Composer of the Month: Johann Sebastian Bach

This month we are learning about the godfather of classical music, Johann Sebastian Bach (or as one of his sons, C.P.E. Bach,  very lovingly referred to him, “the old wig”). Bach’s music is admired and loved for its beauty, spirituality, drama, and consoling and reassuring nature. As soprano Nancy Argenta has said, “When you’re feeling frazzled, you need Bach not Beethoven to relax you. He has a calmness that makes people feel that all’s well with the world and that they’ll be all right.”

During our lesson time we will be talking a little bit about Bach and his very prolific life! Our homework will be to color the Bach coloring page while enjoying some of his music (some suggestions and a short biography are given below). After listening to his music fill in the three blank lines on the coloring page with answers to the prompt: “Bach’s music makes me think of…”

Suggested videos for listening homework:

Toccata and Fugue in D minor – One of Bach’s most well-known pieces performed on the pipe organ. In this video the organist has an assistant to help him pull out the stops at different points of the music. Watch how the organist moves among the different manuals and listen for differences among the sounds created by each manual. Watch his feet dance around the pedalboard at 5:40. (Quick reminder: the manuals are the keyboards of the organ, the pedalboard is the keyboard played by the feet, and the stops are the buttons/knobs spread out around the console. For more on the pipe organ check out my post about the Baroque Period.)

Prelude and Fugue no. 1 in C major BWV 846 – This is the first composition of book 1 of Bach’s famous The Well-Tempered Clavier, which is a two-book series of 48 preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys. Book 1 was composed in 1722 in Cothen and book 2 in 1742 in Leipzig. The word clavier refers to any keyboard instrument, which in Bach’s time would have been the harpsichord and clavichord, but could also include the organ. Bach composed these pieces as educational tools for, in his own words, “the profit and use of musical youth desirous of learning, and especially for the pastime of those already skilled in this study.” This piece starts out with the Prelude and then gives way to the Fugue at 2:08.

Brandenburg Concerto no. 5 in D major BWV 1050 (1st Movement: Allegro) –  Another one of Bach’s most famous pieces. Bach composed all six Brandenburg Concertos while employed by Prince Leopold of Cothen. Bach would have performed on the harpsichord while simultaneously conducting the other musicians. The instruments of the orchestra are those that were popular at the time: harpsichord, flute, and string instruments (violin, viola, cello, and double bass).

 

A short biography of Johann Sebastian Bach:

Out in space, beyond the limits of our Solar System, the spacecraft Voyager carries aboard it a gold vinyl record with sounds from Earth for any life-form who happens to find it in space. In 1977, countries from around the world sent in music and greetings to be recorded onto this record… it contains salutations in 55 different languages, traditional music from many different countries and the music of classical greats Beethoven, Mozart, Stravinsky, and Johann Sebastian Bach. It’s a pretty big deal to have your music travelling through space as an ambassador for Earth!

Johann Sebastian Bach was born on the first day of Spring, March 21, 1685 (Old Style; March 31 in the New Style) in Eisenach, Germany. Bach was born into a dynasty of 7 generations of musicians. In total he had around 76 male relatives who were musicians, of which 53 were also named Johann (it’s no wonder he preferred to be called Sebastian!). Every year the Bach family would get together for a big family reunion where they would play their favorite music together and make up silly songs!

The Bach family had such a hold on the “music industry” of their region in Germany, that when a nobleman or a church needed a musician, they would simply say, “Get me a Bach!” Johann Sebastian Bach is the most famous and influential of all of the Bach family members.

Bach’s father, Johann Ambrosius, was the town musician and played at all the town celebrations and special events. He taught Bach to play the violin. Sadly, both of Bach’s parents died when we was about 10 years old, so he went to live with his older brother Johann Christoph and his family. Johann Christoph was a talented church organist in the town of Ohrdurf and he taught his younger brother to play the organ and harpsichord, as well as how to tune and fix organs. A story goes that Johann Christoph had a notebook filled with music by the greatest clavier composers of the time (Pachelbel, Buxtehude, Froberger, among others). Sebastian begged his brother to let him study it, but Johann Christoph said no. It was kept inside a locked bookshelf with a latticed front door. Bach’s hands were small enough to fit through and pull the notebook out. For months, Bach copied the music by the light of the moon to learn the art of composing. Unfortunately, his brother found out and took back not only his notebook but the copy Bach had made. But everything that Bach had learned was now safely inside his head!

