Bach in a 1748 portrait by Haussmann

Johann Sebastian Bach (pronounced [ˈjoːhan zəˈbastjan bax]) (21 March 1685 O.S. – 28 July 1750 N.S.) was a prolific German composer and organist 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 introduced no new forms, he enriched the prevailing German style with a robust contrapuntal technique, a control of harmonic and motivic organisation from the smallest to the largest scales, and the adaptation of rhythms and textures from abroad, particularly Italy and France. Bach is the surname of a number of people: // The Johann Sebastian Bach family Main article: Bach family Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), composer and organist, the most well-known of the Bachs Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710–1784), composer and organist Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788), composer, harpsichordist and... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Elias Gottlieb Haussmann (1695 - 1774) was a German painter in the late Baroque era. ... Articles with similar titles include the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... is the 80th day of the year (81st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events February 6 - James Stuart, Duke of York becomes King James II of England and Ireland and King James VII of Scotland. ... Old Style or O.S. is a designation indicating that a date conforms to the Julian calendar, formerly in use in many countries, rather than the Gregorian calendar, currently in use in most countries. ... is the 209th day of the year (210th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events March 2 - Small earthquake in London, England April 4 - Small earthquake in Warrington, England August 23 - Small earthquake in Spalding, England September 30 - Small earthquake in Northampton, England November 16 – Westminster Bridge officially opened Jonas Hanway is the first Englishman to use an umbrella James Gray reveals her sex... Old Style or O.S. is a designation indicating that a date conforms to the Julian calendar, formerly in use in many countries, rather than the Gregorian calendar, currently in use in most countries. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Organ in Katharinenkirche, Frankfurt am Main, Germany The organ is a keyboard instrument played using one or more manuals and a pedalboard. ... Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750[1] (see Dates of classical music eras for a discussion of the problems inherent in defining the beginning and end points). ... In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm, and interdependent in harmony. ...

Revered for their intellectual depth and technical and artistic beauty, J. S. Bach's works include the Brandenburg concertos; the Goldberg Variations; the English Suites, French Suites, Partitas, and Well-Tempered Clavier; the Mass in B Minor; the St Matthew Passion; the St. John Passion; The Musical Offering; The Art of Fugue; the Sonatas and Partitas for violin solo; the Cello Suites; more than 200 surviving cantatas; and a similar number of organ works, including the celebrated Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. Bach was not always appreciated during his own lifetime, and he was considered to be "old-fashioned" by his contemporaries, especially late in his career during the Rococo. Regardless, Bach is now considered one of the most famous and influential composers of all time. Johann Sebastian Bach, c. ... The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, original title Aria mit verschiedenen Veränderungen[1] published as Clavierübung, bestehend in einer Aria. ... The English Suites, BWV 806–811, refer to a set of six suites written by the German composer Johann Sebastian Bach for harpsichord and generally thought to be the earliest of Bachs 18 suites for keyboard, the others being the 6 French Suites, BWV 812-817 and the 6... The French Suites, BWV 812-817, refer to six suites written by Johann Sebastian Bach for the clavier (harpsichord or clavichord). ... The Partitas, BWV 825–830, are a set of six harpsichord suites written by Johann Sebastian Bach, published from 1726 to 1730 as Clavier-übung I, and the first of his works to be published. ... Title-page of Das wohltemperirte Clavier A flat major (As-dur) fugue from the second part of Das wohltemperirte Clavier (manuscript) The Well-Tempered Clavier (in the original German: Das wohltemperierte Clavier[1]) is a collection of solo keyboard music composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. ... The Mass in B Minor (BWV 232) is a work of music by Johann Sebastian Bach. ... This aritcle does not cite any references or sources. ... Several composers have written St. ... The Musical Offering (German title Musikalisches Opfer or Das Musikalische Opfer), BWV 1079, is a collection of canons and fugues and other pieces of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, based on a musical theme by Frederick II of Prussia (Frederick the Great) and dedicated to him. ... A portrait which may show Bach in 1750 The Art of Fugue or The Art of the Fugue (original German: Die Kunst der Fuge), BWV 1080, is an unfinished work by the German composer Johann Sebastian Bach. ... First Sonata for Solo Violin: Adagio (Autograph 1720) The Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin (BWV 1001–1006) is a set of six works composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. ... The first page from the manuscript by Anna Magdalena Bach of Suite No. ... This is a list of cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach in order of BWV number as given in Wolfgang Schmieders catalogue of Bachs works. ... The baroque organ in Roskilde Cathedral, Copenhagen The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by admitting pressurized air (referred to as wind) through a series of pipes. ... The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, is a piece of organ music written by Johann Sebastian Bach sometime between 1703 and 1707. ...

Biography

Childhood (1685–1703)

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Thuringia. He was the youngest child of Johann Ambrosius Bach, an organist at St. George's Church, and Maria Elisabetha Lämmerhirt Bach. His father taught him to play violin and harpsichord. His uncles were all professional musicians, whose posts ranged from church organists and court chamber musicians to composers. One uncle, Johann Christoph Bach (1645–93), was especially famous and introduced him to the art of organ playing. Bach was proud of his family's musical achievements, and around 1735 he drafted a genealogy, "Origin of the musical Bach family", printed in translation in The Bach Reader (ISBN 0393002594). Eisenach is a city in Thuringia, Germany. ... The Free State of Thuringia (German: Freistaat Thüringen) is located in central Germany and is considered one of the smaller of Germanys sixteen Bundesländer (federal states), with an area of 16,200 km² and 2. ... Johann Ambrosius Bach. ... Maria Elisabetha Lämmerhirt (February 24, 1644 - 1 May 1694) was the mother of eight children, including Johann Sebastian Bach, and the wife of Johann Ambrosius Bach. ...

