Bach Essay Research Paper Bach is considered

Bach Essay, Research Paper

Bach is considered by many to have been the greatest composer in the history of westernmusic. Bach’s main achievement lies inhis synthesis and advanced development of the primary contrapuntal idiom of the lateBaroque, and in the basic tunefullness of histhematic material. He was able to successfully integrate and expand upon the harmonicand formal frameworks of the nationalschools of the time: German, French, Italian & English, while retaining a personal identityand spirit in his large output. Bach is alsoknown for the numerical symbolism and mathematical exactitude which many people havefound in his music — for this, he is oftenregarded as one of the pinnacle geniuses of western civilization, even by those who are notnormally involved with music. Bach spent the height of his working life in a Lutheran church position in Leipzig, as bothorganist and music director. Much of hismusic is overtly religious, while many of his secular works admit religious interpretationson some levels. His large output of organmusic is considered to be the greatest legacy of compositions for the instrument, and is themeasure by which all later efforts arejudged. His other solo keyboard music is held in equally high esteem, especially for itsexploration of the strictly contrapuntal fugue;his 48 Preludes & Fugues (The Well-Tempered Clavier) are still the primary means bywhich these forms are taught. His otherchamber music is similarly lofty, the sets for solo violin & solo cello being the summits oftheir respective genres. Bach’slarge-scale sacred choral music is also unique in its scope and development, the Passionsand B Minor Mass having led to therediscovery of his music in the 19th century. His huge output of cantatas for all occasionsis equally impressive. Finally, his largeoutput of concerti includes some of the finest examples of the period, including theubiquitous Brandenberg Concertos. ToddMcComb (6/94) JOHANN Sebastian Bach was a composer of extreme mathematical genius. He and healone perfected the system of keys andharmony that we have today after the Italian masters Arcangelo Corelli and AntonioVivaldi first moved away from the systemof modes that was employed before. He had great sense of form & structure, and sawmusic with insight from a broadperspective. A devoted Christian, he spent most of his life composing sacred music, and hebelieved that it was God who gave himthe inspiration and his talent, and it was his duty to serve him. The last of six children, Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, a small town nearLepizig in Germany, on the 21st of March,1685, and christened locally at the historic Georgenkirche. His father Johann Ambrosiushad married Maria ElisabethaLammerhirt in 1668 and three years later they settled in Eisenach. At this time, JohannChristoph, who was later to become JohannSebastian’s guardian once their father had died in 1695, was born. Very little is knownnow about the first 8 years of Bach’s life,except that he did not attend school until the age of 8, when he was admitted to the localLateinschule in level 5 (Quinta). Notmuch music was taught at school, the primary curriculum being Latin grammar andReligious instructions. At school JohannSebastian’s Greek and logic would probably had been taught, but he did not have a stronginterest in those subjects, and wasshowing a preference towards theology. Most of his early musical education probablycame from home, where all of JohannAmbrosius’s children learnt music – he was a town-musician, and he taught JohannSebastian to play the violin. The Bach familyhad always been musicians, and the first Bach can be traced back to Johann Bach of 1604,so they were by no means the first, butin Johann Sebastian’s childhood he was a prodigy who showed interest and promise. Mostof his achievements was probably due tohis genius; but without this environment his works would not have been half as influential. Elsewhere in Germany, Georg Friedrich Handel was born in Halle on the 23rd of theFebruary, just 26 days before. Also in thesame year Dominico Scarlatti was born, though they are not to meet until very much later.At this time a lot of the music was stillin the early Baroque style, crisp and simple. The leading composers at the time wasClaudio Monteverdi, Henry Purcell andthe Italian masters. In Theuringia, the region Bach was living in, there were not much inthe way of opera-buffs, for this brings inthe fashionable Italian influence. They were rightly proud of being the true “German”baroque – instrumental music and sacredvocal music of a thicker texture, serious tone. The advent of the chorale (German Hymn)had certainly contributed to this trend ofconservative musicians. From the very beginning Johann Sebastian was not exposed toopera, and had never studied abroad. It ispossibly for this reason he did not write a single opera for performance at a court, nor didhe ever work for the theatre during hisrelatively long lifespan. After his days at the Lateinschule, he was educated at the Eisenach Grammar School, anddid well at school, showing a stronginclination toward theology. In the early 1690s, Bach’s family had suffered heavy losses:first of all the loss of 2 of his brothers, andshortly followed by his mother. His father remarried with Barbara MargarethaBartholomaei, but he was only to pass away 3months later. At this time Bach was already a competent violinist who had taken up theviola that was to