He is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time. Bach’s abilities as an organist were respected throughout Europe during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognized as a great composer until a revival of interest and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. The music of one of them, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, was appreciated very highly from the later half of the 18th through the early 19th century, while Sebastian Bach’s music was hardly known. He received the title of “Royal Court Composer” from Augustus III in 1736. Bach’s health and vision declined in 1749, and he died on 28 July 1750.īach had four composer sons. After graduating, he held several musical posts across Germany: he served as Kapellmeister (director of music) to Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, Thomaskantor in Leipzig, a position of music director at the main Lutheran churches and educator at the Thomasschule, where he served from 1723 to his death. Michael’s School in Lüneburg for two years. His father probably taught him to play the violin and harpsichord, and his brother, Johann Christoph Bach, taught him the clavichord and exposed him to much contemporary music. Apparently at his own initiative, Bach attended St. His father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, was the director of the town musicians, and all of his uncles were professional musicians. Bach’s compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor, two Passions, and over three hundred cantatas of which nearly two hundred survive. His music is revered for its technical command, artistic beauty, and intellectual depth.īach was born in Eisenach, in the duchy of Saxe-Eisenach, into a great musical family. He enriched established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organization, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. And, for pure virtuosity, try the brilliant No.5 in which flute, violin and harpsichord steal the limelight.Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March 1685–28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. So we leap from the dizzying heights of the outlandishly difficult trumpet-writing that colours the second Brandenburg Concerto, to No.6, which gets its dark shades from the lack of violins. Many Baroque composers wrote dozens, or even hundreds, of concertos but Bach managed to sum up the entire genre with only six, each featuring a different line-up of soloists with a wide range of moods and even structures (shocking in an era when concertos were supposed to have three movements: fast-slow-fast). Listen to the best of Bach on Apple Music and Spotify. He said, “Music’s only purpose should be the glory of God and the recreation of the human spirit.” Scroll down to discover our selection of the best Bach works featuring 10 masterpieces by the great composer. Bach composed for every musical genre of his time, apart from opera, and ultimately his aim was to glorify God. Yet, when it came to the quality of his work, he produced more jewels than Bvlgari. In his own day, he was famed chiefly for his keyboard skills, and much of his time was spent writing for the churches where he worked. Johann Sebastian Bach would probably be astounded at his reputation as one of the greatest composers – perhaps the greatest composer – of all time.
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