Orchestra Composer Essay
Composer Essay: Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 31, 1685 in Eisenach, Saxe-Eisenach to the director of town musicians, Johann Ambrosius Bach, and his wife, Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt. He was the eighth child to be born in the family and was around music since he was a child. His uncles were all professional musicians and historians assume that his older brother taught him violin and basic musical theory when he was very young. Little did his family know, he would eventually become one of the most well known composers in history. When Bach was only ten years old, both of his parents died and he moved in with his older brother, Johann Christoph Bach, an organist …show more content…
He would make minor repairs and replacement to Ohrdruf Church 's organ. The organ was the most complicated machine in any European town and provided Bach with a unique understanding of the instrument. He sought out many great organists and spent a lot of time with musicians. After graduating at 18, he took a post as an organist at Arnstadf in 1703 but left quickly because he felt to cramped. Soon after leaving the job in Arnstadf, he was offered a more lucrative organist post in Mühlhausen. Here, Bach wrote some of his earliest extant compositions but much of it has been lost. In 1708 Bach took a position as court organist and concert master at the ducal court in Weimar. For this position, he had the chance to not only play the organ but compose a variety of music. While working in Weimar, Bach began to work on the Orqelbüchlein, or book of music for traditional Lutheran hymns. Political tensions began to show in the ducal court of Weimar and Bach began to look for a more stable job. Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen hired him to serve as his Kapellmeister (director of music). Prince Leopold was a musician as well and appreciated Bach 's talent. The prince was also Calvinist and did not use elaborate music to worship so most of Bach work from this time is simple. In 1723, Bach was appointed Cantor and Musical Director of the Thomaskirche, Leipzig. This job required him to instruct students at the St.