The Influence Of Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was one of the greatest composers in Western musical history. More than 1,000 of his compositions survive. Some examples are the Art of Fugue, Brandenburg Concerti, the Goldberg Variations for Harpsichord, the Mass in B-Minor, the motets, the Easter and Christmas oratorios, Toccata in F Major, French Suite No 5, Fugue in G Major, Fugue in G Minor ("The Great"), St. Matthew Passion, and Jesu Der Du Meine Seele. He came from a family of musicians. There were over 53 musicians in his family over a period of 300 years.<br><br>Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany on March 21, 1685. His father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, was a talented violinist, and taught his son the basic skills for string playing. Another

The baroque era was full of influential composers, who would travel all over Europe, hear each-others music, and be influenced from all over the globe. Though music was suddenly more global, differences in nations where still audible in the music (most obviously between France and Italy). One of the era’s most famous composers was Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist and violinist (far left picture below). Born into one of the greatest musical families of the times, and hailed as a “natural genius”, Bach composed over 1,000 compositions in nearly every type of musical form. Though, in his later years, he faced harsh criticism that his work was outdated (due to a new Italian style invading Germany as he wrote and prepared some of his most important pieces), his legacy still lives on strong. Some of his most popular works include “Air on a G String”, “Double Violin Concerto” and the “Brandenburg concerto No. 3”. Another famous composer was the German British composer George Frederic Handel (1685-1759)- middle picture below. Handel composed for every type of musical genre, though he is most famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. He is also credited for creating the English oratorio. Handel turned blind at old age, but continued to compose. Beethoven thought Handel to be the greatest of all his predecessors, and once said that “I would bare my head and kneel at his grave”. Some of Handles popular music

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.

Handel and Bach are considered two of the greatest composers of all time. However, when comparing the output of these two musicians, the diversity manifest in music in the era when they wrote immediately becomes apparent. Handel, although he used religious subject matter, is usually characterized as fundamentally a 'secular' composer. He composed for the concert hall, not the church, and primarily as a result of royal commissions. His music is strident, powerful, and large in scope. It is designed to entertain, rather than to spur contemplation (The pure power of Handel's 'Hallelujah Chorus', NPR, 2008). Bach, in contrast, often created music designed to be performed in sacred spaces. His music is more fluid and nuanced in style and designed more to spur contemplation and devotion rather than excite people's interest as a piece of entertainment.

Many musical scholars believe that J. S. Bach and G. F. Handel are the two most important, influential composers of the Baroque period. Both of these men were born in Germany in 1685, and since they came into existence around the same time, they share some similarities. As an introductory statement, Bach and Handel were born into two very different families. Handel did not come from a musical family; his father wanted him to study law. By age nine, his talent was too obvious for his father to ignore and Handel began to study with a local organist and composer. On the contrary, Bach came from a long line of musicians. Bach also had four sons which became gifted composers, in their own right. Bach, like Handel, also started as an organist

Richard Strauss, one of the most iconic classical composer during the 1900s, has been known by his music such as Don Juan and Thus Spake Zarathustra. His music style plays a major role in the mid 1900s, creating new music elements while looking back, and have even influenced modern film music. He himself is also a successful conductor, with successful recordings especially in Mozart and his own pieces.

Most people think that Johann Sebastian Bach was ahead of his time, but a lot of people don’t know that much about the history of his life, so I would like to start from the beginning. Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany, on March 31, 1685. Bach comes from a long history of musicians. Most of his family were musicians, for instance, his father, Johann Ambrosius, worked as a musician in their home town. So his father influenced Sebastian; it’s also believed that his father taught him to play the violin as well. When Sebastian Bach turned 9 his mother passed away in 1964, later His father remarried Barbara Margaretha. Sadly, three months into the second marriage, Bach’s father passed away from a serious illness.

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)

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.

During the later years of his life Bach gradually withdrew inwards, producing some of the most profound statements of the baroque musical form. Bach’s creative energy was conserved for the highest flights of musical expression: the Mass in b

Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the greatest composers in the Baroque period, Bach stands tall above many outstanding figures in the Baroque in the history of music. Among his many achievements, the most outstanding one is the “church music.” Bach’s Magnificat, BWV 243 was composed for Christmas evening prayer service. The third movement “Quia respexit” is a prayer called “Mary’s Song of Praise.” Mary’s prayer of thanks to God out of joy when she found out through an angel of the Lord while she was visiting her relative Elizabeth that she had conceived.

For many, Bach was, and still is today, considered to be a conservative, old-fashioned composer. However, there are also those who would say he was a modern innovator, if not before his time. It was the sense of complexity in Bach’s music that made many of his colleagues believe him to be old-fashioned. Bach was intrigued by counterpoint and chromatic harmony, two concepts that were not ideal in a time where simplicity (the galant style) was becoming more favored among composers. However, Bach was able to develop his musical personality utilizing what was seen as antique techniques as well as using composition methods from other countries.

Bach went on in 1744 to comprise two volumes of piano music those were eventually comprised into all musical keys. A little fun fact that you may not know is that Bach once walked 13 miles to a hear a performance by an organist whom he had admired after hearing the concert he turned around and walked the same distance home. It was said that his popularity was fading out into about 1829 when Mendelssohn had performed the St Matthew Passion which eventually rescued Bach from oblivion. One other important thing to also mention is the fact that besides the opera Bach composed towering masterpieces in every inch of the baroque genre they included sonatas, concertos, suites and cantatas as well as keyboard and organ work plus choral work. Bach’s death was a highly debatable issue the debate was over whether it was a botched eye operation or a stroke that could cause pneumonia that eventually caused his death. I guess we will never know what really caused Bach’s death we can only guess what we think. I honestly think Bach was one of the most interesting composers of his day. He grew up from humble beginnings and learn his fair share of

However, works like Bachbewegung and Bach-Gesamtausgabe were created by comparing early manuscript sources. Although its academic standards may seem not so even by now, it was a significant effort in that period when musicians paid too much attentions on subjectiveness. Heinrich Bitter and Philipp Spitta were two biographies of Bach who made efforts to show Bach`s real music. Their documents presented how Bach thought an appropriate force needed in church music. Especially Spitta, he presented how Bach set the instruments and ensembles in his pieces and also discussed the evidences of performance practice from the Bach`s original manuscripts and the forgotten printed scores from seventeenth and eighteenth

I found it very interesting that Bach died in 1750 since I thought he died much more recently then that. I also didn’t know he wrote church music and that he was very religious. I also never heard of a fugue and found it interesting that it was a polyphonic composition about one subject and I also found it fascinating that each of its four voices starts off higher and then progressively gets lower. I also never heard of George Frideric Handel prior to this class. I found it very intriguing that at twenty-one years old he wrote widely acclaimed operas and that he was Queen Anne favorite composer. I also did not know what an oratorio was and found it interesting to learn that it is a large-scale composition of vocal soloists, chorus and an orchestra.