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 nearby Ohrdruf. There, he copied, studied and performed music, and apparently received valuable teaching from his brother, who instructed him on the clavichord. JC Bach exposed him to the works of the great South German composers of the day, such as Johann Pachelbel (under whom Johann Christoph had studied) and Johann Jakob Froberger; possibly to the music of North German composers, to Frenchmen, such as Jean-Baptiste Lully, Louis Marchand, Marin Marais; and to the Italian clavierist Girolamo Frescobaldi. The young Bach probably witnessed and assisted in the maintenance of the organ music. Bach's obituary indicates that he copied music out of Johann Christoph's scores, but his brother had apparently forbidden him to do so, possibly because scores were valuable and private commodities at the time. Ohrdruf is a famous cathedral which J.S. Bach was the organist of. ... Johann Pachelbel (IPA: [], [] or [][2]) (baptized September 1, 1653 – March 3, 1706) was a German Baroque composer, organist and teacher who brought the south German organ tradition to its peak. ... Johann Jakob Froberger (baptized May 19, 1616 – May 7, 1667) was a German Baroque composer, keyboard virtuoso, and organist. ... Jean-Baptiste de Lully, originally Giovanni Battista di Lulli (November 28, 1632 – March 22, 1687), was an Italian-born French composer, who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. ... Louis Marchand (Lyons, February 2, 1669- Paris, February 17, 1732), Virtuoso organist and harpsichordist. ... Marin Marais Marin Marais (31 May 1656, Paris – 15 August 1728, Paris) was a pupil of Jean-Baptiste Lully and of the viol player Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe. ... Girolamo Frescobaldi. ...

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. This involved a long journey with his friend, probably undertaken partly on foot and partly by coach. His two years there appear to have been critical in exposing him to a wider palette of European culture than he would have experienced in Thuringia. In addition to singing in the a cappella choir, it is likely that he played the School’s three-manual organ and its harpsichords. He probably learned French and Italian, and received a thorough grounding in theology, Latin, history, geography, and physics. He would have come into contact with sons of noblemen from northern Germany sent to the highly selective school to prepare for careers in diplomacy, government, and the military. It is likely that he had significant contact with organists in Lüneburg, in particular Georg Böhm, and that he visited several of them in Hamburg, such as Johann Adam Reincken and Nicolaus Bruhns. Through these musicians, he probably gained access to the largest and finest instruments he had played thus far. It is likely that during this stage he became acquainted with the music of the German organ schools, especially the work of Dieterich Buxtehude, and with music manuscripts and treatises on music theory that were in the possession of these musicians. Lüneburg (English: Lunenburg) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, about 50km southeast of Hamburg. ... This article is about the city in Germany. ... The famous organist Georg Böhm (September 2, 1661 - May 18, 1733) was born in Hohenkirchen, Thuringia Germany. ... Johann Adam Reincken (April 27, 1623 - November 24, 1722) was an organist at St. ... Nicholas Bruhns (1665-1697) was one of the greatest organists and composers of his time, and an important influence on Johann Sebastian Bach. ... The only surviving portrait of Buxtehude, from a 1674 painting by Johannes Voorhout. ... Look up Treatise in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Arnstadt to Weimar (1703–08)

St Boniface's Church in Arnstadt

In January 1703, shortly after graduating, Bach took up a post as a court musician in the chapel of Duke Johann Ernst in Weimar, a large town in Thuringia. His role there is unclear, but appears to have included menial, non-musical duties. During his seven-month tenure at Weimar, his reputation as a keyboard player spread. He was invited to inspect and give the inaugural recital on the new organ at St Boniface’s Church in Arnstadt. The Bach family had close connections with this oldest town in Thuringia, about 180 km to the southwest of Weimar at the edge of the great forest. In August 1703, he accepted the post of organist at that church, with light duties, a relatively generous salary, and a fine new organ tuned to a modern system that allowed a wide range of keys to be used. At this time, Bach was embarking on the serious composition of organ preludes; these works, in the North German tradition of virtuosic, improvisatory preludes, already showed tight motivic control (where a single, short music idea is explored cogently throughout a movement). However, in these works the composer had yet to fully develop his powers of large-scale organisation and his contrapuntal technique (where two or more melodies interact simultaneously). Image File history File links Download high resolution version (841x885, 139 KB) Beschreibung Bachkirche in Arnstadt (Thüringen), im Vordergrund: Brunnen. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (841x885, 139 KB) Beschreibung Bachkirche in Arnstadt (Thüringen), im Vordergrund: Brunnen. ... Johann Ernst III, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (b. ... For the locality in Texas called Weimar see Weimar, Texas, there is also Weimar bei Kassel and Weimar in Marburg-Biedenkopf. ... Arnstadt is a town in Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany. ... In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm, and interdependent in harmony. ...

Strong family connections and a musically enthusiastic employer failed to prevent tension between the young organist and the authorities after several years in the post. He was apparently dissatisfied with the standard of singers in the choir; more seriously, there was his unauthorised absence from Arnstadt for several months in 1705–06, when he visited the great master Dieterich Buxtehude and his Abendmusik in the northern city of Lübeck. This well-known incident in Bach’s life involved his walking some 400 kilometres ( 250 mi) each way to spend time with the man he probably regarded as the father-figure of German organists. The trip reinforced Buxtehude’s style as a foundation for Bach’s earlier works, and that he overstayed his planned visit by several months suggests that his time with the old man was of great value to his art. The only surviving portrait of Buxtehude, from a 1674 painting by Johannes Voorhout. ... Abendmusik (German for evening music) is an evening musical performance, especially one religious in nature. ... For other uses, see Lübeck (disambiguation). ...

Despite his comfortable position in Arnstadt, by 1706 Bach appeared to have realised that he needed to escape from the family milieu and move on to further his career. He was offered a more lucrative post as organist at St Blasius’s in Mühlhausen, a large and important city to the north. The following year, he took up this senior post with significantly improved pay and conditions, including a good choir. Four months after arriving at Mühlhausen, he married his second cousin from Arnstadt, Maria Barbara Bach.^[1] They had seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood. Two of them—Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach—became important composers in the ornate Rococo style that followed the Baroque. Mühlhausen is a city in the federal state Thuringia, Germany. ... Maria Barbara Bach (1684?-July, 1720) was the first wife of composer Johann Sebastian Bach. ... Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, in a portrait by Wilhelm Weitsch Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (November 22, 1710 – July 1, 1784) was the eldest, and by common repute the most gifted son, of Johann Sebastian Bach; a famous organist, a famous improvisor, and a complete master of counterpoint. ... Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (March 8, 1714 – December 14, 1788) was a German musician and composer, the second of five sons of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach. ... North side of the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo - carriage courtyard: all the stucco details sparkled with gold until 1773, when Catherine II had gilding replaced with olive drab paint. ...

