Johann Sebastian Bach (March 21, 1685 - July 28, 1750) was a German composer and organist active in the late Baroque era who has been recognized as one of greatest composers of the Western classical music tradition, often called the "master of masters."
By age 18 Bach was a church organist, and he stated his goal as composer and performer of music as follows:[1]
- "The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul. If heed is not paid to this, it is not true music but a diabolical bawling and twanging."
Biography
Bach came from an extremely musical family, which had been supported by local governments and churches throughout Germany for many years. After graduating from the St. Michael's School in Luneburg, he became a court musician in Weimar, where his fame as a keyboardist began to spread. Later in the year, Bach became the organist at St. Boniface's Church in Arnstadt with help from some family connections, where he often clashed with authorities over the quality of the choir and a long, unauthorized leave of absence where he visited the great composer Buxtehude, who became an important musical influence. After leaving the church and serving as the Kapellmeister and court organist in various cities, Bach ended up in Leipzig in 1723, where he spent the rest of his life.
Although Bach was always famous as an organist and his works have constantly been viewed as pedagogically important, his reputation among the general public was fairly low until several of his works were revived by the composer Felix Mendelssohn, most importantly an 1829 performance of the St. Matthew Passion.
Bach had several children who became famous composers in their own right, such as Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Carl Phillipp Emmanuel Bach, and Johann Christian Bach.
Music
Bach was a devout Lutheran, and much of his music was religious in nature. Bach attributed the beauty of his music to God, by writing the letters "S.D.G." or "Soli Deo Gloria" in many of his scores. He is well-known for his complete mastery of counterpoint, as well as his use of styles from many different regions of Europe. He also used the cruciform B-A-C-H motif in his work as a sign of devotion to Christ, although future composers used it to pay homage to their great predecessor.
Important works include:
- The Mass in B Minor
- The St. Matthew Passion
- The Brandenburg Concerti
- The Musical Offering
- The Art of Fugue
- The Well-Tempered Clavier
- The English and French Orchestral Suites
- The Goldberg Variations
And numerous church cantatas and organ works, notably:
- The Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor
- The Toccata and Fugue in D Minor
Some of his most famous pieces are drawn from the cantatas, including:
- Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
- Sheep may Safely Graze
Bach also had a great influence on composers who followed him. Composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, and Mendelssohn began using more contrapuntal elements in their works as a result of his influence. In addition, Chopin's Preludes Op. 28 and Shostakovich's Preludes and Fugues Op. 87 are based explicitly on the Well-Tempered Clavier. Other works that play explicit homage to Bach include Beethoven's Diabelli Variations and Liszt's Prelude and Fugue on B-A-C-H.
Important interpreters of Bach's works include:
There have also been many "modernizations" of Bach's music by artists as varied as Wendy Carlos and Jethro Tull.