Bach, Johann Sebastian (1685 - 1750)

Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March [O.S. 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific authorship of music across a variety of instruments and forms, including; orchestral music such as the Brandenburg Concertos; solo instrumental works such as the cello suites and sonatas and partitas for solo violin; keyboard works such as the Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier; organ works such as the Schubler Chorales and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor; and choral works such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach Revival, he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music.

The Bach family already counted several composers when Johann Sebastian was born as the last child of a city musician, Johann Ambrosius, in Eisenach. After being orphaned at the age of 10, he lived for five years with his eldest brother Johann Christoph, after which he continued his musical education in Lüneburg. From 1703 he was back in Thuringia, working as a musician for Protestant churches in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen and, for longer stretches of time, at courts in Weimar, where he expanded his organ repertory, and Köthen, where he was mostly engaged with chamber music. From 1723, he was employed as Thomaskantor (cantor at St Thomas's) in Leipzig. There he composed music for the principal Lutheran churches of the city, and for its university's student ensemble Collegium Musicum. From 1726, he published some of his keyboard and organ music. In Leipzig, as had happened during some of his earlier positions, he had difficult relations with his employer, a situation that was little remedied when he was granted the title of court composer by his sovereign, Augustus III of Poland, in 1736. In the last decades of his life, he reworked and extended many of his earlier compositions. He died of complications after a botched eye surgery in 1750 at the age of 65.

Bach enriched established German styles through his mastery of counterpoint, harmonic, and motivic organisation, and his adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include hundreds of cantatas, both sacred and secular. He composed Latin church music, Passions, oratorios, and motets. He often adopted Lutheran hymns, not only in his larger vocal works, but for instance also in his four-part chorales and his sacred songs. He wrote extensively for organ and for other keyboard instruments. He composed concertos, for instance for violin and for harpsichord, and suites, as chamber music as well as for orchestra. Many of his works employ contrapuntal techniques like canon and fugue.

Throughout the 18th century, Bach was primarily valued as an organist, while his keyboard music, such as The Well-Tempered Clavier, was appreciated for its didactic qualities. The 19th century saw the publication of some major Bach biographies, and by the end of that century all of his known music had been printed. Dissemination of scholarship on the composer continued through periodicals (and later also websites) exclusively devoted to him, and other publications such as the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (BWV, a numbered catalogue of his works) and new critical editions of his compositions. His music was further popularised through a multitude of arrangements, including the Air on the G String and "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", and of recordings, such as three different box sets with complete performances of the composer's oeuvre marking the 250th anniversary of his death.

Johann Sebastian Bach [ˈjoːhan zeˈbasti̯an ˈbax] (31. märts (vana kalendri järgi 21. märts) 1685 Eisenach – 28. juuli 1750 Leipzig) oli saksa helilooja ja organist, Bachide suguvõsa kõige väljapaistvam liige.

Oma eluajal ja ka veel 18. sajandi lõpul oli Bach tuntud vaid võrdlemisi kitsas ringkonnas, heliloojana hakati teda laialt tunnustama alles 19. sajandi esimesel poolel. Praegu peetakse teda üheks põhiliseks heliloojaks barokiajastul ning üheks suurimaks terves muusikaajaloos. Tema loomingut on peetud saksa klassikalise muusika kõrgaja alguseks.

Johann Sebastian Bach (31. maaliskuuta (J: 21. maaliskuuta) 1685 Eisenach – 28. heinäkuuta 1750 Leipzig) oli saksalainen säveltäjä, kapellimestari ja urkuri. Hän oli barokin ja samalla koko taidemusiikin historian merkittävimpiä säveltäjiä. Bach sävelsi kaikkia aikansa teostyyppejä oopperaa lukuun ottamatta.

Johann Sebastian Bach (21. mars 1685–28. juli 1750) var ein tysk komponist og organist under barokken. Han vert av mange rekna som ein av dei største komponistane nokon gong, men i samtida var han best kjent som ein stor orgel- og cembalovirtuos.

Dei religiøse og verdslege verka hans for kor, orkester og soloinstrument prega barokkmusikken og vart eit høgdepunkt i perioden. Sjølv om Bach ikkje introduserte nokon nye musikkformer, gjorde han den rådande tyske stilen rikare med ein robust kontrapunktisk teknikk, ei tilrettelegging av harmoniar og motiv frå den minste til den største skala og rytmar og struktur frå utlandet, særleg Italia og Frankrike.

Verka til Bach er akta for den intellektuelle djupna, den tekniske kvaliteten og den kunstnariske venleiken, og omfattar mellom anna dei seks Brandenburgkonsertane, Goldbergvariasjonane, Engelske suitar, Franske suitar, Partitaer og Det veltempererte klavéret, samt Messe i h-moll, Matteuspasjonen, Musikalisches Opfer, Die Kunst der Fuge, Sonatar og partitaer for fiolin, Seks cellosuitar, kyrkjekantatar der 220 av dei er bevart og tilsvarande mange verk for orgel, av dei den kanskje mest kjente orgelkomposisjonen i dag, «Toccata og fuge i d-moll».

Verka hans har gjeve inspirasjon til fleire seinare europeiske komponistar. Bach overlevde barokkperioden og musikken hans vart rekna som umoderne då han døydde. Dei harmonisk komplekse og fleirstemte komposisjonane i barokken stod i sterk kontrast til den enklare, einstemte musikken i wienerklassisismen. Etter at komponisten døydde, vart musikken hans nesten gløymt. Musikken til Bach vart gjenoppdaga på 1800-talet då Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy oppførte Matteuspasjonen i Berlin i 1829. Han var òg sentral i utbreiinga av musikken til Bach. I 1850 vart det oppretta eit Bach-selskap.

Johann Sebastian Bach [ˈjoːhan zeˈbasti̯a(ː)n ˈbax] ( lyssna), född 31 mars (21 mars enligt g.s.) 1685 i Eisenach i Sachsen-Eisenach, död 28 juli 1750 i Leipzig i Sachsen, var en tysk kompositör och organist. Han intar en särställning bland barockens tonsättare. Han anses vara kontrapunktens store mästare, som sammansmälter sina föregångares stilar och tendenser. Han hade också en för tiden ovanlig internationell utblick.

Bach är en centralgestalt i den protestantiska kyrkomusiken på grund av sin omfattande produktion av verk för kyrkoårets olika högtider. Bachs två passioner (oratorier över temat Jesu lidande och död) är ofta återkommande musikinslag under passionstiden i många länder. Han har kallats för "den femte evangelisten", syftande på Bibelns fyra evangelister.

Också inom orgelmusiken räknas han till de främsta. Hans musik utövar ett starkt inflytande på organister än idag. Under sin livstid var han en ansedd orgelexpert som ofta konsulterades när orglar skulle byggas eller repareras. Bach var dessutom en skicklig pedagog, som komponerade ett stort antal övningsstycken av hög konstnärlig halt, men han var på sin tid mindre känd som tonsättare.

I filmen Chronik der Anna Magdalena Bach (1968) gestaltas han av Gustav Leonhardt.