At 18, Bach was asked to test the new organ of the town of Arnstadt. His playing was so brilliant that he was offered a job as soon as he was done playing! His reputation as a virtuoso organist quickly spread which allowed him to find better jobs. In 1708 he went to work in the court of Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Saxe-Weimar, which was considered to be an excellent job. But after a few years he became unhappy and decided to take a job at the court of Prince Leopold of Cothen. At the time, musicians were considered servants and were not allowed to leave their jobs without the permission of their employer. When the Duke found out that Bach was leaving, he had him thrown in jail for a month for insubordination!

After his month in jail, Bach went to work for the Prince. During his time at Prince Leopold’s court, he wrote a set of his most famous and popular works, the Brandenburg Concertos.  In 1720, while he was accompanying the Prince on a trip to a spa in Karlsbad, his wife Maria Barbara died suddenly. The grief-stricken Bach wrote one of his most beautiful and profound works in her memory, “Chaconne” the fifth and final movement of his Partita in D minor for solo violin. In 1721, Bach married talented singer Anna Magdalena. Together they had 13 children (Bach had fathered 7 children with Maria Barbara, for a grand total of 20 children!).

Soon after in 1723, Bach left the Prince’s court to work as the director of music in Leipzig. This was probably his most prolific time… he was responsible for composing and directing the music for four churches, the school choir, the university choir, and any music the town needed for festivals and special events. Despite the many demands on his time, Bach spent every Friday evening jamming with groups of young musicians at Zimmerman’s Coffee House (it probably brought back memories of the happy music-filled Bach family reunions!).

Bach was a deeply religious man. He believed that music served two purposes, “The glory of God and recreation of the mind.” His Lutheran faith had taught him that the way to know God was through scripture. He wanted his music to provide a transcendental dimension to the word of God. Every week for years, he composed a new cantata for the church services. He poured his love for God into these compositions. And when he finished a cantata, he would always sign it with “S. D. G. – Soli Deo Gloria”, meaning to the glory of God alone. Cantatas are pieces that are sung by a lead vocalist and a choir and accompanied by an orchestra. Bach usually used familiar hymn tunes (chorales) that the people knew. This was very important because church services at the time could last for more than 5 hours! The cantatas helped keep the church goers awake and interested in the service.

Bach loved his family very much and always found time to spend with them and teach his children and wife to play instruments. And they helped him with his work too! At the time, all music had to be copied by hand.  Every week the family worked on making copies of Bach’s compositions for all the choir and orchestra members.

Bach died on July 28, 1750 at the age of 65 after suffering a stroke. He was buried in the hospital cemetery of the Johanniskirche (St. John’s Church) in Leipzig. After the World War II bombardment  of the Johanniskirche, Bach’s remains were moved to the sanctuary of the Thomaskirche (St. Thomas Lutheran Church) in Leipzig.

Near the end of Bach’s life, music was changing but Bach continued to compose in the style he loved and perfected. By the time he died, his music was considered old-fashioned and music experts mark the end of the Baroque period with the year of his death. His music was all but forgotten until Felix Mendelssohn conducted Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in 1841. It was the first performance of his music since his death and the world received it with pure delight! His music became extremely popular and it is some of the most widely performed music to this day.

Four of Bach’s sons became famous composers and musicians: Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, Johann Christan Bach, and Carl Philip Emanuel Bach. The music of the latter two is still played today. Most of what we know about Bach’s life is thanks to C.P.E. Bach who took great care in preserving his father’s memory and music.

Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven are considered the greatest composers of all time. But during his lifetime, Bach was famous for his virtuoso organ playing, which gained him the reputation as the greatest organist in all of Germany. An obituary at the time of his death read, “Johann Sebastian Bach could play the organ with his feet better than most people could play it with both hands.” It took many years for his compositions to be fully appreciated. He composed over 1,000 pieces of music, and new manuscripts, that music experts had thought were lost or destroyed, are still being discovered today.

His music has influenced generations of musicians and composers… He is often referred to as “the composer’s composer” because of the deep impact he has left on music. Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Schumann, and many others including Wagner (who would very rarely complement any music besides his own) all greatly admired Bach’s music. And it is certain that his music will continue to influence many generations to come!

 

References and further information:

Books for children:

  • Venezia, Mike. “Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Composers – Johann Sebastian Bach,” Children’s Press, A Division of Grolier Publishing, 1998.
  • du Bouchet, Paule. “Johann Sebastian Bach – First Discovery – Music,” ABRSM Publishing, 1998.

Leave a comment