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Biography

Johann Sebastian Bach is a great German composer of the 18th century. More than two hundred and fifty years have passed since the death of Bach, and interest in his music is growing. During his lifetime, the composer did not receive the deserved recognition as a writer, but was known as a performer and, especially, as an improviser.

Interest in Bach's music arose almost a hundred years after his death: in 1829, under the baton of the German composer Mendelssohn, Bach's greatest work, The Matthew Passion, was publicly performed. For the first time - in Germany - the complete collection of Bach's works was published. And musicians all over the world play Bach's music, marveling at its beauty and inspiration, mastery and perfection. "Not a stream! “The sea must be his name,” said the great Beethoven about Bach.

Bach's ancestors have long been famous for their musicality. It is known that the composer's great-great-grandfather, a baker by profession, played the zither. Flutists, trumpeters, organists, violinists came out of the Bach family. In the end, every musician in Germany began to be called Bach and every Bach a musician.

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in 1685 in the small German town of Eisenach. He received his first violin skills from his father, a violinist and city musician. The boy had an excellent voice (soprano) and sang in the choir of the city school. No one doubted his future profession: little Bach was to become a musician. For nine years, the child was left an orphan. His elder brother, who served as a church organist in the city of Ohrdruf, became his tutor. The brother assigned the boy to the gymnasium and continued to teach music. But he was an insensitive musician. Classes were monotonous and boring. For an inquisitive ten-year-old boy, this was excruciating. Therefore, he strove for self-education. Having learned that his brother kept a notebook with the works of famous composers in a locked cabinet, the boy secretly took out this notebook at night and rewrote the notes in the moonlight. This tedious work lasted six months, it severely damaged the vision of the future composer. And what was the grief of the child when his brother caught him one day doing this and took away the already transcribed notes.

At fifteen, Johann Sebastian decided to start independent life and moved to Lüneburg. In 1703 he graduated from the gymnasium and received the right to enter the university. But Bach did not have to use this right, since it was necessary to earn a livelihood.

During his life, Bach moved from city to city several times, changing jobs. Almost every time the reason turned out to be the same - unsatisfactory working conditions, a humiliating, dependent position. But no matter how unfavorable the situation, he never left the desire for new knowledge, for improvement. With tireless energy, he constantly studied the music of not only German, but also Italian and French composers. Bach did not miss the opportunity to personally meet outstanding musicians, to study the manner of their performance. Once, having no money for a trip, young Bach went to another city on foot to listen to the famous organist Buxtehude play.

The composer also steadily defended his attitude to creativity, his views on music. Contrary to the admiration of court society for foreign music, Bach studied and widely used German folk songs and dances in his works with special love. Having perfectly known the music of composers from other countries, he did not blindly imitate them. Extensive and deep knowledge helped him improve and polish his composing skills.

Sebastian Bach's talent was not limited to this area. He was the best organ and harpsichord player among his contemporaries. And if, as a composer, Bach did not receive recognition during his lifetime, then in improvisations behind the organ his skill was unsurpassed. This was forced to admit even his rivals.

It is said that Bach was invited to Dresden to take part in a competition with the then famous French organist and harpsichordist Louis Marchand. The day before, a preliminary acquaintance of the musicians took place, both of them played the harpsichord. That same night, Marchand hurriedly left, thus recognizing the undeniable superiority of Bach. On another occasion, in the city of Kassel, Bach amazed his listeners by performing a solo on the organ pedal. Such success did not turn Bach's head; he always remained a very modest and hardworking person. When asked how he achieved such perfection, the composer replied: "I had to work hard, whoever is as hard will achieve the same."

From 1708 Bach settled in Weimar. Here he served as court musician and city organist. During the Weimar period, the composer created his best organ works. Among them are the famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor, the famous Passacaglia in C minor. These works are significant and deep in content, grandiose in their scope.