The church and city government at Mühlhausen must have been proud of their new musical director. They readily agreed to his plan for an expensive renovation of the organ at St Blasius’s, and were so delighted at the elaborate, festive cantata he wrote for the inauguration of the new council in 1708—God is my king BWV 71, clearly in the style of Buxtehude—that they paid handsomely for its publication, and twice in later years had the composer return to conduct it. However, that same year, Bach was offered a better position in Weimar. A cantata (Italian, sung) is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment and generally containing more than one movement. ...

Weimar (1708–17)

Places in which Bach lived throughout his life

After barely a year at Mühlhausen, Bach left to become the court organist and concert master at the ducal court in Weimar, a far cry from his earlier position there as ‘lackey’. The munificent salary on offer at the court and the prospect of working entirely with a large, well-funded contingent of professional musicians may have prompted the move. The family moved into an apartment just five minutes’ walk from the ducal palace. In the following year, their first child was born and they were joined by Maria Barbara’s elder, unmarried sister, who remained with them to assist in the running of the household until her death in 1729. It was in Weimar that the two musically significant sons were born—Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. Image File history File links JSBWohnorte. ... Image File history File links JSBWohnorte. ... The concert-master (or concertmaster, leader, occasionally concertmistress) is the leader of the first violins and assistant conductor in an orchestra. ...

A dubious^[2] portrait of Bach as a young man

Bach’s position in Weimar marked the start of a sustained period of composing keyboard and orchestral works, in which he had attained the technical proficiency and confidence to extend the prevailing large-scale structures and to synthesise influences from abroad. From the music of Italians such as Vivaldi, Corelli and Torelli, he learnt how to write dramatic openings and adopted their sunny dispositions, dynamic motor-rhythms 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. He may have picked up the idea of transcribing the latest fashionable Italian music from Prince Johann Ernst, one of his employers, who was a musician of professional calibre. In 1713, the Duke returned from a tour of the Low Countries with a large collection of scores, some of them possibly transcriptions of the latest fashionable Italian music by the blind organist Jan Jacob de Graaf. Bach was particularly attracted to the Italian solo-tutti structure, in which one or more solo instruments alternate section-by-section with the full orchestra throughout a movement. These Italianate features can be heard in the excerpt below of the Prelude from English Suite No. 3 for harpsichord (1714). The solo–tutti alternation is achieved when the player deftly changes between the lower keyboard (of a fuller, slightly louder tone) and the upper keyboard (of a more delicate tone). Image File history File links Young_Bach2. ... Image File history File links Young_Bach2. ... “Vivaldi” redirects here. ... Arcangelo Corelli (February 17, 1653 – January 8, 1713) was an influential Italian violinist and composer of Baroque music. ... Giuseppe Torelli Giuseppe Torelli (Verona, April 22, 1658 - Bologna, February 8, 1709) was an Italian violinist, pedagogue and composer. ... It has been suggested that Regents: Low Countries be merged into this article or section. ...

Violin Sonata No. 1 in G minor (BWV 1001) in Bach’s handwriting

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 48 preludes and fugues, one pair for each major and relative minor key. This is a monumental work for its masterful use of counterpoint and its exploration, for the first time, of the full range of keys — and the means of expression made possible by their slight differences from each other—available to keyboardists when their instruments are tuned according to systems such as that of Andreas Werckmeister. Download high resolution version (535x847, 217 KB)This is Bachs Sonata #1 in G minor, in his own handwriting. ... Download high resolution version (535x847, 217 KB)This is Bachs Sonata #1 in G minor, in his own handwriting. ... In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm, and interdependent in harmony. ... In music, a fugue (IPA: ) is a type of contrapuntal composition or technique of composition for a fixed number of parts, normally referred to as voices, irrespective of whether the work is vocal or instrumental. ... Title-page of Das wohtemperierte Klavier A flat major (As-dur) fugue from the second part of Das wohtemperierte Klavier (manuscript) The Well-Tempered Clavier (Das wohltemperierte Klavier in German -- Klavier means piano, but the English word clavier (which means keyboard) looks more like the German title) consists of two... In music theory, the major scale is one of the diatonic scales. ... In music, the relative minor of a particular major key (or the relative major of a minor key) is the key which has the same key signature but a different tonic, as opposed to parallel minor or major, respectively. ... Andreas Werckmeister (November 30, 1645 – October 26, 1706) was a musician and music theorist of the Baroque era. ...

During his tenure at Weimar, Bach started work on The little organ book for his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann; this contains traditional Lutheran chorales (hymn tunes), set in complex textures to assist the training of organists. The book illustrates two major themes in Bach’s life: his dedication to teaching and his love of the chorale as a musical form. Orgelbüchlein: Written during one of Bachs more productive periods of 1708–14, The Orgelbüchlein (or Little organ book), is a set of 45 Chorale preludes written for organ. ... Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestant Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the sixteenth-century German reformer Martin Luther. ... A chorale was originally a hymn of the Lutheran church sung by the entire congregation. ...

Cöthen (1717–23)

The palace and gardens at Cöthen in an engraving from Matthäus Merian's Topographia (1650)

Bach began once again to search out a more stable job that was conducive to his musical interests. Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen hired Bach to serve as his Kapellmeister (director of music). Prince Leopold, himself a musician, appreciated Bach’s talents, paid him well, and gave him considerable latitude in composing and performing. However, 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 solo cello and the Sonatas and partitas for solo violin. This photograph of the opening page of the first violin sonata shows the composer’s handwriting—fast and efficient, but just as visually ornate as the music it encoded. The well-known Brandenburg concertos date from this period. Image File history File links Coethen. ... Image File history File links Coethen. ... Köthen (  ?) is a small town in central Germany, about 30 km north of Halle. ... Matthäus Merian Matthäus Merian der Ältere (the Elder, or Sr. ... Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen was born in August 1692. ... A Kapellmeister is nowadays the director or conductor of an orchestra or choir. ... In an unadorned church, the 17th century congregation stands to hear the sermon. ... The Four Orchestral Suites BWV 1066–1069 are a set of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, probably composed around 1720 in Köthen. ... The first page from the manuscript by Anna Magdalena Bach of Suite No. ... First Sonata for Solo Violin: Adagio (Autograph 1720) The Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin (BWV 1001–1006) is a set of six works composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. ... The six Brandenburg concertos (BWV 1046-1051) by Johann Sebastian Bach are a collection of instrumental works presented by Bach to the Margrave of Brandenburg in 1721, but probably composed earlier. ...

