The last years of Bach's life. Johann Sebastian Bach: biography, video, interesting facts, creativity

The grandiose maestro Johann Sebastian Bach managed to write more than a thousand works during his long life. Being a devout Protestant, Bach reworked church works into the Baroque style. Many of his masterpieces relate specifically to religious music. His works cover all significant musical genres except opera. The composer from Germany went down in history as a virtuoso, a brilliant teacher, the best bandmaster, and also as a professional organist.

Bach's early years and youth

Johann was the last child in the family of Johann Ambrosius Bach and Elisabeth Amber. He was born on March 31st in 1685. The history of this family has always been connected with music and its manifestations. Since the 16th century, many of Bach's relatives were known as quite professional musicians. Johann Sebastian's own father lived in Eisenach, Germany. There he did the work of preparing concerts, as well as playing music for the congregation. At the age of 9, the future virtuoso lost his mother, and soon his father. Bach's older brother Christophe took the boy into his home. The relative who carefully took custody of the orphan also worked as an organist in a neighboring town. There Bach entered the gymnasium, and he also learned to play the organ and his clavier from a relative.

During his studies, Johann became acquainted with the works of southern German performers and studied the music of the German north and the French south. At the age of fifteen, Johann Sebastian moved to live in Lüneburg. Until 1703 he managed to study at St. Michael's school. As a teenager, Bach traveled extensively throughout Germany. I looked at Hamburg, appreciated Celle, as well as the province of Lubeck.

At the religious school, Johann acquired knowledge about the church and religion, the history of many countries and geography, the exact sciences, French, Latin and Italian. At the educational institution, Bach interacted with the children of the local nobility and musicians.

For a musician, Bach was well educated. He had a qualitative understanding of many secular spheres, was an excellent student, and absorbed knowledge like a sponge.

Master: Life Path

After completing his studies, Bach received a job as a court performer under the patronage of Duke Ernst. After brilliant service, about a year later, Johann was appointed caretaker of the organ in the temple. Thus began his work in Arnstadt. Since Bach's work responsibilities took up 3 days a week, and the instrument in the church was in excellent condition, he had a lot of time to write his own musical creations.

Despite extensive connections and patronage from employers, Johann still had a conflict with the city authorities, as he was saddened by the training of choral performers. In 1705, Johann went to Lubeck for a couple of months to learn to play as masterly as the Danish organist Buxtehude played.

Bach's trick did not go unnoticed. After this, the authorities brought charges against Bach, which consisted of non-standard accompaniment of the choir’s music, which embarrassed the community. Indeed, Johann’s work could not be called purely secular or only religious. His works combined the incongruous, mixing things that in reality were simply impossible to combine.

After this, in 1706, Johann changed his place of service. He moved on to a more prestigious position at St. Blaise Parish. Then he had to move to the small town of Mühlhausen. There, in a new place, Johann Sebastian came to court. He was given a good salary. And the working conditions in the new temple were much better. There, Bach drew up a detailed plan for the restoration of the church organ. The church authorities fully approved the restoration work plan. In 1707, Johann Sebastian proposed to his cousin Maria. Later, 7 children were born into the Bach family, unfortunately, three of them died in infancy.

Fed up with the old way of life, Johann Bach went in search of a different position. The former employer did not want to let Bach go and even tried to arrest him for persistent requests for dismissal, but in 1717 Prince Leopold personally accepted Bach to the position of his bandmaster. Working successfully under the prince, Bach created many new works.

In 1720, on July 7, Johann Sebastian's young wife Maria suddenly died. Strongly experiencing the tragedy, Johann wrote a musical essay, expressing his grief with the help of a partita in D minor for solo violin. This work later became his calling card. When Bach's wife died, an elderly relative who lived in the Bach family until the end of her days helped him take care of the children.

After a year of mourning and lamentation for his lost lover, Johann Bach met Anna Wilke. The girl was known as a gifted singer who performed at the duke's court. A year later their wedding took place. In his second marriage, Johann had 13 children. Seven babies died at an early age.

When everyday troubles subsided, Bach became the director of the St. Thomas choir and at the same time a teacher in the church school. Unfortunately, over the years, Johann Bach began to lose his visual acuity, but the great composer did not give up and continued to write music, dictating notes to his son-in-law.

In recent years, Bach worked by ear; his later musical innuendos are considered richer and more complex than his earlier works.

Johann Bach passed away on July 28, 1750. The great maestro was buried in the Church of St. John, nearby was the church where he served for 27 years. Then on July 28, 1949, the composer's ashes were transferred to the parish of St. Thomas. The transfer was due to military actions that destroyed his tomb. In 1950, a bronze tombstone was installed on the virtuoso’s grave, and this year was proclaimed the year of the legendary musician.

Cult art of the virtuoso

Organ music was leading in Bach's works. He wrote 6 trio sonatas for organ, the famous “organ book,” as well as many lesser-known compositions.

Keyboard music is an area that was as interesting to Bach as other musical trends. It was for playing the clavier that English suites were created, as well as famous melodies with many variations.

Chamber music for ensembles included musical works for cellos, lute, flute, and, of course, organ. Bach's vocal innuendos were expressed in passions, cantatas and masses.

The phenomenon of the German composer is well revealed in the discipline of Bach Studies. Since his works are so extensive that they are studied separately by musicians from all over the world.

The legendary composer created music not only for secular and religious audiences, he wrote his sonatas and parts for the productive training of young musicians. It was for them that Bach's most complex and most exciting musical creations were written. After all, among other things, Johann Bach was an excellent teacher.

Johann Sebastian Bach is the most remarkable member of the famous musical Bach family and one of the greatest composers of all times. He was born on March 31, 1685 in Eisenach, and died on July 28, 1750 in Leipzig.

Portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach. Artist E. G. Haussmann, 1748

Having lost his father, Johann Ambrose Bach (1645 - 1695), at the age of 10, Johann Sebastian was placed in the care of his older brother Johann Christoph, an organist in the city of Ohrdruf (Thuringia), who began his musical studies. After the death of his brother, 14-year-old Johann Sebastian went to Lüneburg, where he entered the gymnasium choir as a treble singer and received a higher school education. From here he often traveled to Hamburg to get acquainted with the playing of the organist Reincken, as well as Celle, and listen to the famous court chapel. In 1703, Bach became a violinist at the court chapel in Weimar. In 1704 he became an organist in Arnstadt, from where in 1705 he went to Lübeck to listen to and study with the famous organist Buchstegude. In 1707 Johann Sebastian became an organist in Mühlhausen, in 1708 - court organist and chamber musician in Weimar, a position he held until 1717.