In 1717 Bach and his family moved to Köthen. At the court of the Prince of Köthen, where he was invited, there was no organ. Bach wrote mainly clavier and orchestral music. The composer's duties included directing a small orchestra, accompanying the prince's singing, and entertaining him by playing the harpsichord. Effortlessly coping with his duties, Bach free time gave to creativity. The works for the clavier created at that time represent the second pinnacle in his work after organ compositions. Two-part and three-part inventions were written in Köthen (Bach called three-part inventions "sinfonias"). The composer intended these pieces to study with his eldest son Wilhelm Friedemann. Pedagogical goals guided Bach in the creation of suites - "French" and "English". In Köthen, Bach also completed 24 preludes and fugues, which made up the first volume of a great work called The Well-Tempered Clavier. In the same period, the famous "Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue" in D minor was also written.

In our time, Bach's inventions and suites have become obligatory pieces in the programs of music schools, and the preludes and fugues of the Well-Tempered Clavier - in schools and conservatories. Intended by the composer for a pedagogical purpose, these works are also of interest to a mature musician. Therefore, Bach's pieces for the clavier, starting with relatively easy inventions and ending with the most complex Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue, can be heard at concerts and on the radio, performed by the world's best pianists.

From Köthen in 1723, Bach moved to Leipzig, where he remained until the end of his life. Here he took the position of cantor (choir leader) of the singing school at the Church of St. Thomas. Bach was obliged to serve the main churches of the city with the help of the school and be responsible for the state and quality of church music. He had to accept difficult conditions for himself. Along with the duties of a teacher, educator and composer, there were also such instructions: "Do not leave the city without the permission of Mr. Burgomaster." As before, his creative possibilities were limited. Bach had to compose such music for the church that "would not be too long, and also ... opera-like, but that would arouse reverence in the listeners." But Bach, as always, sacrificing a lot, never gave up the main thing - his artistic convictions. Throughout his life, he created works that are striking in their deep content and inner richness.

So it was this time. In Leipzig, Bach created his best vocal and instrumental compositions: most of the cantatas (in total, Bach wrote about 250 cantatas), the Passion according to John, the Passion according to Matthew, Mass in B minor. "Passion", or "passions" according to John and Matthew is a story about the suffering and death of Jesus Christ in the description of the evangelists John and Matthew. The Mass is close in content to the Passion. In the past, both the mass and the "passion" were choral chants in the Catholic Church. In Bach, these works go far beyond the scope of the church service. The Mass and the Passion by Bach are monumental works of a concert character. Soloists, choir, orchestra, organ participate in their performance. In my own way artistic value cantatas, "Passion" and the Mass represent the third, the highest pinnacle of the composer's work.

The church authorities were clearly dissatisfied with Bach's music. As in previous years, she was found too bright, colorful, humane. Indeed, Bach's music did not answer, but rather contradicted the strict church atmosphere, the mood of detachment from everything earthly. Along with major vocal and instrumental works, Bach continued to write music for the clavier. Almost at the same time as the Mass, the famous "Italian Concerto" was written. Bach later completed the second volume of The Well-Tempered Clavier, which included 24 new preludes and fugues.

In addition to the huge creative work and services in the church school, Bach took an active part in the activities of the "Music College" of the city. It was a society of music lovers, which arranged concerts of secular, not church music for the inhabitants of the city. With great success, Bach performed in concerts of the "Musical Collegium" as a soloist and conductor. Especially for the concerts of the society, he wrote many orchestral, clavier and vocal works of a secular nature.

But the main work of Bach - the head of the school of choristers - brought him nothing but grief and trouble. The funds allocated by the church for the school were negligible, and the singing boys were starving and poorly dressed. The level of their musical abilities was also low. Singers were often recruited, regardless of the opinion of Bach. The school orchestra was more than modest: four trumpets and four violins!

All petitions for help to the school, submitted by Bach to the city authorities, were ignored. The cantor was responsible for everything.

The only consolation was still creativity, family. The grown sons - Wilhelm Friedemann, Philip Emmanuel, Johann Christian - turned out to be talented musicians. Even during the life of their father, they became famous composers. Anna Magdalena Bach, the second wife of the composer, was distinguished by great musicality. She had an excellent ear and a beautiful, strong soprano voice. The eldest daughter of Bach also sang well. For his family, Bach composed vocal and instrumental ensembles.

The last years of the composer's life were overshadowed by a serious eye disease. After an unsuccessful operation, Bach became blind. But even then he continued to compose, dictating his works for recording. Bach's death remained almost unnoticed by the musical community. He was soon forgotten. The fate of Bach's wife and youngest daughter was sad. Anna Magdalena died ten years later in a house of contempt for the poor. The youngest daughter Regina eked out a beggarly existence. IN last years Beethoven helped her through her difficult life. Bach died on July 28, 1750.

