German composers Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach: biography briefly for children

(1685-1750)

Johann Sebastian Bach - great German composer XVIII century. More than two hundred and fifty years have passed since the death of Bach, and interest in his music is growing. During his lifetime, the composer did not receive the recognition he deserved.

Interest in Bach's music arose almost a hundred years after his death: in 1829, under the baton of the German composer Mendelssohn, it was publicly performed greatest work Bach - Matthew Passion. For the first time - in Germany - the complete collection of Bach's works was published. And musicians all over the world play Bach's music, marveling at its beauty and inspiration, mastery and perfection. "Not a stream! “The sea must be his name,” said the great Beethoven about Bach.

Bach's ancestors have long been famous for their musicality. It is known that the composer's great-great-grandfather, a baker by profession, played the zither. Flutists, trumpeters, organists, violinists came out of the Bach family. In the end, every musician in Germany began to be called Bach and every Bach a musician. Johann Sebastian Bach was born in 1685 in the small German town of Eisenach. He received his first violin skills from his father, a violinist and city musician. The boy had an excellent voice (soprano) and sang in the choir of the city school. No one doubted his future profession: little Bach was to become a musician. For nine years, the child was left an orphan. His elder brother, who served as a church organist in the city of Ohrdruf, became his tutor. The brother assigned the boy to the gymnasium and continued to teach music. But he was an insensitive musician. Classes were monotonous and boring. For an inquisitive ten-year-old boy, this was excruciating. Therefore, he strove for self-education. Having learned that his brother kept a notebook with the works of famous composers in a locked cabinet, the boy secretly took out this notebook at night and rewrote the notes in the moonlight. This tedious work lasted six months, it severely damaged the vision of the future composer. And what was the grief of the child when his brother caught him one day doing this and took away the already transcribed notes.

At fifteen, Johann Sebastian decided to start independent life and moved to Lüneburg. In 1703 he graduated from the gymnasium and received the right to enter the university. But Bach did not have to use this right, since it was necessary to earn a livelihood.

During his life, Bach moved from city to city several times, changing jobs. Almost every time the reason turned out to be the same - unsatisfactory working conditions, a humiliating, dependent position. But no matter how unfavorable the situation, he never left the desire for new knowledge, for improvement. With tireless energy, he constantly studied the music of not only German, but also Italian and French composers. Bach did not miss the opportunity to personally meet outstanding musicians, to study the manner of their performance. Once, having no money for a trip, young Bach went to another city on foot to listen to the famous organist Buxtehude play.

The composer also steadily defended his attitude to creativity, his views on music. Contrary to the admiration of court society for foreign music, Bach studied and widely used German folk songs and dances in his works with special love. Having perfectly known the music of composers from other countries, he did not blindly imitate them. Extensive and deep knowledge helped him improve and polish his composing skills.

Sebastian Bach's talent was not limited to this area. He was the best organ and harpsichord player among his contemporaries. And if, as a composer, Bach did not receive recognition during his lifetime, then in improvisations behind the organ his skill was unsurpassed. This was forced to admit even his rivals.

It is said that Bach was invited to Dresden to take part in a competition with the then famous French organist and harpsichordist Louis Marchand. The day before, a preliminary acquaintance of the musicians took place, both of them played the harpsichord. That same night, Marchand hurriedly left, thus recognizing the undeniable superiority of Bach. On another occasion, in the city of Kassel, Bach amazed his listeners by performing a solo on the organ pedal. Such success did not turn Bach's head; he always remained a very modest and hardworking person. When asked how he achieved such perfection, the composer replied: "I had to work hard, whoever is as hard will achieve the same."

From 1708 Bach settled in Weimar. Here he served as court musician and city organist. During the Weimar period, the composer created his best organ works. Among them are the famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor, the famous Passacaglia in C minor. These works are significant and deep in content, grandiose in their scope.

In 1717 Bach and his family moved to Köthen. At the court of the Prince of Köthen, where he was invited, there was no organ. Bach wrote mainly clavier and orchestral music. The composer's duties included directing a small orchestra, accompanying the prince's singing, and entertaining him by playing the harpsichord. Effortlessly coping with his duties, Bach free time gave to creativity. The works for the clavier created at that time represent the second pinnacle in his work after organ compositions. Two-part and three-part inventions were written in Köthen (Bach called three-part inventions "sinfonias"). The composer intended these pieces to study with his eldest son Wilhelm Friedemann. Pedagogical goals guided Bach in the creation of suites - "French" and "English". In Köthen, Bach also completed 24 preludes and fugues, which made up the first volume of a great work called The Well-Tempered Clavier. In the same period, the famous "Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue" in D minor was also written.

In our time, Bach's inventions and suites have become obligatory pieces in programs music schools, and the preludes and fugues of the Well-Tempered Clavier - in schools and conservatories. Intended by the composer for a pedagogical purpose, these works are also of interest to a mature musician. Therefore, Bach's pieces for the clavier, starting with relatively easy inventions and ending with the most complex Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue, can be heard at concerts and on the radio, performed by the world's best pianists.

From Köthen in 1723, Bach moved to Leipzig, where he remained until the end of his life. Here he took the position of cantor (choir leader) of the singing school at the Church of St. Thomas. Bach was obliged to serve the main churches of the city with the help of the school and be responsible for the condition and quality church music. He had to accept difficult conditions for himself. Along with the duties of a teacher, educator and composer, there were also such instructions: "Do not leave the city without the permission of Mr. Burgomaster." As before, his creative possibilities were limited. Bach had to compose such music for the church that "would not be too long, and also ... opera-like, but that would arouse reverence in the listeners." But Bach, as always, sacrificing a lot, never gave up the main thing - his artistic convictions. Throughout his life, he created works that are striking in their deep content and inner richness.

