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Where did bang work. Last illness and death

Johann Sebastian Bach is a German composer and musician of the Baroque era, who collected and combined in his work the traditions and the most significant achievements of European musical art, and also enriched all this with a virtuoso use of counterpoint and a subtle sense of perfect harmony. Bach is the greatest classic who left a huge legacy that has become the golden fund of world culture. This is a universal musician, who covered almost all known genres in his work. Creating immortal masterpieces, he turned each measure of his compositions into small works, then combining them into priceless creations of exceptional beauty and expressiveness, perfect in form, which vividly reflected the diverse spiritual world of man.

Biography

Little Johann Sebastian Bach with his family

Johann Sebastian was born on March 31, 1685 in the German town of Eisenach. In a large Bach family, he was the youngest, eighth child (four of them died in infancy). Since the beginning of the 16th century, their family was famous for its musicality, many of his relatives and ancestors were professionals in music (researchers counted about fifty of them). The great-great-grandfather of the composer, Veit Bach, was a baker and played the zither very well (this is such a plucked musical instrument in the form of a box).

The boy's father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, played the violin in the Eisenach Church and worked as a court accompanist (in this position he organized secular concerts). The elder brother, Johann Christoph Bach, served as an organist in the church. So many trumpeters, organists, violinists and flutists came out of their family that the surname "Bach" became a household name, as any more or less worthy musician was called, first in Eisenach, and then throughout Germany.

With such relatives, it is natural that little Johann Sebastian began to study music before he learned to speak. He received his first violin lessons from his father and greatly pleased his parent with his greed for musical knowledge, diligence and abilities. The boy had an excellent voice (soprano) and, while still very young, soloed in the choir of the city school. No one doubted his future profession; Sebastian must have turned out to be a musician.

When he was nine years old, his mother Elizabeth Lemmerhirt died. A year later, the father also died, but the child was not left alone, his older brother Johann Christoph took him to him. He was a sedate and respected musician and teacher in Ohrdruf. Together with his students, Johann Christoph taught his younger brother to play church music on the harpsichord.

However, to young Sebastian, these activities seemed monotonous, boring and painful. He began to educate himself, especially when he found out that his older brother had a notebook with works by famous composers in a closed closet. At night, young Bach entered the closet, took out a notebook and copied notes by the light of the moon.

From such a tedious night work, the young man's eyesight began to deteriorate. What a shame it was when the elder brother found Sebastian doing such an activity and took away all the records.

Music

In 1703, after graduating from the gymnasium in Lüneburg, Johann Bach got a job as a court musician in the chapel of the Weimar Duke Johann Ernst. Bach played the violin for six months and gained his first popularity as a performer. But soon Johann Sebastian got tired of pleasing the ears of the masters by playing the violin - he dreamed of developing and opening up new horizons in art. Therefore, without hesitation, he agreed to take the vacant position of court organist in the church of St. Boniface in Arnstadt, which is 200 kilometers from Weimar.

Johann Bach worked three days a week and received a high salary. The church organ, tuned according to the new system, expanded the possibilities of the young performer and composer: in Arnstadt, Bach wrote three dozen organ works, capriccios, cantatas and suites. But tense relations with the authorities pushed Johann Bach to leave the city after three years.

The last straw that outweighed the patience of the church authorities was the long excommunication of the musician from Arnstadt. The inert churchmen, who already disliked the musician for his innovative approach to the performance of cult spiritual works, gave Bach a humiliating trial for a trip to Lübeck.

The famous organist Dietrich Buxtehude lived and worked in the city, whose improvisations on the organ Bach dreamed of listening to from childhood. Having no money for a carriage, Johann went to Lübeck on foot in the autumn of 1705. The play of the master shocked the musician: instead of the allotted month, he stayed in the city for four.

After returning to Arnstadt and arguing with his superiors, Johann Bach left his "familiar place" and went to the Thuringian city of Mühlhausen, where he found work as an organist in the church of St. Blaise.

The city authorities and the church authorities favored the talented musician, his earnings were higher than in Arnstadt. Johann Bach proposed an economical plan for the restoration of the old organ, approved by the authorities, and wrote a festive cantata "The Lord is my king", dedicated to the inauguration of the new consul.

But a year later, the wind of wandering "removed" Johann Sebastian from his place and transferred him to the previously abandoned Weimar. In 1708, Bach took the place of court organist and settled in a house next to the ducal palace.

The "Weimar period" of Johann Bach's biography turned out to be fruitful: the composer composed dozens of clavier and orchestral works, got acquainted with the work of Vivaldi and Corelli, learned to use dynamic rhythms and harmonic schemes. Communication with the employer - Crown Duke Johann Ernst, a composer and musician, influenced Bach's work. In 1713, the duke brought from Italy the notes of musical works by local composers, which opened up new horizons in art for Johann Bach.