He is one of those rare and wonderful people who could record Divine light.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - the great German composer, bandmaster, virtuoso organist. More than two centuries have passed since his death, and interest in the written works does not fade away. The New York Times has compiled a ranking of world composers who have created masterpieces that stand above time, and Bach takes the first place in this list. His music, as the best that mankind could create, was recorded on the Voyager Golden Record, attached to a spacecraft and launched from Earth into Space in 1977.

Childhood

Johann Sebastian was born on March 31, 1685 in the German town of Eisenach. In a large Bach family, he was the youngest, eighth child (four of them died in infancy). Since the beginning of the 16th century, their family was famous for its musicality, many of his relatives and ancestors were professionals in music (researchers counted about fifty of them). The great-great-grandfather of the composer, Veit Bach, was a baker and played the zither very well (this is such a plucked musical instrument in the form of a box).

The boy's father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, played the violin in the Eisenach Church and worked as a court accompanist (in this position he organized secular concerts). The elder brother, Johann Christoph Bach, served as an organist in the church. So many trumpeters, organists, violinists and flutists came out of their family that the surname "Bach" became a household name, as any more or less worthy musician was called, first in Eisenach, and then throughout Germany.

With such relatives, it is natural that little Johann Sebastian began to study music before he learned to speak. He received his first violin lessons from his father and greatly pleased his parent with his greed for musical knowledge, diligence and abilities. The boy had an excellent voice (soprano) and, while still very young, soloed in the choir of the city school. No one doubted his future profession; Sebastian must have turned out to be a musician.

When he was nine years old, his mother Elizabeth Lemmerhirt died. A year later, the father also died, but the child was not left alone, his older brother Johann Christoph took him to him. He was a sedate and respected musician and teacher in Ohrdruf. Together with his students, Johann Christoph taught his younger brother to play church music on the harpsichord.

However, to young Sebastian, these activities seemed monotonous, boring and painful. He began to educate himself, especially when he found out that his older brother had a notebook with works in a closed closet. famous composers. At night, young Bach entered the closet, took out a notebook and copied notes by the light of the moon.

From such a tedious night work, the young man's eyesight began to deteriorate. What a shame it was when the elder brother found Sebastian doing such an activity and took away all the records.

Education

In Ohrdruf, young Bach graduated from the gymnasium, where he studied theology, geography, history, physics, and Latin. The school teacher advised him to continue his studies at the famous vocal school at St. Michael's Church in the city of Lüneburg.

When Sebastian was fifteen years old, he decided that he was already completely independent, and went to Lüneburg, walking from Central Germany to the north for almost 300 kilometers. Here he entered school and for three years (from 1700 to 1703) was on a full board and even received a small scholarship. During his studies, he visited Hamburg, Celle, Lübeck, where he got acquainted with the work of contemporary musicians. At the same time, he tried to create his own works for clavier and organ.

After graduating from a vocal school, Sebastian had the right to enter the university, but did not use it, as it was necessary to raise funds for a living.

creative way

Bach went to Thuringia, where he got a job as a court musician in the private chapel of Duke Johann Ernst of Saxony. Within six months he played the violin for gentlemen and gained his first performing popularity. But the young musician wanted to develop, discover new creative horizons, and not please the ears of the rich. He went to Arnstadt, which is 200 kilometers from Weimar, where he began to work as a court organist in the church of St. Boniface. Bach worked only three days a week and at the same time received a fairly high salary.

The church organ was tuned according to the new system, the young composer had a lot of new opportunities, which he took advantage of and wrote about thirty capriccios, suites, cantatas and other organ works. However, after three years, Johann had to leave the city of Arnstadt, as he had tense relations with the authorities. The church authorities did not like his innovative approach to the performance of cult spiritual works. At the same time, the fame of a talented organist spread across Germany faster than the wind, and Bach was offered lucrative positions in many German cities.

In 1707, the composer arrived in Mühlhausen, where he entered the service in the church of St. Blaise. Here he began to earn extra money as an organ repairman and wrote a festive cantata "The Lord is my king."

