Johann Sebastian Bach
![1748 portrait of Bach, showing him holding a copy of the six-part [[Canon (music)|canon]] [[BWV 1076]].{{sfn|Wolff|Emery|2001|loc="10. Iconography"}}](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Johann_Sebastian_Bach.jpg)
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 periods, 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 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. This situation was little remedied when his sovereign, Augustus III of Poland, granted him the title of court composer 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 significant 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. Provided by Wikipedia
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181by O'Keefe, Tracie, Rowsell, Sally, Skinner, Rose, Martin, Ross, Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750, Russell, A, Kulesha, Gary, 1954-, Ibert, Jacques, 1890-1962, Milhaud, Darius, 1892-1974, Mahler, Gustav, 1860-1911, Poulenc, Francis, 1899-1963, Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791Get access
Published 1994
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182by Hayward, Angela, Heys, Leslee, Tuach, Heather, Pickett, Angela, Dickinson, Danette, Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791, Poulenc, Francis, 1899-1963, Schumann, Robert, 1810-1856, Offenbach, Jacques, 1819-1880, Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750, Schubert, Franz, 1797-1828, Elgar, Edward, 1857-1934Get access
Published 1998
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183by Lear, Denise, Knight, Pamela, Brennan, Mary, Rowsell, Sally, Eccles, Henry, fl. 1694-1735, Rachmaninoff, Sergei, 1873-1943, Russell, Armand, 1932-, Schubert, Franz, 1797-1828, Enesco, Georges, 1881-1955, Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750, Messiaen, Olivier, 1908-1992, Gaubert, Philippe, 1879-1941Get access
Published 1992
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184by Feaver, Paul, Heys, Leslee, Borgaonkar, Maya, Haydn, Joseph, 1732-1809, Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791, Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827, Rachmaninoff, Sergei, 1873-1943, Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750, Chopin, Fr�d�ric, 1810-1849, Scriabin, Aleksandr Nikolayevich, 1872-1915Get access
Published 1996
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185by Bennett, Susan, Dawe, Amanda, Dunsmore, Andrew, Rose, Jeremy, Dale, Andrew, Hestekin, Kjellrun, Anstey, Chris, Liautaud, Christine, Dunsmore, Douglas, Tulk, Amanda, O'Reilly, Kris, Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix, 1809-1847, Willcocks, David, 1919-, Evans, Robert, 1933-, Pinkham, DanielGet access
Published 2000
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186by Cook, D. F. (Donald Frederick), Goulding, R. Carl, Pachelbel, Johann, 1653-1706, Reger, Max, 1873-1916, Parry, C. Hubert H. (Charles Hubert Hastings), 1848-1918, Roberts, Myron J., 1912-2004, Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750, Brahms, Johannes, 1833-1897, Gigout, EugèGet access
Published 2005
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187by Lepine, Robert, Dube, Pierre, Mazza, Aldo, Simard, Chantal, Lepine, R., Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750, Vivaldi, Antonio, 1678-1741, Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791, Milhaud, Darius, 1892-1974, Hunt, R., LaPierre, Y., Lipsky, Helmut, Dupire, M. (Michel), Bolling, ClaudeGet access
Published 1990
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188by Butler, Stephen, Neary, Karen, Drover, Rodney, McLennon, Sean, Jamieson, Doug, Carter, Elliott, 1908-, Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750, Beck, John, 1933-, Liszt, Franz, 1811-1886, Morel, Fran�ois, 1926-, Purcell, Henry, 1659-1695, Jacob, Gordon, 1895-1984, Barnhouse, C. L.Get access
Published 1988
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189by Doyle, Michelle, Stride, Chad, O'Neill, Jennifer, Heys, Leslee, Debussy, Claude, 1862-1918, Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750, Schumann, Robert, 1810-1856, Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791, Bock, Jerry, Franck, C�sar, 1822-1890, Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827, Hindemith, Paul, 1895-1963Get access
Published 1997
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190by Osborne, Sheila, Thomas, Floyd, Bown, Charlie, Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750, Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791, Saint-Sa�ns, Camille, 1835-1921, Argento, Dominick, Swann, Donald, 1923-, Vaughan Williams, Ralph, 1872-1958, Wilder, Alec, Dowland, John, 1563?-1626, Faur�, Gabriel, 1845-1924Get access
