He played the violin and often bought musical scores while traveling abroad. In early December, Bach was released and allowed to go to Cöthen. But Duke Wilhelm Ernst had no interest in letting Bach go and even imprisoned him for several weeks when he tried to leave. In 1717, Bach accepted a position with Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen. One section of this cantata, called "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" in English, is especially famous. He also composed the cantata "Herz und Mund und Tat," or Heart and Mouth and Deed. During his time at Weimar, Bach wrote "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor," one of his most popular pieces for the organ. He wrote many church cantatas and some of his best compositions for the organ while working for the duke. One of Bach's most famous works from this time is the cantata "Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit," also known as "Actus Tragicus." Working for RoyaltyĪfter a year in Mühlhausen, Bach won the post of organist at the court of the Duke Wilhelm Ernst in Weimar. His pastor believed that church music needed to be simple. Bach created complex arrangements and had a fondness for weaving together different melodic lines. Bach's musical style clashed with the church's pastor. This move, however, did not turn out as well as he had planned. In 1707, Bach was glad to leave Arnstadt for an organist position at the Church of St. While he only officially received a few weeks' leave from the church, he traveled to Lübeck to hear famed organist Dietrich Buxtehude and extended his stay without informing anyone back in Arnstadt. An independent and sometimes arrogant young man, Bach did not get along well with his students and was scolded by church officials for not rehearsing them frequently enough.īach did not help his situation when he disappeared for several months in 1705. He was responsible for providing music for religious services and special events as well as giving music instruction. Early Careerīach had a growing reputation as a great performer, and it was his great technical skill that landed him the position of organist at the New Church in Arnstadt. There he was a jack-of-all-trades, serving as a violinist and at times, filling in for the official organist. In 1703, he landed his first job as a musician at the court of Duke Johann Ernst in Weimar. Bach was greatly influenced by a local organist named George Böhm. Sometime after his arrival, his voice changed and Bach switched to playing the violin and the harpsichord. Bach stayed with his brother's family until he was 15.īach had a beautiful soprano singing voice, which helped him land a place at a school in Lüneburg. Johann Christoph provided some further musical instruction for his younger brother and enrolled him in a local school. His older brother Johann Christoph, a church organist in Ohrdruf, took him in. By the time he turned 10, Bach found himself an orphan after the death of both of his parents. His Lutheran faith would influence his later musical works. His father, Johann Ambrosius, worked as the town musician in Eisenach, and it is believed that he taught young Johann to play the violin.Īt the age of seven, Bach went to school where he received religious instruction and studied Latin and other subjects. Childhoodīorn in Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany, on Ma(N.S.) / Ma(O.S.), Johann Sebastian Bach came from a family of musicians, stretching back several generations. Today, he is considered one of the greatest Western composers of all time. Johann Sebastian Bach had a prestigious musical lineage and took on various organist positions during the early 18th century, creating famous compositions like "Toccata and Fugue in D minor." Some of his best-known compositions are the "Mass in B Minor," the "Brandenburg Concertos" and "The Well-Tempered Clavier." Bach died in Leipzig, Germany, on July 28, 1750. (1685-1750) Who Was Johann Sebastian Bach?
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