived. Many researchers associate this circumstance with their close relationship. However, after the sudden death of his first wife in 1720 and a new marriage to the daughter of the court musician Anna Magdalene Wilken, hard rock continued to haunt the musician's family. In this marriage, 13 children were born, but only six survived.
Painting by E. Rosenthal. J.S.Bach with his family.
Perhaps this was a kind of payment for success in professional activity. Back in 1708, when Bach and his first wife moved to Weimar, luck smiled at him, and he became a court organist and composer. This time is considered to be the beginning of Bach's creative path as a music composer and the time of his intense creativity. Bach's sons were born in Weimar, the future famous composers Wilhelm Friedemann and Karl Philipp Emanuel
.
Balthazar Denner. J.S.Bach with his sons.
Wandering grave
In 1723, the first performance of his "Passion for John" took place in the church of St. Thomas in Leipzig, and soon Bach received the post of cantor of this church, while simultaneously fulfilling the duties of a school teacher at the church. In Leipzig, Bach became the "music director" of all the churches in the city, overseeing the staff of musicians and singers, observing their training.
Monument to J.S.Bach at the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig .
In the last years of his life, Bach was seriously ill - the effect of the overexertion of the eyes, received in his youth. Shortly before his death, he decided on an operation to remove a cataract, but after it he finally became blind. However, this did not stop the composer - he continued to compose, dictating works to his son-in-law Altnikkol. After the second operation on July 18, 1750, he briefly regained his sight, but in the evening he was struck. Bach died ten days later. The composer was buried near the church of St. Thomas, in which he served for 27 years.
However, later a road was laid through the territory of the cemetery, and the grave of the genius was lost. But in 1984 a miracle happened, the remains of Bach were accidentally found during construction work, and then their ceremonial burial took place.
Born (21) March 31, 1685 in the city of Eisenach. Little Bach originally had a passion for music, because his ancestors were professional musicians.
Music teaching
At the age of ten after the death of his parents, Johann Bach was raised by his brother Johann Christoph. He taught the future composer to play the clavier and organ.
At the age of 15, Bach entered the vocal school named after St. Michael, in the city of Luneburg. There he gets acquainted with the work of modern musicians, and develops comprehensively. During 1700-1703 the musical biography of Johann Sebastian Bach begins. He wrote the first organ music.
In service
After graduation, Johann Sebastian was sent to Duke Ernst as a musician at court. Dissatisfaction with the dependent position makes him change jobs. In 1704, Bach was appointed organist of the New Church in Arndstadt. The summary of the article does not make it possible to dwell in detail on the work of the great composer, but it was at this time that he created many talented works. Collaboration with the poet Christian Friedrich Henrici, the court musician Telemachus, enriched the music with new motives. In 1707 Bach moved to Mühlhusen, continued to work as a church musician and to be engaged in creative work. The authorities are pleased with his work, the composer receives a reward.
Personal life
In 1707, Bach married his cousin Maria Barbara. He again decided to change jobs, this time becoming the court organist in Weimar. In this city, six children are born into the musician's family. Three died in infancy, and three become famous musicians in the future.
In 1720, Bach's wife died, but a year later the composer married again, now to the famous singer Anna Magdalene Wilhelm. The happy family had 13 children.
Continuation of the creative path
In 1717, Bach entered the service of the Duke of Anhalt - Kothensky, who highly appreciated his talent. During the period from 1717 to 1723 magnificent Bach suites appeared (for orchestra, cello, claviers).
Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, English and French suites were written in Köthen.
In 1723, the musician received the position of cantor and teacher of music and Latin in the church of St. Thomas, then became music director in Leipzig. Johann Sebastian Bach's wide repertoire included both secular and brass music. During his life, Johann Sebastian Bach managed to visit the head of the musical college. Several cycles of the composer Bach used all kinds of instruments ("Musical Offering", "The Art of the Fugue")
last years of life
In the last years of his life, Bach quickly lost his sight. His music was then considered unfashionable, outdated. Despite this, the composer continued to work. In 1747 he created a cycle of plays entitled "Music of the Offering", dedicated to the Prussian king Frederick II. The last work was the collection of works "The Art of the Fugue", which included 14 fugues and 4 canons.
Johann Sebastian Bach died on July 28, 1750 in Leipzig, but his musical legacy remains immortal.