Bach. Best works

This year, Bach met in Dresden with the famous French pianist Marchand, who was so impressed by his playing that he suddenly left, avoiding the musical competition offered to him. In the same year, Bach became court conductor for the Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, and in 1723 he received the vacant position of cantor at the school of St. Thomas in Leipzig, which he held until his death. Apart from occasional trips to Dresden after his appointment as Saxon-Weissenfels Kapellmeister and a visit to Berlin (1747), where he was honorably received by Frederick the Great, Bach lived in Leipzig in complete solitude, devoting himself entirely to service, family and students. His most significant works arose here, for the most part (especially spiritual cantatas) thanks to his official duties. In old age he had the misfortune of going blind.

Johann Sebastian Bach. Life and art

Johann Sebastian Bach was not only a brilliant composer, but also one of the greatest piano and organ performers. His contemporaries admired his last quality most of all, while full recognition of his outstanding compositional activity fell to the lot of later generations.

Bach was married twice: first to his cousin Maria Barbara Bach, daughter of Johann Michael Bach, who died in 1720, and then (from 1721) to Anna Magdalene, daughter of the chamber musician Wülken in Weissenfels, who survived her husband. Bach left behind 6 sons and 4 daughters; 5 more sons and 5 daughters died before his death.

Many famous musicians came from Bach's school. Among them, the first place is occupied by his four sons, who have made a significant name for themselves in the history of music, or at least occupied a prominent position in the musical world in their time.

For information about the composer’s works, see the article Bach’s Works – Briefly. Biographies of other great musicians - see in the “More on the topic...” block below the text of the article.

German composer, virtuoso organist, bandmaster, music teacher

short biography

Johann Sebastian Bach(German Johann Sebastian Bach; March 31, 1685, Eisenach, Saxe-Eisenach - July 28, 1750 [NS], Leipzig, Saxony, Holy Roman Empire) - German composer, virtuoso organist, bandmaster, music teacher.

Bach is the author of more than 1000 musical works in all significant genres of his time (except opera). Bach's creative heritage is interpreted as a generalization of the musical art of the Baroque. A staunch Protestant, Bach wrote a lot of sacred music. His St. Matthew Passion, Mass in minor, cantatas, instrumental arrangements of Protestant chorales are recognized masterpieces of world musical classics. Bach is known as a great master of polyphony; Baroque polyphony reached its peak in his work.

Childhood

Johann Sebastian Bach was the youngest, eighth child in the family of musician Johann Ambrosius Bach and Elisabeth Lemmerhirt. The Bach family has been known for its musicality since the beginning of the 16th century: many of Johann Sebastian's ancestors and relatives were professional musicians. During this period, the Church, local authorities and the aristocracy supported musicians, especially in Thuringia and Saxony. Bach's father lived and worked in Eisenach. At this time the city had about 6,000 inhabitants. Johannes Ambrosius's work included organizing secular concerts and performing church music.

When Johann Sebastian was 9 years old, his mother died, and a year later his father died. The boy was taken in by his older brother, Johann Christoph, who served as an organist in nearby Ohrdruf. Johann Sebastian entered the gymnasium, his brother taught him to play the organ and clavier. While studying in Ohrdruf under the guidance of his brother, Bach became acquainted with the work of contemporary South German composers - Pachelbel, Froberger and others. It is also possible that he became acquainted with the works of composers from Northern Germany and France.

At the age of 15, Bach moved to Lüneburg, where from 1700-1703 he studied at the St. Michael's vocal school. During his studies, he visited Hamburg, the largest city in Germany, as well as Celle (where French music was held in high esteem) and Lubeck, where he had the opportunity to get acquainted with the work of famous musicians of his time. Bach's first works for organ and clavier date back to the same years. In addition to singing in the choir, Bach probably played the school's three-manual organ and the harpsichord. Here he received his first knowledge of theology, Latin, history, geography and physics, and may also have begun to learn French and Italian. At school, Bach had the opportunity to communicate with the sons of famous North German aristocrats and famous organists, most notably Georg Böhm in Lüneburg and Reincken in Hamburg. With their help, Johann Sebastian may have had access to the largest instruments he had ever played. During this period, Bach expanded his knowledge of the composers of the era, most notably Dietrich Buxtehude, whom he greatly respected.

Arnstadt and Mühlhausen (1703-1708)

In January 1703, after completing his studies, he received the position of court musician to the Weimar Duke Johann Ernst. It is not known exactly what his duties included, but most likely this position was not related to performing activities. During his seven months of service in Weimar, his fame as a performer spread. Bach was invited to the position of organ caretaker at the Church of St. Boniface in Arnstadt, located 180 km from Weimar. The Bach family had long-standing ties to this oldest German city.

In August 1703, Bach took up the post of organist of the Church of St. Boniface in Arnstadt. He had to work three days a week, and the salary was relatively high. In addition, the instrument was maintained in good condition and was tuned according to a new system that expanded the capabilities of the composer and performer. During this period, Bach created many organ works.

Family connections and an employer passionate about music could not prevent tension between Johann Sebastian and the authorities that arose several years later. Bach was dissatisfied with the level of training of the singers in the choir. In addition, in 1705-1706, Bach left without permission for several months in Lübeck, where he became acquainted with Buxtehude's playing, which displeased the authorities. Bach's first biographer Forkel writes that Johann Sebastian walked 50 km to listen to the outstanding composer, but today some researchers question this fact.

In addition, the authorities accused Bach of “strange choral accompaniment” that confused the community, and of inability to manage the choir; the latter accusation apparently had some basis.

In 1706, Bach decides to change his job. He was offered a more lucrative and higher position as organist at the Church of St. Blaise in Mühlhausen, a large city in the north of the country. The following year, Bach accepted this offer, taking the place of organist Johann Georg Ahle. His salary was increased compared to the previous one, and the standard of the singers was better.

Four months later, on October 17, 1707, Johann Sebastian married his cousin Maria Barbara from Arnstadt. They subsequently had seven children, three of whom died in childhood. Two of the survivors - Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emmanuel - later became famous composers.

The city and church authorities of Mühlhausen were pleased with the new employee. They without hesitation approved his expensive plan for the restoration of the church organ, and for the publication of the festive cantata “The Lord is my King,” BWV 71 (this was the only cantata printed during Bach’s lifetime), written for the inauguration of the new consul, he was given a large reward.

Weimar (1708-1717)

After working in Mühlhausen for about a year, Bach changed jobs again, this time receiving the position of court organist and concert organizer - a much higher position than his previous position - in Weimar. Probably, the factors that forced him to change jobs were the high salary and a well-selected line-up of professional musicians. The Bach family settled in a house just a five-minute walk from the Ducal Palace. The following year, the first child in the family was born. At the same time, Maria Barbara's older unmarried sister moved in with the Bahamas and helped them run the household until her death in 1729. Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emmanuel were born to Bach in Weimar. In 1704, Bach met the violinist von Westhof, who had a great influence on Bach's work. Von Westhof's works inspired Bach's sonatas and partitas for solo violin.