In 1708 he and his family moved to Weimar, where he stayed for a long time as court composer and organist. It is believed that it was here and during this period that his creative way as a composer of music.

In 1717, Bach left Weimar to get a job as a court bandmaster in Köthen with Prince Leopold Anhalt, who appreciated the talent of the composer. The prince paid Bach well, gave him complete freedom of action, but he professed Calvinism in religion, which excluded the use of sophisticated music in worship. Therefore, in Köthen, Bach was mainly engaged in writing secular works:

• suites for orchestra;
• six Brandenburg Concertos;
• French and English suites for clavier;
• Volume 1 of The Well-Tempered Clavier;
• suites for cello solo;
• two-part and three-part inventions;
• sonatas;
• three partitas for solo violin.

In 1723, Sebastian moved to Leipzig, where he got a job in the church of St. Thomas as a choir cantor. Soon he was offered the position of "Music Director" of all Leipzig churches. This period of his creative activity Notable for writing the following works:

• "Passion according to Matthew";
• "Christmas Oratorio";
• "Passion according to John";
• Mass in B minor;
• "High Mass";
• "Magnificent Oratorio".

Throughout his life, the composer wrote more than a thousand works.

Family

In the autumn of 1707, Johann married his second cousin Maria Barbara. Only seven children were born in the family, but three of them died in infancy.

Two of those who survived went on to become quite famous in music world people:

• Wilhelm Friedemann, like his father, was an organist and composer, improviser and master of counterpoint.
• Carl Philipp Emmanuel also became a musician, composer, known as the Berlin or Hamburg Bach.

In June 1720, Maria Barbara died suddenly, and Bach was left a widower with four young children.

When the pain of loss subsided a little, Sebastian again thought about a full-fledged family. He did not want to bring a stepmother into the house for his children, but he was already unbearable alone. It was during this period that the singer Anna Magdalena Wilke, the daughter of his old friend, the court musician in Weissenfeld, performed with concerts in Köthen. Young Anna visited Bach several times and played nicely with his children. Sebastian hesitated for a long time, but, in the end, he proposed to her. Despite the sixteen-year age difference, the girl agreed to become the composer's wife.

In 1721, Bach and Anna Magdalena got married. His young wife belonged to a musical dynasty, had an amazing voice and hearing. This marriage became happier for the composer than the first. Kind and accommodating Anna accepted the children as her own, and besides, she was an excellent hostess. In their house now it was always clean and comfortable, tasty, noisy and fun. For his beloved, Johann Sebastian created the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach.

In the evenings, candles were lit in the house, they gathered in the living room, Bach played the violin, and Anna sang. At such moments, crowds of listeners gathered under their windows, who were then allowed into the house to dine with the owners. The Bach family was very generous and hospitable.

In this marriage, thirteen children were born, only six of them survived.

Unfortunately, after the death of Johann, disagreements began between his children. Everyone left, only two youngest daughters remained with Anna Magdalena - Regina Susanna and Johanna Carolina. financial assistance none of the children provided, and the rest of the life of the wife of the great composer spent in complete poverty. After her death, she was even buried in an unmarked pauper's grave. Bach's youngest daughter Regina eked out a terrible existence, at the end of her life she was helped by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Last years of life and death

Johann Sebastian lived to be 65 years old. In recent years, his eyesight, spoiled in his youth, has greatly deteriorated. The composer decided to have an operation performed by the British ophthalmologist John Taylor. The doctor's reputation was not good, but Sebastian clung to the last hope. However, the surgery was unsuccessful, and Bach became completely blind. At the same time, he did not stop composing, now he dictated his works to his wife or son-in-law.

Ten days before his death, a miracle happened, and Bach regained his sight, as if for the last time he could see the faces of his beloved wife and children, the light of the sun.

On July 28, 1750, the heart of the great musician stopped. He was buried in Leipzig in the church cemetery.

The outstanding German composer, organist and harpsichordist Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21, 1685 in Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany. He belonged to a ramified German family, most of whom had been professional musicians in Germany for three centuries. Johann Sebastian received his primary musical education (playing the violin and harpsichord) under the guidance of his father, a court musician.