On July 7, 1720, while Bach was abroad with Prince Leopold, tragedy struck: his wife, Maria Barbara, the mother of his first 7 children, died suddenly. The following year, the widower met Anna Magdalena Wilcke, a young, highly gifted soprano 17 years his junior, who performed at the court in Cöthen; they married on 3 December 1721. Together they had 13 more children, six of whom survived into adulthood: Gottfried Heinrich, Johann Christoph Friedrich and Johann Christian all of whom became significant musicians; Elisabeth Juliane Friederica (1726–81) who married Bach's pupil Johann Christoph Altnikol, Johanna Carolina (1737–81) and Regina Susanna (1742–1809)^[3] is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events January 6 - The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings February 11 - Sweden and Prussia sign the (2nd Treaty of Stockholm) declaring peace. ... Anna Magdalena Bach-Wilcken (22 September 1701– 22 February 1760) was the second wife of Johann Sebastian Bach. ... This article is about the singing voice part. ... Köthen (  ?) is a small town in central Germany, about 30 km north of Halle. ... is the 337th day of the year (338th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events Pope Innocent XIII becomes pope Johann Sebastian Bach composes the Brandenburg Concertos April 4 - Robert Walpole becomes the first prime minister of Britain September 10 - Treaty of Nystad is signed, bringing an end to the Great Northern War November 2 - Peter I is proclaimed Emperor of All the Russias... Gottfried Heinrich Bach (b Leipzig 26 Feb 1724; d Naumberg, buried 12 Feb 1763) was the firstborn son of the second marriage of Johann Sebastian Bach. ... Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (June 21, 1732—January 26, 1795), the ninth son of Johann Sebastian Bach, sometimes referred to as the Bückeburg Bach. Born at Leipzig, Germany, he was taught music by his father. ... Johann Christian Bach (September 5, 1735 – January 1, 1782) was a composer of the Classical era, the eleventh and youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. ...

Leipzig (1723–50)

A 1723 engraving by JG Krügner of St Thomas’s Church, the St Thomas School at a right angle to it, on the left

In 1723, Bach was appointed Cantor of Thomasschule, adjacent to the Thomaskirche (St Thomas’s Lutheran Church) in Leipzig, as well as Director of Music in the principal churches in the town. This was a prestigious post in the leading mercantile city in Saxony, a neighbouring electorate to Thuringia. Apart from his brief tenures in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen, this was Bach’s first government position in a career that had mainly involved service to the aristocracy. This final post, which he held for 27 years until his death, brought him into contact with the political machinations of his employer, the Leipzig Council. The Council comprised two factions: the Absolutists, loyal to the Saxon monarch in Dresden, Augustus the Strong; and the City-Estate faction, representing the interests of the mercantile class, the guilds and minor aristocrats. Bach was the nominee of the monarchists, in particular of the Mayor at the time, Gottlieb Lange, a lawyer who had earlier served in the Dresden court. In return for agreeing to Bach’s appointment, the City-Estate faction was granted control of the School, and Bach was required to make a number of compromises with respect to his working conditions.^[4] Although it appears that no one on the Council doubted Bach’s musical genius, there was continual tension between the Cantor, who regarded himself as the leader of church music in the city, and the City-Estate faction, which saw him as a schoolmaster and wanted to reduce the emphasis on elaborate music in both the School and the Churches. The Council never honoured Lange’s promise at interview of a handsome salary of 1,000 talers a year, although it did provide Bach and his family with a smaller income and a good apartment at one end of the school building, which was renovated at great expense in 1732. St. ... St. ... Thomasschule Leipzig Thomasschule zu Leipzig is a gymnasium based in Leipzig, Germany where students take their abitur (A-levels) in preparation for college or university. ... The Thomaskirche in Leipzig The Thomaskirche (St. ... Leipzig ( ; Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk from the Sorbian word for Tilia) is, with a population of over 506,000, the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany. ... Reign From 1697, until 1706 and from 1709, until February 1, 1733 Elected In 1697 in Wola, today suburb of Warsaw, Poland Coronation On September 15, 1697 in the Wawel Cathedral, Kraków, Poland Royal House Wettin Parents John George III Wettin Anne Sophie Consorts  ? Children August III Sas Maurice...

Bach’s job required him to instruct the students of the Thomasschule in singing, and to provide weekly music at the two main churches in Leipzig, St Thomas's and St Nicholas's. His post also obliged him to teach Latin, but he was allowed to employ a deputy to do this instead. In an astonishing burst of creativity, he wrote up to five annual cantata cycles during his first six years in Leipzig (two of which have apparently been lost). Most of these concerted works expound on the Gospel readings for every Sunday and feast day in the Lutheran year; many were written using traditional church hymns, such as Wachet auf! Ruft uns die Stimme and Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, as inspiration. Thomasschule Leipzig Thomasschule zu Leipzig is a gymnasium based in Leipzig, Germany where students take their abitur (A-levels) in preparation for college or university. ... The Thomaskirche in Leipzig The Thomaskirche (St. ... Nikolai Church, Leipzig The St. ... Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme is a noted cantata by J.S. Bach, BWV 140. ...

Bach's seal, used throughout his Leipzig years. It contains the letters 'J S B' superimposed over their mirror image topped with a crown.

To rehearse and perform these works at St Thomas’s Church, Bach probably sat at the harpsichord or stood in front of the choir on the lower gallery at the west end, his back to the congregation and the altar at the east end. He would have looked upwards to the organ that rose from a loft about four metres above. To the right of the organ in a side gallery would have been the winds, brass and timpani; to the left were the strings. The Council provided only about eight permanent instrumentalists, a source of continual friction with the Cantor, who had to recruit the rest of the 20 or so players required for medium-to-large scores from the University, the School and the public. The organ or harpsichord were probably played by the composer (when not standing to conduct), the in-house organist, or one of Bach’s elder sons, Wilhelm Friedemann or Carl Philipp Emanuel. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1070x480, 211 KB) Johann Sebastian Bachs 1722 seal, used throughout his Leipzig years. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1070x480, 211 KB) Johann Sebastian Bachs 1722 seal, used throughout his Leipzig years. ...