So it was this time. In Leipzig, Bach created his best vocal and instrumental compositions: most of the cantatas (in total, Bach wrote about 250 cantatas), the Passion according to John, the Passion according to Matthew, Mass in B minor. "Passion", or "passions" according to John and Matthew is a story about the suffering and death of Jesus Christ in the description of the evangelists John and Matthew. The Mass is close in content to the Passion. In the past, both the mass and the "passion" were choral chants in the Catholic Church. Bach's works go far beyond church service. The Mass and the Passion by Bach are monumental works of a concert character. Soloists, choir, orchestra, organ participate in their performance. In terms of their artistic significance, the cantatas, the Passion and the Mass represent the third, most high peak composer's work.

The church authorities were clearly dissatisfied with Bach's music. As in previous years, she was found too bright, colorful, humane. Indeed, Bach's music did not answer, but rather contradicted the strict church atmosphere, the mood of detachment from everything earthly. Along with major vocal and instrumental works, Bach continued to write music for the clavier. Almost at the same time as the Mass, the famous " Italian concert". Bach later completed the second volume of The Well-Tempered Clavier, which included 24 new preludes and fugues.

In addition to the huge creative work and services in the church school, Bach took an active part in the activities of the "Music College" of the city. It was a society of music lovers, which arranged concerts of secular, not church music for the inhabitants of the city. WITH great success Bach performed in concerts of the Musical Collegium as a soloist and conductor. Especially for the concerts of the society, he wrote many orchestral, clavier and vocal works of a secular nature. But the main work of Bach - the head of the school of choristers - brought him nothing but grief and trouble. The funds allocated by the church for the school were negligible, and the singing boys were starving and poorly dressed. Their level was also low. musical ability. Singers were often recruited, regardless of the opinion of Bach. The school orchestra was more than modest: four trumpets and four violins!

All petitions for help to the school, submitted by Bach to the city authorities, were ignored. The cantor was responsible for everything.

The only consolation was still creativity, family. The grown sons - Wilhelm Friedemann, Philip Emmanuel, Johann Christian - turned out to be talented musicians. Even during the life of their father, they became famous composers. Anna Magdalena Bach, the second wife of the composer, was distinguished by great musicality. She had an excellent ear and a beautiful, strong soprano voice. sang well and eldest daughter Bach. For his family, Bach composed vocal and instrumental ensembles.

The last years of the composer's life were overshadowed serious illness eye. After an unsuccessful operation, Bach became blind. But even then he continued to compose, dictating his works for recording. Bach's death remained almost unnoticed by the musical community. He was soon forgotten. The fate of Bach's wife and youngest daughter was sad. Anna Magdalena died ten years later in a poor house. The youngest daughter Regina eked out a beggarly existence. In the last years of her difficult life, Beethoven helped her.

Bach Johann Sebastian, whose biography is of interest to many music lovers, has become one of the greatest composers in its history. In addition, he was a performer, a virtuoso organist, and a talented teacher. In this article, we will look at the life of Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as present his work. The composer's works are often heard in concert halls Worldwide.

Johann Sebastian Bach (March 31 (21 - old style) 1685 - July 28, 1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque era. He enriched the musical style created in Germany thanks to his mastery of counterpoint and harmony, adapted foreign rhythms and forms, borrowed, in particular, from Italy and France. Bach's works are "Goldberg Variations", "Brandenburg Concertos", "Mass in B Minor", more than 300 cantatas, of which 190 have survived, and many other compositions. His music is considered to be very technically complex, full of artistic beauty and intellectual depth.

Johann Sebastian Bach. short biography

Bach was born in Eisenach into a family of hereditary musicians. His father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, was the founder of the city's music concerts, and all his uncles were professional performers. The composer's father taught his son to play the violin and harpsichord, and his brother, Johann Christoph, taught the clavichord, and also introduced Johann Sebastian to modern music. Partly on his own initiative, Bach attended vocal school St. Michael in Lüneburg for 2 years. After certification, he held several musical positions in Germany, in particular, the court musician of Duke Johann Ernst in Weimar, the caretaker of the organ in the church named after St. Boniface, located in Arnstadt.

In 1749, Bach's eyesight and general health deteriorated, and he died in 1750, on July 28. Modern historians believe that the cause of his death was a combination of stroke and pneumonia. The fame of Johann Sebastian as a magnificent organist spread throughout Europe during Bach's lifetime, although he was not yet so popular as a composer. As a composer, he became known a little later, in the first half of the 19th century, when interest in his music revived. Currently, Bach Johann Sebastian, whose biography is presented in a more complete version below, is considered one of the greatest musical creators in history.

Childhood (1685 - 1703)

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, in 1685, on March 21, according to the old style (according to the new one, on the 31st of the same month). He was the son of Johann Ambrosius and Elisabeth Lemmerhirt. The composer became the eighth child in the family (the eldest son at the time of Bach's birth was 14 years older than him). The mother of the future composer died in 1694, and his father eight months later. Bach at that time was 10 years old, and he moved to live with Johann Christoph, his older brother (1671 - 1731). There he studied, performed and rewrote music, including his brother's, despite being forbidden to do so. From Johann Christoph, he adopted many knowledge in the field of music. At the same time, Bach studied theology, Latin, Greek, French, Italian at the local gymnasium. As Johann Sebastian Bach later admitted, the classics inspired and amazed him from the very beginning.

