Johann Sebastian Bach: The Well-tempered Musician

Johann Sebastian was born into a very musical family and there was no doubt whatsoever that he was destined to become a professional musician.  When he left school, he worked in a series of disappointing jobs as “lackey musician”, and didn’t truly settle down until he took on the post of chamber musician and organist to the duke of Saxe-Weimar in 1708.  Despite having composed many of his best organ music during his nine years at Weimar, Bach was compelled to leave when he was denied promotion, resulting in a rather acrimonious departure—the duke refused his resignation and imprisoned him for a month before letting him go.

Bach subsequently took on the post of Kapellmeister (musical director) at the court of Prince Leopold of Köthen, where he focused mainly on instrumental music for the court and keyboard pieces including many exercises for his growing family.  He particularly enjoyed his work at Köthen, since he got along well with the prince, who was a talented musician.

After the death of his first wife, Maria Barbara, Bach married the singer Anna Magdalena Wilcke.  It was around the same time that Prince Leopold also settled down; however the new princess had no musical inclination whatsoever, forcing Bach to seek for yet another job, this time as choirmaster at the prestigious St. Thomas’ School in Leipzig, a post he held from 1723 until his death.  His responsibilities at Leipzig involved writing music for the two main churches of the city, and it was here that he composed most of his greatest choral work and numerous collections of chamber and keyboard music.

Throughout his varied musical career, Bach composed in almost every musical form except opera, making music in accordance with the demands of his employers.  As a staunch Lutheran, Bach considered his talent as a gift from God. His deep religious principles permeated even all of his musical pieces, and he dedicated them all “To the Greater Glory of God.”

Celebrated for their staggering intellectual depth, superb technical brilliance, intense spiritual sensitivity and enduring artistic beauty, Bach’s works include the Brandenburg concertos, The Well-Tempered Clavier, the Goldberg Variations, the Partitas, the Mass in B Minor, the St John Passion, the Magnificat, the St Matthew Passion, The Musical Offering, The Art of Fugue, the English and French Suites, the Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, the Cello Suites, more than 200 surviving cantatas, and a similar number of organ works, including the renowned Toccata and Fugue in D minor and Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor.

More classical music treats:

• Johann Sebastian Bach: The Well-tempered Musician
• Ludwig Van Beethoven: The Extraordinary Genius
• Hector Berlioz: Truly Fantastique
• Johannes Brahms: The Classical Romantic
• Frederic Chopin: The Poet of the Piano
• George Frideric Handel: The Harmonious Tunesmith
• Franz Joseph Haydn: Father of The Symphony
• Felix Mendelssohn: The Midsummer Night’s Dreamer
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Wunderkind
• Franz Schubert: The Great Lieder
• Antonio Vivaldi: The Red Priest