Johann Sebastian Bach, 1685-1750, is among the greatest composers of all time. His music represents a culmination of the Baroque style, bringing perfection to every major genre of the time except opera.
Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany to a family of musicians spanning six generations from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. Johann Ambosius, his father, and elder brother Johann Christoph, provided his primary musical training. Although Bach never left Germany, he studied the music of the foremost composers of Europe by borrowing scores from libraries and copying them.
Bach's parents died when he was nine years old. He finished secondary school with the help of his older brother and by working as a choir boy. While a teenager, Bach rose to the level of a virtuoso on harpsichord and organ. Unable to afford college, he struck out on his own at the age of eighteen.
Bach was a devout Christian and faith permeates his music. He considered himself a craftsman doing his best for the pleasure and edification of his superiors, humanity and glory of God. He made no distinction between secular and sacred music: all were alike in being “to the glory of God.” Even his keyboard compositions were inscribed with “in nomine Jesu” (in the name of Jesus).
"What I have to say about Bach's lifework: Listen, play, love, worship and - shut up!" – Albert Einstein
Above all, Bach was a practical musician and employment dictated much of his composition output. His musical life is divided into four periods.
Out the Gate
In 1703, after graduating from high school, Bach held positions in chapels of nobles and municipal churches in Weimar, Arnstadt and Mühlhausen. His duties revolved around organ playing, quickly advancing his reputation as a performer. The Little Fugue in G Minor BWV 578 was written during this time.
He was AWOL from Arnstadt for months, visiting organist-composer Dieterich Buxtehude in Lübeck. Bach walked there, five hundred-sixty miles round trip. During this period, he married his cousin, Maria Barbara Bach, and between her and his second wife, Anna Magdalena, sired twenty offspring.
From 1708 to 1717 Bach was court organist for the Duke of Weimar. The duke admired Bach’s playing and encouraged him to compose for the organ. Many of Bach's organ works—prelude and fugues, chorale preludes, toccatas, etc.—date from this time. After the court music director died, Bach expected to take his place. He wasn't selected and, feeling cheated, accepted a job at another royal court. When Bach asked the duke to release him from employment, he was fired and jailed for a month!
Köthen
In 1717 Bach became music director for Prince Leopold of Köthen, a music lover and viola da gamba player, kind employer and friend to Bach. Since Leopold was a Calvinist, music played little part in church services and Bach mainly composed for the prince’s entertainment. Many of his chamber and orchestral suites date from this period, including the Brandenburg Concertos.
Concerto Grosso
The Concerto Grosso is an orchestra or chamber piece pitting a small group of soloists, known as soli or concertino (Italian), against a larger group of players called tutti or ripieno. The tutti consists mainly of strings and basso continuo but may contain woodwinds and brass in larger ensembles. The concertino or soli are set apart by smaller numbers and virtuosic playing. Terraced dynamics result as musical materials are passed between soli and tutti.
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 BWV 1050
Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 (1721) is among the finest examples of concerto grosso and, at twenty-five minutes, one of the longest. It is part of a collection of six concerti, officially written in 1721 for Christian Ludwig, the Margrave of Brandenburg. Bach wrote out the music himself for presentation to the Margrave of Brandenburg rather than employing a copyist. His hand writing is neater at the beginning, but shows fatigue as the pages progress.
We'll focus on the first movement. It's in ritornello form and features a concertino of flute, violin and harpsichord. The ritornello is introduced by the string section. Study the ritornello so you can recognize appearances after solo episodes:
Ritornello | Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 | Peter Kun Frary
After the ritornello (tutti) statement, the concertino ensues with a solo episode. The two groups, concertino and tutti, alternate back and forth between ritornello and solos. Near the last third of the movement soloists begin dropping out, leaving a solitary harpsichord to blaze a rollicking solo before the final ritornello.
Cadenza
A virtuosic solo within a concerto is called a cadenza. Cadenzas may be written but were often improvised, especially if the player was also the composer.
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 | Johann Sebastian Bach | 1. Allegro (9:58)
Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major
Bach wrote numerous suites for both solo instruments and chamber orchestra. A suite is a set of instrumental compositions—mainly dances or dance inspired movements—designed to be played in succession.
Suites typically begin with a non-dance movement such as a prelude or overture. The opening movement is followed by dances in contrasting meters and tempos. There isn't a set number of movements, but four to six are typical.
Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major BWV 1068 | Manuscript score of the violin 1 part from Air. | Bach-Archiv Leipzig
The Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major BWV 1068 was written at Köthen just before Bach moved to Leipzig. There are five movements: Overture, Air, Gavotte, Bourrée and Gigue. The Air has gained great popularity apart from the suite and is commonly known as "Air on the G String."
Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major BWV 1068: Air | J.S. Bach (5:19)
Leipzig
Prince Leopold's new wife was not fond of music so Bach's services were rarely needed. Thus, Bach took a job as music director of St. Thomas (S. Thomas Kirche) and the City of Leipzig in 1723. He was responsible for music at four churches, civic ceremonies and teaching music at the school. Most of Bach's sacred works date from this time: Masses, Cantatas, Passions, Magnificats and Oratorios. As kantor, Bach was required to perform a cantata each Sunday and feast day that linked to the lectionary readings of the week.
St. Thomas Church (c. 1700) | Bach wrote most of his sacred music while employed at the St. Thomas Church and school. | Bach-Archiv Leipzig
Cantata
In the Baroque Lutheran Church, the cantata was a multiple movement work with vocal soloists, choir and orchestra. There were usually a half dozen movements consisting of choruses, duets, solos and sometimes instrumentals. The lyrics are a mini sermon and usually aligned with the topics or lessons of the church calendar. Bach composed three hundred cantatas but only two hundred survive.
Sleepers Wake
Bach's cantata, Sleepers Wake (Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme), BWV 140 (c. 1731), was written for the 27th Sunday after Trinity. It uses a chorale hymn melody and text, Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (1599) by Philipp Nicolai, to present the reading for the Sunday, the parable of the Ten Virgins from Matthew 25:1-13.
The chorale hymn used in this cantata has three verses with each verse presented in a different cantata movement. The translation of the verse used in Chorale 2 (4th movement):
Zion hears the watchmen singing,
And all her heart with joy is springing,
She wakes, she rises from her gloom;
For her Lord comes down all-glorious,
The strong in grace, in truth victorious,
Her Star is ris’n, her Light is come.
“Now come, Thou worthy Crown,
Lord Jesus, God’s own Son,
Hail! Hosanna!
The joyful call
We answer all
And follow to the nuptial hall.
Using counterpoint, Bach wove a simple hymn into a sophisticated orchestral work, and the results are stunningly beautiful. Formal organization is similar to the first movement of a concerto grosso: orchestra plays a ritornello and the chorale hymn melody is presented like a solo episode with unison tenor soloists. Effectively a duet between orchestra and singers.
"Wachet auf" (Sleepers Awake) Chorale 2 BWV 140 | Johann Sebastian Bach | Start video at 15:19 and end at 19:40.
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Bach Genesis
Germany
Weimar
Leipzig
Sleepers Wake
Life and Legacy of Johann Sebastian Bach