Arnstadt, Weimar and Mühlhausen (1703 - 1717)

In 1703, after finishing his studies at St. Michael's School in Lüneburg, the composer was appointed court musician to Duke Johann Ernst III's chapel in Weimar. During his seven-month stay there, Bach established a reputation as an excellent keyboard player, and he was invited to a new position as caretaker of the organ at the church of St. Boniface, located in Arnstadt, 30 km southwest of Weimar. Despite good family connections and his own musical enthusiasm, tensions arose with his superiors after several years of service. In 1706, Bach was offered the post of organist in the church of St. Blaise (Mühlhausen), which he took in next year. The new position paid much more, included much better working conditions, as well as a more professional choir with which Bach was to work. Four months later, the wedding of Johann Sebastian and Maria Barbara took place. They had seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood, including Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel, who later became well-known composers.

In 1708, Johann Sebastian Bach, whose biography took a new direction, leaves Mühlhausen and returns to Weimar, this time as an organist, and since 1714 as a concert organizer, and has the opportunity to work with more professional musicians. In this city, the composer continues to play and compose works for the organ. He also began to write preludes and fugues, which later became part of his monumental work, The Well-Tempered Clavier, which consisted of two volumes. Each of them includes preludes and fugues, written in all possible minor and major keys. Also in Weimar, the composer Johann Sebastian Bach set to work on the work "Organ Book", containing Lutheran chorales, a collection of choral preludes for organ. In 1717 he fell out of favor in Weimar, was taken into custody for almost a month and subsequently removed from office.

Köthen (1717 - 1723)

Leopold (an important person - Prince Anhalt-Köthen) offered Bach the job of bandmaster in 1717. Prince Leopold, being himself a musician, admired the talent of Johann Sebastian, paid him well and gave him considerable freedom in composing and performing. The prince was a Calvinist, and they do not use complex and sophisticated music in worship, respectively, the work of Johann Sebastian Bach of that period was secular and included orchestral suites, suites for cello solo, for clavier, as well as the famous Brandenburg Concertos. In 1720, on July 7, his wife Maria Barbara dies, having given birth to seven children. The composer's acquaintance with his second wife takes place next year. Johann Sebastian Bach, whose works are gradually gaining popularity, marries a girl named Anna Magdalena Wilke, a singer (soprano), in 1721, on December 3rd.

Leipzig (1723 - 1750)

In 1723, Bach received a new position, starting to work as cantor of the choir of St. Thomas. It was a prestigious service in Saxony, which the composer carried for 27 years, until his death. Bach's duties included teaching students how to sing and writing church music for the main churches in Leipzig. Johann Sebastian was also supposed to give Latin lessons, but he had the opportunity to hire a special person instead of himself. During Sunday services, as well as on holidays, cantatas were required for worship in the church, and the composer usually performed his own compositions, most of which were born in the first 3 years of his stay in Leipzig.

Johann Sebastian Bach, whose authorship of classics is now well known to many people, expanded his composing and performing possibilities in March 1729 by taking charge of the College of Music, a secular gathering under the composer Georg Philipp Telemann. The college was one of dozens of private societies that were popular at that time in large German cities, created on the initiative of students in musical institutions. These associations have played important role in German musical life, being led for the most part by eminent specialists. Many of Bach's works from the period 1730-1740s. were written and performed at the College of Music. The last major work of Johann Sebastian - "Mass in B minor" (1748-1749), which was recognized as his most global church work. Although the Mass was never performed in its entirety during the author's lifetime, it is considered one of the composer's most outstanding works.

The Death of Bach (1750)

In 1749, the composer's health deteriorated. Bach Johann Sebastian, whose biography ends in 1750, began to suddenly lose his sight and turned to the English ophthalmologist John Taylor for help, who performed 2 operations in March-April 1750. However, both were unsuccessful. The composer's vision never returned. On July 28, at the age of 65, Johann Sebastian passed away. Modern newspapers wrote that "death was the result of an unsuccessful operation on the eyes." Currently, historians consider the cause of the composer's death to be a stroke complicated by pneumonia.

Carl Philipp Emmanuel, son of Johann Sebastian, and his student Johann Friedrich Agricola wrote an obituary. It was published in 1754 by Lorenz Christoph Mitzler in a musical magazine. Johann Sebastian Bach, short biography which is presented above, was originally buried in Leipzig, near the church of St. John. The grave remained untouched for 150 years. Later, in 1894, the remains were transferred to a special storage in the Church of St. John, and in 1950 - to the Church of St. Thomas, where the composer still rests.

Organ creativity

Most of all, during his lifetime, Bach was known precisely as an organist and composer. organ music, which he wrote in all traditional German genres (preludes, fantasies). The favorite genres in which Johann Sebastian Bach created are toccata, fugue, choral preludes. His organ work is very diverse. IN young age Johann Sebastian Bach (we have already touched on his biography briefly) has earned a reputation as a very creative composer capable of adapting many foreign styles to the requirements of organ music. Big influence he was influenced by the traditions of Northern Germany, in particular Georg Böhm, whom the composer met in Lüneburg, and Dietrich Buxtehude, whom Johann Sebastian visited in 1704 during long vacation. Around the same time, Bach rewrote the works of many Italian and French composers, and later - violin concertos Vivaldi to breathe into them new life already as works for organ performance. During the most productive creative period(from 1708 to 1714) Johann Sebastian Bach writes fugues and toccatas, several dozen pairs of preludes and fugues, and the "Organ Book" - an unfinished collection of 46 choral preludes. After leaving Weimar, the composer writes less organ music, although he creates a number of well-known works.