In Weimar, Johann Bach began work on the Organ Book, a collection of choral preludes for organ, composed the majestic organ Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Passacaglia in C Minor, and 20 spiritual cantatas.

By the end of his service in Weimar, Johann Sebastian Bach had become a well-known harpsichord maker and organist. In 1717, the famous French harpsichordist Louis Marchand arrived in Dresden. The concertmaster Volumier, having heard about Bach's talent, invited the musician to compete with Marchand. But on the day of the competition, Louis ran away from the city, afraid of failure.

The desire for change called Bach on the road in the autumn of 1717. The Duke released his beloved musician "with an expression of disgrace." The organist was hired as bandmaster by Prince Anhalt-Ketensky, who was well versed in music. But the prince's commitment to Calvinism did not allow Bach to compose refined music for worship, so Johann Sebastian wrote mainly secular works.

In the "Keten" period, Johann Bach composed six suites for cello, French and English clavier suites, three sonatas for violin solos. The famous "Brandenburg Concertos" and a cycle of works, including 48 preludes and fugues, called "The Well-Tempered Clavier" appeared in Kothen. At the same time, Bach wrote two-part and three-part inventions, which he called "symphonies".

In 1723, Johann Bach took a job as cantor of the choir of St. Thomas in the church of Leipzig. In the same year, the audience heard the composer's work, The Passion According to John. Soon Bach took the position of "music director" of all city churches. For 6 years of the "Leipzig period" Johann Bach wrote 5 annual cycles of cantatas, two of which are lost.

The city council gave the composer 8 choral performers, but this number was extremely small, so Bach hired up to 20 musicians himself, which caused frequent clashes with the authorities.

In the 1720s, Johann Bach composed mainly cantatas for performance in the churches of Leipzig. Wishing to expand the repertoire, the composer wrote secular works. In the spring of 1729, the musician was appointed head of the College of Music, a secular ensemble founded by Bach's friend Georg Philipp Telemann. The ensemble held two-hour concerts twice a week throughout the year at the Zimmerman Coffee House next to the market square.

Most of the secular works composed by the composer from 1730 to 1750, Johann Bach wrote for performance in a coffee house.

These include the playful "Coffee Cantata", the comic "Peasant Cantata", clavier pieces and concertos for cello and harpsichord. During these years, the famous "Mass in B minor" was written, which is called the best choral work of all time.

For spiritual performance, Bach created the High Mass in B minor and the St. Matthew Passion, receiving from the court as a reward for his work the title of royal Polish and Saxon court composer.

In 1747, Johann Bach visited the court of King Frederick II of Prussia. The grandee offered the composer a musical theme and asked him to write an improvisation. Bach, a master of improvisation, immediately composed a three-voice fugue. Soon he supplemented it with a cycle of variations on this theme, called it "Musical Offering" and sent it as a gift to Frederick II.

Another large cycle, called The Art of the Fugue, Johann Bach did not finish. The sons published the cycle after the death of their father.

In the last decade, the composer's fame has faded: classicism flourished, contemporaries considered Bach's style old-fashioned. But young composers, brought up on the works of Johann Bach, revered him. The work of the great organist was loved by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

The surge of interest in the music of Johann Bach and the revival of the composer's fame began in 1829. In March, pianist and composer Felix Mendelssohn organized a concert in Berlin, where the work "St. Matthew Passion" was performed. An unexpectedly loud resonance followed, the performance gathered thousands of spectators. Mendelssohn went with concerts to Dresden, Konigsberg and Frankfurt.

The work of Johann Bach "Musical Joke" is still one of the favorites for thousands of performers in the world. Fervent, melodic, tender music sounds in different variations, adapted to playing on modern instruments.

Bach's music is popularized by Western and Russian musicians. The Swingle Singers released their debut album, Jazz Sebastian Bach, which brought the group of eight vocalists worldwide fame and a Grammy Award.

The music of Johann Bach and jazz musicians Jacques Loussier and Joel Spiegelman were processed. The Russian performer Fyodor Chistyakov tried to pay tribute to the genius.

Personal life

By a strange pattern, people who are talented in one thing are often deprived of other opportunities and advantages by fate. Therefore, often the personal life of celebrities does not develop in the best way, but Master Bach was lucky - he had no problems with this.

Wives and children

Wife Maria Barbara

While working as an organist in the town of Mühlhausen in northern Germany, Johann began to visit his uncle Michael Bach frequently. There he met on a short leg with his cousin Maria Barbara, with whom he immediately fell in love. The wedding took place in the village of Dornheim on the seventeenth of October of the seventh year. Little is known about this marriage, but the couple were pleased with each other and had seven children, of whom only four survived.

Catherine Dorothea.
Wilhelm Friedman.
Carl Philip Emmanuel.
Gottfried Bernhard.

In 1720, just at the moment when her husband was not at home, Maria died unexpectedly, which he found out only a couple of weeks later, when he returned. Historians believe that a healthy and strong woman could be killed by an infection or complications during another pregnancy.

