Bach Musical Offering Essay

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was unlike most other composers of his time. “He wrote music for the glory of God, and to satisfy his own burning curiosity, not for future fame.” During the 1700s, people knew him as a talented musician, not as a composer, as we do today. He never left his country to pursue bigger and better things. Bach was content as long as he could play music. Traditions were very important to him. He wanted to carry on the musical tradition of his family, and never opted to change the traditional ways of composing, as did most composers. Bach’s work is vast and unique.

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)

When looking throughout the history of music, there is no name with a larger impact than Bach. Writing over 200 pieces throughout his 65 year life. Many people know the names of Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms; but only a select few know the specifics about these land mark composers. “Most would say that Beethoven should have been named called ocean instead of brook” Bach in German. During this papers I will be giving a brief look into the life of one of the most prolific composer that ever lived.

The fifth and final section of Bach’s work is overall the shortest and the most contrasting of all of the other parts. This section is also almost entirely in the tonic major; which is most commonly used as the representation of a final resolution. During the last section, the pedal is used to its greatest extent which covers the full range present on the organ.

Historically in Bach’s day, toccatas often served as introductions Fugues, setting the stage for the complex and intricate composition to follow. “Fugue” can be described as a technique characterized by the overlapping repetition of a principal theme in different melodic lines (counterpoint) and hence the second part of Bach’s composition reflects the particular popularity of this form. Bach made much use of the fugue in his compositions in solo organ pieces as in this particular fugue, with its accompanying toccata, is his best known

When thinking of composers, whose works changed the world of music forever, many names may come to mind. Among those on that list, both Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel are figures whose effect on music has been felt worldwide. Born in the same year, these composers have much in common and many differences that illustrate their importance to their era and music as we see it today. Their individualism and creativity influenced much of their time and together, their works defined the Baroque Period as we know it today.

The Toccata and Fugue in D minor is a two-part harmonious oeuvre for the organ, Bach composed the composition before 1708, and people recall it because of its magnificent sound, phenomenal authority, and stimulating rhythm. Moreover, the Fugue’s passage is a copy of a phrase in one of Johann Pachelbel’s D minor fantasias; ordinarily, the formation of fugues on other composers’ themes was conventional. Breitkopf and Hartel issued the piece in late 1833; Felix Mendelssohn devised and partly prepared the piece; moreover, he performed it on August 6, 1840, in Leipzig. The performance affected Franz Liszt so much that he decided to add the piece into his organ repertoire in the 19th

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.

Handel's libretti were drawn literally from the Bible, though the verses he used were not necessarily consecutive ones. His musical style in the oratorios is a reversion to the high Baroque idiom, and in oratorio he abandonned the fashionable new stile galant touches he used in in his last operas in hopes of saving them from financial failure. His choral style resonates with fugal writing, but this too is affected by older traditions. His fugues are not the monthematic ones that German organ composers wrote to fill the time before the worship service. Instead the subjects could change as the work unfolded or the imitative texture could be abandonned altogether. The music was controlled by the dramatic needs, not requirements of musical form, and, in this respect Handel's choral fugues show a direct and strong linkage to both Grand Concerto and madrigal! Another madrigal element is Handel's use of music to set mood or depict events. In madrigal, tone painting was a rather local and sometimes puerile device; in Handel, musical depiction occurs on a grand and alomost profound scale. Handel's oratorios also approach recitative differently than opera

He began to write preludes for organs but did not cover large- scale organization, when two melodies interact at the same time. A few years after playing for the church, Bach made a visit to Dieterich Buxtehude in Lubeck. This visit reinforced Bach’s style in music with the works he has made.

John Rutter and Johann Sebastian Bach are both well known composers throughout the world. Each of them were gifted with the ability to create brilliant musical compositions that became widely popular. They both use different techniques and instruments making their compositions unique. Rutter and Bach are from different time periods allowing their music to be tastefully different and unique. John Rutter was born in London in the year of 1945.

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.

Composers rely heavily on ritornello form. More freedom in the form although a sinfonia proper is later developed.

Before looking more closely at the composers’ works, they must be placed in their proper historical contexts. Bach was a great composer of the

The classical music period extends from 1740 to 1810, which includes the music of Haydn, Mozart, and the first period of Beethoven. The classical period of music combined harmony, melody, rhythm, and orchestration more effectively than earlier periods of music. With the natural evolution of music slowly changing with the culture, the baroque era had ended. That era had left a structure, articulation and periodic phrasing of music which would shape classical music.