On our website you can download a message about Johann Sebastian Bach or read its summary.

It is better to give your preference to the full version of the message, which contains systematic information about the life and work of the composer, given little known facts his biographies, opinions of contemporaries and descendants.

Childhood

Johann Sebastian Bach(1685 – 1750) was born in the provincial town of Eisenach in Thuringia (Germany). His family gave the world several generations of musicians. The first music lessons were received from his father, a city violinist. His parents died early, and from the age of 9 he lived with his brother, who was an organist, although as a teacher he was pedantic and could not satisfy his requests. younger brother. Johann Sebastian not only studied music, playing the harpsichord, viola, violin, but sought to get acquainted with the achievements of European music.

Life in the provinces

Germany at that time consisted of many small states. I.S. Bach had to come into close contact with the inert, inert environment where his zeal, talent and creative fantasy only caused discontent. This was the case in the princely chapel of Weimar, in the New Church of Arnstadt, in the Church of St. Blaise in Mühlhausen.

Secular service

Having gained experience and having several magnificent church works, Bach again moved in 1708 to Weimar to the local duke. This was the first secular service, where he could develop his ideas not only in the field of church genres. Written here Toccata and Fugue in D minor, Passacaglia in C minor, Toccata in C major and famous "Organ book". Having become vice-kapellmeister (1714), Bach received more freedom for creativity. He composes cantatas based on biblical and choral texts, largely avoiding stereotypes.

New life and creative stage begins in Köthen, where Bach receives the position of conductor. Written here « Music book Anna Magdalena Bach", "English Suites", "Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue", vocal secular works, etc. deserve special mention pedagogical essays intended for students.

Leipzig period (1723-1750)

In Lepzig I.S. Bach runs a school of singers and works at the Music College. These years created “John Passion”, “Matthew Passion”, “High Mass”, “Christmas Oratorio” etc. Based on the improvisation performed for King Frederick II, Bach creates a grandiose cycle "Musical Offering". The composer performs weekly concerts, writes 150 cantatas and works for clavier and orchestra. In their last years Throughout his life he has been sick a lot, his eyesight especially suffers: the operation that Bach decided on does not help either. He became blind, but continued to dictate new works.

Personal life

Bach's first wife Maria Barbara, died, leaving 4 small children. With my second wife Anna Magdalena Wilke, a gifted singer who became his faithful companion and assistant, Bach lived until last day. Two sons, Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emmanuel, gained fame as composers.

Posthumous fame

Bach's work was not popular for a long time. His first biography appeared only 52 years after his death. In the 1850s, a systematic study of creativity began, work on collecting and publishing works, determining authorship and clarifying biographical facts. In the twentieth century, many performers began to use the harpsichord instead of the piano, trying to recreate the spirit of Bach's music. There is a “Bach Society”, festivals and competitions are held named after. I.S. Bach, several museums are open.

Major works

In total, Bach owns more than 1000 concertos, claviers, cantatas, oratorios, fugues, symphonies, masses, preludes and other works, including a rich organ heritage, a number of vocal and violin works:

• Well-tempered clavier- a cycle of works, which includes 48 preludes, fugues for clavier, combined into 2 volumes of 24 works
• Musical Offering- cycle of canons, fugues, trio sonatas and other works
• Cantata No. 211, Coffee shop
• Cantata No. 212, Peasant
• Mass in B minor
• Christmas Oratorio
• St. John's Passion
• St. Matthew Passion
• Organ book

From the 19th century to the present day, interest in the works of Johann Sebastian Bach has not subsided. The creativity of an unsurpassed genius amazes with its scale. known all over the world. His name is known not only to professionals and music lovers, but also to listeners who do not show much interest in “serious” art. On the one hand, Bach's work is a certain result. The composer relied on the experience of his predecessors. He knew perfectly well the choral polyphony of the Renaissance, German organ music, and the peculiarities of the Italian violin style. He carefully studied new material, developed and generalized his accumulated experience. On the other hand, Bach was an unrivaled innovator who was able to open up new perspectives for the development of the world musical culture. The work of Johann Bach had a strong influence on his followers: Brahms, Beethoven, Wagner, Glinka, Taneyev, Honegger, Shostakovich and many other great composers.