In 1695, after the death of his father (his mother died earlier), the boy was taken into the family of his older brother Johann Christoph, who served as a church organist at St. Michaelis Church in Ohrdruf.

In the years 1700-1703, Johann Sebastian studied at the school of church singers in Lüneburg. During his studies, he visited Hamburg, Celle and Lübeck to get acquainted with the work of famous musicians of his time, new French music. In the same years he wrote his first works for organ and clavier.

In 1703 Bach worked in Weimar as a court violinist, in 1703-1707 as a church organist in Arnstadt, then from 1707 to 1708 in the Mühlhasen church. His creative interests were then mainly focused on music for organ and clavier.

In 1708-1717, Johann Sebastian Bach served as court musician to the Duke of Weimar in Weimar. During this period, he created numerous choral preludes, an organ toccata and a fugue in D minor, a passacaglia in C minor. The composer wrote music for the clavier, more than 20 spiritual cantatas.

In 1717-1723, Bach served with Leopold, Duke of Anhalt-Köthen, in Köthen. Three sonatas and three partitas for violin solo, six suites for cello solo, English and French suites for clavier, six Brandenburg concertos for orchestra were written here. 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 a 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.

In Köthen, the "Notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach" was started, which includes, along with pieces by various authors, five of the six "French Suites". In the same years, "Little Preludes and Fughettas. English Suites, Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue" and other clavier compositions were created. During this period, the composer wrote a number of secular cantatas, most of them not preserved and received a second life with a new, spiritual text.

In 1723, his "Passion according to John" (a vocal-dramatic work based on gospel texts) was performed at the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig.

In the same year, Bach received the position of cantor (regent and teacher) in the church of St. Thomas in Leipzig and the school attached to this church.

In 1736, Bach received from the Dresden court the title of Royal Polish and Saxon Electoral Court Composer.

During this period, the composer reached the pinnacle of mastery, creating magnificent examples in various genres - sacred music: cantatas (about 200 survived), "Magnificat" (1723), masses, including the immortal "High Mass" in B minor (1733), "Passion according to Matthew" (1729); dozens of secular cantatas (among them - the comic "Coffee" and "Peasant"); works for organ, orchestra, harpsichord, among the latter - "Aria with 30 variations" ("Goldberg Variations", 1742). In 1747, Bach wrote a cycle of plays "Musical Offerings" dedicated to the Prussian King Frederick II. The last work of the composer was the work "The Art of the Fugue" (1749-1750) - 14 fugues and four canons on one theme.

Johann Sebastian Bach - the greatest figure in the world musical culture, his work is one of the pinnacles of philosophical thought in music. Freely crossing the features of not only different genres, but also national schools, Bach created immortal masterpieces that stand above time.

In the late 1740s, Bach's health deteriorated, with a sudden loss of sight particularly worrying. Two unsuccessful cataract surgeries resulted in complete blindness.

He spent the last months of his life in a darkened room, where he composed the last chorale "I stand before Thy throne", dictating it to his son-in-law, the organist Altnikol.

On July 28, 1750, Johann Sebastian Bach died in Leipzig. He was buried in the cemetery near the church of St. John. Due to the lack of a monument, his grave was soon lost. In 1894, the remains were found and reburied in a stone sarcophagus in the church of St. John. After the church was destroyed by bombing during World War II, his ashes were preserved and reburied in 1949 in the altar of St. Thomas Church.

During his lifetime, Johann Sebastian Bach enjoyed fame, but after the death of the composer, his name and music were forgotten. Interest in Bach's work arose only at the end of the 1820s, in 1829 the composer Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy organized a performance of the St. Matthew Passion in Berlin. In 1850, the Bach Society was created, which sought to identify and publish all the composer's manuscripts - 46 volumes were published in half a century.

With the mediation of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy in 1842 in Leipzig, the first monument to Bach was erected in front of the building of the old school at the Church of St. Thomas.

In 1907, the Bach Museum was opened in Eisenach, where the composer was born, in 1985 - in Leipzig, where he died.

Johann Sebastian Bach was married twice. In 1707 he married his cousin Maria Barbara Bach. After her death in 1720, in 1721 the composer married Anna Magdalena Wilcken. Bach had 20 children, but only nine of them survived their father. Four sons became composers - Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784), Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach (1714-1788), Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782), Johann Christoph Bach (1732-1795).

