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Early Life

Career

Works

Johann Sebastian Bach was considered one of the greatest composers of all time. He was born on March 31, 1685 in Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany. He died in Leipzig, Germany, on July 28, 1750. Johann Sebastian Bach had a prestigious musical lineage, a large family of northern German musicians. According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica: "Bach was able to survey and bring together the principal styles, forms, and national traditions that had developed during preceding generations and, by virtue of his synthesis, enrich them all".

Johann Sebastian Bach was the youngest child of Johann Ambrosius Bach and Elisabeth Lämmerhirt. His first instructor was his father who taught him how to play the violin at a young age. In 1695, both his parents died, and he was looked after by his eldest brother, Johann Christoph who was an organist at Ohrdruf. In 1700, his vioce secured him a place in a select choir of poor boys at the school of Michelskirche, Luneburg. His voice broke soon after, but he remained at Lüneburg for a long time, making himself generally useful. He also studied in the school library which had a large and up-to-date collection of church music. He returned to Thuringia in 1702, by this time he was already a reasonably proficient organist. He was a composer and performer of keyboard and sacred music. In March 4, 1703, he was a member of the orchestra employed by Johann Ernst, duke of Weimar, but had his eye on the organ then being built at the Neue Kirche and in August 1703 he was appointed organist. 

Bach worked in many different places throughout his fifty year long career. Next, he went to Arnstad where he played organ and directed the choir, but he and members of the church did not get along well, so he left for new position at Mühlhausen. His position there was there was short-lived because the pastor of the church preferred very simple liturgy and music, and Bach preferred elaborate pieces with extensive instrumentation. He won the support of the city council, but the tension between Bach and the pastor convinced him to seek a new position. During this time he married his first wife Maria Barbara Bach. Bach's next employer was an orthodox Lutheran church in Weimar. During his time there Bach wrote many organ pieces, including the famous Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. He worked in Weimar for several years until Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen offered him a position. Bach accepted the job, but his current employer wasn’t willing to let him leave, so he imprisoned Bach for a month. Bach's first wife died in 1720 and in 1721, he married his second wife Anna Magdalena Wülken. Bach’s next position was in Leipzig where he was responsible for writing church music and teaching at the local school. He kept this position until he died. During the last year of his life, Bach began to go blind. He tried to correct his vision through surgery, but the operation left him completely blind.

​Some famous compositions are: 

  • Toccata and Fugue in D minor

  • Mass in B Minor

  • Brandenburg Concertos

  • The Well-Tempered Clavier 

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