Leipzig Leipzig is a German city located in the state of Saxony in the East Germany. During the Baroque era, this city was “regarded as one of the most progressive cities in Germany” (Boyd, 1983: 102). This city was considered to be one of importance only preceded by the city of Dresden in comparison to all other German cities in this region. The position of Cantorate in Leipzig was one of the most prestigious positions in all of Germany at this time. The duties associated with this role was to “provide music for civic occasions and to supervise the church music of the city as a whole” (Boyd, 1983: 104). This position became available following the death of Kuhnac in 1722. There was a need to fill this position. Initially, Bach has not been …show more content…
This has cemented Bach’s status as a primary figure in musical history and his greatness as a composer. In his personal life, Bach had remained extremely close and in touch with his faith as a remainder of his life spent in Leipzig. With the aid of the Passions of St. John and St. Matthew as well as the Mass in B minor it can be concurred that “the resulting picture is of Bach as a “theologically” aware composer who used his music to give voice to express a differentiated Biblically-based message” (Begbie, 2015: 857). Bach displayed an awareness of faith having an influence over music in these compositions. It can be said that Bach evolved and developed throughout his career from his debut role as a court musician to becoming cantor of Leipzig. It could be said that Bach was influenced by his surrounding environment, from his beginning days in Weimar where he was known for his virtuosic talent (Bukfzer, 1947) to his days of producing mainly secular music under the court of Cothen and finally to his time spent as Cantor, both educating young musicians and composing mainly sacred music. Bach achieved greatness in his musical career and is still looked upon as an example to this date for his genius way writing