JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

(1685-1750)
WHO WAS THIS MAN?
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is considered to be one of the greatest composers in Western
musical history. This assessmentwould probably have come as a great surprise to the composer,
since Bach’s musical career was very similar to that of many other successful musicians who lived
during his time in Lutheran Germany. Yet, several hundred years after his death, his music
continues to be played and studied everywhere, and the genius of his compositions continues to
influence and inspire musicians through the present day.

EARLY LIFE
J.S. Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany on March 21, 1685. He was the youngest child of Johann
Ambrosius Bach, a town and court musician, and Maria ElisabethaBach. His father began teaching
him how to play the violin at a very early age, and another relative instructed the youngest Bach on
the organ.

J.S. Bach’s parents both died when he was only 10 years old. He went to live with his older brother,
Johann ChristophBach, who was a professional organist. By the time he was in his early teens, he
had mastered a number of different instruments, and at the age of 18 he began his first job as a
“lackey and violinist” in the court orchestra in Weimar. After a short tenure with the orchestra, he
took a job as a church organist in Arnstadt.

Bach had extremely high expectations and insisted on perfectionism, both from himself and also
from fellow musicians. This did not always sit well with his colleaguesand caused him to gain a
reputation for being quarrelsome and demanding. In 1707, when he was just 22 years old, he left
his position in Arnstadt complaining of the “lousy musical standards” and took another organist
position in Muhlhausen. His stay at St. Blasius Church in Muhlhausen didn’t last long, however, and
he soon “fled” back to Weimar wherehe assumed the position of organist and concertmaster in the
Weimar Chapel. He stayed in Weimar for nine years, and it was here that he began composing
major works, including organ showpieces and cantatas (Geiringer, 1966).

EMERGING GREATNESS
As his work in Weimar became known, his growing mastery of compositional forms, such as the
fugue and the canon, began to attract a lot of interest from the musical establishment. He was soon
recognized as a brilliant, yet inflexible, musical talent, sought after for his abilities on the organ,
and performing regularly as a solo virtuoso. But, like many people with great artistic talent, he
lacked the ability to play political games, and as a result, was passed over for the much-desired
position of Kapellmeister (Chorus Master) of Weimar.

Partly in response to this rejection, he left Weimar in 1716 to become the court-conductor in Anhalt-
Cothen. During this phase in his career, he turned his attention to instrumental composition,
producing one of his most beloved works, the Brandenburg concerti (Boyd, 1983 ).

After seven years at Cothen, Bach took a highly prestigious, though demanding, position as the
cantor for the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. His duties included composing cantatas for the St.
Thomas and St. Nicholas churches, conducting the choirs, overseeing the musical activities at
numerous other churches, and teach Latin to boys in the St. Thomas choir school.

Again, he experienced some difficulties getting along with the court and the Leipzig church officials,
but his persistence and skill ensured his continued employment there. Bach held the position in
Leipzig until his death in 1750.

More than 1,000 of his compositions survive. Some

important and familiar examples include:

• Art of Fugue
• Two & Three Part Inventions
• Brandenburg Concerti
• Goldberg Variations for Harpsichord
• Mass in B-Minor
• Motets
• Easter & Christmas Oratorios
• Toccata in F Major
• French Suite No 5
• Fugue in G Major & Fugue in G Minor ("The Great")
• St. Matthew Passion
• Jesu Der Du Meine Seele

THE BACH FAMILY

In 1707, the same year that he left Arnstadt, he married his cousin Maria Barbara Bach. Together
they raised four children. Maria Barbara died while Johann Sebastian was employed in Anhalt-
Cothen. Shortly after her death, Bach remarried Anna Magdalena, for whom he composed the
charming pieces that comprise the “Notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach.” Bach had 13 children with
Anna Magdalena – six of whom survived childhood.

The family talent for music, which had been evident in J.S. Bach’s father and siblings, was passed
on to Bach’s own children. Three of his sons: Wilhelm Friedmann, Carl Philipp Emanuel, and Johann
Christian Bach, are recognized as very fine composers in their own right. Altogether, the Bach
family produced 53 highly regarded musicians over a period of 300 years.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Boyd, M. (1983). Bach. London: Dent.

Geiringer, K. (1966). Johann Sebastion Bach. New York: Oxford University Press.

Grount, D. J. (1960). A History of Western Music. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Hanford, J. a. (2008). The J.S. Bach Homepage. Retrieved from http://www.jsbach.org

Weiss, P. a. (1984). Music in the Western World: A History in Documents. New York: Schirmer Books
(Macmillan, Inc).