Bach's creative heritage

He created over 1000 works. The genres he addressed were very diverse. Moreover, there are works whose scale was exceptional for that time. Bach's work can be divided into four main genre groups:

• Organ music.
• Vocal-instrumental.
• Music for various instruments (violin, flute, clavier and others).
• Music for instrumental ensembles.

The works of each of the above groups belong to a specific period. The most outstanding organ compositions were composed in Weimar. The Keten period marks the appearance of a huge number of keyboard and orchestral works. Most of the vocal and instrumental songs were written in Leipzig.

Johann Sebastian Bach. Biography and creativity

The future composer was born in 1685 in the small town of Eisenach, into a musical family. For the whole family it was traditional profession. Johann's first music teacher was his father. The boy had an excellent voice and sang in the choir. At the age of 9 he became an orphan. After the death of his parents, he was raised by Johann Christoph (elder brother). At the age of 15, the boy graduated from the Ohrdruf Lyceum with honors and moved to Lüneburg, where he began singing in the choir of the “chosen ones”. By the age of 17, he had learned to play the different harpsichords, organ, violin. Since 1703 he has lived in different cities: Arnstadt, Weimar, Mühlhausen. Bach's life and work during this period were full of certain difficulties. He constantly changes his place of residence, which is due to his reluctance to feel dependent on certain employers. He served as a musician (as an organist or violinist). Working conditions also constantly dissatisfied him. At this time, his first compositions for clavier and organ, as well as spiritual cantatas, appeared.

Weimar period

In 1708, Bach began serving as court organist for the Duke of Weimar. At the same time, he works in the chapel as a chamber musician. Bach's life and work during this period were very fruitful. These are the years of first composer maturity. The best ones have appeared organ works. This:

• Prelude and Fugue in C minor, A minor.
• Toccata C major.
• Passacaglia c-moll.
• Toccata and fugue in d minor.
• "Organ book".

At the same time, Johann Sebastian is working on works in the cantata genre, on transcriptions of Italian violin concertos for the clavier. For the first time he turns to the genre of solo violin suite and sonata.

Keten period

Since 1717, the musician settled in Köthen. Here he occupies a high-ranking management position chamber music. He is, in fact, the manager of the entire musical life at court. But he is not happy with the town being too small. Bach is eager to move to a larger, more promising city to give his children the opportunity to go to university and get a good education. There was no quality organ in Köten, and there was also no choir chapel. Therefore, Bach’s keyboard creativity develops here. The composer also pays a lot of attention to ensemble music. Works written in Köthen:

• Volume 1 "HTK".
• English Suites.
• Sonatas for solo violin.
• "Brandenburg Concertos" (six pieces).

Leipzig period and last years of life

Since 1723, the maestro has lived in Leipzig, where he leads the choir (holds the position of cantor) at the school at the Church of St. Thomas in Thomaschul. Accepts Active participation in a public circle of music lovers. The city's "collegium" constantly organized secular music concerts. What masterpieces were added to Bach’s work at that time? Briefly indicate the main works Leipzig period, which can rightfully be considered the best. This:

• "St. John's Passion".
• Mass h-minor.
• "Matthew Passion"
• About 300 cantatas.
• "Christmas Oratorio".

In the last years of his life, the composer focused on musical compositions. Writes:

• Volume 2 "HTK".
• Italian concert.
• Partitas.
• "The Art of Fugue".
• Aria with various variations.
• Organ Mass.
• "Musical Offering"

After an unsuccessful operation, Bach went blind, but did not stop composing music until his death.

Style characteristics

Bach's creative style was formed on the basis of various music schools and genres. Johann Sebastian organically wove the best harmonies into his works. In order to understand the musical language of the Italians, he rewrote their works. His creations were full of texts, rhythms and forms of French and Italian music, North German contrapuntal style, as well as Lutheran liturgy. The synthesis of various styles and genres was harmoniously combined with the deep poignancy of human experiences. His musical thought stood out for its special uniqueness, universality and a certain cosmic quality. Bach's work belongs to a style that is firmly established in musical art. This is the classicism of the high baroque era. For Bach's musical style characterized by mastery of an extraordinary melodic structure, where the music is dominated by main idea. Thanks to the mastery of counterpoint techniques, several melodies can interact simultaneously. was a true master of polyphony. He had a penchant for improvisation and brilliant virtuosity.