Other works for clavier

Bach wrote a great deal of harpsichord music, some of which can be played on the clavichord. Many of these writings are encyclopedic, incorporating the theoretical methods and techniques that Johann Sebastian Bach liked to use. The works (list) are presented below:

The Well-Tempered Clavier is a two-volume work. Each volume contains preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys in use, arranged in chromatic order.
Inventions and overtures. These two- and three-part works are in the same order as the Well-Tempered Clavier, with the exception of some rare keys. They were created by Bach for educational purposes.
3 collections of dance suites, " French suites", "English Suites" and scores for clavier.
"Goldberg Variations".
Various pieces such as "Overture in french style", "Italian concert".

Orchestral and chamber music

Johann Sebastian also wrote works for individual instruments, duets and small ensembles. Many of them, such as partitas and sonatas for solo violin, six different suites for solo cello, partita for solo flute, are considered among the most outstanding in the composer's repertoire. Johann Sebastian wrote Bach symphonies, and also created several compositions for solo lute. He also created trio sonatas, solo sonatas for flute and viola da gamba, a large number of ricercars and canons. For example, the cycles "Art of the Fugue", "Musical Offering". Bach's most famous orchestral work is the Brandenburg Concertos, so named because Johann Sebastian submitted it in the hope of getting a work from Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Swedish in 1721. His attempt, however, was unsuccessful. The genre of this work is concerto grosso. Other surviving works by Bach for orchestra: 2 violin concertos, a concerto written for two violins (key "D minor"), concertos for clavier and chamber orchestra (from one to four instruments).

Vocal and choral compositions

Cantatas. Beginning in 1723, Bach worked in the church of St. Thomas, and every Sunday, as well as on holidays, he led the performance of cantatas. Although he sometimes staged cantatas by other composers, Johann Sebastian wrote at least 3 cycles of his works in Leipzig, not counting those composed in Weimar and Mühlhausen. In total, more than 300 cantatas were created on spiritual topics, of which approximately 200 have survived.
Motets. Motets, authored by Johann Sebastian Bach, are works on spiritual themes for choir and basso continuo. Some of them were composed for funeral ceremonies.
Passions, or passions, oratorios and magnificats. Bach's major works for choir and orchestra are the John Passion, the Matthew Passion (both written for Good Friday in the churches of St. Thomas and St. Nicholas) and the Christmas Oratorio (a cycle of 6 cantatas intended for the celebration ). Shorter compositions - "Easter Oratorio" and "Magnificat".
"Mass in B minor". Bach created his latest great job, Mass in B minor, between 1748 and 1749. "Mass" was never staged in its entirety during the composer's lifetime.

musical style

Bach's musical style was shaped by his talent for counterpoint, ability to lead the motive, flair for improvisation, interest in the music of Northern and Southern Germany, Italy and France, as well as devotion to Lutheran traditions. Thanks to the fact that Johann Sebastian had access to many instruments and works in childhood and adolescence, as well as to the ever-increasing talent for writing dense music with amazing sonority, Bach's work was filled with eclecticism and energy, in which foreign influence was skillfully combined with already existing improved German music school. During the baroque period, many composers mainly composed only frame works, and the performers themselves supplemented them with their melodic embellishments and developments. This practice varies considerably among European schools. However, Bach composed most or all of the melodic lines and details himself, leaving little room for interpretation. This feature reflects the density of contrapuntal textures to which the composer gravitated, limiting the freedom of spontaneous change in musical lines. For some reason, some sources mention works by other authors that Johann Sebastian Bach allegedly wrote. " Moonlight Sonata", for example. You and I, of course, remember that this work was created by Beethoven.

Execution

Modern performers of Bach's works usually follow one of two traditions: the so-called authentic (historically oriented performance) or modern (involving modern instruments often in large ensembles). In Bach's time, orchestras and choirs were much more modest than they are today, and even his most ambitious works, Passions and the Mass in B Minor, were written for far fewer performers. In addition, today you can hear very different versions the sound of the same music, because in some chamber works Johann Sebastian initially had no instrumentation at all. Modern "lite" versions of Bach's works have made a great contribution to the popularization of his music in the 20th century. Among them - famous tunes performed by the Swinger Singers and a 1968 recording by Wendy Carlos Switched-On-Bach using a newly invented synthesizer. Jazz musicians, such as Jacques Loussier, also showed interest in Bach's music. Joel Spiegelman performed an arrangement of his famous "Goldberg Variations", creating his new-age piece.

Johann Sebastian Bach is the greatest figure in world culture. The work of a universal musician who lived in the 18th century is genre-wide: the German composer combined and generalized the traditions of the Protestant chant with the traditions of the music schools of Austria, Italy and France.

200 years after the death of the musician and composer, interest in his work and biography has not cooled down, and contemporaries use Bach's works in the 20th century, finding relevance and depth in them. The composer's chorale prelude is heard in Solaris. The music of Johann Bach, as the best creation of mankind, was recorded on the Voyager Golden Record, attached to a spacecraft launched from Earth in 1977. According to The New York Times, Johann Sebastian Bach is the first in the world's top ten composers who have created masterpieces that stand above time.

Childhood and youth

Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 31, 1685 in the Thuringian city of Eisenach, located between the hills of the Heinig national park and the Thuringian Forest. The boy became the youngest and eighth child in the family professional musician Johann Ambrosius Bach.

There are five generations of musicians in the Bach family. The researchers counted fifty relatives of Johann Sebastian, who connected life with music. Among them is the great-great-grandfather of the composer Veit Bach, a baker who wore a zither everywhere - a plucked musical instrument in the form of a box.

