Johann Sebastian Bach

Done by Mr.Lunar.

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Important facts to know. Born: 1685 in Germany Died: 1750 Period of Music: Baroque.Instruments he played: Organ, Harpsichord, Clavichord, Violin

Major Compositions: Harpsichord: Little Bool for the Keyboard, the Well-Tempered Clavier, Books 1 and 2. Organ: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. Orchestra: Branderburg Cocertos. Choral: Christmas Oratorio, St Matthew Passion.Interesting facts: Bach taught many of his 20 children to play musical instruments.

The story of Bach. Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany insto a large family of musicians. His father played the violin. It was no wonder that Bach grew up loving music. Bach parents’s died when he was 10 years old. He went to live with his oldest brother, Christoph, who taught him to play the Harpsichord and Organ. During this time Bach went to school where his boy soprano voice was admired.At the age of 18 he became the organist of Arnstadt and began composing.

When he was 22, Bach moved to another city and married Maria Barbara Bach. They had 7 children. He was known as an outstanding church musician, he was appointed to court organist and violinist to the Duke of Weimar; He stayed in Weimar for nine years and during this time Bach composed some of his finest organ Music, including the great Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.

Video of Tocata and Fugue in D Minor (link below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnuq9PXbywA

In 1717 when he was 32, Bach accepted the post of master of music to Prince Leopold, while there he composed much of his orchestral music including the six popular Brandenburg Concertos.Bach’s wife Maria, died in 1720 and in 1721 he married the beautiful Anna Magdalena who was a good singer and musician Bach had 13 more children with her and taught most of them to play a musical instrument

Bach was deeply religious and a devoted family man. His music was signed: “S.D.G” (Soli Deo Gloria) which means “to God be the glory”.Bach became blind in 1749 and died in 1750. Johann Sebastian Bach is considered to be one of the greatest masters of the Baroque Period.

The Baroque Period. The years 1600-1750 were called the Baroque (bah-roke) period in music, art and architecture. This was a time of kings, castles, royal pomp and ceremony, but also a time of growing towns and development of trade, manufacturing and education in Europe. Because most Baroque musicians worked as servants of the royal court, the church or the town, their music reflected their occupation. Court musicians wrote dances and music for concerts and royal ceremonies. Church musicians wrote instrumental and vocal music for church services.

Baroque Technique. A compositional technique known as Counterpoint was develop and perfected in the Baroque era. Counterpoint involves combining two or more contrasting themes in a way that sounds unified (examples: invention and fugues) In Baroque music, many trills, grace notes turns and rapid scale passages were used to make the melody more expressive, using major and minor keys.

Example:

Video of Invention in A Minor (link below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=376WmI74mxc

QUESTIONS?

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