Sebastian Bach Accomplishments

Many musical scholars believe that J. S. Bach and G. F. Handel are the two most important, influential composers of the Baroque period. Both of these men were born in Germany in 1685, and since they came into existence around the same time, they share some similarities. As an introductory statement, Bach and Handel were born into two very different families. Handel did not come from a musical family; his father wanted him to study law. By age nine, his talent was too obvious for his father to ignore and Handel began to study with a local organist and composer. On the contrary, Bach came from a long line of musicians. Bach also had four sons which became gifted composers, in their own right. Bach, like Handel, also started as an organist

     Among the influential composers of baroque music, there have been few who have contributed so much in talent, creativity, and style as Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach was a German organist and composer of the baroque era. Bach was born on March 21, 1685 in Eisenach, Thuringia and died July 28,1750. Bach revealed his feelings and his insights in his pieces. Bach’s mastery of all the major forms of baroque music (except opera) resulted not only from his genius talent, but also from his life long quest for knowledge. In some parts of Germany, the name, “Bach” became a synonym with the word, “musician.” Extremely talented in the art of baroque composition, Bach placed his heart, soul, and

Born and raised in Eisenach, Germany John Sebastian Bach has become known as one of the great composers in Western musical history. At the young age of only nine Johns parents tragically died and he was sent to live with his brother Johann Christoph, who was an organist. Being around music because of his brother, John learned how to play the keyboard and studied composition all by himself. He worked as a court composer at Cothen, an organist, and then he worked as a musical director at St. Thomas church located in Leipzig. Where he attended and was very religious. J.S Bach produced hundreds of instrumental works, and he hand wrote hundreds of thousands of pages of sheet music.

In 1717, Bach was appointed Kapellmeister at Köthen but was refused permission to leave Weimar. He was eventually allowed to leave but only after being held prisoner by the duke for almost a month. Bach's new employer, Prince Leopold, was a talented musician who loved and understood the art. Since the court was Calvinist, Bach had no chapel duties and instead concentrated on composition. In this period he wrote his violin concertos and the six Brandenburg Concertos, as well as numerous sonatas, suites and keyboard works (p. 164, Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Vol. 1)

“Music is an agreeable harmony for the honor of God and the permissible delights of the soul.” - Johann Sebastian Bach. Born on March 21, 1685, Bach was a young instrumental prodigy, which whom took on his parents' occupation by playing the organ, violin and many other well known instruments. One of Bach's most mellifluous composed works was "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" which stunned the Duke of Weimar and his people. As like Handel, Bach started to have trouble with his sight and died of a stroke before he could see his legacy. Despite the fact of his failing eyesight, he loved God and found the best way of praising him was through song. Still to this day, Bach has been known to be one of the greatest musicians of classical

Johann bach lived in germany with his parents. He didn't play very many instruments all he play is the violin and the harpsichord. Bach had 2 wives the first one was maria barbara bach and the second one was anna magdalena bach. Bach had 20 kids 7 with the first wife 13 with

In 1706 Bach decided that he wanted to further his career in music and made the first change by leaving his organ playing position at the church and took upon a new position in Munhlhausen at the St. Blasius as an organist there (Johann Sebastian BACH). This change was for the best because the church was larger and located in a city that was important to the north. A few months after being an organist at the St. Blasius church he married his second cousin Maria Barbara Bach. After a year of Bach being a organist for St. Blasius, he was offered a better position in Weimar. Bach took the offer with pride and became their new court organist and concertmaster at the ducal court. Johann and Maria Bach decided to start their family, after their first born child, Marias unwed sister moved into their home to help with raising their children. Maria and Johann Bach had a total of seven children. The gifted musically talented family continued as two of Bach children, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach became vital composers following the baroque period.

Years later he wanted to leave to hear great organist Dietrich Buxtehude of the time perform in Lubeck. His leave was only supposed to be a short duration because leave had to be granted from the Church Council. He ended up staying three months longer than what leave he was allowed. When he came back from his leave, he had so many musical ideas and concepts he wanted to incorporate into his playing. He tried to incorporate some of these changes, but the church congregation did not respond well. The Church Council sought out to give him some sort of punishment because it was going against what they wanted. The Church Council didn’t like the changes Johann Sebastian was trying to make so they told him he needed to stop making the changes and stick with the original music. They also asked why he extended his leave for three extra months, but Bach knew that he could not defend himself because the church was not very accepting. Bach began to cause more problems when he refused to work with an undisciplined boys choir. He had heard that the organist in the town of Muhlhausen had died, so he became interested in the position there. Muhlhausen had a long standing tradition, so it was somewhere that Johann Sebastian was interested in the positon. He applied for the job and immediately had the job offered to him. This was in June of

When Bach was eight years old he went to the old Latin Grammar School. He was taught reading and writing, Latin grammar, and a great deal of scripture, both in Latin and German. The boys in the school formed the choir of the St. Georgenkirche. This also gave Bach an opportunity to sing in the regular services, as well as in the nearby villages. He has an uncommonly fine treble voice.

