Works of Sebastian Bach. List of major works by Bach

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 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 the most important works Bach - “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 musical director, which means he had to perform not only his own, 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, the 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 is perhaps the only composer of the second half of the XVIII 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 remember, 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're talking about 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 a 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.

Johann Sebastian Bach - most talented composer 18th century. More than 250 years have passed since his death, and interest in his music has not waned to this day. But during his lifetime the composer never received the recognition he deserved.

Interest in his work appeared only a century after his departure.

Bach Johann Sebastian. Biography: childhood

Johann was born in 1685 in Eisenach, a provincial town in Germany. His father was a violinist. From him Johann learned the basics of playing this instrument. In addition, Bach the Younger had an excellent soprano voice and sang in the school choir. Future profession Johanna was predestined. At the age of 9, the boy was left without parents. His older brother took him in to raise him. In Orduf, he served as an organist at the church and transported the boy there and enrolled him in a gymnasium. Music classes continued, but they were too monotonous and unproductive.

Bach Johann Sebastian. Biography: the beginning of independent life

Fifteen-year-old Johann moved to Lüneburg. Successful completion of the gymnasium gave him the right to enter the university. However, the lack of livelihood did not allow the young man to use this opportunity. He had to move more than once in his life. The reason was always poor working conditions and a humiliating position. But no situation distracted Bach from studying new music, performance styles of contemporary composers. Whenever possible, he tried to get to know them personally. At that time, everyone worshiped foreign music. He had the courage to defend and study his national works.

Bach Johann Sebastian. Biography: additional talents

Johann's abilities were not limited only to composing skills. Among his contemporaries he was considered best performer playing the harpsichord and organ. It was for his improvisations on these instruments that he received recognition (even from his rivals) during his lifetime. They say that when the harpsichordist and organist from France Louis Marchand heard Bach performed on these instruments on the eve of a competition in Dresden, he hastily left the city.

Bach Johann Sebastian. Biography: court musician

From 1708, Johann served in Weimar as a musician at court. During this period he wrote many famous works. Bach soon started a family and, in 1717, moved with her to Köthen at the invitation of the prince. It turned out that there was no organ there. The composer was required to lead a small orchestra, entertain the prince and accompany his singing. In this city, Bach wrote three- and two-voice inventions, as well as the “English” and “French Suites”. Fugues and preludes, completed in Köthen, made up the 1st volume of “The Well-Tempered Clavier” - a huge work.

Bach Johann Sebastian. Brief biography: foundation in Leipzig

Bach moved to this city in 1723 and remained there forever. At the Church of St. Thomas, he received the position of director of the choir. Conditions for Bach were again cramped. In addition to many duties (educator, composer, teacher), he was ordered not to travel outside the city without the permission of the burgomaster. He also had to write music according to the rules: not too operatic and long, but at the same time, something that would evoke awe in the listeners.

But, despite all the restrictions, Bach, as always, continued to create. Their best compositions he created it in Leipzig. The church authorities considered Johann Sebastian's music too colorful, humane and bright, and allocated little funds for the maintenance of the school. The composer's only joy remained creativity and family. His three sons also turned out to be excellent musicians. Anna Magdalena, Bach's second wife, had a magnificent soprano voice. His eldest daughter also sang quite well.

Johann Bach. Biography: completion of life's journey

The composer suffered in recent years serious illness eye. The operation was unsuccessful, and Bach became completely blind. But even in this state he continued to compose. His works were recorded from dictation. The musical community hardly noticed his death. Everyone quickly forgot about him. Anna Magdalena, Johann's second wife, died in a nursing home. Regina, Bach's youngest daughter, lived like a beggar, only in recent years did Beethoven provide her with help.

Johann Sebastian Bach, one of the best composers of the 18th century, was born in 1685 in the city of Eisenach. Bach's father taught him to play the violin. The family knew that the boy would become a musician, because Bach had a wonderful voice.

