Bach's Biography

Author: [Russian] Morozov
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: Bach (1685–1750) was one of Germany's greatest classical composers and also an organist. He was born in Eisenach to a musical family. From the age of eighteen, he served as a music director and organist in various churches and courts, but he was only known as an organist during his lifetime. He was deeply religious, treating the hymns of the Lutheran Protestant Church and the church organ as the core of his creative material and sonic conception. However, he was also heavily influenced by bourgeois Enlightenment thought, which made his religious works break through the norms of church music, imbued with rich secular emotions and bold innovative spirit. His compositions primarily featured polyphonic techniques, with rigorous structures, introspective emotions, and philosophical and logical depth. His major works include over 200 sacred and secular cantatas, several sacred Passion settings, and Masses, among which representative works are the large-scale vocal cycles Matth?us-Passion, Johann-Passion, Mass in B Minor, Cantata on the Reformation, Cantata of the Peasants, and Cantata of Coffee; instrumental works such as Six Brandenburg Concertos, Two Collections of Well-Tempered Clavier, Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Concerto for Oboe in C Major, The Art of Fugue, The Musical Offering, and Six Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin. However, due to various social reasons at the time, Bach's creative talent was not properly recognized. It was not until the mid-19th century, with the strong advocacy of Mendelssohn and others, that his works were widely published and performed. Bach's works have had a profound influence on modern Western music, earning him the titles of "Father of Music" and "The Unsurpassable Master" in Western Europe.