Without having to indulge in suffering for a long time, already in the twenty-first year, Johann Sebastian met the young and dazzlingly beautiful Anna Magdalena, the daughter of a trumpeter and a singer with an angelic soprano. In early December of the same year, a wedding was played. Thirteen children were born in the marriage, although only six managed to survive.

Gottfried Heinrich.
Elizabeth Juliana Frederica.
Christoph Friedrich.
Christian.
Caroline.
Regina Suzanne.

The marriage was considered quite happy, the wife helped her husband in everything, and when he suddenly became blind, she wrote down notes and scores under his dictation. After the death of their father, the children quarreled over the inheritance and parted in different directions.

The Death of Bach (1750)

In 1749, the composer's health deteriorated. Bach Johann Sebastian, whose biography ends in 1750, began to suddenly lose his sight and turned to the English ophthalmologist John Taylor for help, who performed 2 operations in March-April 1750. However, both were unsuccessful. The composer's vision never returned. On July 28, at the age of 65, Johann Sebastian passed away. Modern newspapers wrote that "death was the result of an unsuccessful operation on the eyes." Currently, historians consider the cause of the composer's death to be a stroke complicated by pneumonia.

Carl Philipp Emmanuel, son of Johann Sebastian, and his student Johann Friedrich Agricola wrote an obituary. It was published in 1754 by Lorenz Christoph Mitzler in a musical magazine. Johann Sebastian Bach, whose brief biography is presented above, was originally buried in Leipzig, near the Church of St. John. The grave remained untouched for 150 years. Later, in 1894, the remains were transferred to a special storage in the Church of St. John, and in 1950 - to the Church of St. Thomas, where the composer still rests.

Some interesting moments from the life and work of the composer, musician and virtuoso:

After studying the history of the family, 56 musicians were found among the relatives of the virtuoso.
The musician's surname is translated from German as "stream".
Having once heard a work, the composer could repeat it without error, which he did repeatedly.
Throughout his life, the musician moved eight times.
Thanks to Bach, women were allowed to sing in church choirs. His second wife became the first chorus girl.
He wrote more than 1000 works in his entire life, therefore he is rightfully considered the most "prolific" author.
In the last years of his life, the composer was almost blind, and the operations performed on his eyes did not help.
The grave of the composer for a long time remained without a tombstone.
Until now, not all the facts of the biography are known, some of them are not confirmed by documents. Therefore, the study of his life continues.

Quotes: 1. The goal and ultimate end of all music should be nothing other than the glorification of God and the restoration of the soul. 2. I had to work hard. The one who will be as industrious will achieve the same success. 3. Where there is godly music, God is always there with his gracious presence. 4. The purpose of music is to touch hearts. 5. It is very easy to play any musical instrument: all that is required for this is to press the right key at the right time. And he will play himself.

Achievements and contributions:

Professional, social position: Johann Sebastian Bach, German composer and organist.
Main contribution (what is known): Bach is considered the greatest composer of the Baroque era and one of the greatest composers of all time. Among his famous compositions and masterpieces: "Toccata and Fugue in D minor." "Mass in B Minor," "Brandenburg Concertos," and "The Well-Tempered Clavier."
Contributions: Johann Sebastian Bach, German composer, organist, considered one of the greatest and most influential composers in history. Bach is one of the outstanding representatives of the world humanistic culture.
He is the author of choral, vocal organ, chamber and orchestral music, as well as music for concerts.
His creative contribution was enormous and included more than 1000 musical works, namely: cantatas, concertos, oratorios, passions and magnificats, works for organ, masses, chorale preludes, passions and magnificats, fugues, sonatas and suites for solo instruments.
During his lifetime, Bach was better known as an organist than as a composer, but it was not until the 19th century that his genius was recognized, in particular by Romantic composers such as Mendelssohn and Schumann. Since that time, his fame began to grow steadily.
Bach's vast creative heritage can be divided into three areas - organ (Arnstadt and Weimar period), instrumental (Kothen period), vocal-dramatic, mainly associated with Leipzig.
In the first decades after his death, his work was forgotten and it was not until the 19th century that his genius was widely recognized. Each of Bach's famous works has been assigned a BWV number (abbreviation for Bach Werke Verzeichnis - Catalog of Bach's Works).
He found a universal structure that easily and transparently conveyed the sound of eternity, the melody of higher spheres and deep human meanings. The music of Bach (der Bach - German stream) is an inexhaustible source of the highest aspirations and the most profound experiences of the human spirit. His works were based on a structural principle - a symmetrical concentric form in which the polyphonic (horizontal) and harmonic (vertical) balanced each other, in which the dramatic scope and freedom of form were organized by a dominant idea and deep inner concentration.
creative style: The formation of Bach's creative style took place through the absorption and organic fusion of various musical styles, schools and genres. Bach copied the works of many French and Italian composers for himself in order to understand their musical language. He enriched and saturated his works with North German contrapuntal style, rhythms, forms and texts of Italian and French music, as well as Lutheran liturgy. The interpenetration of various genres and styles in his work was in harmony with the universality and cosmic nature of musical thought, with the depth and poignancy of human experiences. Bach's musical style is characterized by an extraordinary mastery of melodic structure, in which a single musical idea dominates the movement of the melody, as well as an extraordinary mastery of the technique of counterpoint, which allows two or more melodies to interact simultaneously. Bach was an unsurpassed master of polyphony, he was distinguished by a penchant for improvisation on the keyboard, a brilliant virtuoso style, including the use of all fingers of both hands.
Main works: Brandenburg Concertos, Goldberg Variations, Well-Tempered Clavier, English and French Suites, Mass in B Minor, Matthew Passion, John Passion, Magnificat, Musical Offering, Fugue Art, Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin.

