Top 10 Interesting Facts About Johann Sebastian Bach

The works of Johann Sebastian Bach are masterpieces of world musical classics. With the help of them, a person can look into his soul, previously unknown moral forces awaken in him, he joins something universally significant, timeless, something that is embedded in the secrets of everyone’s soul.

Not everyone understands his music. Sometimes she seems too serious and even harsh, too rational. But not all Bach’s works are so gloomy; there are also emotional, joyful, expressing stormy delight.

Many of us have heard about the composer, but not everyone knows about his life and biography. Therefore, it will be interesting for you to read 10 interesting facts about Bach.

10 Many in the family are professional musicians.

Rod Bach was known for his musicality. The first musician, and a professional one, in the family was Johannes Bach, he was a piper. His son, Christoph, also studied music.

The son of Christoph – Johann Ambrosius Bach was a conductor and violinist. At first he played the violin in Erfurt, then he was a city musician in Eisenach, worked as a piper. He had 8 children (among them Johann Sebastian), 4 of whom were able to become musicians.

Bach’s children continued the family tradition. Of the 7 children from his first marriage, only 4 survived, a daughter and 3 sons. Two sons became composers and famous musicians, the third also tried to succeed in this, but died at 24 years old. In the second marriage, 2 children became famous musicians.

It was one of the most numerous musical dynasties, whose representatives were flutists, trumpeters, singing teachers, organists, etc. There were so many of them that in Thuringia people called all the musicians Bachs.

9. Favorite composer: Dietrich Buxtehude

Bach learned a lot from Dietrich Buxtehude, learned from him the structure of the organ and the laws of organ composition. They had a huge age difference: when Johann Sebastian was 20, his teacher was almost 70. But they understood each other perfectly, Buxtehude immediately began to call him “dear fellow”, although at that time they had a huge difference in professional status.

According to legend, Bach walked 400 km to get from Arnstadt to Lübeck and listen to Dietrich play. Later, he spent 4 months next to him, so their music has something in common: common genres, themes. Buxtehude is the main teacher of the great composer, he took over from him all the most valuable and best, and then he was able to bring it to perfection.

8. Favorite musical instrument – organ

In the era of Bach, the organ was considered “the king of all instruments“. A whole galaxy of outstanding organists has grown up in Germany. Bach heard many of them. As a child, he loved to listen to his uncle play the organ, and then his brother. After some time he himself becomes an organist and tries to compose for the organ.

7. The first wife was a cousin

The first wife of the composer was the daughter of Johann Michael Bach, his second cousin. Her name was Maria Barbara. Not much is known about their marriage. The wedding took place when Johann Sebastian was the organist of the Church of St. Blaise. He assumed this position in the summer of 1707, and in August received an inheritance (50 guilders) from his uncle. With this money, the lovers played a wedding.

They had 7 children, 3 of whom died shortly after birth. Maria Barbara died unexpectedly in 1720. Bach himself was not at home then, he accompanied the Duke of Köthen. It was not possible to find out what caused the death. It could be a complication of pregnancy or an infection.

6. Possessed absolute pitch and phenomenal memory

Contemporaries noticed that the composer had a unique ear and a very good memory.. Once he heard any work, he could immediately perform it, without errors. In 1717 Dresden was visited by the famous French organist Marchand, who was considered an unsurpassed musician. His performances were a huge success.

Somehow Marchand was informed that no one could compare in skill with a certain Bach. He accepted the challenge and decided to have a competition. Marchand played a French aria that no one had heard before, decorating it in his own way with numerous variations.

Bach, who performed second, was able to repeat all this exactly, to the last note, adding his difficult and brilliant variations. He was declared the winner.

5. Was a deep believer

Bach was a deeply religious Lutheran, a man of the Church. On his scores, he often wrote:Glory to God alone” or “Jesus help”, and these were not just words for him, he put great meaning into them. One could call him a theologian, because he was very well versed in religious matters, in his library there were many books of spiritual content, for example, the complete works of Luther.

A famous theologian once said that if Luther’s books were lost, they could be restored from the scores of this composer, because. he was able to set most of Luther’s church hymns to music.

His first compositions were organ chorales, ie. melodies that sound before the Lutheran service (at the age of 15). Later, he lived according to the church calendar, trying to write a new cantata for every Sunday, for Passion Week – “Passion”, for Easter – “Easter Oratorio”, for Christmas – “Christmas”.

4. He wrote music in all genres except opera

The composer created more than 1 thousand pieces of music. He became famous for composing in all the then known genres, except for one – opera.. His creative heritage is usually divided into 5 groups. The most extensive of them are church cantatas, most of which he created in Leipzig. They were written on spiritual texts In addition, he created vocal and instrumental compositions. The third group is music for keyboards (harpsichord, organ). The fourth is for various instruments. And the last one is for the orchestra.

3. Loved to fall asleep to the music

The composer liked to sleep, he believed that healthy and sound sleep is very important. “In order to get enough sleep, you need to go to bed on the wrong day on which you need to get up.“. This proverb has become a rule for him. Since music was the main thing in his life, it is not surprising that he loved to fall asleep under it..

2. Bach’s grave was lost, but later discovered

He passed away at the age of 65. Bach’s eyesight deteriorated, and he soon stopped seeing. Ophthalmologist John Taylor, who is now considered by many to be a deceiver, performed 2 operations on the composer, but they did not help. Before his death, he suddenly regained his sight, but then he had a stroke, possibly as a complication after surgery.

He was buried in the city cemetery, which was located at the church of St. John in Leipzig. He served there for 27 years. But his grave was lost. In 1894, work was underway to expand the church, during which accidentally found his remains and reburied. But during the Second World War, the church was destroyed, and the ashes of Bach were transferred to the Church of St. Thomas in 1949 year.

1. The New York Times named Bach the best composer of all time

American daily newspaper The New York Times, whose name can be translated as “New York Times”, one of the most authoritative publications published since 1851, the second newspaper in the country in terms of circulation. She became famous for the fact that she often compiles ratings.

The music critic who worked for this edition, Anthony Tommasini, compiled list of the top 10 composers in the world. The first place was given to Johann Sebastian Bach.

Interestingly, the composer was never recognized during his lifetime. His music was rediscovered only in the 100th century, XNUMX years after his death, only then everyone was struck by its genius. And for contemporaries, he was just a talented musician with a quarrelsome character.