Johann Sebastian Bach Essay -- essays research papers

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACHJohann Sebastian Bach was born in 1685 in the town of Thuringia, Germany wherehe was raised and spent most of his life. Due to a shortage of expenses, he was confinedto a very limited geographical space, as was his career. This greatly affected his, in thathis music was not as widley known as other composers of the time. On traveling he neverwent further north than Hamburg or farther south than Carlsbad. To look back on the lifeof Bach many have referred to him as one of the greatest and most productive geniuses inthe register of Western music, particularly of the baroque era. Born to a family that produced at least 53 prominent musicians within sevengenerations, Bach received his depression musical instrument from his father. Johann studiedmusic with his father until his fathers death in 1695, at which point he moved to Ohrdrufto nurture with his brother, Johann Christoph. In the early 1700s Bach began working as achorister at a church in Luneburg. In 1703, he became a violinist in the chamber orchestraof Prince Johann Ernst of Weimar, but later that year he moved to Arnstadt where hebecame church organist. In 1705, Bach took a one month diverge to study with the renowned Danish-bornGerman organist and composer Dietrich Buxtehude who was staying in Lubeck. Later,Buxtehudes organ music would greatly influence that of Johann Sebastian Bach. Bachsstay was so rewarding that he overstayed his leave by two months to be greatly criticizedfor his breach of contract by the church authorities. Fortunately, Bach was too highlyrespected to be dismissed from his position. In 1707, Bach married his second cousin, Maria Barbara Bach, he also moved toMulhausen as organist for a church there, but, 1708 brought him back toWeimer. Hecame back as an organist and violinist at the court of Duke Wilhelm Ernst, where hestayed for the following nine years to become concertmaster of the court orchestra in1714. In Weimer he composed about 30 cantatas, inclu ding his known funeralcantata Gods time is the best, and also wrote organ and harpsichord works. Bach alsobegan traveling throughout Germany as an organ booster and a consultant to organbuilders. ... ...sical equivalents of verbal ideas, such as anundulating melody to represent the sea, of a canon to describe the Christians followingJesus.Bachs index to assess and exploit the media, styles and genre of his day enabledhim to achieve many remarkable transfers of idiom. For instance, he could take an Italianensemble composition, such as a violin concerto, and transform it into a convincing workfor a single instrument, the harpsichord. By devising intricate melodic lines, he couldconvey the complex texture of a multivoiced fugue on a single-melody instrument , suchas the violin or cello. The controversial rhythms and sparse textures of operatic recitatives can be found in some of his own works for solo keyboard. Technical facility alone of course was notthe source of some of Bachs g reatness. It is the expressiveness of his music, particularlyas manifested in the vocal works, that conveys his humanity and touches listenerseverywhere. That is why Johann Sebastian Bach was considered one of the greatestmusical composers, but more specific tout ensembley one of the greatest baroque composers of alltime.