Career and personal life:

Origin: He was born at Eisenach in Thuringia on March 21, 1685, the same year that his great contemporary Handel was born. He was the youngest and eighth child of Johann Ambrosius Bach, city musician, and Maria Elisabeth Lemmerhirt.
Education: His father taught him to play the violin and harpsichord. His uncles were also professional musicians and one of them, Johann Christoph Bach, who was especially famous, taught him the art of playing the organ. At this time, he sang soprano in the choir of the city school in Lüneberg.
The main stages of professional activity: He lived briefly in Lüneburg 1700-1702 and in 1703 became a violinist in the prince's private orchestra in Weimar. In the same year he moved to Arnstadt, where he worked as organist from 1703 to 1707.
In 1707 Bach traveled to Mühlhausen, where he obtained a lucrative position as organist. There he married his cousin Maria Barbara Bach, who bore him seven children, three of whom died in childhood.
In 1708 he became court organist and organizer of concerts in Weimar. This was his first major appointment and in 1714 he became accompanist.
In 1717 he moved to Köthen, where he was hired by Leopold Anhalt as bandmaster. This was followed by six years of stay (1717 - 1723) in Köthen, where he worked as a court musician.
From 1703 in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen, he had already begun to create his first organ preludes. In 1708, for the inauguration of the new consul, he wrote the festive cantata "The Lord is my king", BWV 71.
In Weimar (1708-1717) Bach wrote most of his works for organ: Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, most of the great preludes and fugues - 45 choral preludes, which were collected in a small Organ Notebook.
The so-called Brandenburg Concertos were not written all at once, and not all together. Researchers suggest that Nos. 1, 3, and 6 may have been written much earlier, in Bach's Weimar period (1708-1717), while 2, 4, and 5 were most likely written in Köthen. Later, Bach collected 6 concertos together and dedicated them to the Margrave of Brandenburg, in the hope of finding a new job with him.
In Köthen (1717-1723) he concentrated on creating instrumental compositions, especially works for the clavier: Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue; English and French suites for the clavier, two-part and three-part inventions written for the education of the son of Wilhelm Friedemann, and the first volume of a great work called The Well-Tempered Clavier (1722). In the same period, the famous Brandenburg Concertos (No. 2, 4, 5) (1711–20) were also written, recognized as the best concertos ever written.
In 1723 he finally moved to Leipzig, where he assumed the important post of musical director of the St. Thomas Church, as well as the choir school, which was responsible for the condition and quality of church music in the city's five main churches.
In Leipzig (1723-1750) he wrote the St. John Passion (1723) and more than 200 church cantatas. His orchestral works include four orchestral suites and numerous harpsichord concertos. His Magnificat (1723) was presented shortly after he took office.
Later, he created such excellent religious compositions as: Matthew Passion (1729), "High Mass, h-moll," Mass in B minor (1733-1738, 1749), Christmas Oratorio (1734), as well as 6 hymns. The main work for harpsichord was the second volume of the Well-Tempered Clavier (1744).
His last works were The Musical Offering (1747) dedicated to Frederick the Great and The Art of the Fugue (1749).
The main stages of personal life: Born into a gifted musical family, Bach devoted himself to music from childhood. When he was nine he lost his mother, and the next year his father.
He had an insatiable passion for music, and it happened that he traveled long distances on foot to hear the organists, Reinken Johann Adam (in Hamburg) and Buxtehude (in Lübeck).
From 1685 to 1695 he lived in Eisenach and in 1695 moved to Ohrdruf, where he began to study the structure of the organ.
In 1720 his wife died and in 1721 he married Anna Magdalena Wilken, a 19 year old girl. Helping her husband, she often rewrote his works.
Bach had 20 children. His first wife, Maria Barbara Bach, bore him seven children, three of whom died in childhood. The second wife, Anna Magdalena Wilken, gave birth to 13 children, 6 of whom survived to adulthood.
Some of his children were also musicians. Four of Bach's sons were exceptionally musically gifted. The eldest of them, Wilhelm Friedemann (1710-1784), an outstanding organist, as a virtuoso was not inferior to his father. In addition, Bach was the grandfather of the composer Johann Christian Bach (1735-82). In Germany, the name Bach became synonymous with the urban musician.
Despite the fact that Bach lived a difficult life, full of hardships and losses, he remained a simple and kind person. He smoked a pipe and liked beer. "Coffee Cantata" was composed in Zimmermann's coffee house.
Georg Friedrich Handel, Bach's age, lived in Halle, only 50 kilometers from Leipzig, and the great composers never met.
In the last years of his life, his eyesight began to deteriorate and in 1749 he underwent two operations to restore his vision. He remained in Leipzig until his death on 28 July 1750. He is buried in St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, Germany.
Bach was soon forgotten. His wife Anna Magdalena and younger daughter Regina died in poverty.
Zest: During his life he lived and worked in different places: Eisenach (1685-1695), Ohrdruf (1695-1700), Lüneburg (1700-1702), Weimar (1703), Arnstadt (1703-1707), Mühlhausen (1707-1708) ), Weimar (1708-1717), Köthen (1717-1723), Leipzig (1723-1750). The main reasons for moving were unsatisfactory working conditions, dependent position, lack of creative freedom. Once, in 1717, when Bach decided to move to another place of work, the Duke of Weimar ordered the arrest of the composer and even imprisoned him for one month.