In Weimar, a long period of composing keyboard and orchestral works began, in which Bach's talent reached its peak. During this period, Bach absorbed musical trends from other countries. The works of the Italians Vivaldi and Corelli taught Bach how to write dramatic introductions, from which Bach learned the art of using dynamic rhythms and decisive harmonic patterns. Bach studied the works of Italian composers well, creating transcriptions of Vivaldi concertos for organ or harpsichord. He could have borrowed the idea of ​​writing transcriptions from the son of his employer, Hereditary Duke Johann Ernst, a composer and musician. In 1713, the Crown Duke returned from a trip abroad and brought with him a large number of sheet music, which he showed to Johann Sebastian. In Italian music, the Crown Duke (and, as can be seen from some works, Bach himself) was attracted by the alternation of solo (playing one instrument) and tutti (playing the entire orchestra).

In Weimar, Bach had the opportunity to play and compose organ works, as well as use the services of the ducal orchestra. While serving in Weimar, Bach began work on the “Organ Book,” a collection of organ chorale preludes, possibly for the teaching of Wilhelm Friedemann. This collection consists of arrangements of Lutheran chorales.

By the end of his service in Weimar, Bach was already a well-known organist and harpsichordist. The episode with Marchand dates back to this time. In 1717, the famous French musician Louis Marchand arrived in Dresden. Dresden accompanist Volumier decided to invite Bach and arrange a musical competition between two famous harpsichordists, Bach and Marchand agreed. However, on the day of the competition it turned out that Marchand (who, apparently, had previously had the opportunity to listen to Bach play) hastily and secretly left the city; the competition did not take place, and Bach had to play alone.

Köthen (1717-1723)

After some time, Bach again went in search of a more suitable job. The old master did not want to let him go, and on November 6, 1717 he was even arrested for constantly asking for his resignation, but on December 2 he was released “with disgrace.”

Palace and gardens in Köthen, engraving from the book "Topography" Matthaus Merian, 1650

At the end of 1717, Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, hired Bach as conductor. The prince - himself a musician - appreciated Bach's talent, paid him well and provided him with great freedom of action. However, the prince was a Calvinist and did not welcome the use of refined music in worship, so most of Bach's Köthen works were secular.

Among other things, in Köthen, Bach composed suites for orchestra, six suites for solo cello, English and French suites for clavier, as well as three sonatas and three partitas for solo violin. Also during this period, The Well-Tempered Clavier (the first volume of the cycle) and the Brandenburg Concertos were written.

Violin Sonata in G minor(BWV 1001), Bach manuscript

On July 7, 1720, while Bach and the prince were abroad in Carlsbad, his wife Maria Barbara suddenly died at the age of 35, leaving four young children. J. S. Bach learned about her funeral upon his return to Köthen. He actually expressed his feelings in connection with the death of his wife in musical form in the chaconne from the partita in D minor for solo violin, which later became one of his most recognizable works.

The following year, 1721, Bach met Anna Magdalena Wilke, a young twenty-year-old highly gifted soprano who sang at the ducal court. They married on December 3, 1721, and subsequently had 13 children (of whom 7 died in childhood).

Leipzig (1723-1750)

In 1723, the performance of his “St. John Passion” took place in the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig, and on June 1, Bach received the post of cantor of the St. Thomas Choir and at the same time performed the duties of a teacher at the church school, replacing Johann Kuhnau in this post. Bach's duties included teaching singing and conducting weekly concerts in Leipzig's two main churches, St. Thomas and St. Nicholas. Johann Sebastian's position also included teaching Latin, but he was allowed to hire an assistant to do this work for him, so Pezold taught Latin for 50 thalers a year. Bach was given the position of “musical director” (German: Musikdirektor) of all the churches in the city: his duties included selecting performers, supervising their training and choosing music for performance. While working in Leipzig, the composer repeatedly came into conflict with the city administration.

The first six years of his life in Leipzig turned out to be very productive: Bach composed up to 5 annual cycles of cantatas (two of them, in all likelihood, were lost). Most of these works were written on gospel texts, which were read in the Lutheran church every Sunday and on holidays throughout the year; many (such as “Wachet auf! Ruft uns die Stimme" or "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland") are based on traditional church chants - Lutheran chorales.

During the performance, Bach apparently sat at the harpsichord or stood in front of the choir in the lower gallery under the organ; on the side gallery to the right of the organ there were wind instruments and timpani, and to the left there were string instruments. The city council provided Bach with only about 8 performers, and this often became the cause of disputes between the composer and the administration: Bach had to hire up to 20 musicians himself to perform orchestral works. The composer himself usually played the organ or harpsichord; if he led the choir, then this place was occupied by a full-time organist or one of Bach's eldest sons.

Bach recruited sopranos and altos from boys students, and tenors and basses - not only from school, but also from all over Leipzig. In addition to regular concerts paid for by the city authorities, Bach and his choir earned extra money by performing at weddings and funerals. Presumably, at least 6 motets were written precisely for these purposes. Part of his regular work in the church was the performance of motets by composers of the Venetian school, as well as some Germans, for example, Schutz; When composing his motets, Bach was guided by the works of these composers.

Composing cantatas for most of the 1720s, Bach amassed an extensive repertoire for performance in the main churches of Leipzig. Over time, he wanted to compose and perform more secular music. In March 1729, Johann Sebastian became the head of the College of Music ( Collegium Musicum) - a secular ensemble that has existed since 1701, when it was founded by Bach's old friend Georg Philipp Telemann. At that time, in many large German cities, gifted and active university students created similar ensembles. Such associations played an increasingly important role in public musical life; they were often led by famous professional musicians. For most of the year, the College of Music gave two-hour concerts twice a week at Zimmerman's Coffee House, located near the market square. The owner of the coffee shop provided the musicians with a large hall and purchased several instruments. Many of Bach's secular works, dating from the 1730s to the 1750s, were composed specifically for performance at Zimmermann's coffee house. Such works include, for example, “Coffee Cantata” and, possibly, keyboard pieces from the collections "Clavier-Übung", as well as many concertos for cello and harpsichord.

During the same period, Bach wrote parts Kyrie And Gloria the famous Mass in B minor (the rest of the Mass was written much later). Soon Bach achieved appointment to the post of court composer; Apparently, he sought this high post for a long time, which was a strong argument in his disputes with the city authorities. Although the entire mass was never performed during the composer's lifetime, it is today considered by many to be one of the best choral works of all time.

In 1747, Bach visited the court of the Prussian king Frederick II, where the king offered him a musical theme and asked him to immediately compose something on it. Bach was a master of improvisation and immediately performed a three-part fugue. Later he composed a whole cycle of variations on this theme and sent it as a gift to the king. The cycle consisted of ricercars, canons and trios, based on a theme dictated by Frederick. This cycle was called the "Musical Offering".