Published 1985
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191by Bannister, Deborah, Janes, Sharon, Head, Peggy, Stanley, Marlene, Liszt, Franz, 1811-1886, Buxtehude, Dietrich, 1637-1707, Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750, Messiaen, Olivier, 1908-1992, Franck, C�sar, 1822-1890, Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791, Wolf, Hugo, 1860-1903, Milhaud, Darius, 1892-1974Get access
Published 1989
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192by Chadwick, Mairi, Lee, Rob, Carroll, Gwen, Halley, Peter, Martin, Geoffrey, Simmonds, Arlene, Dingle, Paul, Hall, Rebecca, Ch�vez, Carlos, 1899-, Schudel, Thomas Michael, 1937-, Lloyd Webber, Andrew, 1948-, Bernstein, Leonard, 1918-, Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750, Faur�, Gabriel, 1845-1924, Bolling, ClaudeGet access
Published 1990
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193by Brennan, Mary, Rowsell, Sally, Bromley, Petrina, Martin, Ross, Martin, Nicholle, Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750, Griffes, Charles Tomlinson, 1884-1920, Muczynski, Robert, 1929-2010, Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791, Brahms, Johannes, 1833-1897, Britten, Benjamin, 1913-1976, Offenbach, Jacques, 1819-1880, Rodrigo, Joaqu�nGet access
Published 1993
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194by Woodland, Craig, Way, Brian, Candow, Stephen, Martini, Giovanni Battista, 1706-1784, Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750, Bozza, Eug�ne, 1905-1991, Poulenc, Francis, 1899-1963, Haydn, Joseph, 1732-1809, Arban, J.-B. (Jean-Baptiste), 1825-1889, Vierne, Louis, 1870-1937, Alain, Jehan, 1911-1940Get access
Published 1997
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195by Penney, Andrea, Heys, Leslee, Oliver, Kristen, Gosine, Jane, Young, Cathy, Joy, Kathy, Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750, Brahms, Johannes, 1833-1897, Poulenc, Francis, 1899-1963, Bolcom, William, Dowland, John, 1563?-1626, Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791, Gounod, Charles, 1818-1893, Barber, Samuel, 1910-1981Get access
Published 1997
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196by Bartlett, Catherine, Rose, Andrea, Nugent, Mary Carol, Maloney, Mary Jane, Bowering, Rex, Strugnell, Sharon, Goulding, Carl, Moore, Heather, Abbott, Sonya, Etchegary, Grant, Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791, Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750, Morley, Thomas, 1557-1603?, Handel, George Frideric, 1685-1759, Washburn, Robert, 1928-Get access
Published 1979
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197by Olson, Dr. G. B., Jacob, Gordon, 1895-1984, Persichetti, Vincent, 1915-, Tucci, Terig, Handel, George Frideric, 1685-1759, Shostakovich, Dmitrii Dmitrievich, 1906-1975, Sousa, John Philip, 1854-1932, Vaughan Williams, Ralph, 1872-1958, Bukvich, Daniel, Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750, Williams, Clifton, 1923-1976Get access
Published 1983
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198by Green, Peter, Knight, Pamela, Withers, Karen, Wells, Ellen, Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827, Liszt, Franz, 1811-1886, Schubert, Franz, 1797-1828, Debussy, Claude, 1862-1918, Morel, Fran�ois, 1926-, Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750, Saint-Sa�ns, Camille, 1835-1921, Muczynski, Robert, 1929-2010Get access
Published 1989
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199by Bradbury, Martin, Dingle, Paul, Halley, Peter, Martin, Ross, Martin, Geoffrey, Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750, Haydn, Joseph, 1732-1809, Faur�, Gabriel, 1845-1924, Britten, Benjamin, 1913-1976, Handel, George Frideric, 1685-1759, Schubert, Franz, 1797-1828, Vaughan Williams, Ralph, 1872-1958, Weill, Kurt, 1900-1950Get access
Published 1990
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200by Hiscock, Heather, Fortier, Nikki, Simmons, Michelle, Ralph, Peter, Barter, Mark, Quinton, Anne, Murphy, Mark, Reid, Jennifer, Price, Daryl, Dunsmore, Douglas, Byrd, William, 1539 or 40-1623, Handel, George Frideric, 1685-1759, Costelley, Guillaume, Passereau, Pierre, fl. 1509-1547, Morley, Thomas, 1557-1603?, Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750Get access
Published 1999
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