Born (21) March 31, 1685 in the city of Eisenach. In little Bach, a passion for music was originally laid down, because his ancestors were professional musicians.

Music training

At the age of ten, after the death of his parents, Johann Bach was taken in by his brother Johann Christoph. He taught the future composer to play the clavier and organ.

At the age of 15, Bach entered the vocal school named after St. Michael, in the city of Lüneburg. There he gets acquainted with the work of modern musicians, develops comprehensively. During 1700-1703 the musical biography of Johann Sebastian Bach begins. He wrote the first organ music.

In service

After graduation, Johann Sebastian was sent to Duke Ernst as a musician at the court. Dissatisfaction with a dependent position forces him to change jobs. In 1704, Bach received the post of organist of the New Church in Arndstadt. The brief content of the article does not make it possible to dwell in detail on the work of the great composer, but it was at this time that he created many talented works. Collaboration with the poet Christian Friedrich Heinrici, court musician Telemachus enriched the music with new motives. In 1707 Bach moved to Mühlhusen, continued to work as a church musician and engage in creativity. The authorities are satisfied with his work, the composer receives a reward.

Personal life

In 1707 Bach married his cousin Maria Barbara. He again decided to change jobs, this time becoming court organist in Weimar. In this city, six children are born in the musician's family. Three died in infancy, and three become well-known musicians in the future.

In 1720, Bach's wife died, but a year later the composer married again, now to the famous singer Anna Magdalena Wilhelm. The happy family had 13 children.

Continuation of the creative path

In 1717, Bach entered the service of the Duke of Anhalt - Köthen, who highly appreciated his talent. During the period from 1717 to 1723, Bach's magnificent suites appeared (for orchestra, cello, clavier).

Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, English and French suites were written in Köthen.

In 1723, the musician received the position of cantor and teacher of music and Latin in the Church of St. Thomas, then became musical director in Leipzig. Johann Sebastian Bach's wide repertoire included both secular and brass music. During his life, Johann Sebastian Bach managed to visit the head of the music college. Several cycles of the composer Bach used all kinds of instruments ("Musical Offering", "The Art of the Fugue")

last years of life

In the last years of his life, Bach was rapidly losing his sight. His music was then considered unfashionable, outdated. Despite this, the composer continued to work. In 1747, he creates a cycle of plays called "Music of the Offering", dedicated to the Prussian King Frederick II. The last work was the collection of works "The Art of the Fugue", which included 14 fugues and 4 canons.

Johann Sebastian Bach died on July 28, 1750 in Leipzig, but his musical legacy remains immortal.

A brief biography of Bach does not give a complete picture of the complex life path of the composer, of his personality. You can get acquainted with his fate and work in detail by reading the books of Johann Forkel, Robert Franz, Albert Schweitzer.

Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the greatest and most famous composers. He wrote many magnificent pieces of music that are still listened to and admired by millions of people around the world. Let's learn more about the life of this outstanding German composer.

Johann Sebastian Bach: biography

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in 1685, March 31, in Germany, in the city of Eisenach. His parents were German musician and conductor Johann Ambrosius Bach and Elisabeth Lemmerhirt. Johann Sebastian's mother died when he was 9 years old, and his father died a year later. Then his elder brother, Johann Christoph, an organist, took him to his care in the city of Ohrdruf. He taught the boy music, in particular, playing the organ and clavier. A few years later he died, and Bach left for Lüneburg, where he entered a vocal school. During his studies, he often visited the cities of Hamburg and Celle, where he heard the works of many of his famous contemporaries.

