Transcript JSBachx - HCC Learning Web

Johann Sebastian Bach
1685-1750
• German composer, organist, harpsichordist,
violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular
works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments
drew together the strands of the Baroque period
and brought it to its ultimate maturity.
• Although he did not introduce new forms, he
enriched the prevailing German style with a
robust contrapuntal technique, an unrivalled
control of harmonic and motivic organisation,
and the adaptation of rhythms, forms and
textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and
France.
– Contrapuntal--two or more voices enter at different
times, and (especially when entering) each voice
repeats some version of the same melodic element.
• Bach's abilities as an organist were highly
respected throughout Europe during his
lifetime, although he was not widely
recognized as a great composer until a revival
of interest and performances of his music in
the first half of the 19th century. He is now
generally regarded as one of the main
composers of the Baroque style, and as one of
the greatest composers of all time.
Bach’s childhood years
• Born in a long line of musicians: his father, grandfather, and
great-grandfather were all church organists or town
musicians in Germany.
• Bach's mother died in 1694, and his father eight months
later. The 10-year-old orphan moved in with his oldest
brother, Johann Christoph Bach (1671–1721), the organist
at the Michaeliskirche in nearby Ohrdruf. There, he copied,
studied and performed music, and apparently received
valuable teaching from his brother, who instructed him on
the clavichord.
• At the age of 14, Bach, along with his older school friend
George Erdmann, was awarded a choral scholarship to
study at the prestigious St. Michael's School in Lüneburg,
not far from the northern seaport of Hamburg, one of the
largest cities in the Holy Roman Empire.
• At age of 18, Bach became church organist in
Arnstadt (1703-1708)
• Weimar Years (1708–17)
– Bach became the court organist and concertmaster at
the ducal court in Weimar
– marked the start of a sustained period of composing
keyboard and orchestral works
– From the music of Italians such as Vivaldi, Corelli and
Torelli, he learned how to write dramatic openings
and adopted their sunny dispositions, dynamic motorrhythms and decisive harmonic schemes.
– Bach inducted himself into these stylistic aspects
largely by transcribing for harpsichord and organ the
ensemble concertos of Vivaldi; these works are still
concert favourites.
• In Weimar, he had the opportunity to play and
compose for the organ, and to perform a
varied repertoire of concert music with the
duke's ensemble.
• A master of contrapuntal technique, Bach's
steady output of fugues began in Weimar.
– The largest single body of his fugal writing is Das
wohltemperierte Clavier ("The well-tempered
keyboard"—Clavier meaning keyboard
instrument).
– It consists of two collections compiled in 1722 and
1744, each containing a prelude and fugue in
every major and minor key.
Cöthen (1717–23)
• Bach began once again to search out a more stable job
that was conducive to his musical interests. Leopold,
Prince of Anhalt-Köthen hired Bach to serve as his
director of music.
• Prince Leopold, himself a musician, appreciated Bach's
talents, paid him well, and gave him considerable
latitude in composing and performing.
• The prince was Calvinist and did not use elaborate
music in his worship; thus, most of Bach's work from
this period was secular, including the Orchestral suites,
the Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello and the Sonatas
and partitas for solo violin. The well-known
Brandenburg concertos date from this period.
Leipzig (1723–50)
• In 1723, Bach was appointed Cantor of St.
Thomas's Lutheran Church in Leipzig, as well as
Director of Music in the principal churches in the
town.
• Apart from his brief tenures in Arnstadt , this was
Bach's first government position in a career that
had mainly involved service to the aristocracy.
• At Leipzig, Bach rehearsed, conducted, and
composed compositions for chorus, soloists, and
orchestra for each Sunday and holiday of the
church year.
– Cantatas (200) and Mass in B minor
Musical style
• Created masterpieces in every baroque form except
opera.
– Instrumental and Vocal
• Exposure to South German, North German, Italian and
French music, and his apparent devotion to the
Lutheran liturgy.
• The most obvious was his successful striving to become
the leading virtuoso and improviser of the day on the
organ. Keyboard music occupied a central position in
his output throughout his life, and he pioneered the
elevation of the keyboard from continuo to solo
instrument in his numerous harpsichord concertos