By the age of 9, Johann Sebastian was left an orphan and was raised by his older brother. It was his brother who continued to teach little Bach music. True, the future composer quickly got tired of the monotonous training, and he began self-education. At night, Bach climbed into his brother’s closet and took out a notebook with works by various composers. In the moonlight, the boy copied notes for himself. After six months of such work, the guy’s vision deteriorated, and his older brother took the copied notes.

At the age of 15, Johann Sebastian decided to move to Lüneburg and began to earn his own living. In 1703, Bach graduated from high school and was able to enter university. Unfortunately, he did not enter the university, because there was no one to pay for his education, and he had to earn his own living.

Bach changed his city of residence and place of work several times in his life, but no matter what his living conditions were, he always strived for self-improvement and continued to make music.

In 1708, the young musician moved to Weimar. In this city, he got a job as a musician in the palace and worked as the city organist. It was here that Bach wrote his best organ works: Fugue in D minor, Toccata and Passacaglia in C minor.

In 1717, Bach went to Köthen. The composer was invited to the palace of the Prince of Köthen, but since there was no organ here, Bach began to write orchestral and keyboard music. At the palace, Bach led the orchestra and entertained the prince by playing the harpsichord, and devoted all his free time to creativity. It was here that 24 preludes and fugues appeared, which were included in the first volume of the cycle of works “The Well-Tempered Clavier” and “Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D Minor”.

In 1723, Bach went to Leipzig, where he lived for the rest of his years. Here he led the choir at the Church of St. Thomas. Bach's duties included maintaining the churches of the city. He was also responsible for the quality of church music.

While working in Leipzig, Bach created vocal and instrumental compositions: “John Passion”, Mass in B minor, “Matthew Passion” and others.

Bach's work as a choir director brought him constant grief. The church allocated negligible funds for the school, the singing boys were hungry and poorly dressed, and the orchestra had only four violins and four trumpets. Bach turned to the city authorities for help, but to no avail.

The only thing that brought joy to the composer was creativity and family.

Bach had three sons: Philipp Emmanuel, Wilhelm Friedemann and Johann Christian. They all followed in their father's footsteps and became composers.

In the last years of his life, Bach was greatly bothered by pain in his eyes. Due to an unsuccessful operation, he lost his sight, but this did not break the composer, and he continued to compose new works.

On July 28, 1750, Bach passed away. IN musical world his death went virtually unnoticed.

You can download and listen online to Johann Sebastian Bach's compositions in mp3 on our portal completely free of charge. Find out more about the work of the great composer thanks to our resource.

Childhood

When Johann Sebastian was 9 years old, his mother died, and a year later his father passed away. The boy was taken in by his older brother, Johann Christophe, who served as organist in nearby Ohrdruf. Johann Sebastian entered the gymnasium, his brother taught him to play the organ and clavier. Johann Sebastian He loved music very much and never missed an opportunity to practice it or study new works.

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 creativity of famous musicians of its time. Bach's first works for organ and clavier date back to the same years. In addition to singing in the acapella 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, primarily with Georg Böhm in Luneburg and Reincken in Hamburg. With their help Johann Sebastian, may have had access to the largest instruments he has 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)

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

In addition, the authorities presented Bahu accusations 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 jobs. He was offered a more profitable and high position as an organist in the Church of St. Blaise in Mühlhausen, big city In the north of the country. IN next yearBach accepted this offer, taking the place of organist Johanna Georg Ale. His salary was increased compared to the previous one, and the standard of the singers was better. Four months later, 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 plan for the restoration of the church organ, which required large expenses, and for the publication of the festive cantata “The Lord is my King”, BWV 71 (this was the only one printed during his lifetime Bach cantata), written for the inauguration of the new consul, he was given a large reward.