Bach drew the soprano and alto choristers from the School, and the tenors and basses from the School and elsewhere in Leipzig. Performing at weddings and funerals provided extra income for these groups; it was probably for this purpose, and for in-school training, that he wrote at least six motets, mostly for double-choir. As part of his regular church work, he performed motets of the Venetian school and Germans such as Heinrich Schütz, which would have served as formal models for his own motets. The audio excerpt is from the opening of Singet dem Herrn (Sing to the Lord), showing the rich, energetic textures that Bach could produce with two choirs, each in four parts. In Western music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions. ... San Marco in the evening. ... Heinrich Schütz. ...

A photograph of the outside of Bach’s apartment at the end of the St Thomas School, taken before its demolition in 1902. Three steps can be seen leading to the front door.

Having spent much of the 1720s composing cantatas, Bach had assembled a huge repertoire of church music for Leipzig’s two main churches. He now wished to broaden his composing and performing beyond the liturgy. In March 1729, he took over the directorship of the Collegium Musicum, a secular performance ensemble that had been started in 1701 by his old friend, the composer Georg Philipp Telemann. This was one of the dozens of private societies in the major German-speaking cities that had been established by musically active university students; these societies had come to play an increasingly important role in public musical life and were typically led by the most prominent professionals in a city. In the words of Christoph Wolff, assuming the directorship was a shrewd move that 'consolidated Bach’s firm grip on Leipzig’s principal musical institutions’.^[5] During much of the year, Leipzig’s Collegium Musicum gave twice-weekly, two-hour performances in Zimmerman’s Coffeehouse on Catherine Street, just off the main market square. For this purpose, the proprietor provided a large hall and acquired several musical instruments. Many of Bach’s works during the 1730s, 40s and 50s were probably written for and performed by the Collegium Musicum; among these were almost certainly parts of the Clavier-Übung (Keyboard Practice), and many of the violin and harpsichord concertos. Image File history File links Summary Bachs apartment in the Thomasschule in Leipzig, taken before its demolition in 1902. ... Image File history File links Summary Bachs apartment in the Thomasschule in Leipzig, taken before its demolition in 1902. ... Collegium Musicum is a Latin term for a group of amateur musicians connected with a university. ... Georg Philipp Telemann. ... Christoph Wolff (born May 24, 1940) is a German-born musicologist, presently on the faculty of Harvard University. ... See List of compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach for the complete list of Bach compositions - the present list only lists those compositions by Bach that were printed during his lifetime: since some of these editions got a bit scattered over the BWV catalogue, this list is only intended to provide... The harpsichord concertos, BWV 1052-1065, are concertos for harpsichord, string orchestra and continuo by Johann Sebastian Bach. ...

Zimmerman's Coffeehouse in Leipzig, where Bach's Collegium Musicum gave regular concerts

During this period, he composed the Kyrie and Gloria of the Mass in B Minor, and in 1733, he presented the manuscript to the Elector of Saxony in an ultimately successful bid to persuade the monarch to appoint him as Royal Court Composer. He later extended this work into a full Catholic Mass, by adding a Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei, the music for which was almost wholly taken from some of the best of his cantata movements. Bach's appointment as court composer appears to have been part of his long-term struggle to achieve greater bargaining power with the Leipzig Council. The audio excerpt, from one of the movements that was presented to the monarch, shows his use of festive trumpets and timpani. Although the complete mass was probably never performed during the composer’s lifetime, it is considered to be among the greatest choral works of all time. Between 1737 and 1739, Bach's former pupil Carl Gotthelf Gerlach took over the directorship of the Collegium Musicum. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (709x1440, 194 KB) Zimmermanns Coffee-House, Leipzig Engraving by Georg Schreiber (Detail), 18th century Important in Johann Sebastian Bachs life as meeting-place of his Collegium Musicum since 1729 File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (709x1440, 194 KB) Zimmermanns Coffee-House, Leipzig Engraving by Georg Schreiber (Detail), 18th century Important in Johann Sebastian Bachs life as meeting-place of his Collegium Musicum since 1729 File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link... The Mass in B Minor (BWV 232) is a musical setting of the Latin Mass by Johann Sebastian Bach. ... Carl Gotthelf Gerlach (31 December 1704 – 9 July 1761) was a German organist, who took over the Leipzig Collegium Musicum from Johann Sebastian Bach between 1737 and 1739. ...

In 1747, Bach went to the court of Frederick II of Prussia in Potsdam, where the king played a theme for Bach and challenged him to improvise a fugue based on his theme. Bach improvised a three-part fugue on Frederick’s pianoforte, then a novelty, and later presented the king with a Musical Offering which consists of fugues, canons and a trio based on the "royal theme", nominated by the monarch. Its six-part fugue includes a slightly altered subject more suitable for extensive elaboration. Frederick II (German: ; January 24, 1712 – August 17, 1786) was a King of Prussia (1740–1786) from the Hohenzollern dynasty. ... Potsdam is the capital city of the federal state of Brandenburg in Germany. ... The piano Piano is a common abbreviation for pianoforte, a large musical instrument with a keyboard (see keyboard instrument). ... The Musical Offering (German title Musikalisches Opfer or Das Musikalische Opfer), BWV 1079, is a collection of canons and fugues and other pieces of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, based on a musical theme by Frederick II of Prussia (Frederick the Great) and dedicated to him. ... The Musical Offering (German title Musikalisches Opfer or Das Musikalische Opfer), BWV 1079, is a collection of canons and fugues and other pieces of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, based on a musical theme by Frederick II of Prussia (Frederick the Great) and dedicated to him. ...

The Art of Fugue, published posthumously but probably written years before Bach's death, is unfinished. It consists of 18 complex fugues and canons based on a simple theme. A magnum opus of thematic transformation and contrapuntal devices, this work is often cited as the summation of polyphonic techniques. A portrait which may show Bach in 1750 The Art of Fugue or The Art of the Fugue (original German: Die Kunst der Fuge), BWV 1080, is an unfinished work by the German composer Johann Sebastian Bach. ...