The head of the family, Ambrosius Bach, played the violin in churches and organized secular concerts, so he taught the first music lessons to his youngest son. Johann Bach sang in the choir from an early age and pleased his father with his abilities and greed for musical knowledge.

At the age of 9, Johann Sebastian's mother, Elisabeth Lemmerhirt, died, and a year later the boy became an orphan. Younger brother took care of the eldest - Johann Christoph, church organist and music teacher in the nearby town of Ohrdruf. Christophe sent Sebastian to the gymnasium, where he taught theology, Latin, and history.

The older brother taught the younger to play the clavier and organ, but these lessons were not enough for the inquisitive boy: secretly from Christophe, he took out a notebook with works from the closet famous composers And moonlit nights transcribed notes. But his brother discovered Sebastian in an illegal activity and took away the records.

At the age of 15, Johann Bach became independent: he got a job in Lüneburg and brilliantly graduated from the vocal gymnasium, opening his way to the university. But poverty and the need to earn a living put an end to my studies.

In Lüneburg, curiosity pushed Bach to travel: he visited Hamburg, Celle and Lübeck, where he got acquainted with the work of famous musicians Reinken and Georg Boehm.

Music

In 1703, after graduating from the gymnasium in Lüneburg, Johann Bach got a job as a court musician in the chapel of the Weimar Duke Johann Ernst. Bach played the violin for six months and gained his first popularity as a performer. But soon Johann Sebastian got tired of pleasing the ears of the masters by playing the violin - he dreamed of developing and opening up new horizons in art. Therefore, without hesitation, he agreed to take the vacant position of court organist in the church of St. Boniface in Arnstadt, which is 200 kilometers from Weimar.

Johann Bach worked three days a week and received a high salary. Church organ tuned to new system expanded the possibilities young performer and composer: in Arnstadt, Bach wrote three dozen organ works, capriccio, cantata and suites. But tense relations with the authorities pushed Johann Bach to leave the city after three years.

The last straw that outweighed the patience of the church authorities was the long excommunication of the musician from Arnstadt. The inert churchmen, who already disliked the musician for his innovative approach to the performance of cult spiritual works, gave Bach a humiliating trial for a trip to Lübeck.

The famous organist Dietrich Buxtehude lived and worked in the city, whose improvisations on the organ Bach dreamed of listening to from childhood. Having no money for a carriage, Johann went to Lübeck on foot in the autumn of 1705. The play of the master shocked the musician: instead of the allotted month, he stayed in the city for four.

After returning to Arnstadt and arguing with his superiors, Johann Bach left his "familiar place" and went to the Thuringian city of Mühlhausen, where he found work as an organist in the church of St. Blaise.

The city authorities and the church authorities favored the talented musician, his earnings were higher than in Arnstadt. Johann Bach proposed an economical plan for the restoration of the old organ, approved by the authorities, and wrote a festive cantata "The Lord is my king", dedicated to the inauguration of the new consul.

But a year later, the wind of wandering "removed" Johann Sebastian from his place and transferred him to the previously abandoned Weimar. In 1708, Bach took the place of court organist and settled in a house next to the ducal palace.

The "Weimar period" of the biography of Johann Bach turned out to be fruitful: the composer composed dozens of clavier and orchestral works, got acquainted with the work of Corelli, learned to use dynamic rhythms and harmonic schemes. Communication with the employer - Crown Duke Johann Ernst, a composer and musician, influenced Bach's work. In 1713, the duke brought sheet music from Italy musical works local composers who opened new horizons in art for Johann Bach.

In Weimar, Johann Bach began work on the Organ Book, a collection of choral preludes for organ, composed the majestic organ Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Passacaglia in C Minor, and 20 spiritual cantatas.

By the end of his service in Weimar, Johann Sebastian Bach became widely famous master harpsichord and organist. In 1717, the famous French harpsichordist Louis Marchand arrived in Dresden. The concertmaster Volumier, having heard about Bach's talent, invited the musician to compete with Marchand. But on the day of the competition, Louis ran away from the city, afraid of failure.

The desire for change called Bach on the road in the autumn of 1717. The Duke released his beloved musician "with an expression of disgrace." The organist was hired as bandmaster by Prince Anhalt-Ketensky, who was well versed in music. But the prince's commitment to Calvinism did not allow Bach to compose refined music for worship, so Johann Sebastian wrote mainly secular works.

In the "Keten" period, Johann Bach composed six suites for cello, French and English clavier suites, three sonatas for violin solos. The famous "Brandenburg Concertos" and a cycle of works, including 48 preludes and fugues, called "The Well-Tempered Clavier" appeared in Kothen. At the same time, Bach wrote two-part and three-part inventions, which he called "symphonies".

In 1723, Johann Bach took a job as cantor of the choir of St. Thomas in the church of Leipzig. In the same year, the audience heard the composer's work, The Passion According to John. Soon Bach took the position of "music director" of all city churches. For 6 years" Leipzig period» Johann Bach wrote 5 annual cycles of cantatas, two of which are lost.

The city council gave the composer 8 choral performers, but this number was extremely small, so Bach hired up to 20 musicians himself, which caused frequent clashes with the authorities.

In the 1720s, Johann Bach composed mainly cantatas for performance in the churches of Leipzig. Wishing to expand the repertoire, the composer wrote secular works. In the spring of 1729, the musician was appointed head of the College of Music, a secular ensemble founded by Bach's friend Georg Philipp Telemann. The ensemble held two-hour concerts twice a week throughout the year at the Zimmerman Coffee House next to the market square.

Most of the secular works composed by the composer from 1730 to 1750, Johann Bach wrote for performance in a coffee house.

