Bach piano biography
•
Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685-1750)
Who Was Johann Sebastian Bach?
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. Today, he is considered one of the greatest Western composers of all time.
Childhood
Born in Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany, on March 31, 1685 (N.S.) / March 21, 1685 (O.S.), Johann Sebastian Bach came from a family of musicians, stretching back several generations. His father, Johann Ambrosius, worked as the town musician in Eisenach, and it is believed that he taught young Johann to play the violin.
At the age of seven, Bach went to school where he received religious instruction and studied Latin and other subje
•
Johann Sebastian Bach – A chronology
1685
Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach on 21 March. He retained many memories of his childhood in Eisenach throughout his life, including the family home (which also contained rooms for trainee musicians), the traditional grammar school with its choir in the old Dominican monastery, St George’s Church and its organ, and the town hall, where brass musicians performed from the tower.
1693–95
Bach attended the local Latin grammar school.
1694
J.S. Bach’s mother Elisabeth died in May.
1695
Bach’s father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, died on 20 February. Now an orphan, Bach moved to Ohrdruf, where he lived with his brother Johann Christoph, fourteen years his senior and the organist at St Michael’s Church. Together with his brother Johann Jakob and also his cousin Johann Ernst, Bach attended the grammar school, at that time a very prestigious educational establishment in the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha. He sang in th
•
Bach's biography: professional organist (1703 - 1708)
Still in his early 20s, the ung Bach began to man a name for han själv as a professional en person som spelar orgel and court musician, composing cantatas, running choirs as well as marrying his first wife.
After being turned down as the en person som spelar orgel at Sangerhausen, Bach was appointed court musician in the chapel of Duke Johann Ernst in Weimar, where his reputation as a keyboardist grew - so much so that he was invited to perform at St Boniface Church in the town of Arnstadt 40km away. Unsurprisingly, he impressed the locals, and was appointed as en person som spelar orgel in August 1703.
In October 1705, Bach was granted leave to visit Lübeck in the north of Germany to hear a concert from fellow composer Buxtehude. A huge fan of the composer, he ended up staying in the city for three months more than he planned in order to learn as much as possible from the great man. Unfortunately, his new ideas and enthusiasm proved too much for the congregation to h