Main genres

Bach's work includes various traditional genres. This:

• Cantatas and oratorios.
• Passions and Masses.
• Preludes and Fugues.
• Chorale arrangements.
• Dance suites and concerts.

Undoubtedly, listed genres he borrowed from his predecessors. However, he gave them the broadest scope. The maestro skillfully updated them with new musical and expressive means and enriched them with features of other genres. The clearest example is "Chromatic Fantasia in D Minor". The work was created for the clavier, but contains dramatic recitation of theatrical origins and the expressive properties of large organ improvisations. It is easy to notice that Bach’s work “bypassed” opera, which, by the way, was one of the leading genres of its time. However, it is worth noting that many of the composer’s secular cantatas are difficult to distinguish from comedic interludes (at this time in Italy they were degenerating into opera buffa). Some of Bach's cantatas, created in the spirit of witty genre scenes, anticipated the German Singspiel.

The ideological content and range of images of Johann Sebastian Bach

The composer's work is rich in its figurative content. From the pen of a true master come both extremely simple and extremely majestic creations. Bach's art contains both simple-minded humor and deep sorrow, and philosophical reflection, and extreme drama. The brilliant Johann Sebastian in his music reflected such significant aspects of his era as religious and philosophical problems. With the help of the amazing world of sounds, he reflects on the eternal and very important questions of human life:

• About the moral duty of man.
• About his role in this world and purpose.
• About life and death.

These reflections are directly related to religious topics. And this is not surprising. The composer served the church almost all his life, so he wrote most of the music for it. At the same time, he was a believer, he knew Holy Bible. His reference book was the Bible, written in two languages ​​(Latin and German). He kept fasts, went to confession, and observed church holidays. A few days before his death he took communion. The composer's main character is Jesus Christ. In that perfect image Bach saw the embodiment best qualities, inherent in man: purity of thoughts, strength of spirit, fidelity to the chosen path. The sacrificial feat of Jesus Christ for the salvation of humanity was the most sacred for Bach. This theme was the most important in the composer’s work.

Symbolism of Bach's works

In the Baroque era, musical symbolism appeared. It is through her that the complex and amazing world of the composer is revealed. Bach's music was perceived by his contemporaries as transparent and understandable speech. This happened due to the presence in it of stable melodic turns expressing certain emotions and ideas. Such sound formulas are called musical-rhetorical figures. Some conveyed affect, others imitated intonation human speech, others were of a figurative nature. Here are some of them:

• anabasis - ascent;
• circulatio - rotation;
• catabasis - descent;
• exclamatio - exclamation, ascending sixth;
• fuga - running;
• passus duriusculus - a chromatic move used to express suffering or sorrow;
• suspiratio - sigh;
• tirata - arrow.

Gradually, musical and rhetorical figures become a kind of “signs” of certain concepts and feelings. For example, the descending figure catabasis was often used to convey sadness, melancholy, mourning, death, and the position in the coffin. A gradual upward movement (anabasis) was used to express ascension, high spirits and other moments. Symbolic motifs are observed in all the composer’s works. Bach's work was dominated by Protestant chorale, to which the maestro turned throughout his life. He also has symbolic meaning. Work with the chorale was carried out in a wide variety of ways. different genres- cantatas, passions, preludes. Therefore, it is quite logical that the Protestant chorale is integral part Bach's musical language. Among the important symbols found in the music of this artist, it should be noted stable combinations sounds that have constant meanings. The symbol of the cross predominated in Bach's work. It consists of four multi-directional notes. It is noteworthy that if you decipher the composer’s surname (BACH) with notes, you will get the same graphic drawing. B - B flat, A - A, C - C, H - B. Huge contribution in development musical symbols Bach was contributed by such researchers as F. Busoni, A. Schweitzer, M. Yudina, B. Yavorsky and others.