Bach's short biography does not give a complete picture of the composer's complex life path, of his personality. You can learn more about his fate and work by reading the books of Johann Forkel, Robert Franz, Albert Schweitzer.
Johann Sebastian Bach is a German composer and musician of the Baroque era, who collected and combined in his work the traditions and the most significant achievements of European musical art, and also enriched all this with the virtuoso use of counterpoint and a subtle sense of perfect harmony. Bach is the greatest classic who left a huge legacy that became the golden fund of world culture. He is a versatile musician who has embraced almost all known genres in his work. Creating immortal masterpieces, he transformed each beat of his compositions into small pieces, then combining them into priceless creations of exceptional beauty and expressiveness, perfect in form, which vividly reflected the diverse spiritual world of man.
A short biography of Johann Sebastian Bach and many interesting facts about the composer can be found on our page.
Bach biography
Johann Sebastian Bach was born in the German town of Eisenach in the fifth generation of a family of musicians on March 21, 1685. It should be noted that musical dynasties were quite widespread at that time in Germany, and talented parents strove to develop the corresponding talents in their children. The boy's father, Johann Ambrosius, was the organist in the Eisenach church and the court accompanist. It is obvious that he was the one who gave the first lessons in the game on violin and harpsichord little son.
From the biography of Bach, we learn that at the age of 10 the boy lost his parents, but did not remain homeless, because he was the eighth and youngest child in the family. The little orphan was taken care of by the respected organist of Ohrdruf, Johann Christoph Bach, Johann Sebastian's older brother. Among his other students, Johann Christoph taught his brother to play the clavier, but the strict teacher reliably hid the manuscripts of modern composers under lock and key, so as not to spoil the taste of the young performers. However, the castle did not prevent little Bach from getting acquainted with forbidden works.
Luneburg
At the age of 15, Bach entered the prestigious Lüneburg School of Church Singers, which was located at the church of St. Michael, and at the same time, thanks to his beautiful voice, young Bach was able to earn some money in the church choir. In addition, in Luneburg, the young man met Georg Boehm, a famous organist, communication with whom influenced the early work of the composer. He also traveled to Hamburg several times to listen to the play of the largest representative of the German organ school A. Reinken. The first works of Bach for clavier and organ belong to the same period. After successfully graduating from school, Johann Sebastian receives the right to enter the university, but due to a lack of funds, he did not have the opportunity to continue his education.
Weimar and Arnstadt
Johann began his career in Weimar, where he was admitted to the court chapel of Duke Johann Ernst of Saxony as a violinist. However, this did not last long, since such work did not satisfy the creative impulses of the young musician. Bach in 1703, without hesitation, agrees to move to the city of Arnstadt, where in the church of St. Boniface was initially offered the post of organ superintendent, and then the post of organist. A decent salary, work only three days a week, a good modernized instrument, tuned according to the latest system, all this created conditions for expanding the creative possibilities of the musician not only as a performer, but also as a composer.
During this period he created a large number of organ works, as well as capriccios, cantatas and suites. Here Johann becomes a real organ expert and a brilliant virtuoso, whose playing caused unrestrained delight among the audience. It was in Arnstadt that his gift of improvisation was revealed, which the church leadership did not like very much. Bach always strived for excellence and did not miss the opportunity to meet famous musicians, for example, organist Dietrich Buxtehude, who served in Lübeck. Having received a four-week vacation, Bach went to listen to the great musician, whose playing so impressed Johann that, forgetting about his duties, he stayed in Lubeck for four months. Upon his return to Arndstadt, the indignant leadership arranged for Bach a humiliating trial, after which he had to leave the city and look for a new job.
Mühlhausen
The next city on Bach's life was Mühlhausen. Here in 1706 he won the competition for the position of organist in the church of St. Blasia. He was received with a good salary, but also with a certain condition: the musical accompaniment of the chorales should be strict, without any kind of "decoration". The city authorities further respected the new organist: they approved the plan for the reconstruction of the church organ, and also paid a good reward for the festive cantata “The Lord is my King” composed by Bach, which was dedicated to the inauguration ceremony of the new consul. Staying in Mühlhausen in the life of Bach was marked by a happy event: he married his beloved cousin Maria Barbara, who later gave him seven children.