Another major cycle, “The Art of Fugue,” was not completed by Bach, despite the fact that it was most likely written long before his death (according to modern research, before 1741). During his lifetime he was never published. The cycle consists of 18 complex fugues and canons based on one simple theme. In this cycle, Bach used all his rich experience in writing polyphonic works. After Bach's death, The Art of Fugue was published by his sons, along with the chorale prelude BWV 668, which is often erroneously described as Bach's last work - in fact it exists in at least two versions and is a reworking of an earlier prelude to the same melody, BWV 641 .

Over time, Bach's vision became worse and worse. Nevertheless, he continued to compose music, dictating it to his son-in-law Altnikkol. In 1750, the English ophthalmologist John Taylor, whom many modern researchers consider a charlatan, came to Leipzig. Taylor operated on Bach twice, but both operations were unsuccessful and Bach was left blind. On July 18, he unexpectedly regained his sight for a short time, but in the evening he suffered a stroke. Bach died on July 28; it is possible that the cause of death was complications after surgery. His estate was valued at more than 1,000 thalers and included 5 harpsichords, 2 lute harpsichords, 3 violins, 3 violas, 2 cellos, a viola da gamba, a lute and a spinet, as well as 52 sacred books.

Tomb of Johann Sebastian Bach in St. Thomas Church, Leipzig, Germany. August 9, 2011.

During his life, Bach wrote more than 1000 works. In Leipzig, Bach maintained friendly relations with university professors. Particularly fruitful was the collaboration with the poet Christian Friedrich Henrici, who wrote under the pseudonym Picander. Johann Sebastian and Anna Magdalena often hosted friends, family members and musicians from all over Germany in their home. Frequent guests were court musicians from Dresden, Berlin and other cities, including Telemann, godfather of Carl Philipp Emmanuel. It is interesting that George Frideric Handel, the same age as Bach from Halle, 50 km from Leipzig, never met Bach, although Bach tried to meet him twice in his life - in 1719 and 1729. The fates of these two composers, however, were linked by John Taylor, who operated on both shortly before their deaths.

The composer was buried near St. John's Church (German: Johanniskirche), one of two churches where he served for 27 years. However, the grave was soon lost, and only in 1894 Bach’s remains were accidentally found during construction work to expand the church, where they were reburied in 1900. After the destruction of this church during World War II, the ashes were transferred on July 28, 1949 to the Church of St. Thomas. In 1950, which was named the year of J. S. Bach, a bronze tombstone was installed over his burial place.

Bach studies

The first description of Bach's life and work was a work published in 1802 by Johann Forkel. Forkel's biography of Bach is based on an obituary and stories from Bach's sons and friends. In the mid-19th century, the general public's interest in Bach's music increased, and composers and researchers began work on collecting, studying and publishing all of his works. Honored promoter of Bach's works, Robert Franz, has published several books about the composer's work. The next major work on Bach was the book by Philip Spitta, published in 1880. At the beginning of the 20th century, the German organist and researcher Albert Schweitzer published a book. In this work, in addition to the biography of Bach, description and analysis of his works, much attention is paid to the description of the era in which he worked, as well as theological issues related to his music. These books were the most authoritative until the middle of the 20th century, when, with the help of new technical means and careful research, new facts about the life and work of Bach were established, which in some places contradicted traditional ideas. For example, it was established that Bach wrote some cantatas in 1724-1725 (previously it was believed that this happened in the 1740s), unknown works were found, and some previously attributed to Bach turned out to be not written by him. Some facts of his biography were established. In the second half of the 20th century, many works were written on this topic - for example, books by Christoph Wolf. There is also a work called a 20th century hoax, “The Chronicle of the Life of Johann Sebastian Bach, Compiled by His Widow Anna Magdalena Bach,” written by the English writer Esther Meinel on behalf of the composer’s widow.

Creation

Bach wrote more than a thousand musical works in almost all genres known at that time. Bach did not work only in the opera genre.

Today, each of the famous works is assigned a number BWV (short for Bach Werke Verzeichnis- catalog of Bach's works). Bach wrote music for various instruments, both sacred and secular. Some of Bach's works are adaptations of works by other composers, and some are revised versions of their own works.

Organ creativity

By the time of Bach, organ music in Germany already had long-standing traditions that had developed thanks to Bach’s predecessors - Pachelbel, Böhm, Buxtehude and other composers, each of whom influenced him in their own way. Bach knew many of them personally.

During his lifetime, Bach was best known as a first-class organist, teacher and composer of organ music. He worked both in the “free” genres traditional for that time, such as prelude, fantasy, toccata, passacaglia, and in more strict forms - chorale prelude and fugue. In his works for organ, Bach skillfully combined features of different musical styles with which he became acquainted throughout his life. The composer was influenced both by the music of North German composers (Georg Böhm, whom Bach met in Lüneburg, and Dietrich Buxtehude in Lübeck) and by the music of South German composers. In addition, Bach copied the works of French and Italian composers in order to better understand their technique; he later transcribed several of Vivaldi's violin concertos for organ. During the most fruitful period for organ music (1708-1714), Johann Sebastian not only wrote many pairs of preludes, toccatas and fugues, but also the "Orgelbüchlein" - a collection of 46 preludes, which demonstrated various methods and techniques instrumental arrangement of Protestant chorales. After leaving Weimar, Bach began to write less for organ; however, many famous works were written after Weimar, including 6 trio sonatas, the third part of the collection “Clavier-Übung” and 18 Leipzig chorales. Throughout his life, Bach not only composed music for the organ, but also consulted in the construction of instruments, examined new organs and was well versed in the peculiarities of their tuning.

Keyboard creativity

Bach also wrote many works for the harpsichord, many of which could also be played on the clavichord. Many of these creations are encyclopedic collections demonstrating various techniques and methods for composing polyphonic works. The most famous:

• “The Well-Tempered Clavier” in two volumes, written in 1722 and 1744, is a collection, each volume of which contains 24 preludes and fugues, one for each common key. This cycle was very important in connection with the transition to instrument tuning systems that make it equally easy to perform music in any key - first of all, to the modern equal temperament system. “The Well-Tempered Clavier” laid the foundation for a cycle of movements sounding in all keys. It is also a unique example of a “cycle within a cycle” - each prelude and fugue are thematically and figuratively linked to each other and form a single cycle, which is always performed together.
• 15 two-voice and 15 three-voice inventions are small works, arranged in increasing order of key characters. They were intended (and are still used to this day) for teaching how to play keyboard instruments.
• English Suites and French Suites. Each collection contains 6 suites, built according to a standard scheme (allemande, courante, sarabande, gigue and an optional part between the last two). In English suites, the allemande is preceded by a prelude, and between the sarabande and the gigue there is exactly one movement; in French suites the number of optional parts increases, and there are no preludes.
• The first and second parts of the collection “Clavier-Übung” (lit. “exercises for the clavier”). The first part (1731) included six partitas, the second (1735) included an Overture in the French style (BWV 831) and an Italian concerto (BWV 971).
• Goldberg Variations (published in 1741 as the fourth part of the Clavier-Übung) - a melody with 30 variations. The cycle has a rather complex and unusual structure. The variations are built more on the tonal plan of the theme than on the melody itself.