A perfect example of this can be seen in Arnstadt. Previous accounts of history claim that Bach was upset with the performance of the church choir for which he played for. He claimed that “the voices could never make the music soar to the sky as it should” (loosely translated). Here Bach realized the high level of music and perfectionism that he wanted. In 1707, at the age of 22, Bach moved on from Arnstadt to another organist job, this time at the St. Blasius Church in Muhlhausen. Once again he did not remain there too long, only a little over a year, when he moved again to Weimar where he accepted the position of head concertmaster and organist in the Ducal Chapel. It was here that Bach settled himself and began to compose the first collection of his finest early works which, included organ pieces and cantatas.

He was now looking for a job. He wanted the post as organist of Arnstadt where a new organ was being built. After a short period as a violinist in Weimar he was indeed offered the post in Arnstadt. However, problems arose when Bach composed a piece full of “strange” new sounds for a church service. The Council decided to be lenient with him until he refused to work with the boys’ choir and was found to have a complaint against him for entertaining a young woman in the organ loft of the church. Thus was the end of his first job. He moved on to Muhlhausen and married his cousin Maria Barbara on October 17, 1707. He got a job in Muhlhausen and set to work on the poor facilities he had to work with there. His efforts here brought about his first cantata Gott ist Mein Konig (God is My King), the only one of his cantatas to be published in his life time. This was thanks to the Council’s desire for publicity and prestige. A religious controversy soon arose and the music in Muhlhausen was in a state of decay. Bach.was off to find another job. On June 25, 1708, the Duke of Weimar offered Bach a post among the Duke’s Court chamber musicians. Bach and his wife moved to the small town of Weimar. While in Weimar Bach composed music exclusively for the organ, which he played. By 1714 Bach had moved up in status and was now the leader in the orchestra, second only to the old Kapellmeister. When the old Kapellmeister died Bach had hoped to

Bach began to play the organ, which is the instrument he would later on be noted for in history.

For many, Bach was, and still is today, considered to be a conservative, old-fashioned composer. However, there are also those who would say he was a modern innovator, if not before his time. It was the sense of complexity in Bach’s music that made many of his colleagues believe him to be old-fashioned. Bach was intrigued by counterpoint and chromatic harmony, two concepts that were not ideal in a time where simplicity (the galant style) was becoming more favored among composers. However, Bach was able to develop his musical personality utilizing what was seen as antique techniques as well as using composition methods from other countries.

The Baroque period was filled with the new idea that every issue had two sides. Great thinkers and masterminds left behind the idea that the world was either god- influenced or science-influenced. Most people embraced this notion, with the exception of a few. Johann Sebastian Bach was one of these few people. Bach, although the greatest composer of the Baroque period, led a life based on tradition and past influence, which left him virtually ignored for many years after his death.

At the age of fifteen, Bach left Ohrdruff and began to provide for himself. His career began when he obtained a position in the choir of the wealthy Michaelis monastery at Lüneburg, which was known to provide a free place for boys who were poor but with musical talent, and he earned a monthly salary of twelve groschen. Bach was praised for his unique soprano voice in Lüneburg, was a member of the top choir, and had opportunities of taking part in the works of interesting eighteenth-century composers, including Heinrich Schutz, Scheidt, Pachelbel. When he lost his soprano voice, he became a violinist in the orchestra, and played accompaniment on the harpsichord. A major influence in his life was Georg Böhm, who was the organist at St. John’s Church. Böhm was taught by the famous musician John Adam Reinken, who was the organist at St. Catherine in Hamburg. This influenced Bach to take multiple trips to Hamburg, a city with a cosmopolitan atmosphere and where music flourished. He was able to listen to the great Reincken, and even wrote organ tablatures of his work. Even as a teenager, it was clear that Bach was dedicated to his craft. He also came under the