J.S. Bach

Bach is considered by many to have been the greatest composer in the history of western music. “Bach's main achievement lies in his synthesis and advanced development of the primary contrapuntal idiom of the late Baroque, and in the basic tune fullness of his thematic material.”(J.S. Bach Archive and Bibliography) He was able to successfully integrate and expand upon the harmonic and formal frameworks of the national schools of the time: “German, French, Italian & English, while retaining a personal identity and spirit in his large output.” (The J.S. Bach Home Page) Bach is also known for the numerical symbolism and mathematical exactitude, which many people have found in his music -- for this, he is often regarded as one of the pinnacle geniuses of western civilization, even by those who are not normally involved with music.

Bach spent the height of his working life in a Lutheran church position in Leipzig, as both organist and music director. Much of his music is overtly religious, while many of his secular works admit religious interpretations on some levels. “His large output of organ music is considered to be the greatest legacy of compositions for the instrument, and is the measure by which all later efforts are judged. Hi

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” (Bach Central Station) If it had not been his honorary title Kapellmeister von Haus aus at Cothen, he could well have been eliminated long ago. Bach Archive and Bibliography)

Elsewhere in Germany, “Georg Friedrich Handel was born in Halle on the 23rd of the February, just 26 days before. After that he often had contracts as an organ consultant. The new service that the university proposed was based on lower payment of Accidenten, and Bach preferred the better-paid old service. ” (Bach Central Station) His other chamber music is similarly lofty, the sets for solo violin & solo cello being the summits of their respective genres. Very little is known now about the first 8 years of Bach's life, except that he did not attend school until the age of 8, when he was admitted to the local Lateinschule in level 5. “He and his pupils provided music at four churches, two of which had elaborate Sunday services including a cantata on alternate Sundays. If one was born in a particular province, and the land happened to belong to the local Duke, one was to be his servant. Also in the same year Dominico Scarlatti was born, though they are not to meet until very much later. Bach Archive and Bibliography) He had great sense of form & structure, and saw music with insight from a broad perspective. When he was sent to Johann Christopher in Ohrdruf, he was given keyboard instructions.

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Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)

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