Orchestral and chamber music

Bach wrote music for both individual instruments and ensembles. His works for solo instruments - 3 sonatas and 3 partitas for solo violin, BWV 1001-1006, 6 suites for cello, BWV 1007-1012, and partita for solo flute, BWV 1013 - are considered by many to be among the composer's most profound works. In addition, Bach composed several works for solo lute. He also wrote trio sonatas, sonatas for solo flute and viola da gamba, accompanied only by a general bass, as well as a large number of canons and ricercars, mostly without specifying the instruments for performance. The most significant examples of such works are the cycles “The Art of Fugue” and “Musical Offering”.

Bach wrote many works for orchestra and solo instruments. Some of the most famous are the Brandenburg Concertos. They were so called because Bach, having sent them to Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt in 1721, thought of obtaining employment at his court; this attempt was unsuccessful. These six concertos are written in the genre of concerto grosso. Bach's orchestral masterpieces include two violin concertos (BWV 1041 and 1042), a concerto for 2 violins in D minor BWV 1043, the so-called "triple" concerto in A minor (for flute, violin, harpsichord, strings and basso continuo) BWV 1044 and concertos for claviers and chamber orchestra: seven for one clavier (BWV 1052-1058), three for two (BWV 1060-1062), two for three (BWV 1063 and 1064) and one - in A minor BWV 1065 - for four harpsichords. Nowadays, these concertos with orchestra are often performed on the piano, which is why they are sometimes called Bach's "piano" concertos, but it is worth remembering that in Bach's time there was no piano. In addition to the concertos, Bach composed four orchestral suites (BWV 1066-1069), individual parts of which are widely popular today, especially the last part of the Second Suite (the so-called “Joke” - an overly literal translation of the genre Scherzo) and II part of the Third Suite (“Aria”).

German postage stamp dedicated to J. S. Bach, 1961, 20 pfennigs (Scott 829)

Vocal works

• Cantatas. For a long period of his life, every Sunday Bach led the performance of a cantata in the Church of St. Thomas, the theme of which was chosen according to the Lutheran church calendar. Although Bach also performed cantatas by other composers, in Leipzig he composed at least three complete annual cycles of cantatas, one for each Sunday of the year and each church holiday. In addition, he composed a number of cantatas in Weimar and Mühlhausen. In total, Bach wrote more than 300 cantatas on spiritual themes, of which about 200 have survived to this day. Bach's cantatas vary greatly in form and instrumentation. Some of them are written for one voice, some for choir; some require a large orchestra to perform, and some require only a few instruments. However, the most commonly used model is this: the cantata opens with a solemn choral introduction, then alternates recitatives and arias for soloists or duets, and ends with a chorale. The same words from the Bible that are read this week according to the Lutheran canons are usually taken as recitative. The final chorale is often anticipated by a chorale prelude in one of the middle movements, and is also sometimes included in the opening movement in the form of a cantus firmus. Popular church cantatas include "Christ lag in Todesbanden" (BWV 4), "Ein' feste Burg" (BWV 80), "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" (BWV 140) and "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben" ( BWV 147). In addition, Bach also composed a number of secular cantatas, usually timed to coincide with some event, for example, a wedding. Popular secular cantatas include "Coffee" (BWV 211) and "Peasant" (BWV 212).
• Passions, or passions. The St. John Passion (1724) and the St. Matthew Passion (c. 1727) are works for choir and orchestra on the gospel theme of the suffering of Christ, intended for performance at vespers on Good Friday in the churches of St. Thomas and St. Nicholas. The St. Matthew Passion (along with the Mass in b minor) is Bach's most ambitious work.
• Oratorios and Magnificat. The most famous is the Christmas Oratorio (1734) - a cycle of 6 cantatas for performance during the Christmas period of the liturgical year. The Easter Oratorio (1734-1736) and the Magnificat (1730; first edition 1723) are rather extensive and elaborate cantatas and have a smaller scope than the Christmas Oratorio or Passions.
• Masses. Bach's most famous and significant mass is the Mass in B minor (completed in 1749), which is a complete cycle of the Ordinary. This mass, like many of the composer’s other works, included revised early works. The Mass was never performed in its entirety during Bach's lifetime - the first time this happened only in the 19th century. In addition, this music was not performed as intended due to its inconsistency with the Lutheran canon (which included only Kyrie And Gloria), and also because of the duration of the sound (about 2 hours). In addition to the Mass in B minor, Bach wrote 4 short two-part masses ( Kyrie And Gloria), as well as individual parts ( Sanctus And Kyrie).

Bach's other vocal works include several motets, about 180 chorales, songs and arias.

Features of the performance of Bach's works

Today, performers of Bach's music are divided into two camps: those who prefer authentic performance (or "historically oriented performance"), that is, using the instruments and methods of Bach's era, and those who perform Bach on modern instruments. In Bach's time there were no such large choirs and orchestras as, for example, in the time of Brahms, and even his most ambitious works, such as the Mass in B minor and the passions, are not intended to be performed by large groups. In addition, some of Bach's chamber works do not indicate the instrumentation at all, so today very different versions of performances of the same works are known. In organ works, Bach almost never indicated the registration and change of manuals. Of the stringed keyboard instruments, Bach preferred the clavichord; Nowadays, the harpsichord or piano are more often used to perform his music. Bach met with I.G. Zilberman and discussed with him the structure of his new instrument, making a contribution to the creation of the modern piano. Bach's music for some instruments was often arranged for others, for example, Busoni arranged some organ works for piano (chorales and others). A very important milestone in pianistic and musicological practice is his popular edition of The Well-Tempered Clavier - perhaps the most widely used edition of this work today.

Numerous "lite" and "modern" versions of his works contributed to the popularization of Bach's music in the 20th century. Among them are today's well-known tunes performed by the Swingle Singers and Wendy Carlos' 1968 recording of "Switched-On Bach", which used the newly invented synthesizer. Jazz musicians such as Jacques Loussier also worked on Bach's music. The New Age arrangement of the Goldberg Variations was performed by Joel Spiegelman. Among Russian contemporary performers, Fyodor Chistyakov tried to pay tribute to Bach in his 1997 solo album “When Bach Wake Up.”