In 1703, Johann Sebastian Bach became court musician to Duke Johann Ernst in Weimar. After some time, he was invited to Arnstadt to the church of St. Boniface for the position of organist. At this time, the composer created several works for organ. In 1705 Bach traveled to Lübeck to meet the outstanding German organist Dietrich Buxtehude. After 2 years, Johann Sebastian began to work in the church of St. Blaise in Mühlhausen. In the same year, 1707, he married Maria Barbara Bach, his cousin. In the future, they had 7 children, 3 of whom died in childhood.

In 1708 Johann Sebastian Bach returned to Weimar and became court organist. There he worked until 1717. During this time, Bach composed many pieces of music for various instruments. The fame of him as a performer has spread widely. In 1717, the French organist and pianist Louis Marchand arrived in Dresden. Bach and Marchand were invited to take part in a musical competition between them, both agreed, but Marchand, who heard Bach play, unexpectedly left Dresden.

In 1718, the composer received the post of court bandmaster from Prince Anhalt-Ketensky. Bach's wife, Maria Barbara, died in 1720. A year later, Johann Sebastian met the German singer Anna Magdalena Wilke, whom he soon married. Later they had 13 children, 7 of them died in childhood. After 3 years, in 1723, Bach changed his job to the school of St. Thomas in Leipzig, where he became the cantor of the choir. There he worked until his death, and during these years most of his famous musical works were written. Over time, the composer had serious vision problems. In 1750, Bach was operated on, but this did not improve, and he became blind. Johann Sebastian Bach died on July 28 of the same year in Leipzig.

Works by Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach wrote more than a thousand pieces of music in a variety of genres. Known for his music for organ, harpsichord, orchestra, as well as vocal works.

1. Organ works.

Bach's works for organ include preludes, toccatas, fantasies, and fugues. Known for his "Organ Book", which contains 46 preludes, 6 tri-sonatas, Leipzig chorales, the collection "Clavier-Übung" (3rd part).

2. Keyboard works.

Speaking of Bach's works for keyboards, one cannot fail to mention the collection "The Well-Tempered Clavier". It contains 48 preludes and fugues for each key. Johann Sebastian also wrote 15 two-part and 15 three-part inventions. Known for his English and French suites, French-style Overture, Italian Concerto, Goldberg Variations.

3. Works for orchestra.

One of Bach's most famous works for orchestra is the Brandenburg Concertos. Famous for his "Joke" - the last part of the Second Suite - and "Aria" - 2nd part of the Third Suite. The composer also wrote 2 violin concertos, a concerto for 2 violins in D minor, concertos for claviers and chamber orchestra, suites for violin, cello, flute, lute.

4. Vocal works.

Bach wrote more than 300 cantatas, including "Christ lag in Todesbanden", "Ein' feste Burg", "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme", "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben". secular, it is, for example, "Coffee" and "Peasant. " Known works "Passion according to John" and "Passion according to Matthew", as well as Christmas and Easter oratorios, Mass in B minor.

Bach Johann Sebastian, whose biography is of interest to many music lovers, has become one of the greatest composers in its history. In addition, he was a performer, a virtuoso organist, and a talented teacher. In this article, we will look at the life of Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as present his work. The composer's works are often heard in concert halls around the world.

Johann Sebastian Bach (March 31 (21 - old style) 1685 - July 28, 1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque era. He enriched the musical style created in Germany thanks to his mastery of counterpoint and harmony, adapted foreign rhythms and forms, borrowed, in particular, from Italy and France. Bach's works are "Goldberg Variations", "Brandenburg Concertos", "Mass in B Minor", more than 300 cantatas, of which 190 have survived, and many other compositions. His music is considered highly technical, filled with artistic beauty and intellectual depth.

Johann Sebastian Bach. short biography

Bach was born in Eisenach into a family of hereditary musicians. His father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, was the founder of the city's music concerts, and all his uncles were professional performers. The composer's father taught his son to play the violin and harpsichord, and his brother, Johann Christoph, taught the clavichord, and also introduced Johann Sebastian to modern music. Partly on his own initiative, Bach attended St. Michael's Vocal School in Lüneburg for 2 years. After certification, he held several musical positions in Germany, in particular, the court musician of Duke Johann Ernst in Weimar, the caretaker of the organ in the church named after St. Boniface, located in Arnstadt.

In 1749, Bach's eyesight and general health deteriorated, and he died in 1750, on July 28. Modern historians believe that the cause of his death was a combination of stroke and pneumonia. The fame of Johann Sebastian as a magnificent organist spread throughout Europe during Bach's lifetime, although he was not yet so popular as a composer. As a composer, he became known a little later, in the first half of the 19th century, when interest in his music revived. Currently, Bach Johann Sebastian, whose biography is presented in a more complete version below, is considered one of the greatest musical creators in history.