The final work Bach completed was a chorale prelude for organ, dictated to his son-in-law, Johann Altnikol, from his deathbed. Entitled Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit (Before thy throne I now appear); when the notes on the three staves of the final cadence are counted and mapped onto the Roman alphabet, the initials "JSB" are found. The chorale is often played after the unfinished 14th fugue to conclude performances of The Art of Fugue. Johann Christoph Altnickol, or Altnikol, (1 January 1720 - 25 July 1759; dates of baptism and burial) was a German organist, bass singer, and composer. ...

Bach became increasingly blind, and the celebrated British ophthalmologist John Taylor (who had operated unsuccessfully on Handel) operated on Bach while visiting Leipzig in 1750. However Bach died "from the unhappy consequences of the very unsuccessful eye operation"^[6] at the age of 65. His estate was valued at 1159 Thalers and included 5 Clavecins, 2 Lute-Harpsichords, 3 violins, 3 violas, 2 cellos, a viola da gamba, a lute and a spinet, 52 "Sacred Books" (many by Martin Luther, Muller and Pfeiffer, also including Josephus's History of the Jews and 9 volumes of Wagner's Leipzig Song Book).^[7] Chevalier John Taylor (1703-1772) was the first in a long line of British eye surgeons. ... HANDEL was the code-name for the UKs National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. ... Examples of German and Austrian thalers compared to a US quarter piece The Thaler was a silver coin used throughout Europe for almost four hundred years. ... Harpsichord in the Flemish style A harpsichord is any of a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument currently called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals, the muselar virginals and the spinet. ... Various Viola da gamba The viol or viola da gamba family of musical instruments is related to the vihuela, rebec, etc. ... A medieval era lute. ... A spinet is a smaller type of harpsichord or other keyboard instrument, such as a piano or organ. ... Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 – February 18, 1546) was a German monk,[1] priest, professor, theologian, and church reformer. ... Muller, Bobby, Vietnam veteran Muller, Charles, translator Muller, Gilles, professional tennis player Muller, Hermann Joseph (1890-1967), U.S. geneticist (Mullers ratchet) and educator Muller, Kirk, Canadian hockey player Luiz Antônio da Costa, nicknamed Muller, Brazilian football (soccer) player Muller, Albert, Paramedic, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa See... Pfeiffer is the surname of several notable people: des CSU-Politikers Anton Pfeiffer der deutsche Kriminologe Christian Pfeiffer Denise Pfeiffer des Stuttgarter Ehrenbürgers Dr. Eduard von Pfeiffer (1835 - 1921) des Kinderarztes und Entdecker des Pfeifferschen Drüsenfiebers Emil Pfeiffer Franz Pfeiffer Fred Pfeiffer des Bundestagsabgeordneten Joachim Pfeiffer Michelle Pfeiffer... A fanciful representation of Flavius Josephus, in an engraving in William Whistons translation of his works Josephus (37 – sometime after 100 CE),[1] who became known, in his capacity as a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus,[2] was a 1st-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and...

During his life he composed more than 1,000 works.

At Leipzig, Bach seems to have maintained active relationships with several members of the faculty of the university. He enjoyed a particularly fruitful relationship with the poet Picander. Sebastian and Anna Magdalena welcomed friends, family, and fellow musicians from all over Germany into their home. Court musicians at Dresden and Berlin, and musicians including Georg Philipp Telemann (one of Emanuel’s godfathers) made frequent visits to Bach’s apartment and may have kept up frequent correspondence with him. Interestingly, George Frideric Handel, who was born in the same year as Bach in Halle, only 50 km from Leipzig, made several trips to Germany, but Bach was unable to meet him, a fact that Bach appears to have deeply regretted.^[8] Picander was the pseudonym of Christian Friedrich Henrici (January 14, 1700 - May 10, 1764), German poet and librettist for many of Johann Sebastian Bachs Leipzig cantatas. ... Georg Philipp Telemann. ... “Handel” redirects here. ...

Style

Bach’s musical style arose from his extraordinary fluency in contrapuntal invention and motivic control, his flair for improvisation at the keyboard, his exposure to South German, North German, Italian and French music, and his apparent devotion to the Lutheran liturgy. His access to musicians, scores and instruments as a child and a young man, combined with his emerging talent for writing tightly woven music of powerful sonority, appear to have set him on course to develop an eclectic, energetic musical style in which foreign influences were injected into an intensified version of the pre-existing German musical language. Throughout his teens and 20s, his output showed increasing skill in the large-scale organisation of musical ideas, and the enhancement of the Buxtehudian model of improvisatory preludes and counterpoint of limited complexity. The period 1713–14, when a large repertoire of Italian music became available to the Weimar court orchestra, was a turning point. From this time onwards, he appears to have absorbed into his style the Italians’ dramatic openings, clear melodic contours, the sharp outlines of their bass lines, greater motoric and rhythmic conciseness, more unified motivic treatment, and more clearly articulated schemes for modulation.

There are several more specific features of Bach's style. The notation of baroque melodic lines tended to assume that composers would write out only the basic framework, and that performers would embellish this framework by inserting ornamental notes and otherwise elaborating on it. Although this practice varied considerably between the schools of European music, Bach was regarded at the time as being on one extreme end of the spectrum, notating most or all of the details of his melodic lines—particularly in his fast movements—thus leaving little for performers to interpolate. This may have assisted his control over the dense contrapuntal textures that he favoured, which allow less leeway for the spontaneous variation of musical lines. Bach's contrapuntal textures tend to be more cumulative than those of Händel and most other composers of the day, who would typically allow a line to drop out after it had been joined by two or three others. Bach's harmony is marked by a tendency to employ brief tonicisation—subtle references to another key that lasts for only a few beats at the longest—particularly of the supertonic, to add colour to his textures. In music, tonicization is the treatment of a pitch other than the overall tonic as a temporary tonic in a composition. ...

The opening of the six-part fugue from The Musical Offering, in Bach’s hand

At the same time, Bach, unlike later composers, left the instrumentation of major works including The Art of Fugue and The Musical Offering open. It is likely that his detailed notation was less an absolute demand on the performer and more a response to a 17th-century culture in which the boundary between what the performer could embellish and what the composer demanded to be authentic was being negotiated. Image File history File links Kdf2. ... Image File history File links Kdf2. ...