"Second birth"

During his lifetime, the work of Sebastian Bach was not appreciated. Contemporaries knew him more as an organist than a composer. Not a single serious book has been written about him. Of the huge number of his works, only a few were published. After his death, the composer's name was soon forgotten, and the surviving manuscripts gathered dust in the archives. Perhaps we would never have known anything about this brilliant man. But, fortunately, this did not happen. True interest in Bach arose in the 19th century. One day F. Mendelssohn discovered the notes of the St. Matthew Passion in the library, which interested him very much. Under his direction, this work was successfully performed in Leipzig. Many listeners were delighted with the music of the still little-known author. We can say that this was the second birth of Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1850 (on the 100th anniversary of the composer's death), the Bach Society was created in Leipzig. The purpose of this organization was to publish all found manuscripts of Bach in the form full meeting essays. As a result, 46 volumes were collected.

Bach's organ works. Summary

The composer created excellent works for the organ. This instrument is a real force of nature for Bach. Here he was able to liberate his thoughts, feelings and emotions and convey all this to the listener. Hence the enlargement of lines, concertity, virtuosity, and dramatic images. The compositions created for the organ resemble frescoes in painting. Everything in them is presented predominantly close-up. In preludes, toccatas and fantasies, the pathos of musical images in free, improvisational forms is observed. Fugues are characterized by special virtuosity and unusually powerful development. Bach's organ work conveys the high poetry of his lyrics and the grandiose scope of his magnificent improvisations.

Unlike clavier works, organ fugues are much larger in volume and content. Movement musical image and its development proceeds with increasing activity. The unfolding of the material is presented in the form of layering of large layers of music, but there is no particular discreteness or breaks. On the contrary, continuity (continuity of movement) prevails. Each phrase follows from the previous one with increasing tension. The climactic moments are constructed in the same way. The emotional upsurge eventually intensifies to its highest point. Bach is the first composer to demonstrate the patterns of symphonic development in large forms of instrumental polyphonic music. Bach's organ work seems to split into two poles. The first is preludes, toccatas, fugues, fantasies (large musical cycles). The second is one-part. They are written mainly in chamber style. They reveal mainly lyrical images: intimately mournful and sublimely contemplative. Best works for organ by Johann Sebastian Bach - and fugue in D minor, prelude and fugue in A minor and many other works.

Works for clavier

When writing compositions, Bach relied on the experience of his predecessors. However, here too he proved himself to be an innovator. Keyboard creativity Bach is characterized by scale, exceptional versatility, search expressive means. He was the first composer to appreciate the versatility of this instrument. When composing his works, he was not afraid to experiment and implement the most daring ideas and projects. When writing, I was guided by the entire world musical culture. Thanks to him, the clavier expanded significantly. He enriches the instrument with new virtuoso techniques and changes the essence of musical images.

Among his works for organ, the following stand out:

• Two-voice and three-voice inventions.
• "English" and "French" suites.
• "Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue".
• "The Well-Tempered Clavier."

Thus, Bach's work is striking in its scope. The composer is widely known throughout the world. His works make you think and reflect. Listening to his compositions, you involuntarily become immersed in them, thinking about deep meaning underlying them. The genres that the maestro addressed throughout his life were very diverse. This is organ music, vocal-instrumental music, music for various instruments (violin, flute, clavier and others) and for instrumental ensembles.

Johann Sebastian Bach is the most remarkable member of the famous musical family Bakhov and one of greatest composers of all times and peoples. He was born on March 31, 1685 in Eisenach, and died on July 28, 1750 in Leipzig.

Portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach. Artist E. G. Haussmann, 1748

Having lost his father, Johann Ambrose Bach (1645 - 1695), at the age of 10, Johann Sebastian was placed in the care of his older brother Johann Christoph, an organist in the city of Ohrdruf (Thuringia), who laid the foundation for his music lessons. After the death of his brother, 14-year-old Johann Sebastian went to Lüneburg, where he entered the gymnasium choir as a treble singer and received a higher school education. From here he often traveled to Hamburg to get acquainted with the playing of the organist Reincken, as well as Celle, and listen to the famous court chapel. In 1703, Bach became a violinist at the court chapel in Weimar. In 1704 he became an organist in Arnstadt, from where in 1705 he went to Lübeck to listen to and study with the famous organist Buchstegude. In 1707 Johann Sebastian became an organist in Mühlhausen, in 1708 - court organist and chamber musician in Weimar, a position he held until 1717.