Childhood (1685 - 1703)

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, in 1685, on March 21, according to the old style (according to the new one, on the 31st of the same month). He was the son of Johann Ambrosius and Elisabeth Lemmerhirt. The composer became the eighth child in the family (the eldest son at the time of Bach's birth was 14 years older than him). The mother of the future composer died in 1694, and his father eight months later. Bach at that time was 10 years old, and he moved to live with Johann Christoph, his older brother (1671 - 1731). There he studied, performed and rewrote music, including his brother's, despite being forbidden to do so. From Johann Christoph, he adopted many knowledge in the field of music. At the same time, Bach studied theology, Latin, Greek, French, Italian at the local gymnasium. As Johann Sebastian Bach later admitted, the classics inspired and amazed him from the very beginning.

Arnstadt, Weimar and Mühlhausen (1703 - 1717)

In 1703, after finishing his studies at St. Michael's School in Lüneburg, the composer was appointed court musician to Duke Johann Ernst III's chapel in Weimar. During his seven-month stay there, Bach established a reputation as an excellent keyboard player, and he was invited to a new position as caretaker of the organ at the church of St. Boniface, located in Arnstadt, 30 km southwest of Weimar. Despite good family connections and his own musical enthusiasm, tensions arose with his superiors after several years of service. In 1706, Bach was offered the post of organist at St. Blaise's (Mühlhausen), which he took up the following year. The new position paid much more, included much better working conditions, as well as a more professional choir with which Bach was to work. Four months later, the wedding of Johann Sebastian and Maria Barbara took place. They had seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood, including Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel, who later became well-known composers.

In 1708, Johann Sebastian Bach, whose biography took a new direction, leaves Mühlhausen and returns to Weimar, this time as an organist, and since 1714 as a concert organizer, and has the opportunity to work with more professional musicians. In this city, the composer continues to play and compose works for the organ. He also began to write preludes and fugues, which later became part of his monumental work, The Well-Tempered Clavier, which consisted of two volumes. Each of them includes preludes and fugues, written in all possible minor and major keys. Also in Weimar, the composer Johann Sebastian Bach set to work on the work "Organ Book", containing Lutheran chorales, a collection of choral preludes for organ. In 1717 he fell out of favor in Weimar, was taken into custody for almost a month and subsequently removed from office.

Köthen (1717 - 1723)

Leopold (an important person - Prince Anhalt-Köthen) offered Bach the job of bandmaster in 1717. Prince Leopold, being himself a musician, admired the talent of Johann Sebastian, paid him well and gave him considerable freedom in composing and performing. The prince was a Calvinist, and they do not use complex and sophisticated music in worship, respectively, the work of Johann Sebastian Bach of that period was secular and included orchestral suites, suites for cello solo, for clavier, as well as the famous Brandenburg Concertos. In 1720, on July 7, his wife Maria Barbara dies, having given birth to seven children. The composer's acquaintance with his second wife takes place next year. Johann Sebastian Bach, whose works are gradually gaining popularity, marries a girl named Anna Magdalena Wilke, a singer (soprano), in 1721, on December 3rd.

Leipzig (1723 - 1750)

In 1723, Bach received a new position, starting to work as cantor of the choir of St. Thomas. It was a prestigious service in Saxony, which the composer carried for 27 years, until his death. Bach's duties included teaching students how to sing and writing church music for the main churches in Leipzig. Johann Sebastian was also supposed to give Latin lessons, but he had the opportunity to hire a special person instead of himself. During Sunday services, as well as on holidays, cantatas were required for worship in the church, and the composer usually performed his own compositions, most of which appeared in the first 3 years of his stay in Leipzig.

Johann Sebastian Bach, whose authorship of classics is now well known to many people, expanded his composing and performing possibilities in March 1729 by taking charge of the College of Music, a secular gathering under the composer Georg Philipp Telemann. The college was one of dozens of private societies that were popular at that time in large German cities, created on the initiative of students in musical institutions. These associations played an important role in German musical life, being led for the most part by eminent specialists. Many of Bach's works from the period 1730-1740s. were written and performed at the College of Music. The last major work of Johann Sebastian - "Mass in B minor" (1748-1749), which was recognized as his most global church work. Although the Mass was never performed in its entirety during the author's lifetime, it is considered one of the composer's most outstanding works.

The Death of Bach (1750)

Organ creativity

Most of all, during his lifetime, Bach was known precisely as an organist and composer of organ music, which he wrote in all traditional German genres (preludes, fantasies). The favorite genres in which Johann Sebastian Bach created are toccata, fugue, choral preludes. His organ work is very diverse. At a young age, Johann Sebastian Bach (we have already briefly touched on his biography) earned a reputation as a very creative composer, able to adapt many foreign styles to the requirements of organ music. He was greatly influenced by the traditions of Northern Germany, in particular Georg Böhm, whom the composer met in Lüneburg, and Dietrich Buxtehude, whom Johann Sebastian visited in 1704 during an extended vacation. Around the same time, Bach rewrote the works of many Italian and French composers, and later Vivaldi's violin concertos, in order to breathe new life into them already as works for organ performance. During the most productive creative period (from 1708 to 1714), Johann Sebastian Bach wrote fugues and toccatas, several dozen pairs of preludes and fugues, and the Organ Book, an unfinished collection of 46 choral preludes. After leaving Weimar, the composer writes less organ music, although he creates a number of well-known works.