Bach’s apparently devout, personal relationship with the Christian God in the Lutheran tradition and the high demand for religious music of his times inevitably placed sacred music at the centre of his repertory; more specifically, the Lutheran chorale hymn tune, the principal musical aspect of the Lutheran service, was the basis of much of his output. He invested the chorale prelude, already a standard set of Lutheran forms, with a more cogent, tightly integrated architecture, in which the intervallic patterns and melodic contours of the tune were typically treated in a dense, contrapuntal lattice against relatively slow-moving, overarching statements of the tune. The Lutheran movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity by the original definition. ...

Bach's theology also informed his compositional structures: Sei Gegrüsset is perhaps the finest example where there is a theme with 11 variations (making 12 movements) that, while still one work, becomes two sets of six—to match Lutheran preaching principles of repetition. At the same time the theological interpretation of 'master' and 11 disciples would not be lost on his contemporary audience. Further, the practical relationship of each variation to the next (in preparing registration and the expected textural changes) seems to show an incredible capacity to preach through the music using the musical forms available at the time.

Bach's deep knowledge of and interest in the liturgy led to his developing intricate relationships between music and linguistic text. This was evident from the smallest to the largest levels of his compositional technique. On the smallest level, many of his sacred works contain short motifs that, by recurrent association, can be regarded as pictorial symbolism and articulations of liturgical concepts. For example, the octave leap, usually in a bass line, represents the relationship between heaven and earth; the slow, repeated notes of the bass line in the opening movement of Cantata 106 (Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit) depict the laboured trudging of Jesus as he was forced to drag the cross from the city to the crucifixion site.

On the largest level, the large-scale structure of some of his sacred vocal works is evidence of subtle, elaborate planning: for example, the overall form of the St Matthew Passion illustrates the liturgical and dramatic flow of the Easter story on a number of levels simultaneously; the text, keys and variations of instrumental and vocal forces used in the movements of Cantata 11 (Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen) may form a structure that resembles the cross.

Beyond these specific musical features arising from Bach’s religious affiliation is the fact that he was able to produce music for an audience that was committed to serious, regular worship, for which a concentrated density and complexity was accepted. His natural inclination may have been to reinvigorate existing forms, rather than to discard them and pursue more dramatic musical innovations. Thus, Bach’s inventive genius was almost entirely directed towards working within the structures he inherited, according to most critics and historians.

Bach’s inner personal drive to display his musical achievements was evident in a number of ways. 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 and chamber movements with keyboard obbligato, in which he himself probably played the solo part. Many of his keyboard preludes are vehicles for a free improvisatory virtuosity in the German tradition, although their internal organisation became increasingly more cogent as he matured. Virtuosity is a key element in other forms, such as the fugal movement from Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, in which Bach himself may have been the first to play the rapid solo violin passages. Another example is in the organ fugue from BWV547, a late work from Leipzig, in which virtuosic passages are mapped onto Italian solo-tutti alternation within the fugal development. Figured bass, or thoroughbass, is a kind of integer musical notation used to indicate intervals, chords, and nonchord tones, in relation to a bass note. ... The harpsichord concertos, BWV 1052-1065, are concertos for harpsichord, string orchestra and continuo by Johann Sebastian Bach. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

Related to his cherished role as teacher was his drive to encompass whole genres by producing collections of movements that thoroughly explore the range of artistic and technical possibilities inherent in those genres. The most famous examples are the two books of the Well Tempered Clavier, each of which presents a prelude and fugue in every major and minor key, in which a variety of contrapuntal and fugal techniques are displayed. The English and French Suites, and the Partitas, all keyboard works from the Cöthen period, systematically explore a range of metres and of sharp and flat keys. This urge to manifest structures is evident throughout his life: the Goldberg Variations (1746?), include a sequence of canons at increasing intervals (unison, seconds, thirds, etc.), and The Art of Fugue (1749) can be seen as a compendium of fugal techniques. Title-page of Das wohtemperierte Klavier A flat major (As-dur) fugue from the second part of Das wohtemperierte Klavier (manuscript) The Well-Tempered Clavier (Das wohltemperierte Klavier in German -- Klavier means piano, but the English word clavier (which means keyboard) looks more like the German title) consists of two... The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, original title Aria mit verschiedenen Veränderungen[1] published as Clavierübung, bestehend in einer Aria. ... A portrait which may show Bach in 1750 The Art of Fugue or The Art of the Fugue (original German: Die Kunst der Fuge), BWV 1080, is an unfinished work by the German composer Johann Sebastian Bach. ...

Family

See also: Bach family

Bach married his second cousin Maria Barbara Bach in 1707. They had seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood: The Bach family was of importance in the history of music for nearly two hundred years. ... Maria Barbara Bach (1684?-July, 1720) was the first wife of composer Johann Sebastian Bach. ...

• Catharina Dorothea (* 28 December 1708; † 14 January 1774).
• Wilhelm Friedemann (* 22 November 1710; † 1 July 1784).
• Carl Philipp Emanuel (* 8 March 1714; † 14 December 1788).
• Johann Gottfried Bernhard (* 11 May 1715; † 27 May 1739).

Maria died in 1720, and Bach married Anna Magdalena Wilcke in 1721. They had a further thirteen children, six of whom survived to adulthood: is the 362nd day of the year (363rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events March 23 - James Francis Edward Stuart lands at the Firth of Forth July 1 - Tewoflos becomes Emperor of Ethiopia September 28 - Peter the Great defeats the Swedes at the Battle of Lesnaya Kandahar conquered by Mir Wais In Masuria one third of the population die during the plague J... is the 14th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Chesma Column in Tsarskoe Selo, commemorating the end of the Russo-Turkish War. ... Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, in a portrait by Wilhelm Weitsch Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (November 22, 1710 – July 1, 1784) was the eldest, and by common repute the most gifted son, of Johann Sebastian Bach; a famous organist, a famous improvisor, and a complete master of counterpoint. ... is the 326th day of the year (327th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events April 10 - The worlds first copyright legislation became effective, Britains Statute of Anne Ongoing events Great Northern War (1700-1721) War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713) Births January 3 - Richard Gridley, American Revolutionary soldier (d. ... is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1784 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (March 8, 1714 – December 14, 1788) was a German musician and composer, the second of five sons of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach. ... is the 67th day of the year (68th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Battle of Gangut, by Maurice Baquoi, 1724-27. ... is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1788 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Johann Gottfried Bernhard Bach (1715–1739) was the fourth son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach. ... is the 131st day of the year (132nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1715 (MDCCXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 147th day of the year (148th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // About the number 1739 1739 is the smallest integer that can be written as sum of three perfect cubes, in two ways. ... Anna Magdalena Bach-Wilcken (22 September 1701– 22 February 1760) was the second wife of Johann Sebastian Bach. ...

