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Johann Sebastian Bach
The name Johann Sebastian Bach
is almost synonymous in modern day with mastery of baroque music
composition. He is widely (or universally) recognized as one of three
giants of the artform (along with Mozart and Beethoven). Additionally,
he was master of the church organ, harpsichord, and an accomplished
violinist. Although quite multitalented, musical composition was the driving force
of his life. Ironically, maybe tragically, he achieved virtually no
success or professional recognition as a composer in his own lifetime.
Of the nearly one thousand musical compositions currently listed in the
Bach musical catalog (BWV) only a dozen of these were published in his
lifetime. Furthermore, some of those were printed at Bach's own expense.
In 1721 he composed Six Concerts for Different Instruments. The work
was sent as a sample (employment application) to Christian Ludwig, the
margrave of Brandenburg. Bach received no reply back, and never got the
job. The compositions fortunately were stored, finally being published
in 1850, a full 100 years after Bach's death. As a stunning example of
the immense futility Bach must have felt, these towering works now well
known as the Brandenburg Concertos propelled Bach into baroque music
immortality postmortem, and the margrave of Brandenburg into mists of
history. Today there are 73 different recordings of the famous work
commercially available. There is much debate over the lack of interest in his Bach's music
during his life. However, the consensus is that many musicians at time
time considered his music technically challenging.
J. S. Bach began his auspicious career in music at the age of
fifteen as an organ mechanic and tuner, moving from town to town. He
was quickly regarded as a talented technician, and all through his life
continued to service his large collection of musical instruments. As noted Bach had no ability to support himself through publishing, (as
opposed to his comtemporary Georg Handel, considered a superstar) Bach
resorted to a variety of commercial enterprises to support his large
family. Some of the minor activities involved selling music books and
instruments, but by far his greatest efforts were aimed at Music on
Demand.
This business involved composing sometimes vastly complicated pieces
of music (for weddings, funerals etc.) on a few days notice. With the
burden of 20 children to support, Bach seemed quite sufficiently
motivated. Indeed, it has been estimated that an experienced music
handwriter would need 40 years to copy his life's work. From a purely technical prospective, Bach is considered to be the
master of the fugue. Fugues were very popular formats for Baroque
music, involving a sort of dialog between instruments.
Die Brandenburgischen Konzerte Nr.4, Nr.5 und Nr. 6 / Konzert für Violine und Oboe (Philips Classics, 1965)
Toccata und Fuge d-moll BWV 565 (Deutsche Grammophone, 1967)
3 Sonaten für Viola da Gamba und Cembalo (ECM Records, 1994)
Toccata and Fugue "Dorian" / Trio Sonata No. 4 (Point Classics, 1994)
Best Of Bach (Point Classics, 1995)
Gloria J.S.Bach (Deutsche Grammophone, 2000)
Sonatas Nos.1,2 & Partitas No.1 (EMI Classics, 2000)
Sonatas No.3 & Partitas Nos.2,3 (EMI Classics, 2000)
Six Suites for Solo Cello BWV 1007-1012 (Arcana Records, 2004)