Weimar
In 1708 Duke Ernst of Saxe-Weimar heard the magnificent performance of the Mühlhausen organist. Impressed by what he had heard, the noble nobleman immediately offered Bach the posts of court musician and city organist with a salary much higher than the previous one. Johann Sebastian began the Weimar period, which is characterized as one of the most fruitful in the composer's creative life. At this time, he created a large number of compositions for clavier and organ, including a collection of choral preludes, Passacaglia c-moll, the famous Toccata and fugue in d-moll "," Fantasy and Fugue in C-dur "and many other great works. It should also be noted that the composition of more than two dozen spiritual cantatas belongs to this period. Such efficiency in Bach's composing work was associated with his appointment in 1714 as vice-conductor, whose duties included regular monthly updating of church music.
At the same time, Johann Sebastian's contemporaries were more fascinated by his performing arts, and he constantly heard replicas of admiration for his performance. The fame of Bach as a virtuoso musician quickly spread not only across Weimar, but also beyond its borders. Once the Dresden Royal Kapellmeister invited him to compete against the famous French musician L. Marchand. However, the musical competition did not work out, since the Frenchman, having heard Bach play at the preliminary audition, secretly left Dresden without warning. In 1717, the Weimar period in Bach's life came to an end. Johann Sebastian dreamed of getting the position of Kapellmeister, but when this position became vacant, the Duke offered him to another, very young and inexperienced musician. Bach, considering this an insult, asked for his immediate resignation, and for this he was arrested for four weeks.
Köthen
According to the biography of Bach, in 1717 he left Weimar to get a job in Köthen as a court bandmaster with Prince Leopold of Anhalt of Köthen. In Köthen, Bach was to write worldly music, since as a result of reforms in the church, only psalms were sung. Here Bach occupied an exceptional position: as a court conductor he was well paid, the prince treated him like a friend, and the composer repaid for this with excellent compositions. In Köthen, the musician had many students, and for their training he compiled “ Well-Tempered Clavier". These are 48 preludes and fugues that made Bach famous as a master of clavier music. When the prince got married, the young princess showed dislike for both Bach and his music. Johann Sebastian had to look for another job.
Leipzig
In Leipzig, where Bach moved in 1723, he reached the top of his career ladder: he was appointed cantor in the church of St. Thomas and Music Director of all churches in the city. Bach was involved in teaching and training performers of church choirs, selecting music, organizing and conducting concerts in the main temples of the city. Heading the Collegium of Music since 1729, Bach began to arrange 8 two-hour secular music concerts a month in a certain Zimmermann's coffee shop, adapted for the performance of the orchestra. Having been appointed to the position of court composer, Bach handed over the leadership of the Musical College to his former student Karl Gerlach in 1737. In recent years, Bach often reworked his early works. In 1749 he completed the High Mass in B minor, some parts of which were written by him 25 years ago. The composer died in 1750 while working on The Art of the Fugue.
Interesting facts about Bach
- Bach was an acknowledged organ specialist. He was invited to test and tune instruments in various temples in Weimar, where he lived for quite some time. Each time he amazed clients with amazing improvisations that he played to hear how the instrument in need of his work sounds.
- Johann was bored during the service to perform monotonous chorales, and he, not holding back his creative impulse, impromptuly inserted his small decorating variations into the established church music, which caused great dissatisfaction with his superiors.
- Better known for his religious works, Bach also excelled in composing secular music, as evidenced by his Coffee Cantata. Bach presented this humorous piece as a small comic opera. Originally titled Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht (Shut up, stop chatting), it describes the lyric hero's addiction to coffee, and it is no coincidence that this cantata was first performed at the Leipzig Coffee House.
- At the age of 18, Bach really wanted to get a job as organist in Lübeck, which at that time belonged to the famous Dietrich Buxtehude. Another contender for this place was G. Handel... The main condition for occupying this position was marriage to one of Buxtehude's daughters, but neither Bach nor Handel dared to sacrifice themselves in this way.
- Johann Sebastian Bach liked to dress up as a poor teacher and, in this form, to visit small churches, where he asked the local organist to play a little on the organ. Some parishioners, hearing an unusually beautiful performance for them, left the service in fear, thinking that the devil himself had appeared in their church in the form of a strange man.
- The Russian envoy to Saxony, Hermann von Keyserling, asked Bach to write a piece to which he could quickly fall asleep. This is how the Goldberg Variations appeared, for which the composer received a golden cube filled with a hundred louis. These variations are still one of the best "sleeping pills".