These include the playful "Coffee Cantata", the comic "Peasant Cantata", clavier pieces and concertos for cello and harpsichord. During these years, the famous "Mass in B minor" was written, which is called the best choral work of all time.

For spiritual performance, Bach created the High Mass in B minor and the St. Matthew Passion, receiving from the court as a reward for his work the title of royal Polish and Saxon court composer.

In 1747, Johann Bach visited the court of King Frederick II of Prussia. The grandee offered the composer a musical theme and asked him to write an improvisation. Bach, a master of improvisation, immediately composed a three-voice fugue. Soon he supplemented it with a cycle of variations on this theme, called it "Musical Offering" and sent it as a gift to Frederick II.

Another large cycle, called The Art of the Fugue, Johann Bach did not finish. The sons published the cycle after the death of their father.

In the last decade, the composer's fame has faded: classicism flourished, contemporaries considered Bach's style old-fashioned. But young composers, brought up on the works of Johann Bach, revered him. The work of the great organist was loved and.

The surge of interest in the music of Johann Bach and the revival of the composer's fame began in 1829. In March, pianist and composer Felix Mendelssohn organized a concert in Berlin, where the work "St. Matthew Passion" was performed. An unexpectedly loud resonance followed, the performance gathered thousands of spectators. Mendelssohn went with concerts to Dresden, Konigsberg and Frankfurt.

The work of Johann Bach "Musical Joke" is still one of the favorites for thousands of performers in the world. Fervent, melodic, tender music sounds in different variations, adapted to playing on modern instruments.

Bach's music is popularized by Western and Russian musicians. Vocal ensemble The Swingle Singers released debut album Jazz Sebastian Bach, bringing a team of eight vocalists world fame and a Grammy Award.

The music of Johann Bach and jazz musicians Jacques Loussier and Joel Spiegelman were processed. The Russian performer tried to pay tribute to the genius.

Personal life

In October 1707, Johann Sebastian Bach married a young cousin from Arnstadt, Maria Barbara. The couple had seven children, but three died in infancy. Three sons - Wilhelm Friedemann, Carl Philipp Emmanuel and Johann Christian - followed in the footsteps of their father and became famous musicians and composers.

In the summer of 1720, when Johann Bach and Prince Anhalt-Ketensky were abroad, Maria Barbara died, leaving four children.

The personal life of the composer improved a year later: at the court of the Duke, Bach met a young beauty and talented singer Anna Magdalena Wilke. Johann married Anna in December 1721. They had 13 children, but 9 outlived their father.

In his advanced years, the family for the composer was the only consolation. For his wife and children, Johann Bach composed vocal ensembles, arranged chamber concerts, enjoying the songs of his wife (Anna Bach had a beautiful soprano) and the playing of grown-up sons.

The fate of the wife and youngest daughter of Johann Bach was sad. Anna Magdalena died ten years later in a house of contempt for the poor, and the youngest daughter, Regina, eked out a semi-beggarly existence. In the last years of her life, Ludwig van Beethoven helped the woman.

Death

In the last 5 years, Johann Bach's eyesight has been rapidly deteriorating, but the composer composed music by dictating works to his son-in-law.

In 1750, the British ophthalmologist John Taylor arrived in Leipzig. The doctor's reputation can hardly be called impeccable, but Bach clung to straws and took a chance. After the operation, the vision did not return to the musician. Taylor operated on the composer for the second time, but a short-term return of vision worsened. On July 18, 1750, a stroke occurred, and on July 28, 65-year-old Johann Bach died.

The composer was buried in Leipzig in the church cemetery. The lost grave and remains were found in 1894 and reburied in a stone sarcophagus in the Church of St. John, where the musician served for 27 years. The temple was destroyed by bombing during World War II, but the ashes of Johann Bach were found and moved in 1949, buried at the altar of the Church of St. Thomas.

In 1907, a museum was opened in Eisenach, where the composer was born, and in 1985 a museum appeared in Leipzig.

Johann Bach's favorite pastime was considered to be visiting provincial churches in the clothes of a poor teacher.
Thanks to the composer, both men and women sing in church choirs. Johann Bach's wife became the first church chorus girl.
Johann Bach did not take money for private lessons.
The surname Bach is translated from German as "stream".

Johann Bach spent a month in prison for constantly asking for his resignation.
Georg Friedrich Handel is a contemporary of Bach, but the composers did not meet. The fates of the two musicians are similar: both became blind as a result of an unsuccessful operation performed by the charlatan doctor Taylor.
A complete catalog of Johann Bach's works published 200 years after his death.
The German nobleman ordered the composer to write a work, after listening to which he could fall asleep soundly. Johann Bach fulfilled the request: the famous Goldberg variations - and now a good "sleeping pill".

Bach's aphorisms

“To get a good night’s sleep, you should go to bed on a different day than you need to wake up.”
"Keyboarding is easy: you just need to know which keys to press."
"The purpose of music is to touch hearts."

Discography

"Ave Maria"
"English Suite N3"
"Brandenburg concert N3"
"Italian Influence"
"Concert N5 F-Minor"
"Concert N1"
"Concerto for Cello and Orchestra D-Minor"
"Concerto for flute, cello and harp"
"Sonata N2"
"Sonata N4"
"Sonata N1"
"Suite N2 B-Minor"
"Suite N2"
"Suite for orchestra N3 D-Major"
"Toccata and Fugue D-Minor"

Alexander MAYKAPAR

Johann Sebastian Bach

1685 - 1750

The main milestones of life

I.S. Bach is a German composer and clavier player, that is, a performer on keyboard instruments (organ, harpsichord, clavichord).
Born in 1685 in Eisenach. The largest representative of the largest musical family. During his lifetime, he was famous not so much as a composer, but as an organist and harpsichordist. The external circumstances of his life are much less varied than those of many of his fellow contemporaries, such as Handel.