The fate of Bach's music

Contrary to popular myth, Bach was not forgotten after his death. True, this concerned works for the clavier: his works were performed and published, and were used for didactic purposes. Bach's works for organ continued to be played in the church, and organ harmonizations of chorales were in constant use. Bach's cantata-oratorio works were rarely performed (although the notes were carefully preserved in the Church of St. Thomas), as a rule, on the initiative of Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach.

In the last years of his life and after Bach's death, his fame as a composer began to decline: his style was considered old-fashioned in comparison with the burgeoning classicism. He was better known and remembered as a performer, teacher and father of the younger Bachs, especially Carl Philipp Emmanuel, whose music was more famous.

However, many major composers, such as Mozart and Beethoven, knew and loved the work of Johann Sebastian Bach. They were brought up on the works of Bach from childhood. One day, while visiting the School of St. Thomas, Mozart heard one of the motets (BWV 225) and exclaimed: “There is something to learn here!” - after which, asking for the notes, he studied them for a long time and enthusiastically.

Beethoven greatly appreciated Bach's music. As a child, he played preludes and fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier, and later called Bach “the true father of harmony” and said that “his name is not the Brook, but the Sea” (word Bach in German it means "stream"). Bach's influence can be noted both at the level of ideas, choice of genres, and in some polyphonic fragments of Beethoven's works.

In 1800, the Berlin Singing Academy (German) was organized by Karl Friedrich Zelter ( Singakademie), the main purpose of which was precisely the promotion of Bach's singing heritage. A biography written in 1802 by Johann Nikolaus Forkel stimulated general public interest in his music. More and more people discovered his music. For example, Goethe, who became acquainted with his works quite late in his life (in 1814 and 1815 some of his keyboard and choral works were performed in Bad Berka), in a letter of 1827 compared the feeling of Bach’s music with “eternal harmony in dialogue with itself."

But the real revival of Bach's music began with the performance of the St. Matthew Passion on March 11, 1829 in Berlin, organized by Felix Mendelssohn, a student of Zelter. The performance gained a powerful public response. Even the rehearsals conducted by Mendelssohn became an event - they were attended by many music lovers. The performance was such a success that the concert was repeated on Bach's birthday. “The St. Matthew Passion” was also performed in other cities - Frankfurt, Dresden, Königsberg. Hegel, who attended the concert, later called Bach "a great, true Protestant, a strong and, so to speak, erudite genius, whom we have only recently learned to fully appreciate again." In subsequent years, Mendelssohn's work to popularize Bach's music and the composer's growing fame continued.

In 1850, the Bach Society was founded, the purpose of which was to collect, study and disseminate the works of Bach. Over the next half century, this society carried out significant work on compiling and publishing a corpus of the composer’s works.

In Russia at the beginning of the 19th century, Filda's student Maria Shimanovskaya and Alexander Griboyedov especially stood out as experts and performers of Bach's music.

In the 20th century, awareness of the musical and pedagogical value of his compositions continued. Interest in Bach's music gave rise to a new movement among performers: the idea of ​​authentic performance became widespread. Such performers, for example, use a harpsichord instead of a modern piano and smaller choirs than was common in the 19th and early 20th centuries, wanting to accurately recreate the music of Bach's era.

Some composers expressed their homage to Bach by including the BACH motif (B-flat - A - C - B in German alphabetic notation) in the themes of their works. For example, Liszt wrote a prelude and fugue on the theme BACH, and Schumann wrote 6 fugues on the same theme. Among the works of contemporary composers on the same theme, one can name “Variations on a Theme BACH” by Roman Ledenev. It is worth especially noting that Bach himself often used this same theme, for example, in the XIV counterpoint from The Art of Fugue.

Composers often used themes from Bach's works. For example, Brahms' Cello Sonata in D major uses musical quotations from The Art of Fugue in the finale.

Many composers have successfully used the genres developed by Bach. For example, Beethoven's variations on a theme by Diabelli, the prototype of which is the Goldberg Variations. “The Well-Tempered Clavier” was the founder of the genre of a cycle of movements written in all keys. There are many examples of this genre, for example, 24 preludes and fugues by Shostakovich, two cycles of 24 etudes by Chopin, partly Ludus tonalis Paul Hindemith .

The chorale prelude “Ich ruf’ zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ” (BWV 639) from Bach’s Organ Book performed by Leonid Roizman is heard in Andrei Tarkovsky’s film “Solaris” (1972).

Bach's music, among the best creations of mankind, was recorded on the Voyager gold disc.

According to The New York Times Johann Sebastian Bach topped the top ten greatest composers of all time.

Bach monuments in Germany

Monument to J. S. Bach at the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig.

• Monument in Leipzig, erected on April 23, 1843 by Hermann Knaur on the initiative of Felix Mendelssohn according to the drawings of Eduard Bendemann, Ernst Ritschel and Julius Hübner.
• Bronze statue in the square Frauenplan in Eisenach, designed by Adolf von Donndorff, installed on September 28, 1884. At first it stood on the Market Square near the Church of St. George; April 4, 1938 was moved to Frauenplan with a shortened pedestal.
• Monument on Bach Square in Köthen, erected on March 21, 1885. Sculptor - Heinrich Pohlmann
• Bronze statue by Karl Seffner on the south side of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig - 17 May 1908.
• Bust by Fritz Behn in the Valhalla monument near Regensburg, 1916.
• Statue by Paul Birr at the entrance to St. George's Church in Eisenach, erected on April 6, 1939.
• Monument to the arch. Bruno Eiermann in Weimar, first installed in 1950, then removed for two years and reopened in 1995 on Democracy Square.
• Relief in Köthen (1952). Sculptor - Robert Propf.
• The monument near the Arnstadt market was erected on March 21, 1985. Author - Bernd Goebel
• Wooden stele by Ed Garison on Johann Sebastian Bach Square in front of St. Blaise Church in Mühlhausen - August 17, 2001.
• The Ansbach monument, designed by Jürgen Goertz, was erected in July 2003.

