Bach Essay

In 1717, Bach was appointed Kapellmeister at Köthen but was refused permission to leave Weimar. He was eventually allowed to leave but only after being held prisoner by the duke for almost a month. Bach's new employer, Prince Leopold, was a talented musician who loved and understood the art. Since the court was Calvinist, Bach had no chapel duties and instead concentrated on composition. In this period he wrote his violin concertos and the six Brandenburg Concertos, as well as numerous sonatas, suites and keyboard works (p. 164, Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Vol. 1)

In January 1703, shortly after graduating from St. Michael's and being turned down for the post of organist at Sangerhausen, Bach was appointed court musician in the chapel of Duke Johann Ernst III in Weimar. His role there is unclear, but it probably included menial, non-musical duties, which is not something that was easy to swallow for a musician of Bach's caliber. There were rumors that he would speak very negatively about the choir, especially the vocalists who were singing. Saying that they were not good in the

In addition, Bach was a virtuoso on the organ. He also served as an organ consultant, and composer of organ works, like toccatas, chorale preludes, and fugues. He had a reputation for having great creativity, and he was able to integrate many national styles into his works. Many of his works are said to have North German influences that were taught to Bach by Georg Bröhm. Bach also copied the works of many French and Italian composers in order to decipher their compositional languages. Later on, he arranged several violin concertos by Vivaldi for organ. Most experts of musical composition believe that the years, between 1708 and 1714, were his most productive. Within this period, he composed several preludes, fugues, and toccatas. During this span, Bach wrote the Little Organ Book, Orgelbüchlein. This book remains an unfinished collection of forty-nine short chorale preludes.

Johann Sebastian Bach, born in the year 1685, was a German born composer, virtuoso organist and keyboard player, a

When given the task of writing a biography on Johann Sebastian Bach, there are roughly nine periods in his life that can be discussed in detail. Beginning in Eisenach with his birth, moving to Ohrdruf after his parent’s death, deciding to pursue choral studies in Luneburg, his first stay in Weimar while awaiting the organ to be built in Arnstadt, moving to Arnstadt and beginning services for the town at age 18, auditioning for the organist position in Muhlhausen, returning to Weimar to continue working as a member of the chamber orchestra and as Organist of the Court in Weimar, leaving Weimar to become the Chapel master in Cothen, and finally residing in Leipzig where he eventually passed away at age 65.

     Several months later, Mozart returned to Salzburg and was given the post of court organist as well as Konzertmeister. He produced numerous works during this

He was of significance to his pupils and contempory musical connoisseurs in a way that set the foundation for the rest of Western Art music to follow. For many Bach is like coming home, in fact, “…in old Bach there is always something astonishing, and, what is the main thing, there is always something to be learned from

Bach was born into a musical family whose legacy traced back a few generations. Johann Ambrosius, Bach’s father, had a lot to do with his success in the music industry. He was also a musician and therefor took it upon himself to teach Bach how to play the violin and the harpsichord. Needless to say that from an early age, Bach had music imbedded within. Bach was the youngest son of Lutheran parents. His music career began early on his life when he joined the church’s choir and sang. However, Bach had to move to Ohrdruf, Germany when he was left an orphan. It is said that this was when his oldest brother, Johann Christoph Bach, taught him to play the organ and who introduced him to the keyboard instruments. He continued to be part of the church’s choir which ultimately led to him receiving a scholarship for his amazing voice. In this time, fine voices were crucial. Since it’s hard to keep a man’s voice the same forever, Bach had to transfer over to playing the violin; his voice

Bach used all of these skills in his concertos, cantatas, and fugues. A concerto is a musical composition for a solo instrument accompanied by an orchestra. Of all of Bach’s concertos, the “Brandenburg Concertos” are the most famous. These concertos were written for the Margrave of Brandenburg, they were written to be performed with a chamber orchestra. When writing these, Bach was the music director in Cothen under Prince Leopold, and he called the pieces “Six Concerts Avec plusieurs Instruments ("Six Concertos With several Instruments")”, but the biographer Philipp Spitta renamed it to “Brandenburg Concertos.” There are six different concertos in the collection; they showed off the musical talent in the province of Cothen as a result because each concerto required a talented soloist. The “Brandenburg Concertos” were also similar to the concertos of Vivaldi, with the three structures of fast, slow, fast, and a returning theme. Cantatas are pieces of music for vocal parts with instrumental accompaniment of an orchestra, and the cantatas of Bach are some of the best known ones in the world. Bach wrote cantatas throughout his life, but it was not until he moved to Leipzig and worked in the St. Thomas Church, did he meet his challenge of producing cantatas for the church throughout the year. Bach had to create a cantata for every Sunday and feast day in the religious calendar, which was five annually. All of these cantatas were the principal music piece used during service to highlight the passage from the sermon and to help people further comprehend the lesson being taught. There are over 200 different cantatas written by Bach, but his most famous cantata is BWV 147, “Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben.” In addition to cantatas, the fugues of Bach are by far his most famous works. A fugue is a

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.

Moving on into his early adulthood, Bach was hired to play in special services at a church

Beethoven was a great composer and pianist. He traveled to many places in order to play at his concerts. He never won an award because back then there were hardly any awards to win. Beethoven was very serious and was only humorous with some people. He was very passionate about music. One of his quotes state “One wrong note is insignificant, but to play without passion is

The court orchestra consisted of twenty-two players. Bach’s function was mainly a violinist, however he also played harpsichord. Bach, on occasion, wrote some of the music that was played. During this period he wrote strictly for the organ, and he was rapidly becoming known throughout the country. As time went on, people were coming to see him far and wide.

Ludwig van Beethoven was, and remains today, an influential figure in the history of classical music. Perhaps no other composer in history wrote music of such inspiring power and expressiveness. His influence on the last 150 years of music is unequalled.

One of his most famous organ pieces, “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor,” was actually featured in the Disney classic “Fantasia.” “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” was one of his famous sections from the cantata, Heart and Mouth and Deed. Bach’s religion played a huge role in his music. For example, his most famous religious piece was “Passion According to St. Matthew,” which depicted the gospel of Matthew on Good Friday. Another one of his religious pieces is “Mass in B Minor.” Sadly, this work was not completely performed during his lifetime because he died before he could perform the whole