Johann Sebastian Bach: The Greatest Composer of Baroque Music

 The most famous composer of Baroque classical muisc, Johann Sebastian Bach. How many pieces did he compose? Can you guess? People know he is a famous composer, but actually they don’t know well about what he did, or how he lived. So, let’s look at his life with basic information about the man known as Bach.

  A Composer and Organist of a Wide Variety of Music

Bach was an organist and composer in Germany. It is estimated that he wrote over 1,000 compositions across various genre, including sacred music such as <Jesu, meine Freude, and secular music. Usually, he worked in sacred and secular music genre, and he also contributed keyboard music and instrumental compositions such as <Bach Keyboard Concerto No.3 in D major>. In the sacred music field, he composed cantatas, motets and oratorios for church events. On the other hand, he also wrote lots of secular songs such as <Coffee Cantata> and <Peasant Cantata>, which are based on daily life themes. In addition, he contributed lots of keyboard music with harpsichords and clavichords such as <Well-Tempered Clavier> and <Golberg Variations>.

Then, what was his favorite instrument? He liked all the instruments, but he liked the organ the most among them because he was basically an organist. Bach loved organ because Bach thought the organ was good at expressing complexity and had a majestic sound. With the organ, he could write his famous song, <Tocata and Fugue in D minor>.

Bach’s Life as a Composer and an Organist

How was his life? He grew with music since when he was very young because his family had lots of musicians. He could be exposured to music by his family easily, particularly his father. His father taught Bach the violin and the harpsichord, and that was the first time encountering instruments. When Bach became 7 years old, he learned music theory and composition under local musicians. Since then, he had a passion to create a harmony and write good songs.

After studying music, he worked at Arnstadt church as an organist from 1703 to 1707. He wrote songs for church everyday hardly, and got a vacation for 4 weeks from the church. However, he didn’t come back to work for 4 months. During the vacation, he had a chance to meet Buxtehude at Lübeck. Buxtehude was a famous organist and composer, do Bach was delight to talk about music with him. In addition, he could explore other music opportunities and different musical communities during the vacation. He couldn’t go back to work easily because he could fulfill his passion about music and expand his musical horizons.

After coming back to the church, Bach preferred more innovative music styles of composition. However, the church wanted traditional and conventional approaches like the church music that Bach has composed so far. So, the church required Bach more conservative music. In the end, the made Bach quitted his job as an organist of Arnstadt church. However, Bach felt that working at the Arnstadt church was a good experience because it helped him find a work environment suitable for him, even though he quitted his work.

After quitting Arnstadt church, Bach worked at ducal court of Weimar as a court organist and chamber musician in 1708. In Weimar, Bach could develop his music styles and write the music he really wanted. As a result, he wrote his masterpiece, <Well-Tempered Clavier>. Composing this music and working at Weimar made chances to make a connection with influential musicians and patrons, so Bach thought working in Weimar was a transformative phase in his career.

However, after getting old, he got an eye problem. We can’t know what was the problem exactly because the medical skills were not good at that time. Bach’s eye problem let him lose his eye sight. Because vision was an essential element in reading and composing music, it became more difficult for him to work, and Bach felt frustrated and helpless as he gradually lost his vision. However, he never gave up playing instrument and writing songs until he died.