Bach. Best works

This year Bach met in Dresden with the famous French pianist Marchand, who was so impressed by his play that he suddenly left, avoiding what was offered to him music competition. In the same year, Bach became court conductor for the Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, and in 1723 he received the vacant position of cantor at the school of St. Thomas in Leipzig, which he held until his death. Apart from occasional trips to Dresden after his appointment as Saxon-Weissenfels Kapellmeister and a visit to Berlin (1747), where he was honorably received by Frederick the Great, Bach lived in Leipzig in complete solitude, devoting himself entirely to service, family and students. His most significant works originated here for the most part(especially spiritual cantatas) thanks official duties. In old age they had the misfortune of going blind.

Johann Sebastian Bach. Life and art

Johann Sebastian Bach was not only a brilliant composer, but also one of greatest performers on piano and organ. His contemporaries admired his last quality most of all, while full recognition of his outstanding composer activity fell to the lot of later generations.

Bach was married twice: first time to his cousin Maria Barbara Bach, daughter of Johann Michael Bach, who died in 1720, and then (from 1721) Anna Magdalene, daughter of the chamber musician Wülken in Weissenfels, who survived her husband. Bach left behind 6 sons and 4 daughters; 5 more sons and 5 daughters died before his death.

Many famous musicians came from Bach's school. Among them, the first place is occupied by his four sons, who have made a significant name for themselves in the history of music, or at least occupied in their time prominence in the music world.

For information about the composer’s works, see the article Bach’s Works – Briefly. Biographies of other great musicians - see in the “More on the topic...” block below the text of the article.

Alexander MAYKAPAR

Johann Sebastian Bach

1685 - 1750

Major milestones in life

I.S. Bach - German composer and a clavierist, that is, a performer on keyboard instruments (organ, harpsichord, clavichord).
Born in 1685 in Eisenach. Largest representative the greatest musical kind. During his lifetime he was famous not so much as a composer, but as an organist and harpsichordist. The external circumstances of his life are much less varied than those of many of his contemporary colleagues, for example Handel.

The house in Eisenach where J.S. was born. Bach

Bach spent his childhood in Eisenach. The boy, who lost his parents early (Bach was orphaned by the age of ten), was taken into his family by his older brother Johann Christoph, who lived in Ohrdruf. In 1700, Bach moved to Lüneburg and entered the gymnasium there. By this time, he played the organ, clavier, violin, viola well, and performed the duties of an assistant cantor.
In 1702, Bach visited Hamburg several times to listen to the venerable J. Reincken. As a result, Reincken himself gives an enthusiastic review of the young Bach's organ playing. Next year, Bach graduates from the Luneburg gymnasium, and in the spring he accepts an invitation to serve in Weimar. He takes part in testing a new organ in Arnstadt and as a result is confirmed as an organist. In this capacity, in 1705 he traveled to Lubeck to listen to the performance of the famous organist Dietrich Buxtehude.
In 1707, Bach moved to Mühlhausen and became organist here at the Blasiuskirche (St. Blaise Church). In the same year he marries his cousin, also an orphan, Maria Barbara. Maria Barbara bore Bach seven children, of whom four survived. The two eldest sons - Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel - later became major composers and went down in music history as the creators of their own musical style.
In 1708, Bach received the position of court organist, chamber musician, and from 1714 - court accompanist in Weimar. In 1717–1723 we find him court bandmaster at Köthen.

Interior castle church in Weimar, in which I.S. Bach performed his cantatas

In 1721, after the sudden death of Maria Barbara, Bach married the daughter of the court musician in Weissenfeld, Anna Magdalena Wilken. She also represents musical dynasty, has in a beautiful voice and good hearing. Helping her husband, Anna Magdalena rewrote many of his works. In this marriage, Bach has 13 children, but six of them survive. Famous musician became one of Bach's sons from this marriage - Johann Christian. (Due to the large number of Bach composers in world musical culture, the de facto practice of calling all Bachs by name has become established; when it is simply called “Bach,” we understand that we're talking about about Johann Sebastian.)

