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# Johann Sebastian Bach ## Musician's Biography * **1685:** Born in Eisenach, Germany, into a musical family. Youngest of eight children. His father was the town musician. * **1695:** Aged 10, moved in with his older brother, an organist. Likely taught how to play the organ by his brother. * **1...

# Johann Sebastian Bach ## Musician's Biography * **1685:** Born in Eisenach, Germany, into a musical family. Youngest of eight children. His father was the town musician. * **1695:** Aged 10, moved in with his older brother, an organist. Likely taught how to play the organ by his brother. * **1703:** Aged 18, became a low-level court musician, playing violin and organ. * **1707:** Married his cousin, Maria. They had seven children. * **1717:** Aged 32, became chapel master in the court of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen. * **1721:** Married Anna Wilcke. First wife died in 1720. Had another 13 children. * **1723:** Aged 38, moved to Leipzig, becoming a teacher and director at St. Thomas's Church. * **1729:** Became Director of Collegium Musicum in Leipzig and performed concerts in a local coffee house. * **1750:** Aged 65, lost his vision after eye operations and died of a stroke, buried at St. Thomas's Church. ## Musician's Influences * **Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643):** Italian composer whose organ music was studied by many Baroque musicians. * **Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706):** German composer and organ teacher. Taught Bach's older brother, Johann Christoph, and also developed organ music. ## Johann Sebastian Bach "All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself." During Bach's lifetime, he was considered an ordinary working musician. No one knew much about his music. However, in 1829 (79 years after his death), Felix Mendelssohn conducted a performance of Bach's St. Matthew Passion to great acclaim. Bach was back! Bach was a prolific composer and father of 20 children. Five of them were named Johann, two Johanna, and four sons became famous musicians and composers. His family was so large and musical, the word for musician in one area of Germany was "Bach." ## Organ Maestro The organ at St. Thomas's Church in Leipzig, Germany, was where Bach played and composed much of his work. Now seen as one of the greatest musical geniuses. He wrote all kinds of music for orchestras and choirs, concertos for instrumental combinations. However, he is best known for his organ music, such as Toccata and Fugue in D minor. His compositions range from simple to very difficult. ## Listen to This * **Toccata and Fugue in D minor:** Bach's most famous organ composition. An organ may have more than one keyboard played by hands and a pedalboard played by the feet. Before and during the piece, the organ player can turn on and off the stops to allow air only to pass through certain pipes. ## Wendy Carlos (1939-) When some people think of Bach, they also think of the electronic musician and composer Wendy Carlos. Her 1968 album *Switched-On Bach* was a reimagining of Bach's music played solely on Moog synthesizers. It became the first classical album to sell more than a million copies.