- Johann Sebastian was known to his contemporaries not only as an outstanding composer and virtuoso performer, but also as a person with a very difficult character, intolerant of the mistakes of others. There is a known case when the bassoonist, publicly insulted by Bach for his imperfect performance, attacked Johann. A real duel took place, since both were armed with daggers.
- Fond of numerology, Bach liked to weave the numbers 14 and 41 into his musical works, because these numbers corresponded to the first letters of the composer's name. By the way, Bach also liked to play up his surname in his compositions: the notation of the word “Bach” forms a cross pattern. It is this symbol that is most important for Bach, who considers it not accidental similar coincidences.
- Thanks to Johann Sebastian Bach, it is not only men who sing in church choirs today. The first woman to sing in the church was the composer's wife Anna Magdalena, who has a beautiful voice.
- In the middle of the 19th century, German musicologists founded the first Bach Society, whose main task was to publish the composer's works. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the society dissolved itself and the entire collection of Bach's works was published only in the second half of the twentieth century on the initiative of the Bach Institute, created in 1950. In the world today, there are a total of two hundred and twenty-two Bach Societies, Bach Orchestras and Bach Choirs.
- Researchers of Bach's work suggest that the great maestro composed 11,200 works, although the legacy known to descendants includes only 1,200 compositions.
- Today there are more than fifty-three thousand books and various publications about Bach in different languages, about seven thousand full biographies of the composer have been published.
- In 1950, W. Schmieder compiled a numbered catalog of Bach's works (BWV - Bach Werke Verzeichnis). This catalog was updated several times as the data on the authorship of certain works was clarified and, in contrast to the traditional chronological principles of classifying the works of other famous composers, this catalog is structured according to the thematic principle. Works with similar numbers belong to the same genre, and were not at all written in the same years.
- Bach's works: "Brandenburg Concerto No. 2", "Gavotte in the form of a rondo" and "HTK" were recorded on the Golden Record and in 1977 launched from Earth attached to the Voyager spacecraft.
- Everyone knows that Beethoven suffered from hearing loss, but few people know that Bach went blind in his declining years. Actually, the unsuccessful eye surgery performed by the charlatan surgeon John Taylor caused the composer's death in 1750.
- Johann Sebastian Bach was buried near the Church of St. Thomas. After some time, a road was laid through the territory of the cemetery and the grave was lost. At the end of the 19th century, during the reconstruction of the church, the remains of the composer were found and reburied. After World War II in 1949, Bach's relics were moved to the church building. However, due to the fact that the grave changed its place several times, skeptics question whether the ashes of Johann Sebastian are in the burial.
- To date, 150 postage stamps dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach have been issued worldwide, 90 of them were published in Germany.
- Johann Sebastian Bach, a great musical genius, is treated with great reverence all over the world, monuments to him have been erected in many countries, only in Germany there are 12 monuments. One of them is located in the town of Dornheim near Arnstadt and is dedicated to the wedding of Johann Sebastian and Maria Barbara.
Family of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian belonged to the largest German musical dynasty, whose pedigree is usually counted from Feith Bach, a simple baker, but very fond of music and perfectly performing folk melodies on his favorite instrument - zither. This passion from the founder of the genus was passed on to his descendants, many of them became professional musicians: composers, cantors, bandmasters, as well as a variety of instrumentalists. They settled not only in Germany, some even went abroad. Over the course of two hundred years, there were so many Bach musicians that any person whose occupation was associated with music began to be called by their name. The most famous ancestors of Johann Sebastian, whose works have come down to us, were: Johannes, Heinrich, Johann Christoph, Johann Bernhard, Johann Michael and Johann Nikolaus. Johann Sebastian's father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, was also a musician and served as organist in Eisenach, in the city where Bach was born.