Courtyard of the Church of St. Thomas, where the school was located and I.S. lived. Bach

In 1723, Bach received the most important, as shown future life, his position as cantor of the Thomaskirche (St. Thomas Church) and city music director in Leipzig. He moves here and stays here for the rest of his life. From here he made a number of trips, including in 1747 to Potsdam, where he played before King Frederick II, improvising on a theme given by him. Returning to Leipzig, Bach developed this theme in a series of complex polyphonic pieces, printed them and presented them to the king. This work is called “Musical Offering”.
Bach died in 1750.

Grave of I.S. Bach in the Church of St. Thomas

The scale of genius

Bach is one of the greatest representatives of world musical culture. He created in all musical genres that existed in his time, with the exception of opera, to which his oratorios are essentially close. In terms of musical style, his art represents highest point musical baroque. A distinctly national artist, Bach combined the traditions of the Protestant chorale with the traditions of the Italian and French schools of music.
The leading genre in vocal instrumental creativity Bach - spiritual cantata. Bach created five annual cycles of cantatas, which differ in their belonging to church calendar, according to textual sources (psalms, choral stanzas, “free” poetry), according to the role of the chorale, etc. Of the secular cantatas, the most famous are “Peasant” and “Coffee”. The dramatic principles developed in the cantata were implemented in the masses and the Passion. The “High” Mass in B minor, the “St. John Passion,” and the “Matthew Passion” became the culmination of the centuries-long history of these genres. Organ music occupies a central place in Bach's instrumental work.
Synthesizing the experience of organ improvisation inherited from his predecessors (D. Buxtehude, J. Pachelbel, G. Böhm, I.A. Reinken), various variational and polyphonic composition techniques and modern principles of concertoing, Bach rethought and updated the traditional genres of organ music - toccata , fantasy, passacaglia, chorale prelude. A virtuoso performer, one of the greatest experts of keyboard instruments of his time, Bach wrote a lot for the clavier. Among keyboard works, the most important place is occupied by “The Well-Tempered Clavier” - the first experience in the history of music artistic application developed at the turn of the 17th–18th centuries. tempered system. The greatest polyphonist, in the fugues “HTK” Bach created unsurpassed examples, a kind of school of contrapuntal mastery, which was continued and completed in “The Art of Fugue”, on which Bach worked over the last ten years of his life. Bach's music for violin, cello, flute, oboe, instrumental ensemble, orchestra - sonatas, suites, partitas, concertos - marks a significant expansion of the expressiveness and technical capabilities of instruments, reveals deep knowledge instruments and universalism in their interpretation. Six Brandenburg Concertos for various instrumental compositions, implementing the genre and compositional principles of the concerto grosso, were important stage on the way to a classical symphony.
During Bach's lifetime, a small part of his works was published. True scale Bach's genius, which had a strong influence on the subsequent development of European musical culture, began to be realized only half a century after his death. Among the first connoisseurs is the founder of Bach studies I.N. Forkel (who published “Essay on the Life and Work of Bach” in 1802), K.F. Zelter, whose work to preserve and promote Bach's legacy led to the performance of the St. Matthew Passion under the baton of F. Mendelssohn in 1829. This performance, which had historical meaning, served as an impetus for the revival of Bach’s work in the 19th–20th centuries. In 1850, the Bach Society was formed in Leipzig. (On the fruits of the Society’s activities, see our article “Monument of World Musical Culture” - “Art” No. 18 (354), September 16–30, 2006, p. 3).

After the death of his father (his mother had died earlier), he was taken into the family of his older brother Johann Christoph, who served as a church organist at St. Michaeliskirche in Ohrdruf. In 1700-03. Studied at the church choir school in Lüneburg. During his studies, he visited Hamburg, Celle and Lubeck to get acquainted with the work of famous musicians of his time, new French music. Bach's first compositional experiments - works for organ and clavier - date back to the same years.

Years of wanderings (1703-08)

After graduation, Bach was busy looking for a job that would provide his daily bread and leave time for creativity. From 1703 to 1708 he served in Weimar, Arnstadt, and Mühlhausen. In 1707 he married his cousin Maria Barbara Bach. His creative interests were then focused mainly on music for organ and clavier. Famous essay that time - “Capriccio on the Departure of a Beloved Brother” (1704).

