Johann Sebastian Bach In Classical Music

“I really can’t think of any other music which is so all-encompassing, which moves me so deeply, and which, is valuable beyond all its skill and brilliance for something more meaningful than that-it’s humanity. I would tire of a repetition of lush Tchaikovsky melodies day in and day out”(Jacobson 10). Glenn Gould said that very quote about Johann Sebastian Bach and his music. Johann Sebastian Bach left an amazing legacy as the best composer in the Baroque era, and he is one of the most important figures in classical music. Bach is and will always be one of the greatest composers of all time. Johann Sebastian Bach was born March 21, 1685 in Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany. Bach came from a very long line of Thuringian organist and composers(Matthews
He was a jack-of-all-trades, serving as a violinist and sometimes filling in for the official organist(Biography.com). After a short time in Weimar Bach returned to Thuringia looking for a job.Thanks to his great technical skills and his growing reputation as an amazing performer Bach got the position of organist at the New Church in Arnstadt. He was responsible for giving music instruction and providing music for religious services and special events(Biography.com). Sebastian Bach was known to be hardheaded, pugnacious, and frequently involved in disputes with authorities and students his entire life(Jacobson 11). So as you can guess it Bach didn’t get along with his students very well and was often scolded by the church officials for not rehearsing them frequently enough. Bach’s situation with the church didn’t get any better when he took the trip to Lübeck to hear the celebrated organist Dietrich Buxtuhude. When Bach got back his relationship with the church council was pretty much
They were all born in Weimar, but three of them passed away as infants. Maria then passed away suddenly in 1720 while Bach was away. Bach remarried a year later in 1721 to Anna Magdalena Wilcke, a highly gifted singer. Anna gave bach thirteen more children, sadly only six of them lived to be adults. Out of the twenty children Bach had only ten of them managed to be adults and four of his sons later on became musicians themselves. Bach died in Leipzig on July 28, 1750 from a stroke, and at that time Bach was almost completely blind. He was interred at St. John’s church but later on in 1894 the church was renovated and the body had to be moved. There had been some confusion on which of the three skeletons was Bach’s, but with a lot of work and absolutely certain identification they found which one was him. Johann Sebastian Bach left an amazing legacy as many things, a composer, an organist, and a father. He had a lot of troubles til the day he died bouncing around from job to job. He even lost children and that had to be hard on him. Bach wasn’t perfect but who really is. Bach lived a fulfilling life from day to day even if he stayed in Germany that entire time. So the question is was he really the best composer in the Baroque era, and is he one of the most important figures in classical music