Films about J. S. Bach

• Bach: Struggle for Freedom(1995, dir. S. Gillard, feature)
• Johann Bach and Anna Magdalena (“Il etait une fois Jean-Sebastien Bach”)(2003, dir. Jean-Louis Guillermou, feature)
• (series “Famous Composers”, documentary)
• (series “German Composers”, documentary)
• Johann Sebastian Bach: life and work, in two parts (TV channel “Culture”, Yu. Nagibin, documentary)
• The competition continues(1971, dir. N. Khrobko, teleplay)
• My name is Bach(2003, dir. Dominique de Rivaz, feature)
• Silence before Bach(2007, dir. Pere Portabella, feature)
• Johann Sebastian Bach's futile journey to fame(1980, dir. V. Vikas, feature)
• Possible meeting(1992, directed by V. Dolgachev, S. Satyrenko, teleplay based on the play of the same name; starring: O. Efremov, I. Smoktunovsky, S. Lyubshin)
• Dinner for four hands(1999, directed by M. Kozakov, television feature; in the role of Bach - Evgeny Steblov).
• Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach(1968, dir. Daniel Huillet, Jean-Marie Straub, feature, G. Leonhardt)
• Bach Cello Suite #6: Six Gestures(1997, dir. Patricia Rozema, feature)
• Friedemann Bach(1941, dir. Traugott Müller, Gustaf Gründgens, feature)
• Anton Ivanovich is angry(1941, dir. Alexander Ivanovsky, feature)
• Great Composers (BBC TV series)- The life and work of J. S. Bach, documentary (English), in 8 parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8
• Johann Sebastian Bach(1985, dir. Lothar Bellag, television series, in the title role Ulrich Thain) (German)
• Johann Sebastian Bach - Der liebe Gott der Musik(series “Die Geschichte Mitteldeutschlands”, season 6, episode 3, dir. Lew Hohmann, documentary) (German)
• The Cantor of St Thomas's(1984, dir. Colin Nears, feature) (English)
• The Joy of Bach(1980, documentary) (English)

In this article you will learn:

Any lover of real music will truly admire this name.

Birth and childhood

The greatest composer was born in 1685, (March 21) into the large family of Johann Ambrosius Bach and his wife Elisabeth. The birthplace of little Johann was the small town of Eisenach (at that time the Holy Roman Empire). Sebastian was the eighth child and also the youngest.

Bach's passion for music was inherent in nature and this is not surprising, because most of his ancestors were professional musicians. Bach's father was also a musician, and at the time of the birth of his eighth son, he organized concerts in Eisenach.

At the age of 9, Sebastian’s mother died, and a year later his father left the world. The elder Bach, Johann Christoph, took on raising his younger brother.

Music lessons

Living with Christophe, Sebastian entered the gymnasium, simultaneously learning music from his brother. Christophe gave him lessons in playing various musical instruments, mainly the organ and clavier.

At the age of 15, the future genius began studying at a vocal school. It bore the name of St. Michael and was located in the city of Luneburg. Bach turned out to be an amazingly capable student. He eagerly learned the basics of musical art, studied the work of other musicians, and developed himself comprehensively. In Lüneburg, Johann wrote his first organ pieces.

First job

After graduating in 1703, the young genius went to serve Duke Ernst in Weimar. He served as a court musician. This responsibility weighed heavily on Bach, and with great relief he changed jobs, receiving the position of organist in the Church of St. Boniface in the city of Arndstadt.

The composer's musical talent began to bring him well-deserved fame.

In 1707, Johann decided to move to the city of Mülhusen, continuing to serve as a church musician in the Church of St. Blaise. The city authorities were very pleased with his work.

Weimar

That same year, Bach married for the first time. The girl's name was Maria Barbara, she was the musician's cousin.

In 1708 the family moved to Weimar. There Johann again began to serve as court organist. In Weimar, a young couple had 6 children, but unfortunately only three survived. All of them later became talented musicians.

It was in Weimar that Bach became famous as a skilled organist and harpsichord master. He absorbed the music of other countries and composed something unimaginable. Even the then famous Louis Marchand, a French organist, refused to compete with him. At this time, Bach created real masterpieces.

Köthen

Tired of Weimar, Bach decided to leave the service. For such a desire, he was even arrested, since the Duke did not want to let the musician go. But, soon, released, Johann went to give his music to the city of Köthen to the Duke of Anthalt-Köthen. This happened in 1717. During this period, the “Well-Tempered Clavier” and the famous “Brandenburg Concertos” were written, the Brandenburg Concertos, English and French suites were composed.

In 1720, while Bach was away, his wife Barbara died.

Bach married a singing star for the second time in 1721. The singer's name was Anna Magdalene Wilhelm. The marriage should be considered happy. The couple had 13 children.

The creative journey continues

In 1723, Bach performed the St. John Passion in the Church of St. Thomas. In the same year, he received the position of choir cantor there, and soon became the “musical director” of all the churches in the city.

The periods of Bach's life in Leipzig are considered the most productive.

The last years of the composer

At the end of his life, Johann Bach was rapidly losing his sight. The capricious public believed that his time had passed, and now he was writing boring and outdated music. And the musician continued to create, despite everything. Thus were born the plays called “Music of the Offering.”

Johann Sebastian Bach died on July 28, 1750. This happened in Leipzig. He was buried here. Grateful descendants did not erect a monument to the composer, and soon the grave was lost among other burials.

The remains of the composer were found in 1894. They were solemnly reburied.

The composer’s ashes were disturbed for the third time in 1949. The fact is that the bombing damaged Bach's refuge. Again, a reburial ceremony had to be held. Now Bach's ashes rest in the altar of the Church of St. Thomas.

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The leader of the noble assembly, Oleg Shcherbachev, spoke about the “composer of all times and peoples,” the mystic and theologian Johann Sebastian Bach, as part of the “Event” club.

If you think that, having lived a good half of the 18th century, the Baroque century, Johann Sebastian Bach was his contemporary, then you are only partly right. In the traditions of the medieval worldview, he wrote his music, beginning and ending with prayer, and sounded old-fashioned to his contemporaries. However, the unknown instrument, for which some of his works were written, was invented only after his death, and individual moves of his compositions began to sound as usual only in the 20th century.

Johann Sebastian Bach

In Bach's music we often hear a step, a step. Pace is key here. The measure of speed, as I recently realized, is the rhythm of the heart. If you play like you breathe, then everything works out correctly.

As a composer, Bach remained almost unchanged throughout his life, which is very rare for any creator. His musical language was formed when he was about 20, and he died when he was 65. I assume that in 1706 or 1707 Bach experienced some kind of strong mystical shock. We don’t know which one, but it turned his life upside down, he came to know - as Dostoevsky would say - the living God and then went through his entire creative path based on this experience.

From a biographical point of view, Bach lived two lives. By everyday standards, he was an ordinary German burgher: he moved from one service to another, very prudently choosing where it was more profitable for him to work, where the salary was higher. In a letter to a friend, he once complained that due to good weather his funeral “accidents” had noticeably decreased. This is also Bach.

We are accustomed to the image of a romantic creator, whose life and creativity are inextricably linked: he creates, refracting his life into creativity. But Bach is an anti-romantic. He is a medieval creator. The external side of his life has practically nothing to do with creativity. But creativity for him is not even 99 percent, but more. Ordinary life is just a shell, a shell, it is completely uninteresting in comparison with creativity, because he creates about God and for God. How much do we know about the life path of Andrei Rublev? And how important is it to know his biography in order to understand his icons? Compared to his “Trinity” it is absolutely not interesting. Bach's music is a musical icon. The life of an icon painter is not part of the icon.