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

A long time ago (in the second half of the 16th century) in one of the small German towns there lived a poor but hardworking man named Faith Bach. The craft of a miller and a baker helped him earn a living, but his real passion was music. This passion was so strong that it was invariably inherited not only by his children, but also by grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. Bahia- the most numerous musical dynasty that has ever existed on earth! It included singing teachers, organists, violinists, flutists, trumpeters, bandmasters (conductors), composers, that is, representatives of almost all musical professions. Subsequently, they settled throughout Germany, and already two hundred years after the death of Veit, his descendants were so numerous that in Thuringia they began to call all musicians Bachs.

However, he immortalized the surname only Veit Bach's son Johann Sebastian. Future great composer was born in the city of Eisenach and orphaned early, losing his mother and father within a few months. At the age of nine, he had to move to the city of Ohrdruf, to his older brother, organist Johann Christoph, who began to seriously teach the boy music. The extraordinary talent of Sebastian immediately became obvious to an experienced musician, but, oddly enough, made him envious. A simple music teacher in a church school, apparently, did not want to allow his younger brother to surpass him in talent, and therefore in his career as a musician.

How else to explain the fact that Johann Hristov strictly forbade his student to pick up a collection of works by famous composers of that time. And how to study without knowing what was done in music before you?!

In desperation, little Bach goes on a "crime". Every night he steals the treasured collection and in the dim moonlight (it was impossible to get candles), he rewrites the notes in his notebook. For almost half a year (!) he has been working on his work, his eyesight is rapidly deteriorating, but Sebastian is incredibly happy - his work is coming to an end every day, or rather at night. And when almost everything was ready, a terrible thing happens - Johann Christoph unexpectedly finds his brother at the scene of the "crime".

The boy begs not to take away his notebook - the fruit of a long titanic work, but the cruel teacher is implacable. In anger, Sebastian exclaims: "If so, I will write such music that will be better than this!" Johann Hristov only laughed in response...

At the age of fifteen, Sebastian is freed from the power of his brother, having entered the gymnasium at the monastery of St. Michael in Lüneberg. He has a beautiful voice, he brilliantly plays the violin, organ and harpsichord, and therefore he is willingly accepted as a chorister in the monastery choir. Now Bach is able to support himself, and most importantly, the doors of the rich monastery library are opening before him and he can study the works of the most famous composers of his time.

After graduating from the gymnasium, Sebastian gets the right to enter the university, but there is no money to continue his studies, and there is no special desire, because the most cherished dream of the young Bach is to devote his whole life to music.

At that time, a professional musician could earn his living only by entering the court service to some nobleman or by fulfilling the orders of the church. Both robbed of the independence that any genius longs for, but Bach had no choice.

Begins nomadic life: Weimar, Arnstadt, Mühlhausen, Ketten, Leipzig ... The composer traveled far and wide across his close homeland. Everywhere he is willingly accepted, he becomes famous as an excellent organist and violinist. But Bach is not looking for fame in his wanderings, he is looking for a service that would make it possible to create freely, and not depend on the tastes and whims of customers.

Johann Sebastian had to write mainly church music, but even shackled in the narrow framework of the canons, his talent always broke free. The works of Bach, designed to serve as a background for prayers and chants, conveyed a variety of human feelings. Listening to the deep sounds of the organ, people were immersed in thoughts about something important, intimate, music awakened in them bright, sublime, but quite earthly experiences. Churchmen could not like such an influence, and constant conflicts with them forced Bach to move from place to place, look for new customers and again face misunderstanding and hostility.

During his lifetime, Bach was not recognized as a composer, although he wrote more than 500 works for organ, orchestra, choir, clavier in all known then musical genres. He was far ahead of his era, and therefore his music seemed incomprehensible, too complex. In the memory of his contemporaries, Bach remained a talented musician with a difficult character. “Proud and quarrelsome,” they said about him, not suspecting that behind this quarrelsomeness there is a passionate desire to go his own way, to express what none of his compatriots could express.

Bach died in poverty. A year before his death, he became completely blind, and latest works the composer were recorded under dictation by his relatives.