Johann Sebastian himself was the father of a large family: from two wives he had twenty children. The first time he married his beloved cousin Maria Barbara, the daughter of Johann Michael Bach, in 1707. Maria gave birth to Johann Sebastian seven children, three of them died in infancy. Maria herself did not live a long life either, she died at the age of 36, leaving Bach with four young children. Bach was very upset about the loss of his wife, but a year later he again fell in love with the young girl Anna Magdalena Wilken, whom he met at the court of the Duke of Anhalt-Keten and proposed to her. Despite the big difference in age, the girl agreed and it is obvious that this marriage was very successful, since Anna Magdalena gave Bach thirteen children. The girl did an excellent job with the household, was caring for the children, was sincerely happy with her husband's successes and provided great help in her work, rewriting his scores. Family for Bach was a great joy, he devoted a lot of time to raising children, playing music with them and composing special exercises. In the evenings, the family very often put on impromptu concerts that made everyone happy. Bach's children by nature had excellent data, but four of them had exceptional musical talent - these are Johann Christoph Friedrich, Karl Philipp Emanuel, Wilhelm Friedemann and Johann Christian. They, too, became composers and left their mark on the history of music, but none of them could surpass their father either in writing or in the art of performance.
The work of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was one of the most prolific composers, his legacy in the treasury of world musical culture includes about 1200 immortal masterpieces. In the work of Bach, there was only one inspirer - the Creator. Johann Sebastian dedicated almost all of his works to him and at the end of scores he always signed letters that were an abbreviation of the words: "In the name of Jesus", "Jesus help", "Glory to God alone." To create for God was the main goal in the life of the composer, and therefore his musical works absorbed all the wisdom of the "Holy Scripture". Bach was very faithful to his religious outlook and never betrayed him. According to the composer's reasoning, even the smallest instrumental piece should indicate the wisdom of the Creator.
Johann Sebastian Bach wrote his works in virtually all, except for opera, musical genres known at that time. The compiled catalog of his works includes: 247 works for organ, 526 vocal works, 271 works for harpsichord, 19 solo works for various instruments, 31 concertos and suites for orchestra, 24 duets for harpsichord with any other instrument, 7 canons and others works.
Musicians all over the world perform Bach's music and they begin to get acquainted with many of his works from childhood. For example, every little pianist studying at a music school must have in his repertoire pieces from « Music book by Anna Magdalena Bach » ... Then little preludes and fugues are studied, then there are inventions, and ultimately « Well-Tempered Clavier » , but this is already a high school.
The famous works of Johann Sebastian also include “ Passion for Matthew"," Mass in B Minor "," Christmas Oratorio "," St. John Passion "and, undoubtedly," Toccata and Fugue in D minor". And the cantata "The Lord is my King" and at the present time sounds at festive services in churches in different parts of the world.
Films about Bach
The great composer, being the largest figure in the world musical culture, has always attracted close attention, so many books have been written about Bach's biography and about his work, as well as feature films and documentaries. There are quite a lot of them, but the most significant of them are:
- Johann Sebastian Bach's Vain Journey to Glory (1980, East Germany) - a biographical film tells about the difficult fate of the composer, who wandered all his life in search of "his" place in the sun.
- Bach: The Struggle for Freedom (1995, Czech Republic, Canada) is a feature film that tells about the intrigues in the palace of the old duke, tied up around Bach's rivalry with the best organist of the orchestra.
- "Dinner in Four Hands" (1999, Russia) is a fictional motion picture, which shows a meeting that never took place in reality, but the much-desired meeting of two composers - Handel and Bach.
- "My name is Bach" (2003) - the film takes the audience to 1747, at the time when Johann Sebastian Bach arrived at the court of the Prussian king Frederick II.
- The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach (1968) and Johann Bach and Anna Magdalena (2003) - the films show Bach's relationship with his second wife, a capable student of her husband.
- “Anton Ivanovich Is Angry” is a musical comedy in which there is an episode: Bach appears to the protagonist in a dream and says that he was terribly bored of writing countless chorales, and he always dreamed of writing a funny operetta.
- "Silence before Bach" (2007) is a musical film that helps to immerse oneself in the world of Bach's music, which has turned the European notion of harmony that existed before him.
Among the documentary films about the famous composer, it is necessary to note such films as: "Johann Sebastian Bach: Life and Work, in Two Parts" (1985, USSR); “Johann Sebastian Bach” (series “German Composers” 2004, Germany); “Johann Sebastian Bach” (series “Famous Composers” 2005, USA); “Johann Sebastian Bach - Composer and Theologian” (2016, Russia).