House in Eisenach, where J.S. Bach

Bach spent his childhood in Eisenach. The boy who lost his parents early (Bach was orphaned by the age of ten) was taken into his family by his elder brother Johann Christoph, who lived in Ohrdruf. In 1700 Bach moved to Lüneburg and entered the gymnasium there. By this time, he plays the organ, clavier, violin, viola well, and performs the duties of an assistant to the cantor.
In 1702, Bach visited Hamburg several times in order to listen to the venerable J. Reinken. As a result, Reinken himself gives an enthusiastic review of the young Bach's organ playing. The following year, Bach graduated from the Lüneburg Gymnasium, and in the spring he accepted an invitation to serve in Weimar. He takes part in the testing of a new organ in Arnstadt and, as a result, is approved as an organist. In this capacity, in 1705, he traveled to Lübeck to hear the famous organist Dietrich Buxtehude play.
In 1707, Bach moved to Mühlhausen and became the organist of the Blasiuskirche (the Church of St. Blaise) here. In the same year he marries his cousin, also an orphan, Maria Barbara. Maria Barbara bore Bach seven children, of whom four survived. Two eldest sons - Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel - subsequently became major composers and entered the history of music as the creators of their musical style.
In 1708, Bach received the position of court organist, chamber musician, and from 1714 - court accompanist in Weimar. In 1717–1723 we find him as court bandmaster at Köthen.

The interior of the castle church in Weimar, in which J.S. Bach performed his cantatas

In 1721, after sudden death Maria Barbara, Bach marries the daughter of the court musician in Weissenfeld, Anna Magdalena Wilcken. She also represents musical dynasty, has a beautiful voice and good hearing. Helping her husband, Anna Magdalena rewrote many of his works. In this marriage, Bach has 13 children, but six of them survive. One of Bach's sons from this marriage, Johann Christian, became a famous musician. (In view of the large number of Bach composers in world musical culture, it has become a de facto practice to call all Bachs by their names; when it is called simply "Bach", we understand that we are talking about Johann Sebastian.)

Courtyard of the Church of St. Thomas, where the school was located and I.S. Bach

In 1723, Bach received the most important, as shown future life, his position - the cantor of the Thomaskirche (Church of St. Thomas) and the city music director in Leipzig. He moves here and stays here for the rest of his life. From here he made a number of trips, including in 1747 to Potsdam, where he played in front of King Frederick II, improvising on a theme he had set. Returning to Leipzig, Bach developed this theme in a number of complex polyphonic pieces, printed them and presented them to the king. This work is called "Musical Offering".
Bach died in 1750.

Grave of I.S. Bach in the church of St. Thomas

genius scale

Bach is one of the greatest representatives of the world musical culture. He created in all that existed in his time musical genres, with the exception of the opera, to which, in essence, his oratorios are close. In terms of musical style, his art is highest point musical baroque. Vividly a national artist, Bach combined the traditions of the Protestant chant with the traditions of the Italian and French musical schools.
The leading genre in Bach's vocal and instrumental work is the spiritual cantata. Bach created five annual cycles of cantatas, which differ in belonging to church calendar, according to textual sources (psalms, choral stanzas, “free” poetry), according to the role of the chorale, etc. Of the secular cantatas, the most famous are “Peasant” and “Coffee”. The dramatic principles worked out in the cantata found their embodiment in the masses, the Passion. The "High" Mass in B minor, "John Passion", "Matthew Passion" became the culmination of the centuries-old history of these genres. Organ music occupies a central place in Bach's instrumental work.
Synthesizing the experience of organ improvisation inherited from his predecessors (D. Buxtehude, J. Pachelbel, G. Böhm, J.A. Reinken), various variational and polyphonic methods of composing and contemporary principles of concert performance, Bach rethought and updated the traditional genres of organ music - toccata , fantasy, passacaglia, chorale prelude. A virtuoso performer, one of the greatest connoisseurs of his time keyboard instruments, Bach wrote a lot for the clavier. Among the clavier works important place occupies the "Well-Tempered Clavier" - the first experience in the history of music of artistic application developed at the turn of the XVII-XVIII centuries. tempered system. The greatest polyphonist, in the HTC fugues, Bach created unsurpassed examples, a kind of school of contrapuntal skill, which was continued and completed in The Art of Fugue, on which Bach worked over the last ten years of his life. Bach's music for violin, cello, flute, oboe, instrumental ensemble, orchestra - sonatas, suites, partitas, concertos - marks a significant expansion of the expressiveness and technical capabilities of the instruments, reveals a deep knowledge of the instruments and universalism in their interpretation. Six Brandenburg Concertos for various instrumental ensembles, transforming genre and compositional principles concerto grosso, were an important stage on the way to the classical symphony.
During Bach's lifetime, a small part of his works were published. The true scale of Bach's genius, which had a strong influence on the subsequent development of European musical culture, began to be realized only half a century after his death. Among the first connoisseurs is the founder of Bach studies I.N. Forkel (who published in 1802 "An Essay on the Life and Work of Bach"), K.F. Zelter, whose work to preserve and promote the legacy of Bach led to the performance of the Matthew Passion conducted by F. Mendelssohn in 1829. This performance, which had historical meaning, served as an impetus for the revival of Bach's work in the 19th–20th centuries. In 1850, the Bach Society was formed in Leipzig. (On the results of the Society's activities, see our article "A Monument of World Musical Culture" - "Art" No. 18 (354), September 16–30, 2006, p. 3).

