Bach Classical Style

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German organist, composer, and musical scholar of the Baroque period, and is almost universally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time. His works, noted for their intellectual depth, technical command, and artistic beauty, have provided inspiration to nearly every musician after him, from Mozart to Schoenberg.

Some of the great composers during this time were Franz Josef Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,

Bach’s complex compositional style incorporates religious and numerological symbols that fit perfectly together in a puzzle of musical code. Demanding unfaltering facility in dexterity, precise pitch, particularly in the multiple stoppings, as well as sensitivity to implied polyphonic and harmonic textures. These exceptional works may be the closest thing we have to a “perfect” composition, so why is it that musicians have drastically different alterations and interpretations of his works? It is as if quality, intensity, duration, and even pitch are subject to the performer’s adaptation. By mapping out these alterations performers make to Bach’s music, it becomes possible to map out their respective musical personalities.

Johann Sebastian Bach was born the 31st of March, 1685 and died the 28 July 1750. He was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He enriched established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organization, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor, two Passions, and over three hundred cantatas of which around two hundred survive. His music is revered for its technical command, artistic beauty, and intellectual depth.

     Throughout the history of music, many great composers, theorists, and instrumentalists have left indelible marks and influences that people today look back on to admire and aspire to. No exception to this idiom is Johann Sebastian Bach, whose impact on music was unforgettable to say the least. People today look back to his writings and works to both learn and admire. He truly can be considered a music history great.

There have been countless musicians throughout the years that have made a massive impact on the way we sing, play, and even write music today. Composers like Beethoven, Handel, Frescobaldi, and Gabrieli are just a few that come to mind that have made an impact. There is one, however, that stands out like a dissonant chord in a piece of music, and that composer is Johann Sebastian Bach. He was so influential to music, in fact, that his death marked the death of the Baroque Period. Let’s take a deeper look at the life of this amazing composer.

Johann Sebastian Bach is known as the most influential organists of all time. More so, he is considered one of the greatest composers in music history. Born into a family of musicians, he was instructed by his father, Johann Ambrosius, who worked as a musician in Eisenach. Bach already had the thriving urge to take on various musical positions. His family of musicians stretches back as far as seven generations. Johann was born on March 31, 1685 in Eisenach, Germany. Some of his best known compositions are “Mass in B minor” and “The Well-Tempered Clavier”.

Born and raised in Eisenach, Germany John Sebastian Bach has become known as one of the great composers in Western musical history. At the young age of only nine Johns parents tragically died and he was sent to live with his brother Johann Christoph, who was an organist. Being around music because of his brother, John learned how to play the keyboard and studied composition all by himself. He worked as a court composer at Cothen, an organist, and then he worked as a musical director at St. Thomas church located in Leipzig. Where he attended and was very religious. J.S Bach produced hundreds of instrumental works, and he hand wrote hundreds of thousands of pages of sheet music.

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He was born on July 28th, 1750. Bach was born in Eisenach, in Germany, into a great musical family. His father Johann Ambrosius Bach was the director of the town musicians, and all of his uncles were professional musicians. It is believed that his father probably taught him to play the violin and harpsichord, and his brother Johann Christoph Bach taught him the clavichord and exposed him to much contemporary music. At age seven, Bach went to  went to school where he received religious instruction and studied Latin and other subjects. His Lutheran faith would influence his later musical works. By the time he turned 10, Bach found himself an orphan after the death

Johann Sebastian Bach was born into a family of musicians. It was only natural for him to pick up an instrument and excel in it. His father taught him how to play the violin and harpsichord at a very young age. All of Bach’s uncles were professional musicians, one of them; Johann Christoph Bach introduced him to the organ. Bach hit a turning point in his life when both of his parents died at the age of ten years old. Bach’s older brother Johann Christoph Bach took him in and immediately expanded his knowledge in the world of music. He taught him how to play the clavichord and exposed him to great composers at the time. At the age of fourteen, Bach and his good friend George Erdmann were awarded a choral scholarship to the prestigious

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) is recognized as one of the most famous composers of the Classical Era due to his contributions to the classical style. Not only is Haydn recognized today as a brilliant composer, but he was also popular during his time due to his originality and new ideas in music. Some of his new ideas include generating the basic development of formal structure in various styles of music and creating his own musical characteristics that deviate from the standards of his time. His individuality is demonstrated through his numerous symphonies, string quartets, piano trios, piano sonatas, masses, and operas—specifically the works that were composed while he was at the Esterhazy palace. Haydn’s success and originality is attributed to the time he spent working for the Esterhazy family while developing his unique style of composing.

Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21st 1685. He is the son of Johann Ambrosius. For many years, members of the Bach family had held positions such as organists, town instrumentalists, or Cantors.

This music by Bach portrays all the characteristic of early Baroque Music which includes melody, texture, and timber. It is one of the Bach’s sets that forms a master anthology that demonstrates all possible possibilities inherent in a specific musical form. It is scored for violin, continuo, two flutes, and strings. The flutes was called “fiauti d’echo“, which represented the softer part of the song that echoes. However, this may not be the case since the flutes appear at the beginning even without the solo violin. Flutes double the solo but occasionally used in echo function.

The Baroque Period (1600-1750) was mainly a period of newly discovered ideas. From major new innovations in science, to vivid changes in geography, people were exploring more of the world around them. The music of the baroque period was just as extreme as the new changes. Newly recognized composers such as Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, and Monteverdi were writing entirely new musical ideas and giving a chance for new voices to be heard that were normally not thought of sounds. Their musical legacy is still recognized today, and is a treasured discovery of outstanding compositions being reiterated with every performance of them.

After some years after the death of Johann Sebastian Bach, the ornate, formal and strict form of the High Baroque became “old-fashion” and lost its favor. Music slowly began to change form the style and forms of the High Baroque to a simpler yet tuneful form around 1750. The period