• Gottfried Heinrich (* 1724; † 1763)
• Elisabeth Juliana Friederica, called "Liesgen" (* 1726; † 1781)
• Johann Christoph Friedrich, the 'Bückeburg' Bach (* 1732; † 1795)
• Johann Christian, the 'London' Bach (* 1735; † 1782)
• Johanna Carolina (* 1737; † 1781)
• Regina Susanna (* 1742; † 1809)

Gottfried Heinrich Bach (b Leipzig 26 Feb 1724; d Naumberg, buried 12 Feb 1763) was the firstborn son of the second marriage of Johann Sebastian Bach. ... Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (June 21, 1732—January 26, 1795), the ninth son of Johann Sebastian Bach, sometimes referred to as the Bückeburg Bach. Born at Leipzig, Germany, he was taught music by his father. ... Johann Christian Bach (September 5, 1735 – January 1, 1782) was a composer of the Classical era, the eleventh and youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. ...

Works

Main articles: BWV and List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach

See also: Category:Compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, List of fugal works by Johann Sebastian Bach, and List of transcriptions of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach

J. S. Bach’s works are indexed with BWV numbers, an initialism for Bach Werke Verzeichnis (Bach Works Catalogue). The catalogue, published in 1950, was compiled by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue is organised thematically, rather than chronologically: BWV 1–224 are cantatas, BWV 225–249 the large-scale choral works, BWV 250–524 chorales and sacred songs, BWV 525–748 organ works, BWV 772–994 other keyboard works, BWV 995–1000 lute music, BWV 1001–40 chamber music, BWV 1041–71 orchestral music, and BWV 1072–1126 canons and fugues. In compiling the catalogue, Schmieder largely followed the Bach Gesellschaft Ausgabe, a comprehensive edition of the composer's works that was produced between 1850 and 1905. For a list of works catalogued by BWV number, see List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (Bach Works Catalogue) is the numbering system used to identify musical works by Johann Sebastian Bach. ... There are over 1000 known compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... Johann Sebastian Bach’s music has inspired many composers to create music based on his themes, or to transcribe his works for other instruments. ... Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations formed from the initial letter or letters of words, such as NATO and XHTML, and are pronounced in a way that is distinct from the full pronunciation of what the letters stand for. ... Wolfgang Schmieder (1901–1990) was a German musicologist who, in 1950, published the BWV, or Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (Bach Works Catalogue), a catalog of musical works by Johann Sebastian Bach. ... A cantata (Italian, sung) is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment and generally containing more than one movement. ... A chorale was originally a hymn of the Lutheran church sung by the entire congregation. ... Organ in Katharinenkirche, Frankfurt am Main, Germany The organ is a keyboard instrument played using one or more manuals and a pedalboard. ... A medieval era lute. ... Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. ... In music, a canon is a contrapuntal composition that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration (e. ... In music, a fugue (IPA: ) is a type of contrapuntal composition or technique of composition for a fixed number of parts, normally referred to as voices, irrespective of whether the work is vocal or instrumental. ... There are over 1000 known compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. ...

Organ works

Bach was best known during his lifetime as an organist, organ consultant, and composer of organ works in both the traditional German free genres such as preludes, fantasias, and toccatas, and stricter forms such as chorale preludes and fugues. He established a reputation at a young age for his great creativity and ability to integrate foreign styles into his organ works. A decidedly North German influence was exerted by Georg Böhm, with whom Bach came into contact in Lüneburg, and Dieterich Buxtehude in Lübeck, whom the young organist visited in 1704 on an extended leave of absence from his job in Arnstadt. Around this time, Bach copied the works of numerous French and Italian composers to gain insights into their compositional languages, and later arranged violin concertos by Vivaldi and others for organ and harpsichord. His most productive period (1708–14) saw the composition of several pairs of preludes and fugues and toccatas and fugues, and of the Orgelbüchlein ("Little organ book"), an unfinished collection of 45 short chorale preludes that demonstrate compositional techniques in the setting of chorale tunes. After he left Weimar, Bach's output for organ fell off, although his most well-known works (the six trio sonatas, the Clavierübung III of 1739, and the "Great eighteen" chorales, revised late in his life) were all composed after this time. Bach was extensively engaged later in his life in consulting on organ projects, testing newly built organs, and dedicating organs in afternoon recitals.^{[citation needed]} One of the high points may be the third part of the Clavierübung, a setting of 21 chorale preludes uniting the traditional Catholic Missa with the Lutheran catechism liturgy, the whole set interpolated between a mighty Prelude and Fugue on the theme of the Trinity. A prelude is a short piece of music, usually in no particular internal form, which may serve as an introduction to succeeding movements of a work that are usually longer and more complex. ... The fantasia (also English: , German: , French: ) is a musical composition with its roots in the art of improvisation. ... Toccata (Italian for to touch) is a Virtuoso piece of classical music for a keyboard instrument or plucked string instrument featuring sections of brilliant passagework, with or without imitative or fugal interludes, generally emphasizing the dexterity of the performer. ... In music, a chorale prelude is a short liturgical composition for organ using a chorale tune as its basis. ... In music, a fugue (IPA: ) is a type of contrapuntal composition or technique of composition for a fixed number of parts, normally referred to as voices, irrespective of whether the work is vocal or instrumental. ... The famous organist Georg Böhm (September 2, 1661 - May 18, 1733) was born in Hohenkirchen, Thuringia Germany. ... The only surviving portrait of Buxtehude, from a 1674 painting by Johannes Voorhout. ... For other uses, see Lübeck (disambiguation). ... “Vivaldi” redirects here. ... In music, a fugue (IPA: ) is a type of contrapuntal composition or technique of composition for a fixed number of parts, normally referred to as voices, irrespective of whether the work is vocal or instrumental. ... A chorale was originally a hymn of the Lutheran c