Bach

Throughout the various periods in history, numerous men and women are known for extreme success in their profession. So much so that, at their peak, they were deemed prime representatives of their day. Some have not only represented their period, but have risen to such great esteem that they are known worldwide as being one of the greatest minds to have worked in their field. However, even more compelling than the work of these great minds is how they affected the people and work that came after them in their field. "The mark of a great influence is when everything before you is mundane, and everything after you bears your name."(unknown). In war, Alexandre the Great(356 BC-323 BC) excelled beyond all others in his conquest of the world, earning his recognition as one of the greatest generals of all times. Without the experiments performed by the inquiring minds of Isaac Newton(1643-1727) or Thomas Edison(1847-1931), we wouldn't have electricity or be nearly as far along in the study of physics and celestial bodies.

During the seventeenth century, western European civilizations struggled to decide what religion was the correct one to follow. The matter was resolved however after Martin Luther, John Calvin, and multiple others initiated a Protestant reformation., which in turn led to a counter reformation by the Roman Catholic Church; included in this counter reformation was a push for new forms of art which exalted the Church's holy position. It was this push , around 1600, that began the period known as baroque. Lasting until around 1760, the baroque period gave way for clergy and artists alike to flourish in their pursuit of art that could communicate religious themes through direct, emotional involvement and the use of extreme ornamentation.

In observing music during this period, we find that dozens of artists contributed to the mass amounts of music generated from it, but, among them, only three are accredited with unofficially being considered the best of the period: J.S. Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, and George Handel. While all three influenced music equally in their own way, only one can be regarded as the best composer of the baroque period.

Born on March 21,1685 Johann Sebastian Bach was far from the first musician to be born into his family. Talented musicians emerged from his family for a period spanning 200 years. "... the incidence of members of the Bach family among musicians in Thuringia led in the end to the popular habit of substituting the name Ð''Bach' for Ð''musician'," (Neumann 5). Johann Christoph Bach was the Court and Town Organist at Eisenach and was best known for having never played the organ or clavier in less than five parts. Johann Michael Bach, younger brother to Johann Christoph, was the Organist and Town Clerk at Gehrenand composed numerous motets and compositions for church use. Johann Bernhard Bach, who composed many suites and overtures in the french style, was a musician in the Prince's Kapelle and Organist at Eisenach. Johann Ambrosius Bach, Sebastian's father, was Court and Town Musician in their hometown.

It was after his mother's death in 1694, and his father's the following year, that he moved in with his eldest brother (Johann Christoph Bach) at the age of ten and began copying, studying, and performing music under his brother's tutelage. At 14, Sebastian was sent to school on a choral scholarship at the St. Michael's school in Luneburg. It was here that he furthered his education in Latin, french, Italian, physics, and geography, and it was also here that he was able to play the school's three-manual organ and harpsichords (Wikipedia). Johann had significant contact with organists in Luneburg such as George Bohm, and Jan Adams Reincken and Bruhns in Hamburg.

In 1703, Bach graduated from St. Michael's ans sought employment as a court musician in the chapel of Duke Johann Ernst in Weimer. Although his role there was limited to menial, non-musical tasks and only lasted seven months, his reputation as a keyboardist spread quickly. After giving the inaugural recital on the new organ at St. Boniface's Church in Arnstadt, he accepted a position as organist at the church with light duties, a moderately generous salary, and a new organ tuned to a modern system that broadened his range of keys to be used and had no technical defects. It was around this time that Bach embarked on a the serious composition of organ preludes, one of them being Tocatta and Fugue in D minor. By 1706, Bach realized that it was necessary for him to further his career and he accepted an offer for the lucrative position of organist at St. Blasius' in Muhlhausen, a large city to the north. This post offered much improved pay and conditions, and, to his delight, a much better choir. Four months after arriving, Bach married Maria Barbara, his second cousin from Arnstadt, and they went on to have seven children, four of whom became important composers in the ornate rococo style that followed the baroque.

Despite the accommodations, Bach spent only a year at St. Blasius' and left to become court organist and concert master at the ducal court in Weimar. For the first time Bach owned his own organ. His position there began a sustained period of composing for keyboard and orchestra and a steady output of fugues which led to the creation of The Well-Tempered Clavier. During his time at Weimar, Bach began work on the Little Organ Book, a collection of traditional Lutheran chorales set in complex textures to help the training of organists. The book represents Bach's dedication to teaching and his love of the chorale as a musical form. He also had an opportunity to play and compose for the organ and perform with the duke's ensemble. Due to increasing political tension in the ducal court of Weimar, Bach once again sought employment elsewhere. He now went to work for Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cothen as his director of music. Because the prince was calvinist, most of Bach's work from this time was secular. The Brandenburg Concertos date from this period. In 1720, Bach was traveling abroad when his wife died suddenly, and the following year he remarried to Magdalena Wilcke; they had 13 children together. In 1723 Bach made his final career switch to become Musical Director St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Leipzig. This marked Bach's first government position in a career that mainly involved service to the aristocracy. Bach was required to instruct students at the school in singing and latin, and to provide music twice a week for the two main churches in Leipzig. By March 1729, Bach had composed a mass of church music, and looked to broaden his repertoire. He decided to take over directorship of the Collegium Musicum, a secular performance ensemble that was started by one of his old friends,