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- Mary Krallmann


After 250 years, his music lives on

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach, 65, of Leipzig, Germany, died after 8:45 p.m. on July 28, 1750.

He was buried July 31, 1750, in the St. John’s churchyard in Leipzig.

Bach was an organist and composer. He had been cantor for St. Thomas School in Leipzig since 1723.

A son of Johann Ambrosius and Elisabeth (Lämmerhirt) Bach, he was born in Eisenach, Germany, on March 21, 1685. He married a second cousin, Maria Barbara Bach, on Oct. 17, 1707, in Dornheim. She died in 1720. He married Anna Magdalena Wilcke in Cöthen on Dec. 3, 1721.

He was survived by his second wife; five sons, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Gottfried Heinrich Bach, Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach and Johann Christian Bach; and four daughters, Catharina Dorothea Bach, Elisabeth Juliana Frederika Altnikol, Johanna Carolina Bach and Regina Susanna Bach.

He was preceded in death by his parents (before he was 10); his first wife; an adult son, Johann Bernhard Bach; and 10 children who died in infancy or early childhood.

He was a Lutheran.

Before moving to Leipzig, Bach had been organist at Arnstadt (1703-1707); organist in Mülhausen (1707-1708); organist and chamber musician in the court of the duke of Saxe-Weimar (1708-1717); and director of music for the prince of Anhalt-Cöthen (1717-1723).

Bach wrote instrumental and vocal music, including hundreds of keyboard pieces, five cycles of cantatas for the church year, four settings of the Passion story, sonatas, motets and concertos.

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My early impression was that J.S. Bach was an important composer whose music was difficult and of high quality. I didn't become acquainted with his vocal arrangements or compositions for orchestral instruments, but when I started to play the organ, I tried a couple of well-known preludes attributed to him or to a favorite student of his. Later, I practiced a number of Bach compositions typically assigned by organ teachers.

Music is written to be heard, but music such as Bach's can be more exhilarating to play than just to hear. It's easier for the person playing the notes to follow what’s going on, and besides that, there's the kinesthetic pleasure of being totally involved – from head to feet – in making the music happen. It's like driving a vehicle with plenty of horsepower and agility besides (or at least the agility would be there with a highly skilled organist, like the composer).

In his own time, J.S. Bach was acclaimed as an organist, but only a few of his compositions were published before his death. He was one of many musically talented Bachs in an era of outstanding musical output.

With this 250th anniversary approaching, I got out several of my neglected books with music he wrote. There aren’t many of his pieces that I could ever play, but once in a while I like to try some of them again, usually when no one else is around. In this case, when I went to the church on a quiet Saturday afternoon, I forgot to take my organ shoes, so I played in sandals, but my copy of "The Fanfare Fugue" has only a few pedal notes at the end anyway. It says to use a full organ setting with reeds – a chance to "pull out all the stops." Playing it through once wasn’t enough either.

The music didn't wake the dead, but I felt more alive for having played it.

Like one of his most loved cantatas – with a beautiful counterpoint and a stately chorale portraying the coming of Christ as a bridegroom – Bach's music still says, "Sleepers, wake."

 

[Mary Krallmann]

 

For more information:

Bach Central Station

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach: A Detailed Biography

 

 

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