Only a hundred years later, in the 19th century, Bach's music was rediscovered. Interest in it grew from year to year, the search for his works began, many of which by that time had hopelessly disappeared. Soon, the "Bach Society" arose in Germany, which carried out the first edition of the works of the forgotten master. Musicians all over the world were struck by the genius of Bach's music, but even more so by the fact that this treasure was unknown to anyone for so many years. So Bach returned to the people, never to part with those who love and understand music again.

In 1717, the famous French organist Marchand. His performances were a resounding success, and he began to be considered an unsurpassed musician. Until someone said that a certain Bach lives in Weimar, with whom no one can compare in skill.

It was decided to arrange a competition. Marchand was the first to speak. He played an unknown French aria, accompanying it with numerous variations and embellishments. The last chord drowned in a thunder of applause.

Then Bach sat down at the instrument. And not only exactly repeated the work he heard for the first time with all the variations and embellishments of Marchand, but also added his own, much more elegant, difficult and brilliant. The audience had no doubts about who won.

Bach Johann Sebastian (1685-1750)

It is very difficult to write about Bach - the discrepancy between the meager and biographical data that have come down to us and the scale of the composer's creative heritage is too great. These scales at one time surprised Beethoven, who once said: “Not a stream (Bach - in German “stream”), but the sea should be called it!” L. Schweitzer wrote about Bach:

"He is a man of two worlds: his artistic perception and creativity flow, as if not in contact with the almost banal burgher existence, independently of it."

Indeed, the existence of Bach outwardly was burgher, banal. Just like his father, grandfather, numerous relatives - they were all professional musicians who occupied a very modest position.

An organist in the small German town of Ohrdruf was also the elder brother of Johann Sebastian, with whom he was brought up, having lost his parents at the age of ten. The older brother was a strict, harsh teacher. Here is an example: the younger one really wanted to get acquainted with the clavier works of German composers, but he was not allowed to take the precious notebook. Nevertheless, he copied it secretly, on moonlit nights, without lighting a fire, but the copy was also taken away as a punishment for self-will ... Some explanation, if not justification for this cruelty, can only be the high cost of musical publications of that time (due to the laboriousness of copying notes).

Choir boy in the school choir at the church, violinist, violist, organist in various small towns, etc. finally, the court bandmaster (Weimar, Kethen) - these are the milestones musical biography Johann Sebastian Bach until he settled in Leipzig in 1723, already almost forty years old, where he lived until the end of his days. At this time, Bach was the father of a large family, older children (from his first wife, who had already died) still lived with him, younger children grew up - from his second wife, Anna Magdalena. (Young musicians know this name: in the music notebook of Anna Magdalena, who herself was a good musician, Bach wrote down easy pieces for teaching younger children. And now none of the students of music pass by this “Notebook”.)

Life was not easy, and therefore it is not surprising that among the few papers preserved in the Bach archive there are a lot of various statements and letters to influential people, and all about one thing: to improve more than modest financial situation. In Leipzig, Bach received the position of cantor, that is, the head of the school choir at the church of St. Thomas (Thomas Church). The school (Thomaschule), where they taught singing, playing the organ and other instruments, existed since the 13th century and enjoyed a good reputation, but in these years the choir was small in number, and Bach constantly complained that of all its pupils “seventeen are suitable for music, twenty are not yet fit and seventeen are unfit.”

Bach worked in almost all musical genres known at that time. The predominance of any particular genre in a given period can be explained to a certain extent by the working conditions, the tastes of the owners and customers. Thus, in Weimar there was an excellent organ, and during the years of work there Bach wrote his most famous organ works, including organ toccatas, of which the most famous is in D minor, although others are not inferior to it at all.

Bach's organ toccatas, fantasies, preludes and fugues seemed to capture the very process of musical creativity. First - inspired improvisation, as if not bound by any laws, not even having clear contours, a kind of sound nebula, from which a harmonious and harmonious sound world should be born. And he is born - in a fugue. The original musical image - the theme of the fugue, repeating itself, passing from one voice to another, gradually conquers the entire sound space, developing according to the strict laws of musical logic. The contrasting unity of toccata or fantasy and fugue, as it were, confirms the inseparability of inspiration and reason in art.