Johann Sebastian was born into a family that is considered the largest musical dynasty in Germany. Among the ancestors of Bach, Veit Bach, a baker who played the zither, and Johannes Bach, a city musician in Erfurt, were especially famous. The descendants of the latter became so famous that in some medieval German dialects the surname "Bach" became a household name and received the meaning of "city musician".

Bach's father is Johann Amvroysky, a city musician.

Johann Sebastian's uncle, Johann Christoph, served as an organist in the city. Naturally, the future greatest representative of the dynasty began to study music from a very early age.

1693 - the younger Bach enters a church school. The boy has a good soprano voice and is making progress.

1695 - In two years, Johann Sebastian loses both parents. He is taken in by his older brother, who served as a musician in Ordfur.

1695 - 1700 - Ohrdruf. Bach goes to school and studies music under the guidance of his brother. At the same time, as a teenager, Johann Bach severely lost his sight - at night, by the light of the moon, he copied notes from his brother.

The school teacher recommends that Bach go to Lüneburg, to the famous school at St. Michael's Church. Johann Sebastian walks 300 kilometers from Central to Northern Germany. In Lüneburg, Bach lives on full board and even receives a small scholarship. Master organist Georg Böhm becomes one of the mentors of the future composer in Lünebur.

1702 - after leaving school, Bach has the right to go to university, but he cannot afford it, since he needs to earn a living. After spending some time in Lüneburg, the future composer goes back to Thuringia. Here he manages to serve as a violinist in the private chapel of Prince Johann Ernest of Saxony. Then Bach stops in Arnstadt, where he spends 4 years.

1703 - 1707 - Arnstadt. Bach serves as a church organist, while not ceasing to study the music and performance style of famous musicians of the time.

1707 - Bach accepts an invitation to serve in Mühlhausen, as organist in the church of St. Blaise. Here he begins to write cantatas and moonlights as an organ repairman. Bach spends a year in Mühlhausen.

1708 - Johann Sebastian Bach marries his cousin, also an orphan, Maria Barbara. Maria Barbara gave birth to Bach 7 children, of whom four survived.

The same year - moving to Weimar. Johann Bach finally stays in the city for a long time, he is the court organist and composer. This time is considered to be the beginning creative way Bach as a composer of music. Numerous pieces for organ and harpsichord were written in Weimar.

1717 - 1723 - Keten. Bach receives a place as court bandmaster at the court of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Keten. The duties of Johann Sebastian included: to accompany the singing of the prince (according to contemporaries, who possessed good voice), to accompany him playing the harpsichord and gamba, and also to lead a chapel of 18 musicians. Here he wrote the Well-Tempered Clavier (Volume 1), sonatas and suites for violin and cello solo, six Brandenburg Concertos

The appearance of Bach in the position of court bandmaster was preceded by an event in Dresden: there was to be a performance of the "world star" of that time, L. Marchand. The musicians met on the eve of the concert, they even managed to play together, after which Marchand left Dresden, unable to withstand the competition and recognizing Bach as a better musician than himself.

June 1720 - Maria Barbara dies suddenly. Bach becomes a widower.

1721 - Johann Bach marries for the second time the daughter of a court musician from Weissenfeld, Anna Magdalene Wilken. She also represents a musical dynasty, has a beautiful voice and good hearing. Helping her husband, Anna Magdalena rewrote many of his works. The second marriage becomes much more successful for the composer than the first. For his beloved Anna Magdalene, Bach creates " Notebook Anna Magdalene Bach. In this marriage, Bach has 13 children, but six of them survive.

1722 - tired of secular music, Bach applies for a vacancy in Leipzig as a cantor. A year later, he gets this place.

1723 - 1750 - Leipzig.

1723 - in Leipzig, the music director of the city and the cantor of the church choir at the school of St. Thomas are waiting for the already famous musician. It is here that Johann Sebastian begins his work as head of the chorister school. Teaching burdens the composer, taking time away from creativity. In addition, the school of choristers is poorly maintained, the students of Johann Sebastian are constantly hungry and poorly dressed. And the school authorities care little about the quality of the boys' singing abilities.

At the same time, the composer takes an active part in the activities of the "Music Collegium" of Leipzig.

In Leipzig, three sons of Johann Sebastian Bach are born: Wilhelm Friedemann, Philip Emmanuel, John Christian. All of them were gifted musicians.

Leipzig period of creativity - Bach writes "Passion according to Matthew", "Passion according to John", "High Mass", "Majestic Oratorio", Mass in B minor, "Christmas Oratorio", etc. The authorities are dissatisfied with the works of Johann Sebastian - they are "not churchly" , they lack proper rigor, but there is an abundance of colorfulness of earthly music. Mutual dissatisfaction between the composer and his superiors eventually spills over into an open conflict.

1740 - Bach, formally remaining in the service, actually goes into his own work. He writes instrumental music, tries to publish some of his work.

1747 - a trip to Berlin. Philip Emmanuel, son of Bach, serves under Frederick II. He provides his father with a performance at royal court. Bach plays for Friedrich and his entourage, improvises on a theme given by the king. Returning to Leipzig, Bach puts this improvisation at the heart of his work "Musical Offering" and dedicates it to Frederick II of Prussia.

In the last years of his life, Bach was seriously ill - eye strain, which he received in his youth, affected. Shortly before his death, the composer decided on an operation, but after it he only became completely blind. This did not stop the composer - now he dictated his works.