Better Know a Composer - J.S. Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach (March 31, 1685 - July 28, 1750)

  Bach was a German composer of both secular and sacred works during the Baroque period. Coming from a background where he was also a renowned organist, violinist, and harpsichordist, his works encompassed many different types of music. Bach wrote many pieces for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments. All the works he produced brought the Baroque period to it's pinnacle.
  Johann Bach was born in Eisenach as the youngest child to his father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, and his mother, Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt. His father taught him to play the violin and harpsichord, and all his uncles were professional musicians. One of his uncles was even the one who introduced him to organ playing. By age 10 both of Bach's parents had died, leaving him to orphaned and to live with his older brother, Johann Cristoph Bach, who was an organist. While there Bach copied, studied, and performed music, even more important though was that his older brother gave him valuable lessons on music and the clavichord. At age 14, Bach and one of his old friends were awarded choral scholarships to a renowned St. Michael's school. His two years there exposed him a wider range of German culture, made him well rounded as a composer and musician, and gave him the chance to meet noblemen from Northern Germany.

   In January of 1703, Bach was appointed as a court musician at a chapel in Weimer, after being turned down for an organ position at Sangerhausen. His role there was somewhat unclear, but it seems they had him doing a good amount of menial, non-musical, labor. During his seven month tenure there his reputation as a keyboarder spread. Bach was then invited to inspect and give the opening recital for a new organ at St. Bonaface's Church, in Arnstadt. In August of the same year Bach was then appointed as the new organist for this church.
  At one point Bach left for a few months to visit a well known composer and organist, Dieterich Buxtehude. This trip seemed to be quite important for Bach since his earlier works carried certain trends of Buxtehude's works, and he overstayed his originally planned visit by several months. The following year Bach was offered a new job as an organist for a church in Mühlhausen, which he accepted since he had complaints of the quality of the choir at Arnstadt. While here Bach married his second cousin, Maria Barbara Bach. They would have seven children together, four of which survived to adulthood.
  After less than a year Bach moved back to Weimer as an organist and concertmaster for the ducal court. By this point Bach was gained higher technical proficiency on the keyboard and started writing his larger scale works for keyboard and orchestra. He took a lot from the Italian composers, especially how they wrote dramatic beginning and used stronger rhythms to drive there pieces forward. Bach kept writing many successful works while here until he fell out of favor and was put in jail for a month, until being dismissed.

  In 1717 Leopold, the Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, hired Bach as his music director. Being a musician himself, Leopold appreciated Bach and rewarded him well for his work. The prince was a Calvinist and didn't use music in his ceremonies, which lead to Bach's works from this time being secular. A few worth noting are the Brandenburg Concertos, the Orchestral Suites, and Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello. July 7th, 1720 Bach's wife died while they were all on an outing with the prince. The next year Bach remarried to Anna Magdalena Wilcke, a younger, highly gifted, soprano that sung in the court at Köthen. Together they had 13 children, six of whom survived into adulthood and all became significant musicians.

  In 1723 Bach accepted the post Cantor of the Thomasschule at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, as well as a music director in many of the surrounding churches. This was a prestigious job and Bach held it for the next 27 years, until he passed away. Bach was then required to teach the students there singing, and write church music for all the main churches in Leipzig. Later in 1729 Bach took over the Collegium Musicum, which was an ensemble for secular performance started by his Telemann, his old friend. This was most definitely to broaden his writing and to offer change from just composing works for churches.

  Bach composed the first two parts of the Mass in B Minor in 1733 to present to the King of Poland. This piece won him the position of Royal Court Composer, appointed by the monarch. Later Bach finished the other sections of his Mass B Minor, by borrowing from some of his best canata movements that were already written. This video below is Kyrie, which is the first part Bach wrote of the Mass in B Minor.