The music of Johann Sebastian, filled with philosophical content and also having a great emotional impact on a person, was often used by directors in soundtracks for their films, for example:
Music excerpts |
Films |
Suite No. 3 for cello |
Payback (2016) |
"Allies" (2016) |
|
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 |
Snowden (2016) |
Destruction (2015) |
|
"In the spotlight" (2015) |
|
Jobs: Empire of Seduction (2013) |
|
Partita No. 2 for solo violin |
"Anthropoid (2016) |
Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) |
|
Goldberg variations |
Altamira (2016) |
Annie (2014) |
|
Hello Carter (2013) |
|
Five Dances (2013) |
|
"Through the Snow" (2013) |
|
"Hannibal: Ascent"(2007) |
|
"Cry of an owl" (2009) |
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"Sleepless Night" (2011) |
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"To something wonderful"(2010) |
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Captain Fantastic (2016) |
|
Passion for John |
"Something Like Hate" (2015) |
Eichmann (2007) |
|
"Cosmonaut" (2013) |
|
Mass in B minor |
Me, Earl and the Dying Girl (2015) |
Elena (2011) |
Despite the twists and turns, Johann Sebastian Bach wrote a huge number of amazing compositions. The composer's business was continued by his famous sons, but none of them could surpass their father either in writing or in performing music. The name of the author of passionate and pure, incredibly talented and unforgettable works stands at the top of the world of music, and his recognition as a great composer continues to this day.
Video: watch a film about Johann Sebastian Bach
March 31 is the birthday of an outstanding German composer Johann Sebastian Bach. His musical heritage entered the golden fund of world culture and is well known to connoisseurs of the classics, but his personal fate is rarely spoken of. But Johann Bach was a representative of one of the most "musical" families in history: all he has the family includes 56 musicians and composers. Johann Bach himself became father of 20 children!
Johann Sebastian Bach was born into the family of musician Johann Ambrosius. The boy was the youngest in the family, he had 7 brothers and sisters, among whom Johann Christoph also showed outstanding abilities. Johann Christoph served as an organist, and after the death of his father and mother, he decided to teach his younger brother music. Following in the footsteps of his father and older brother, Johann Sebastian also chose the composer's path for himself, he studied at the vocal school of St. Michael. Having started looking for work, Johann Sebastian first got a job as a court musician in Weimar, later he was an organ superintendent in Arnstadt.
In Arnstadt, Bach falls in love with his cousin Maria Barbara. Despite the family connection, the lovers decide to get married. Their life together was short-lived (Maria died at the age of 36), but 7 children were born in the marriage, four of whom survived. Among them were two future composers - Wilhelm Friedemann and Karl Philipp Emanuel.
Johann Sebastian took the loss of his wife hard, but after a little less than a year he fell in love again. This time, a very young lady, Anna Magdalena, became his chosen one. The girl was then 20 years old, and the eminent musician was 36. Despite the big age difference, Anna Magdalena coped well with her duties: she ran the house, became a caring stepmother for already grown children, and, most importantly, was sincerely interested in her husband's success. Bach saw a remarkable talent in the girl and began to give her lessons in singing and playing music. Anna enthusiastically mastered a new sphere for herself, learned the scales, was engaged in singing with children. The Bach family was gradually replenishing, in total, Anna Magdalena gave her husband 13 children. The huge family often got together in the evenings, arranging impromptu concerts.
In 1723, taking care of the future of the children, Bach moved the family to Leipzig. Here his sons were able to get a good education and start a musical career. Anna Magdalena continued to take care of her husband, in addition to household chores, she found time to rewrite notes, create copies of choral parts. Anna Magdalena undoubtedly had a musical gift, Australian scientist Martin Jarvis says about this in his studies of Bach's creative heritage. In his opinion, the composer's wife even wrote several works for him (in particular, the aria from "Goldberg Variations" and the first prelude to the cycle of works "The Well-Tempered Clavier" raise doubts). He came to such conclusions on the basis of a handwriting examination.
Be that as it may in reality, Anna Magdalena devoted all of herself to caring for her husband. At the end of his life, Bach's eyesight deteriorated sharply, an operation to remove cataracts led to complete blindness. Anna Magdalena continued to record his compositions, and her husband highly appreciated her dedication.
Johann Sebastian Bach died in 1750 and was buried near the Church of St. John. Ironically, the tomb of the genius was lost, and only in 1894 his remains were accidentally discovered during the rebuilding of the church. The reburial took place six years later.
You can find out how Johann Sebastian Bach could have looked from our photo review.