Bach himself was an unsurpassed organist, and when listeners were surprised at his skill, he usually said that the secret was simple: “You must always strike the right key at the right time ...”

While working in Koethen, Bach wrote many chamber works, suites and sonatas for various instruments, since it was this kind of music that especially attracted its owner, Prince Leopold, who himself played the clavier, violin and viola da gamba (an ancient instrument related to the cello) . Apparently, there were excellent musicians in the Keten orchestra, since it is unlikely that the prince himself, being only an amateur musician, could play the famous Chaconne by Bach from the violin suite, because to this day it is the standard of virtuosity for violinists.

Bach's responsibilities in Leipzig provided him with great opportunities for creativity. According to the conditions of his work, Bach had to write a new cantata for each Sunday church service (he wrote 265 of them in total). The performance of the cantatas was a kind of concert within the church service. The cantata included arias and choirs, among which were both very simple ones, sung by the whole community, and more complex ones, for Bach's students from Thomasshule. And of course, the opportunity to listen to a new composition by Bach every week attracted not only its regular parishioners, but also other residents of Leipzig to the Thomaskirche. In the same church, they could also listen to the great organist playing choral preludes, how new, lively and quivering voices of organ registers grow from simple, familiar melodies of German chorales from childhood.

In Leipzig, Bach also wrote the largest choral works. His Mass in B minor (a cycle of choirs for a festive church service) was written as a musical offering to the Saxon king Augustus in the hope of receiving the title of court bandmaster. King Augustus was a Catholic, which is why this mass is so monumental and solemn; in the Protestant churches where Bach worked, the whole ritual was much more modest and simple. During Bach's lifetime, only a few choirs from this work were performed: there is so much music in the mass that there would simply be no time left for the church service itself.

Another, less solemn, but more penetrating character is Bach's music for the so-called "passions", or "Passion", a dramatized story about the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. This story is known in four versions attributed to four legendary evangelist authors. Bach used two of them: the John Passion and the Matthew Passion.

The composer read the text, created more than one and a half thousand years before Bach, as if he were a contemporary and a witness to the events described. It was as if he personally knew the poor Galilean preacher, who taught love and mercy, became a victim of slander and betrayal and was sentenced to a shameful execution. It was as if he himself saw the grief of his mother, the confusion and fear of the students.

The narrative is told in recitative, and Bach makes a remarkably subtle distinction between the manner of speech of the evangelist narrator and actors. The parts of Jesus and the Roman governor Pilate are entrusted with homogeneous voices, but the intonations of the first are sublime and noble, the second are rude and arrogant.

In addition to the canonical church text, the Passion contains digressions- arias to the words of the contemporary poet Bahu. These arias often turn into a kind of duets of voice with a solo instrument - a violin, a flute. A wonderful example is the alto aria from the Matthew Passion, which follows the story of the denial of one of Jesus' disciples, Peter. The restrained, mournful melody of the voice is accompanied by the sobs of the violin, in which all the bitterness of belated remorse pours out.

The choirs of the Passions are varied. In addition to dramatic episodes that convey the cries of an angry crowd demanding execution, there are also strict, majestic in their simplicity chorales.

In Bach's Passions, the touching naivety of ancient folk performances on evangelical themes and the dramatic expressiveness of opera music were combined, and much more vivid than in the opera of Bach's time itself.

We will not find anything equal to the court scene in the Passion according to John either in French or in Italian opera of the 18th century. German opera, however, had not yet emerged from the period of apprenticeship.

Contemporaries (except, perhaps, those with whom Bach was directly in the service) highly appreciated master of genius, summing up everything valuable that was created before him in German (and not only in German) music. But in the last years of Bach's life, in mid-eighteenth century, there was a noticeable stylistic change in music. The ancient polyphonic art that flourished in choral and organ music was replaced by a new, more accessible manner of presentation, clearly separating the background and relief, the main melody and the accompaniment. Monumental choral cycles are obscured by opera, organ fantasies and toccatas - elegant clavier suites from small pieces in dance rhythms. Bach also worked in these genres, but they were not the center of his attention. His sons (Philip Emmanuel and Johann Christian) wrote in a new manner. And although they inherited only some share of their father's talent, for a long time it was Philippe Emmanuel who was considered the great Bach.