Preview

Biography Of Johann Sebastian Bach

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
763 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Biography Of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21, 1635 in Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany. At a young age, his father, Johann Ambrosius, taught Bach how to play violin, considering he was the town musician in Eisenach. He attended a school with religious instruction and studied Latin. Lutheran faith later influenced his music. After the death of both of his parents, he became an orphan at the age of ten. Luckily he was taken in by his older brother Johann Christoph. Living with his brother, he was enrolled into a local school where he stayed until the age of fifteen. Growing up, he had a “beautiful soprano singing voice.” But it was soon enough that his voice began to change. It was then that he switched to playing violin and the harpsichord. He was …show more content…
He traveled to Lübeck during this time and there, got an organist position at the church of St. Blaise. He extended his time without letting anyone know. In 1707, Bach left Arnsadt for an organist position at the Church of St. Blaise in Mühlhausen. His musical style crashed with the pastor though. The pastor wanted simple arrangements whereas Bach had a more complex style. After a year, Bach had won the post of organist at the court of the Duke Wilhelm Ernst. It was during this time he wrote one of his most popular pieces for an organ, “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.” In 1717, Bach had accepted a position with Prince Leopold but Duke Wilhelm Ernst had no interest in releasing Bach. In fact he was imprisoned for several weeks when he tried to leave. Bach was allowed to go to Cöthen in early December. There, he devoted a lot of time to instrumental music, composing many pieces for orchestras, dance suites, and sonatas. In 1721, Price Leopold got married, and his new wife didn’t appreciate the prince’s love for music. Bach soon had to find new work when the prince dissolved his orchestra in …show more content…
Many of his pieces inspired other artists along the others era’s. This only led to inspire others. It’s all one big chain and in my opinion, music wouldn’t be where it’s at today if it weren’t for him. His reputation is still an ongoing process and people all over the world admire his music daily. Being the best composer of the Baroque era, and one of the most important figures in classical music, Bach has earned an incredible reputation for himself. There’s a bunch of things that could define Bach as a person, composer, and/or performer. Music styles are for surely one of them. He enjoyed playing around with different kinds of styles, using counterpoint and fugues quite often. His mood defined him as a person as well. He took his mood and incorporated that into his music. He was able to play out on paper exactly how he was feeling or what he was thinking in that moment. That’s something that’s really hard to do. Bach was known more for his organ skills than his composing skills, so I’d also mention the organ as something that represents him. Only a couple of his works were published during his lifetime and he got many jobs just by being able to play the organ as well as he did. The Church and his religious faith also represent him by a long run. Most of his music, that he composed, was influenced by what he believed in and what he felt. The Church definitely gave him that kind of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The six Brandenburg concertos were dedicated to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg. Each of the six concerti is distinct and can stand alone from one another as individual pieces, not to be seen as a set of works to some respect. Hearing the 5th concerto in comparison from the rest shows us clearly that Bach was a brilliant contrapuntist.…

    • 59 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    This baroque concerto is composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, the famous baroque composer of his time. This work is the fifth of six concertos the composer dedicated to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg. This piece showcases Bach's inimitable strength as a contrapuntist. Bach’s music has flexibility in its form and influence, but still retaining the constraints of the form of baroque music. He blended Italian and German music in these concertos, giving them a distinctive touch. This fifth concerto is made distinctive by the flute, solo violin, harpsichord, and strings. It is the only one of the six pieces to have any solo given to the harpsichord, which is part of the continuo throughout…

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    During the early years of his life, he wrote poetry and musical compositions without any formal instruction, and his first musical composition was published at the age of seven. He studied at the Warsaw Conservatory, where he began to receive great theory, melody, and harmony instruction. He would later move to Vienna, Austria, and performed many of his works at the Karntner Theater in 1829. Romanticism was predominantly a German aesthetic which spanned from 1800-1850, with characteristics that include; dynamics, big orchestras, more emotional, and technical virtuosity. The Barcarolle in F-sharp Major, Op. 60 written by Chopin gained its popularity due to the 12/8 time instead of 6/8time. The left-hand plays the ostinato accompaniment with the melody in the A-major key, building up to the F-sharp major opening theme. Johann Sebastian Back was born in Germany in 1685 primarily a Baroque era composer, with many of his pieces and performances were written for harpsichord and organ. Many of his pieces were written for the church, coming from a long line of family musicians. The piece performed at the concert that was written by Bach was Concerto in D minor, BWV 1052 which is only one of seven that were originally written for harpsichord and later reworked for piano. In this song, his form mimics Vivaldi’s form of Exposition, Development, and Recapitulation, that he employed in many of his concertos. I think the best part about the performance of the seven that he wrote, is that they were written for young professional and student players to perform, at a local Collegium…

    • 1206 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    He is one of the greats when it comes to composer and artist in music history. He gave us some of the greatest compositions in history that has stood the test of time because we are still listening to them, studying them, and enjoying them today. He was no child prodigy, he got his skills and talents from hard work and practice and that is just one of the many things about Bach that we can look back on and admire. He is one of the greatest pianist and organist to have ever played and it takes a very talented musician to play his works. He has inspired other very famous musicians of music history like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and still inspires musicians today in 2016, hundreds of years after his life. That is why I think Bach is…