Johann Sebastian Bach, whose biography is still being carefully studied, is included, according to the New York Times, in the top 10 most interesting biographies of composers.
On a par with his name are such surnames as Beethoven, Wagner, Schubert, Debussy, etc.
Let's get to know this great musician in order to understand why his work has become one of the pillars of classical music.
J.S.Bach - German composer and virtuoso
The name Bach comes to our minds one of the first in the list of great composers. Indeed, he was outstanding, as evidenced by the over 1000 pieces of music left over from his life.
But do not forget about the second Bach - a musician. After all, both of them were true masters of their craft.
In both guises, Bach honed his skills throughout his life. With the end of the vocal school, the training did not end. It continued throughout life.
Proof of professionalism, in addition to the surviving musical compositions, is the musician's impressive career, from organist in his first position to director of music.
It is all the more surprising to realize that many contemporaries perceived the composer's musical compositions negatively. At the same time, the names of musicians who were popular in those years have practically not survived to this day. Only later did Mozart and Beethoven enthusiastically praise the composer's work. From the beginning of the 19th century, the work of the virtuoso musician began to revive thanks to the propaganda of Liszt, Mendelssohn and Schumann.
Now, no one doubts the skill and enormous talent of Johann Sebastian. Bach's music is an example of the classical school. They write books and make films about the composer. The details of life are still a subject for research and study.
Bach biography
The first mention of the Bach family appeared in the 16th century. There were many famous musicians among them. Therefore, the choice of a profession for little Johann was expected. By the 18th century, when the composer lived and worked, they knew about 5 generations of the musical family.
Father and mother
Father - Johann Ambrosius Bach was born in 1645 in Erfurt. He had a twin brother Johann Christoph. Along with most of the members of his family, Johann Ambrosius worked as a court musician and music teacher.
Mother - Maria Elisabeth Lemmerhirt was born in 1644. She, too, was from Erfurt. Maria was the daughter of a city councilor, a respected person in the city. The dowry he left for his daughter was substantial, thanks to which she could live comfortably in marriage.
The parents of the future musician got married in 1668.The couple had eight children.
Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 31, 1685, becoming the youngest child in the family. Then they lived in the picturesque town of Eisenach with a population of about 6,000 people. Johann's mother and father are Germans, therefore the son is also German by nationality.
When little Johann was 9 years old, Maria Elizabeth died. A year later, a few months after the registration of the second marriage, the father dies.
Childhood
The orphaned 10-year-old boy was taken by his older brother, Johann Christoph. He worked as a music teacher and church organist.
Johann Christoph taught little Johann to play the clavier and organ. It is the latter that is considered the composer's favorite instrument.
Little is known about this period of life. The boy studied at a city school, which he graduated at the age of 15, although usually young people 2-3 years older became its graduates. This means that we can conclude that the boy was easy to study.
Another fact from the biography is often mentioned. At night, the boy often rewrote the sheet music of the works of other musicians. One day the elder brother discovered this and strictly forbade him to do such things in the future.
Music teaching
After graduating from school at the age of 15, the future composer entered the vocal school named after St. Michael, which was located in the city of Luneburg.
During these years, the biography of Bach, the composer, begins. During his studies from 1700 to 1703, he writes the first organ music, gains knowledge about contemporary composers.
In the same period, he travels for the first time to cities in Germany. In the future, he will have this passion for travel. And all of them were performed for the sake of acquaintance with the work of other composers.
After graduating from a vocal school, the young man could go to university, but the need to earn a livelihood forced him to give up this opportunity.
Service
After graduating, J.S.Bach received the position of a musician at the court of Duke Ernst. He was only a performer, playing the violin. He has not yet begun to write his musical compositions.
However, dissatisfied with the work, after a few months he decided to change it and became organist of the Church of St. Boniface in Arndstadt. During these years, the composer created many works, mainly for organ. That is, for the first time in the service I got the opportunity to be not only a performer, but also a composer.
Bach received a high salary, but after 3 years he decided to move due to tensions with the authorities. Problems arose due to the fact that the musician was absent for a long time in connection with a trip to Lubeck. According to the available information, he was released to this German city for 1 month, and he returned only after 4. In addition, the community expressed complaints about the ability to lead a choir. All this in the aggregate prompted the musician to change jobs.
In 1707, the musician moved to Mühlhusen, where he continued to work. In the Church of St. Blasius, he had a higher salary. Relations with the authorities were good. The city authorities were satisfied with the activities of the new employee.