For Bach, the process of writing notes was very important. At the end of the score he always wrote " SoliDeogloria"("Glory to God alone" - edit.), and at the beginning - “Lord, help me.” That’s why you can play Bach only by praying: when you play, it’s as if you’re saying the Jesus Prayer. Only a few succeeded. For example, Albert Schweitzer, a famous Protestant theologian and humanist. In his performances you hear that Bach’s music is always a prayer, but the most amazing thing is that it is not only a prayer, but also a dialogue. Bach doesn't just pray, he hears answers. This is unique for the composer! Bach's music is a conversation between man and God.

Bach and sons

One of Bach’s most important works is the “High Mass,” or Mass in B minor, which he wrote almost all his life: he began in 1720 and finished just before his death. According to popular belief, Bach's last work is The Art of Fugue, but this is not entirely true. It was established that it was practically completed in 1747 (however, the last fugue remained unfinished).

It is interesting that Bach wrote this mass, knowing full well that it would never be performed. Those parts of the mass that were performed in the then Lutheran church (“Kyrie” and “Gloria”) are so huge here that it is impossible to imagine them in liturgical practice. The entire Mass was simply not performed in the Protestant church. And the mystery remains: why would a convinced Protestant Lutheran write an absolutely Catholic Mass, and “the best Mass of all times and peoples”? I found this answer for myself. It lies in the fact that Bach goes far beyond Protestantism and belongs to the entirety of the Christian tradition.

For me personally, “Kyrie” from this mass is a church-wide, universal cry to God. Humanity, in the person of Johann Sebastian Bach, was able to write such a mass, and I think this is a significant argument in favor of the fact that God was not mistaken in creating the human world. This is the absolute archetype of man's prayer to God and the musical archetype of liturgy.

Title page of Bach's autograph with the title Missa

The beginning of the 18th century is Baroque, and Baroque is primarily a melody. But Bach is not a melodist, he is a polyphonist. Schweitzer even believed that he had problems with melody. What was so easy for Italians was difficult for him. But is this the main thing? The Italians may have a wonderful melody, but it is rather empty. So what if everyone likes Albinoni’s “Adagio,” for example, or Marcello’s oboe concerto? (However, the well-known adagio is a later reworking). Bach also liked a lot of things: he boldly, without hesitation, took someone else’s work, was inspired by it, and then it turned out to be completely German, very intellectual music.

Hence, by the way, many pseudo-Bach scores. It happened that he liked some works, and he rewrote them. After all, he was a music director, which means he had to perform not only his own work, while his own works were often not written by his own hand: he did not have time to write down, for example, a cantata composed for the next Sunday service, and harnessed the whole family: his wife wrote, children wrote...

Bach's baroque is high baroque, it is sculpture, relief of music. For Bach, a melody is always a symbol. All her movements - up and down - are very significant. In this music you always imagine a certain picture: long falling and rising lines, movement, soaring - all this is so vivid that sometimes it seems as if you are actually seeing it. And if you also look at the score, then these rises in notes are simply completely obvious. Bach's music is a real sound recording, and sometimes a crossword puzzle, since behind the general polyphony of voices, some lines, nuances, strokes cannot be shown by any performer - they remain known only to the conductor, who sees the score, and to God.

Bach. Autograph of the first sheet of “Credo”

In fact, Bach had no followers; a certain tradition ended with him. His sons, who already composed in the manner of early classicism, temporarily eclipsed their father in popularity. If you asked about Bach in the time of Haydn and Mozart, you would first of all think about Carl Philipp Emmanuel or Johann Christian, but hardly about Johann Sebastian. Only later was the great Bach rediscovered by Mendelssohn and the circle of romantics. And although, of course, we must thank them for this, it was their unique understanding of his music that laid the foundation for its not entirely adequate performance. They heard it in their own way, very romantically.

The great Mozart, perhaps the only composer of the second half of the 18th century, was able to truly understand Bach. The fact that Mozart knew and appreciated the music of Bach is beyond doubt. He even used it in his later works: in particular, he made transcriptions of several Bach preludes and fugues.

Yes, Bach and Mozart are often contrasted. This is a very subtle matter. These two people were, of course, musical spirit seers; there are no others like them in the foreseeable time. But Mozart, as I see it, did not pass his musical revelations through the diet. He, as a medium, listened to music from the sky and wrote it down. He himself, perhaps, was sometimes frightened by it, did not understand it, and even choked on it, as Forman wonderfully shows in the film “Amadeus.” The main thing is to write it down as quickly as possible... With Bach it’s completely different.

Bach is a conscious prayer that penetrates his entire being. His music is inspired, sometimes even ecstatic, but it is also filtered through the intellect. There is an element of gnosis in it. Bach lives every note and moves from each note to the next note - you can feel it. Even in secular works you can hear all the polyphony and multi-layeredness of his musical fabric. When the performance is correct, you feel such tension and density of the structure that it is simply impossible to add a single note to it! None of his contemporaries have this. But at the same time, all this merges into perfect harmony and is perceived even in a Baroque graceful way. How this happens is unclear. It's a miracle.

Bach was generally an esthete. He had a keen sense of the specifics of each instrument. But he wrote some things without any indication of the instrument at all, so to speak, for some abstract instrument. Maybe you should just look at such scores and perform them within yourself? "The Art of Fugue", for example. This is already a kind of mathematics, the “philosophy of the name” of Alexei Losev. Bach did not finish this work, but maybe the music simply went into some “fourth dimension”, into some transcendental worlds of musical abstractions and eidos?

Monument to Bach in Leipzig

Bach is heard quite often in cinema. You can recall, say, Tarkovsky or von Trier. Why? Maybe because Bach is a guide to the world of faith. From my own biography it is very clear why this is so. Bach was my first love, it was Bach who was one of those who led me to the Church and to God. As you understand, we are talking about the 70s, and, except for vague memories of the religiosity of my great-aunt, who went to church and prayed at night, I did not see any inspiring examples near me. But Bach’s music itself is such that if you are imbued with it, it is impossible to remain an atheist. In the typical Soviet era, in the era of official atheism, people, quite naturally, yearned for God. But Bach could not be banned. After all, this is a musical Everest, and it is impossible to get around it. But this Everest talked about God all the time. And no matter how Soviet musicologists tried to get around this trouble, nothing could be done about it.

I graduated from MEPhI, department of theoretical physics. This is my only higher education. Why do I need Bach, a “physicist of the 21st century”? Because everyone always needs Bach - and the physicist of the 21st century, just like the lyricist of the 25th century. Everyone needs Bach's music, just as everyone needs to read the Holy Scriptures, just as everyone needs faith in Christ. The same is true of Bach's music.