Weimar (1708-1717)

Began in Weimar a long period compositions of keyboard and orchestral works in which talent Bach reached its peak. In this period Bach absorbs musical trends from other countries. The works of the Italians Vivaldi and Corelli taught Bach write dramatic introductions, of which Bach learned the art of using dynamic rhythms and decisive harmonic patterns. Bach studied the work well Italian composers, 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 Johann Sebastian. In the Italian music of the crown duke (and, as can be seen from some works, the Bach) was attracted by the alternation of solo (playing one instrument) and tutti (playing the entire orchestra).

In Weimar Bach there was the opportunity to play and compose organ works, as well as use the services of the ducal orchestra. In Weimar Bach wrote most of his fugues (the largest and most famous collection of fugues Bach is "The Well-Tempered Clavier"). While serving in Weimar Bach began work on the “Organ Book” - a collection of organ chorale preludes, possibly for the training of Wilhelm Friedemann. This collection consists of arrangements of Lutheran chorales.

Towards the end of his service in Weimar Bach was already a well-known organist and harpsichord master. The episode with Marchand dates back to this time. In 1717, the famous French musician Louis Marchand came to 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 Bahu I had to play alone.

Köthen (1717-1723)

July 7, 1720, while Bach was abroad with the prince, his wife Maria Barbara suddenly died, leaving four young children. Next year Bach met Anna Magdalena Wilke, a young highly gifted singer (soprano), who sang at the ducal court. They married on December 3, 1721.

Leipzig (1723-1750)

The first six years of 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 execution Bach, apparently, sat at the harpsichord or stood in front of the choir on the lower gallery under the organ; on the side gallery to the right of the organ were located wind instruments and timpani, with strings on the left. The city council made available Bach only about 8 performers, and this often became the cause of disputes between the composer and the administration: Bahu he 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 the staff organist or one of the eldest sons Bach.

Sopranos and altos Bach recruited from among the 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 with their choir they 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; while composing his motets Bach focused on the works of these composers.

Writing cantatas for most of the 1720s, Bach collected 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 had existed since 1701, when he founded it old friendBach 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 held 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 Big hall and purchased several tools. Many of the secular works Bach, dating from the 1730s to the 1750s, were composed specifically for performance in Zimmermann's coffee house. Such works include, for example, the “Coffee Cantata” and, possibly, keyboard pieces from the “Clavier-Übung” collections, as well as many concertos for cello and harpsichord.

During the same period Bach wrote the Kyrie and Gloria parts of the famous Mass in B minor, later completing the remaining parts, the melodies of which were almost entirely borrowed from the composer’s best cantatas. Soon Bach achieved appointment to the position 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 musical theme and asked me to immediately compose something for 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 Bach, despite the fact that it was most likely written long before his death (according to modern research- until 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 death Bach The Art of Fugue was published by his sons, together with the chorale prelude BWV 668, which is often mistakenly called last job Bach- in fact it exists in at least two versions and is a reworking of an earlier prelude to the same tune, BWV 641.

Over time, vision Bach It was getting 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 twice Bach, but both operations were unsuccessful, Bach remained blind. On July 18, he unexpectedly regained his sight for a short time, but in the evening he suffered a stroke. Bach died 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.

During 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. Interestingly, George Frideric Handel, the same age Bach from Halle, 50 km from Leipzig, have never met Bach, Although Bach twice in his life he tried to meet him - 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 the remains Bach 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 J. S. Bach, a bronze tombstone was installed above his burial place.

Bach studies

Creation

Organ creativity

During life 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 by the music of North German composers (Georg Böhm, with whom Bach met in Lüneburg, and Dietrich Buxtehude in Lübeck), and the music of southern composers: Bach he copied the works of many French and Italian composers for himself in order to understand their musical language; later he even transcribed several Vivaldi 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 composed an unfinished Organ Book - a collection of 46 short choral preludes, which demonstrated various techniques and approaches to composing works on chorale themes. After leaving Weimar Bach began to write less for the organ; nevertheless, after Weimar many famous works were written (6 trio sonatas, the collection “Clavier-Übung” and 18 Leipzig chorales). All life Bach not only composed music for the organ, but also consulted in the construction of instruments, testing and tuning new organs.