Other works for clavier

Bach wrote a great deal of harpsichord music, some of which can be played on the clavichord. Many of these writings are encyclopedic, incorporating the theoretical methods and techniques that Johann Sebastian Bach liked to use. The works (list) are presented below:

The Well-Tempered Clavier is a two-volume work. Each volume contains preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys in use, arranged in chromatic order.
Inventions and overtures. These two- and three-part works are in the same order as the Well-Tempered Clavier, with the exception of some rare keys. They were created by Bach for educational purposes.
3 collections of dance suites, "French suites", "English suites" and scores for clavier.
"Goldberg Variations".
Various pieces such as "French Style Overture", "Italian Concerto".

Orchestral and chamber music

Johann Sebastian also wrote works for individual instruments, duets and small ensembles. Many of them, such as partitas and sonatas for solo violin, six different suites for solo cello, partita for solo flute, are considered among the most outstanding in the composer's repertoire. Johann Sebastian wrote Bach symphonies, and also created several compositions for solo lute. He also created trio sonatas, solo sonatas for flute and viola da gamba, a large number of ricercars and canons. For example, the cycles "Art of the Fugue", "Musical Offering". Bach's most famous orchestral work is the Brandenburg Concertos, so named because Johann Sebastian submitted it in the hope of getting a work from Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Swedish in 1721. His attempt, however, was unsuccessful. The genre of this work is concerto grosso. Other surviving works by Bach for orchestra: 2 violin concertos, a concerto written for two violins (key "D minor"), concertos for clavier and chamber orchestra (from one to four instruments).

Vocal and choral compositions

Cantatas. Beginning in 1723, Bach worked in the church of St. Thomas, and every Sunday, as well as on holidays, he led the performance of cantatas. Although he sometimes staged cantatas by other composers, Johann Sebastian wrote at least 3 cycles of his works in Leipzig, not counting those composed in Weimar and Mühlhausen. In total, more than 300 cantatas were created on spiritual topics, of which approximately 200 have survived.
Motets. Motets, authored by Johann Sebastian Bach, are works on spiritual themes for choir and basso continuo. Some of them were composed for funeral ceremonies.
Passions, or passions, oratorios and magnificats. Bach's major works for choir and orchestra are the John Passion, the Matthew Passion (both written for Good Friday in the churches of St. Thomas and St. Nicholas) and the Christmas Oratorio (a cycle of 6 cantatas intended for the celebration ). Shorter compositions - "Easter Oratorio" and "Magnificat".
"Mass in B minor". Bach created his last major work, Mass in B Minor, between 1748 and 1749. "Mass" was never staged in its entirety during the composer's lifetime.

musical style

Bach's musical style was shaped by his talent for counterpoint, ability to lead the motive, flair for improvisation, interest in the music of Northern and Southern Germany, Italy and France, as well as devotion to Lutheran traditions. Thanks to the fact that Johann Sebastian had access to many instruments and works in childhood and adolescence, as well as to the ever-increasing talent for writing dense music with amazing sonority, Bach's work was filled with eclecticism and energy, in which foreign influence was skillfully combined with already existing improved German music school. During the baroque period, many composers mainly composed only frame works, and the performers themselves supplemented them with their melodic embellishments and developments. This practice varies considerably among European schools. However, Bach composed most or all of the melodic lines and details himself, leaving little room for interpretation. This feature reflects the density of contrapuntal textures to which the composer gravitated, limiting the freedom of spontaneous change in musical lines. For some reason, some sources mention works by other authors that Johann Sebastian Bach allegedly wrote. Moonlight Sonata, for example. You and I, of course, remember that this work was created by Beethoven.

Execution

Modern performers of Bach's works usually follow one of two traditions: the so-called authentic (historically oriented performance) or modern (using modern instruments, often in large ensembles). In Bach's time, orchestras and choirs were much more modest than they are today, and even his most ambitious works, Passions and the Mass in B Minor, were written for far fewer performers. In addition, today you can hear very different versions of the sound of the same music, because in some of Johann Sebastian's chamber works, initially there was no instrumentation at all. Modern "lite" versions of Bach's works have made a great contribution to the popularization of his music in the 20th century. Among them are famous tunes performed by the Swinger Singers and Wendy Carlos' 1968 Switched-On-Bach recording using a newly invented synthesizer. Jazz musicians, such as Jacques Loussier, also showed interest in Bach's music. Joel Spiegelman performed an arrangement of his famous "Goldberg Variations", creating his new-age piece.

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