Yet a year later, Bach moved to Weimar again. In this city he received a more prestigious position as a concert organizer. 9 years spent in Weimar became a fruitful period for the virtuoso, here he wrote dozens of works. For example, he composed Toccata and Fugu in D minor for organ.
Personal life
Before moving to Weimar, in 1707, Bach married his cousin Maria Barbara. For 13 years of marriage, they had seven children, three of whom died in infancy.
After 13 years of marriage, his wife died, and the composer remarried 17 months later. This time Anna Magdalene Wilke became his wife.
She was a talented singer and subsequently sang in a choir directed by her husband. They had 13 children.
Two sons from their first marriage - Wilhelm Friedemann and Karl Philip Emanuel - became famous composers, continuing the musical dynasty.
Creative way
Since 1717 he has been working for the Duke of Anhalt-Köthen as a bandmaster. Numerous suites were written over the next 6 years. The Bradenburg concerts also belong to this period. If we generally assess the direction of the composer's creative activity, it is worth noting that during this period he wrote mainly secular works.
In 1723, Bach became a cantor (that is, organist and choir conductor), as well as a music and Latin teacher at the Church of St. Thomas. For this he again moves to Leipzig. In the same year, the work "Passion for John" was performed for the first time, thanks to which a high position was obtained.
The composer wrote both secular and sacred music. He performed classical spiritual works in a new way. The Coffee Cantata, Mass in B minor and many other works were composed.
If we briefly characterize the work of the musical virtuoso, then it is impossible to do without mentioning Bach's polyphony. This concept in music was known even before him, but it was precisely the times of the composer's life that they began to talk about the polyphony of the free style.
In general, polyphony means polyphony. In music, two equal voices sound simultaneously, and not just melody and accompaniment. The skill of the musician is evidenced by the fact that music students are still studying according to his works.
The last years of life and death
The last 5 years of his life, the virtuoso was rapidly losing his sight. To continue composing, he had to dictate the music.
There were also problems with public opinion. Contemporaries did not appreciate Bach's music, they considered it outdated. This was due to the flourishing of classicism, which began at that time.
In 1747, three years before his death, the cycle "Music of the Offering" was created. It was written after the composer had visited the court of Frederick II, King of Prussia. This music was intended for him.
The last work of the outstanding musician - "The Art of the Fugue" - consisted of 14 fugues and 4 canons. But he did not have time to finish it. After his death, his sons did it for him.
Several interesting moments from the life and work of the composer, musician and virtuoso:
- After studying the history of the family, 56 musicians were found among the relatives of the virtuoso.
- The surname of the musician is translated from German as "brook".
- Having heard a piece once, the composer could repeat it without error, which he did more than once.
- Throughout his life, the musician moved eight times.
- Thanks to Bach, women were allowed to sing in church choirs. His second wife became the first chorus girl.
- He wrote over 1000 works in his entire life, therefore he is rightfully considered the most "prolific" author.
- In the last years of his life, the composer almost went blind, and his eye surgeries did not help.
- The composer's grave was left without a tombstone for a long time.
- Until now, not all facts of the biography are known, some of them are not confirmed by documents. Therefore, the study of his life continues.
- In the homeland of the musician, two museums dedicated to him were opened. In 1907 a museum was opened in Eisenach, and in 1985 in Leipzig. By the way, in the first museum there is a lifetime portrait of the musicians, made in pastels, about which nothing was known for many years.
The most famous musical works of Bach
All the works of his authorship were combined into a single list - the BWV catalog. Each essay is assigned a number from 1 to 1127.
The catalog is convenient in that all works are divided by the type of works, and not by the year of writing.
To count how many suites Bach wrote, just look at their numbering in the catalog. For example, the French suites are numbered from 812 to 817. This means that a total of 6 suites have been written within this cycle. In total, you can count 21 suites and 15 parts of suites.
The most recognizable piece is the Scherzo in B minor from Suite for Flute and String Orchestra No. 2, called Joke. This melody was often used for calls on mobile devices, but despite this, unfortunately, not everyone will be able to name its author.
Indeed, the names of many of Bach's works are not well known, but their melodies will seem familiar to many. For example, Brandenburg Concertos, Goldberg Variations, Toccata and Fugue in D minor.