Other keyboard works

“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.
15 two-voice and 15 three-voice inventions are small works, arranged in order of increasing number of signs in the key. They were intended (and are still used to this day) for teaching how to play keyboard instruments.
Three collections of suites: English Suites, French Suites and Partitas for Clavier. Each cycle contained 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. In the partitas, the standard scheme is expanded: in addition to the exquisite introductory parts, there are additional ones, and not only between the sarabande and the gigue.
Goldberg Variations (circa 1741) - 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.
A variety of pieces such as Overture in the French Style, BWV 831, Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, BWV 903, or Italian Concerto, BWV 971.

Orchestral and chamber music

Bach wrote many works for orchestra and solo instruments. Some of the most famous are the Brandenburg Concertos. They were so named because Bach, having sent them to Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt in 1721, thought to get work at his court; this attempt was unsuccessful. These six concertos are written in the genre of concerto grosso. Orchestral masterpieces Bach includes two violin concertos (BWV 1041 and 1042), a concerto for 2 violins in D minor BWV 1043, the so-called “triple” A minor concerto (for flute, violin, harpsichord, strings and continuous (digital) bass) 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, so they can be called piano concertos Bach, but do not forget that in times Bach there was no piano. In addition to concerts, Bach composed 4 orchestral suites (BWV 1066-1069), some individual parts of which are especially widely popular in our time and have popular arrangements, namely: the so-called “Bach joke” - the last part, the badinerie of the second suite and the second part of the third suite - aria.

Vocal works

Passions, or passions.

Passion for John(1724) and the St. Matthew Passion (c. 1727) - 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. Passions are one of the largest vocal works Bach. It is known that Bach wrote 4 or 5 passions, but only these two have fully survived to this day.

Oratorios and Magnificats.

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 Magnificat are rather extensive and elaborate cantatas and have a smaller scope than the Christmas Oratorio or Passions. The Magnificat exists in two versions: the original (E-flat major, 1723) and the later and famous (D major, 1730).

Masses.

The most famous and significant mass Bach- Mass in B minor (completed in 1749), representing full cycle Ordinary. This mass, like many other works of the composer, included revised early writings. The Mass was never performed in its entirety during his lifetime Bach- for 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 (it included only Kyrie and Gloria), as well as due to the duration of the sound (about 2 hours). In addition to the Mass in B minor, 4 short two-part Masses have reached us Bach(Kyrie and Gloria), as well as individual parts like Sanctus and Kyrie.
Bach's remaining vocal works include several motets, about 180 chorales, songs and arias.

Execution

To popularize music Bach in the 20th century, numerous “lightened” and “modernized” versions of his works contributed. 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. Processed music Bach And jazz musicians, such as Jacques Lussier. The New Age arrangement of the Goldberg Variations was performed by Joel Spiegelman. Among Russian contemporary performers Fyodor Chistyakov tried to pay tribute to the great composer in his solo album 1997 “When he wakes up Bach».

The fate of Bach's music

In the last years of life and after death Bach his fame as a composer began to wane: his style was considered old-fashioned compared to the burgeoning classicism.

He was better known and remembered as a performer, teacher and father Bakhov-younger, primarily Carl Philip Emmanuel, whose music was more famous. However, many major composers, such as Mozart and Beethoven, knew and loved creativity Johann Sebastian.

Works continued to be played in the church Bach for organ, harmonizations of chorales were in constant use.

Cantata-oratorio works Bach were rarely played (although the notes were carefully preserved in the Church of St. Thomas), as a rule, on the initiative of Karl Philip Emmanuel Bach, however, already in 1800, the Berlin Singing Academy (German) Russian was organized by Karl Friedrich Zelter. (Singakademie), the main goal of which was precisely the promotion of Bach's singing heritage.

