Bach 's Musical Gifts : 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

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.

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.

A perfect example of this can be seen in Arnstadt. Previous accounts of history claim that Bach was upset with the performance of the church choir for which he played for. He claimed that “the voices could never make the music soar to the sky as it should” (loosely translated). Here Bach realized the high level of music and perfectionism that he wanted. In 1707, at the age of 22, Bach moved on from Arnstadt to another organist job, this time at the St. Blasius Church in Muhlhausen. Once again he did not remain there too long, only a little over a year, when he moved again to Weimar where he accepted the position of head concertmaster and organist in the Ducal Chapel. It was here that Bach settled himself and began to compose the first collection of his finest early works which, included organ pieces and cantatas.

Bach’s reputation was growing. He was a great performer. Another job he had was as an organist at the New Church in Arnstadt. His main contributions was as a musical instruction and performer of religious music for church services. At times Bach could be a conceited man. He didn’t cooperate well with his students. Church officials had reprimanded him for not rehearsing them often. While on leave from the church for a couple of weeks. Bach went to Lubeck to visit famed Dietrich Buxtehude. However, he extended his visit for seven months. Eventually, no one heard from him and that didn’t help the situation he was in. Awoken with joy, Bach received a new position as an organist in Muhlhausen at the Church of St. Blaise. The joy quickly ended with his new job because the pastor of the church wasn’t in favor of Bach’s playing style. His musical style during this time was bursting with complex arrangements incorporating different lines of melody. Like most church music in this period, the pastor preferred the music to be simple and delicate. Two of his famous pieces during this time is the “Acut Tragicus”.

Gardiner suggests instead that the absences may have resulted from a negative atmosphere in a school and town filled with “rowdy, subversive, thuggish” boys”. After going under the care of his brother, Johann Christoph Bach, Bach started achieving good grades and high class standing. This period was viewed as a period of academic accomplishment by many. Bach had a beautiful soprano singing voice, which helped him join at a school in Lüneburg. Sometime after his arrival, his voice changed and Bach switched to playing the violin and the harpsichord. He was also greatly influenced by a local organist named George Böhm.  In 1703, he eventually landed his first job as a musician at the court of Duke Johann Ernst in Weimar. No one realized that Bach would later become such an influential musician, not only in the Baroque Era but still influential to this day of

Johan Sabastian Bach was a very talented German Composer who wrote music in the Baroque time period. He was born March 31st , 1685, and lived until July 28th, 1750. He was born in Eisenach Germany, into a family of musical talents. In Germany at this time, they had just gone through the Scientific Revolution, and they were starting the Industrial Revolution, and Enlightenment. His father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, was the director of the town musicians, and a lot of his extended family were also professional musicians. After his dad and brother sparked his interest into music, Bach decided to attended St. Michael's School in Luneburg for two years. After graduation he became the director of music for a German Prince, he became the director of music at several Lutheran churches, and taught music at the St. Thomas school. His most famous pieces ________ were called exquisite due to his artistic

At age 7 Bach went to school to learn Latin as well as other subjects and to receive religious instruction. His deep Lutheran faith would be a great influence in his musical works. He had a beautiful soprano singing voice and he went to a school in Luneburg to develop his talent. He went through a voice change shortly after arriving at the school and began to play the violin and harpsichord as well. In 1703 Bach began his first job as a musician at the court of Duke Johann Ernst in Weimar.

Bach family throughout Thuringia had held positions such as organists, town instrumentalists or cantors, and the family named enjoyed a wide reputation for musical talent. Bach was the youngest out of the 18 kids. At an early age Johann Sebastian Bach lost a sister and later a brother. When he was 9 years old his mother died, barely 9 months later his father died. Johann Sebastian and one of his brothers, Johann Jakob were taken into the home of their great uncle Johann Christoph who had recently married and settled down at Ohrdruf, a small town thirty miles south-east of Eisenach. At the end of 1703, 18 year old Sebastian took up his post at the small town of Amstadt. Bach arrived at Muhlhausen, a small Thuringian town, proud of its ancient foundation and independence to take up the post of organist to the town. Shortly after his arrival, he brought his cousin Maria Barbara Bach from Amstadt, and on October 17th 1707, he married her at the small church in the picturesque little village of Doomheim. Maria Barbara come of a broneh of the musical Bach family, her father being organist at

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

Johann bach lived in germany with his parents. He didn't play very many instruments all he play is the violin and the harpsichord. Bach had 2 wives the first one was maria barbara bach and the second one was anna magdalena bach. Bach had 20 kids 7 with the first wife 13 with

When Bach was eight years old he went to the old Latin Grammar School. He was taught reading and writing, Latin grammar, and a great deal of scripture, both in Latin and German. The boys in the school formed the choir of the St. Georgenkirche. This also gave Bach an opportunity to sing in the regular services, as well as in the nearby villages. He has an uncommonly fine treble voice.