    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A composer, organist, and musician during the Baroque era, J.S. Bach was a brilliant artist of his era. Known today for his polyphony style, masterpieces of church, and instrumental music, the works of the German composer are said to be the greatest of all time. Although he was known as an excellent organist than a composer during his life, his musical compositions would have stand the test of time and continue to demonstrate his innovative style of melody and harmony. Of the many 17th century composers, Johann Sebastian Bach notably paved the way towards the Classical music period; which would maintain a hold on composition for years to come.…

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Bach Keyboard History

    • 1334 Words
    • 6 Pages

    C. Bach exemplify adequate usage of Classical era techniques on the keyboard. J. C. Bach’s composition, “Concerto for Harpsichord or Piano and Strings in E-flat Major,” serves as an ample example of the use and stylistic techniques of the keyboard in the Classical era. The keyboard concerto was a popular genre throughout the classical era, and J. C. Bach was perhaps one of the most influential composers in this category, as he was among the first to compose this particular genre. Throughout this piece, there are three movements, a fast movement followed by a slow movement, and then another fast movement. This organization was extremely typical for solo concertos in the 1700s. The galant style is heard in this piece through the lush ornamentation and sophistication. For example, in measure 17, one can note the elegance in the recurring 32nd to dotted 8th notes. As this composition calls for either a harpsichord or a piano, one might contend that a piano would be better suited, due to the lack of dynamic contrast achievable on the…

    • 1334 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Johann Sebastian Bach was considered a master of Polyphonic music. He truly was a master of polyphonic textures. Bach also was an expert in the ways of an organ. I mostly know him for just his organ pieces. For example Toccata and Fugue in D minor, almost everyone knows that song.…

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    During his lifetime, Johann Sebastian Bach was famous as a virtuoso organist rather than as a composer. His works conveyed a sense of beauty and creativity that few can rival. Bach's use of counterpoint was brilliant and innovative, and the immense complexities of his compositional style -- which often included religious and numerological symbols that seem to fit perfectly together in a profound puzzle of special codes -- still amaze musicians today. Many consider him the greatest composer of all time.…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Humanities Exam 4

    • 1634 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Johann Sebastian Bach (J.S. Bach) is considered to be the father of music for many reasons. He was the greatest Baroque composer, arguably the greatest composer of all times. He developed the modern piano lessons we use today, and developed helping book to strengthen both hands equally to play the piano. He wrote thousands of compositions, and simplified the way we compose music. He is the reason the piano became popular over the harpsichord. He was brilliant and innovated the way we read and see music today.…

    • 1634 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Who was Johann Sebastian Bach? Did he have any mathematical background? What is special about his music? Johann Sebastian Bach was a famous fugal German composer during the Baroque era. He is now known as the greatest composer of all time. The job of a fugal composer is to make the lines in music develop independently, and still fit everything together while playing the music. On the Organ, Bach proved that he could make a four-part fugue. He explored harmony much more deeply than other composers in that period of time such as Handel or Vivaldi. Bach's music can include unusual “jazzy” chords. The music he made didn’t have to be played on a specific instrument, the same pieces could be played on a piano that was meant for a guitar, in…

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Johann Sebastian Bach

    • 1352 Words
    • 6 Pages

    to study with his brother, Johann Christoph. In the early 1700's Bach began working as a…

    • 1352 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fuge in C Minor- Bach

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Johann Sebastian Bach’s was born on the 21st of March 1685 and died in 1750. He was a German composer, during the Baroque period. His Fugue in C minor was written in the middle years of his life, 1722. A fugue is a contrapuntal composition, where a subject is developed. It has 3 main parts an Exposition, Middle section and the Final Section.…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    George Frederick Handel

    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages

    the urge to move on, and his instincts led him to Italy, the birthplace of…

    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He would make minor repairs and replacement to Ohrdruf Church 's organ. The organ was the most complicated machine in any European town and provided Bach with a unique understanding of the instrument. He sought out many great organists and spent a lot of time with musicians. After graduating at 18, he took a post as an organist at Arnstadf in 1703 but left quickly because he felt to cramped. Soon after leaving the job in Arnstadf, he was offered a more lucrative organist post in Mühlhausen. Here, Bach wrote some of his earliest extant compositions but much of it has been lost. In 1708 Bach took a position as court organist and concert master at the ducal court in Weimar. For this position, he had the chance to not only play the organ but compose a variety of music. While working in Weimar, Bach began to work on the Orqelbüchlein, or book of music for traditional Lutheran hymns. Political tensions began to show in the ducal court of Weimar and Bach began to look for a more stable job. Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen hired him to serve as his Kapellmeister (director of music). Prince Leopold was a musician as well and appreciated Bach 's talent. The prince was also Calvinist and did not use elaborate music to worship so most of Bach work from this time is simple. In 1723, Bach was appointed Cantor and Musical Director of the Thomaskirche, Leipzig. This job required him to instruct students at the St.…

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Antonio Salieri Biography

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages

    He attained an elevated social standing, and frequently associated with other celebrated composers such as Joseph Haydn. As children, Beethoven, Schubert and Liszt all benefitted from his tutelage. He also taught Czerny, Hummel and a son of Mozart's.…

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays