The Importance Of Bach's Role In Music

Now 1717, Bach arrived to the court of Cothen to assume his position as chapel master. This rank was the highest given to a musician in the baroque era. Here in cothen Bach was under the rule of prince Leopold, who was a lover of the arts despite being a Calvinist and not allowing music to be used in the church. Leopold was a proficient musician on multiple instruments and would often times play with the orchestra during performances. Alongside this proficiency, Leopold also respected and treated his musicians as equals, which was something that was typically unheard of. The prince and his musicians went on a tour of Europe, performing for many courts and kings. When Bach left, his wife was in perfect health but sadly when he arrived from the
To put it shortly the town was one of the foremost German cultural areas, containing luxuries that many towns in Germany and even Europe did not contain. Assuming his position as Cantor, his duties were to organize the music in the principal churches in Leipzig, as well as to form choral ensembles for each of these churches, and to train scholars in music with the hopes that one day they could participate in the orchestra. Bach had a disposal of 54 boys to use in the choirs, the best were selected to form the choir that sang the Sunday cantata at two churches in Leipzig (Thomaskirche, and Nikolaikirche). A second choir was formed that contained members that had less ability but would sing at the churches without a cantata, and the third group who contained the least amount of musical talent would perform at the Petrikirche and the Neukirche. Alongside these choirs an orchestra was needed to perform the cantatas. These orchestras contained around 20 players that were expected to be proficient musicians on the violin, brass, flute and reed families. In contrast to his life in Cothen, Bach had a very strict set of rules to follow and classes to teach every day. Alongside all of this he had to compose music for funerals and other social events. Considering the church services, his goal was to have an entire liturgical years’ worth of cantatas composed. Five years later this goal was accomplished, allowing Bach to compose cantatas a little less frequently. Now that these cantatas were complete it allowed Bach to devote more time to activities that did not pertain to Leipzig and the church. Whether it be organ building, giving advice to other chapellmasters, this free time allowed Bach to enjoy his time rather than be confined and limited as an artist. While this