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Johann Sebastian Bach Research Paper

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“I worked hard. Anyone who works as hard as I did can achieve the same results” (Bach). Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the most influential composers of all time ("Top 10 Most Famous Classical Composers of All Time.") He lived during the Baroque period of music in the 17th century. Baroque music is a category of European Classical music and is recognized for ornamentation added to long melodic lines, the addition and use of harpsichord and basso continuos. Another was the development of counterpoint, which is when two or more melodies are combined that contrast with each other (Tollervey, Nicholas H.). Bach is well known for his use of counterpoint and fugue. ("Baroque Orchestral Music."). During this time period, musical components such …show more content…

He was the last of eight children and came from a family of well known and highly talented musicians ("J. S. Bach: Baroque Composer."). His father, Johann Ambrosius Bach was a church organist and gave Bach violin lessons at a young age and taught him to sing in the church choir (Kamien, Roger.). When he was ten, in 1695, his parents died and Bach moved to Ohrdruf, Germany to live with one of his older brothers who was also a church organist. Bach’s brother was the first to teach Bach how to play keyboard instruments. When he was fifteen, he gained a spot in the choir at St. Michael's School in Lüneburg. At the age of eighteen, in 1703 he started his professional musical career by playing the organ and violin in the Weimar and Arnstadt ruling courts ("J. S. Bach: Baroque Composer."). In 1707, he married his first wife and cousin, Maria Barbara (Sherrane, Robert.). Maria had seven children with Bach, four of whom survived. She died thirteen years after they were married of unknown causes ("J. S. Bach: Baroque Composer."). One year later, Bach married Anna Magdalena Wilcke, the daughter of the town trumpeter and a soprano. Anna Magdalena Wilcke was very supportive of Bach’s composing. Together they had thirteen children, seven of which lived. All of Bach’s children were musically skilled and Johann Christian Bach, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, Johann Gottfried Bernhard Bach, and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach all went on to become consummate musicians ("J.S.Bach."). Following his second marriage, Bach moved to Leipzig, where he remained of his life ("Johann Sebastian Bach."). In 1749, he had two failed eye surgeries which resulted in complete blindness. He continued to compose and teach music until the 28th of July 1750 when he had a stroke and died ("Johann Sebastian Bach."). He was buried in St. Thomas' Church in

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By age fifteen, he knew how to play the clavichord; his brother, who was Pachelbel’s student, taught him. He then went on to learn Greek, Latin, arithmetic, etc. Five Years later he decided to leave his brother and went to a school in Lueneburg. There he joined the choir of the Michaëlisschule. Bach continued to grow in his musical ability and eventually left to Arnstadt; his great-uncle Heinrich died, leaving an opportunity for Bach to be the new musician at the church.

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The Baroque was an era of great changes in religion, politics, science, and economics. The Baroque Era began with the Counter-Reformation and ended with two types of revolutions, political and industrial, that changed the world. The baroque was also a period of scientific innovation led by the discoveries of Descartes and Galileo. Science was no longer based on Greek ideals or religious dogma but on reason and empirical laws.

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Bach was a harpsichordist as well so he was very familiar with rewards and frustrations thus making this the perfect instrument to center a piece like this one around. For all of the critics who believed the way he structured this had nothing to do with the view of social harmony, they are wrong. Bach does conform to social practices but in a different way. The Bach Cantata 140 “Wachet Auf” is another example of how he actually was politically influenced while creating music. In this piece alone, Bach manages to reflect upon three separate/different aspects of his world.

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As one of the most noteworthy performers and musicians of his time, and more specifically of the era of 20th century classical music, Glenn Gould (1932 - 1982) has certainly earned his widespread recognition that has extended across decades since his passing in 1982. While his body of work is extensive, and within that body of work lies several characteristics worthy of discussion, perhaps the most noteworthy of Gould 's performances lie within his interpretation of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750) 's music. Having been performed throughout his life, Gould influenced the development of classical music in Canada and changed the approach of many musicians towards the Baroque era of music. With his passion for contrapuntal craftmanship, it is clear that that Gould garnered influence from

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He was born into an extremely musical family, and Bach himself had kids who carried on his musical legacy. He was a virtuoso organist and harpsichordist as well as a prolific composer. Bach brought Baroque music to a new level, composing over a thousand pieces in numerous forms. Bach composed the Six Suites for Solo Cello around 1720 when the suite was already a well-known genre, but they were the first of their kind. (Green, 2017) 1.2 Reason for Selection & Aim I chose to write about the Six Suites for Solo Cello as I believe that they hold a great significance.

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The Baroque period brought with itself key devices such as variation in musical compositions, the enlargement of standard scales and chords and the process of varying one or more properties within a piece; that are used today. In contrast the renaissance period of music whereby music was often sang, contained simple rhythms and melodic lines and was mostly for the purpose of praise, the Baroque period of music started off the use of distinct melodies and harmonies opposed to the polyphony used in the Renaissance period. This new music was then called “…expansive and dramatic”. Famous composers and performers of this period include Henry Purcell, Arcangelo Corelli, Claudio Monteverdi, Antonio Vivaldi and many others. Music of the baroque period had a number of traits in style as well as spirit; examples include the use of the basso

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The Baroque period on the other hand, spanning 150 years from the beginning of the 1600s to 1750, was divided into three parts: The Early Baroque period, The Middle Baroque period and The Late Baroque period. While these two eras start right after each other, there are a lot of differences between them, this shows how much music can evolve through time. There are many similarities and differences in characteristics between the two periods. They’re both very similar in texture, in that they’re both polyphonic. Although sometimes homophonic textures are also used in both eras.

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