Weimar period (1708-17)

Having received the position of court musician from the Duke of Weimar in 1708, Bach settled in Weimar, where he spent 9 years. These years became a time of intense creativity, in which the main place belonged to works for the organ, including numerous chorale preludes, organ toccata and fugue in D minor, passacaglia in C minor. The composer wrote music for the clavier and spiritual cantatas (more than 20). Using traditional forms, he brought them to the highest perfection. In Weimar, Bach had sons, future famous composers Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emmanuel.

Service in Köthen (1717-23)

In 1717, Bach accepted an invitation to the service of Duke Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen. Life in Köthen was initially happiest time in the life of the composer: the prince, an enlightened man for his time and a good musician, appreciated Bach and did not interfere with his work, inviting him on his trips. In Köthen, three sonatas and three partitas for solo violin, six suites for solo cello, English and French suites for clavier, and six Brandenburg concertos for orchestra were written. Of particular interest is the collection “The Well-Tempered Clavier” - 24 preludes and fugues, written in all keys and in practice proving the advantages of tempered musical system, around the approval of which there were heated debates. Subsequently, Bach created the second volume of The Well-Tempered Clavier, also consisting of 24 preludes and fugues in all keys. But the cloudless period of Bach's life was cut short in 1720: his wife dies, leaving four young children. In 1721, Bach married Anna Magdalena Wilken for the second time. In 1723, his “Passion according to John” was performed in the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig, and Bach soon received the position of cantor of this church while simultaneously performing the duties of a teacher at the church school (Latin and singing).

In Leipzig (1723-50)

Best of the day

Bach becomes the "musical director" of all the churches in the city, overseeing personnel musicians and singers, observing their training, assigning works required for performance, and doing much more. Not knowing how to be cunning and skimpy and not being able to perform everything in good faith, the composer repeatedly fell into conflict situations, darkened his life and distracted him from creativity. By that time the artist had reached the heights of his skill and created magnificent examples in various genres. First of all, this is sacred music: cantatas (about two hundred have survived), “Magnificat” (1723), masses (including the immortal “High Mass” in B minor, 1733), “Matthew Passion” (1729), dozens of secular cantatas (among them the comic “Coffee Room” and “Peasant Room”), works for organ, orchestra, harpsichord (among the latter, it is necessary to highlight the cycle “Aria with 30 variations”, the so-called “Goldberg Variations”, 1742). In 1747, Bach created a cycle of plays, “Musical Offerings,” dedicated to the Prussian king Frederick II. Last job became a work called “The Art of Fugue” (1749-50) - 14 fugues and 4 canons on one theme.

The fate of the creative heritage

At the end of the 1740s, Bach's health deteriorated, and he was particularly concerned about the sudden loss of his vision. Two unsuccessful cataract surgeries resulted in complete blindness. Ten days before his death, Bach unexpectedly regained his sight, but then he suffered a stroke that brought him to his grave. The solemn funeral caused a huge gathering of people from different places. The composer was buried near the Church of St. Thomas, where he served for 27 years. However, later a road was built through the territory of the cemetery, and the grave was lost. It was only in 1894 that Bach’s remains were accidentally found during construction work, and then the reburial took place. The fate of his legacy also turned out to be difficult. During his lifetime, Bach enjoyed fame. However, after the death of the composer, his name and music began to fall into oblivion. Genuine interest in his work arose only in the 1820s, which began with the performance of the St. Matthew Passion in Berlin in 1829 (organized by F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy). In 1850, the Bach Society was created, which sought to identify and publish all the composer’s manuscripts (46 volumes were published over half a century).

Bach is a major figure in world musical culture. His work represents one of the peaks philosophical thought in music. Freely crossing features not only of different genres, but also of national schools, Bach created immortal masterpieces, standing above time. Being the last (along with G. F. Handel) great composer of the Baroque era, Bach at the same time paved the way for the music of modern times.

Among the continuers of Bach's quest are his sons. In total, he had 20 children: seven from his first wife, Maria Barbara Bach (1684 - 1720), and 13 from his second, Anna Magdalena Wilken (1701 - 1760), only nine of them survived their father. Four sons became composers. In addition to those mentioned above - Johann Christian (1735-82), Johann Christoph (1732-95).