Johann Sebastian Bach Essay -- essays research papers fc

Johann Sebastian Bach was born into a musically gifted family and was devoted to music throughput his childhood and adult years. He was taught by his father and later by his brother Johann Christoph, and was a boy soprano in Luneberg. His education was acquired largely through independent studies. In 1703 he became a violinist in the private orchestra of the prince of Weimar but left within a year to become an organist at Arnstadt. Bach went to Muhlhausen as an organist in 1707. There he married his cousin Maria Barbara Bach; together they had seven children. In 1708 he was made court organist and chamber musician at Weimar, and in 1714 he became concertmaster. In 1720 Bach’s wife died, and in 1721 he married Anna Magdalena Wulken, a woman of considerable musical cultivation; they had 13 children. In 1723 he took the important post of music director of the church of St. Thomas, Leipzig, and of its choir school; he remained in Leipzig until his death. In all his positions as choir director, Bach composed religious cantatas: a total of some 300, of which nearly 200 are in existence. Actually I think my church may have used one or more Bach’s cantatas recently. There are also over 30 secular cantatas. The bulk of his work is religious: he made four-part settings of 371 Lutheran chorales, also using many of them as the bases of organ preludes and choral works. He also composed an astonishing number of instrumental works, many of them designed for the instruction of his students. In his instrumental and choral works he perfected the art of polyphony, putting two melodies together unexpectedly, displaying an unmatched combination of inventiveness and control in his great, striding fugues. At Kothen he concentrated on instrumental compositions, especially keyboard works: the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue; the English Suites; the French Suites; the Two-Part and Three-Part Inventions, written to teach his son Wilhelm Friedemann; and Book I of the celebrated Well-Tempered Clavier. He also wrote several unaccompanied violin sonatas and cello suites, and the Brandenburg Concertos, recognized as the best concerti grossi ever composed. The St. John Passion was performed (1723) at Leipzig when Bach was a candidate for musical director at St. Thomas. His Magnificat was presented shortly after he assumed that post. Many more of his superb religious compositions followed: the ... ...ually taking on speed. She softly whispers her secrets to the flowers and they blossom excitedly as if begging to hear more. Mother Nature blows a kiss to her charges and the breeze from that kiss flows like water through the trees, flowers, and grass to spread the spring across the land. Again it is a beautiful piece, and one that will bring piece and serenity, and even a springtime beauty to almost anyone’s home. In listening to these pieces I have decided to listen intently to more of Bach’s music. I never thought of Bach as anything more than a composer that I was going to have to learn about until now. His music touches me and even brings a smile to my face when I hear it. I now know the composer that will softly lull my children to sleep at night when they have trouble sleeping. I even listen to Bach in the morning, as his music gives a calm, and somehow more beautiful start to my day. Works Cited †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://reference.allrefer.com/encyclopedia/B/Bach-JS.html   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Johann Sebastian Bach Reference Music: History, Composers, And Performers,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Biographies 3/15/04