The performance of Zelter's disciple, twenty-year-old Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, on March 11, 1829 in Berlin, of the St. Matthew Passion, gained great public attention. 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 his birthday. Bach. “The St. Matthew Passion” was also performed in other cities - Frankfurt, Dresden, Königsberg. Creation Bach had a strong influence on the music of subsequent composers, including in the 21st century.

In Russia early XIX centuries as music experts and performers Bach Filda's student Maria Shimanovskaya and Alexander Griboyedov especially stand out. For example, while visiting the St. Thomas School, 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 valued music very much Bach. As a child he played the 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” (the word Bach in German means “stream”). Works Johann Sebastian influenced many composers. Some themes from the works Bach, for example, the theme of the toccata and fugue in D minor, were repeatedly used in the music of the 20th century.

Biography written in 1802 Johann Nikolaus Forkel, spurred the interest of the general public 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 music Bach With " eternal harmony in dialogue with oneself." But the real revival of music Bach began with the performance of the St. Matthew Passion in 1829 in Berlin, organized by Felix Mendelssohn. 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 music continued Bach and the rise of the composer's fame.

Founded in 1850 Bakhovskoe society whose purpose was the collection, study and dissemination of works Bach. Over the next half century, this society carried out significant work on compiling and publishing a corpus of the composer’s works.

In the 20th century, awareness of the musical and pedagogical value of his compositions continued. Interest in music Bach 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 respect Bahu, including the BACH motif (B-flat - A - C - B in Latin notation) in the themes of his works. For example, Liszt wrote a prelude and fugue on the theme BACH, and Schumann wrote 6 fugues on the same theme. From creativity modern composers on the same theme can be called “Variations on the Theme BACH” by Roman Ledenev. I used the same theme myself Bach, for example, in the XIV counterpoint from The Art of Fugue.

Many composers took their cue from the works Bach or used themes from them. Examples are Beethoven's Variations on a Theme Diabelli, the prototype of which is the Goldberg Variations, Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues, written under the influence of The Well-Tempered Clavier, and Brahms's Cello Sonata in D major, the finale of which inserts musical quotations from Art fugues."

The chorale prelude “Ich ruf’ zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ” (BWV 177) performed by Leonid Roizman is heard in the film “Solaris” (1972).

Music Bach among the best creations of mankind, recorded on the Voyager gold disc.

Johann Sebastian Bach Topped the top ten greatest composers of all time (New York Times).

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 on the Frauenplan in Eisenach, designed by Adolf von Donndorff, erected on September 28, 1884. At first it stood on the Market Square near the Church of St. George; On April 4, 1938 it 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.

Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 is a work for organ by Johann Sebastian Bach, one of his most popular works.

The work "Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565" is included in all editions of the authoritative BWV catalog and in the (most complete) new edition of Bach's works (Neue Bach-Ausgabe, known as NBA).

The work was supposedly written by Bach during his stay in Arnstadt between 1703 and 1707. 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, Bach took over as organist of the church. 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.

The peculiarity of this small polyphonic cycle is the continuity of development of the musical material (without a break between the toccata and fugue). The form consists of three parts: toccata, fugue and coda. The latter, echoing the toccata, forms a thematic arch.

Title page of BWV 565 in a handwritten copy by Johannes Ringk. Due to the fact that Bach's autograph was lost, this copy, as of 2012, is the only source close to the time of creation.

Toccata (in Italian toccata - touch, blow, from toccare - touch, touch) is a virtuoso musical piece for keyboard instruments (clavier, organ).

Beginning of the toccata

Fugue (Italian fuga - running, flight, fast flow) is the most developed form of polyphonic music, which has absorbed all the richness of polyphonic means. The content range of a fugue is practically unlimited, but the intellectual element predominates or is always felt in it. Fugue is distinguished by emotional fullness and at the same time restraint of expression.

This work begins with an alarming but courageous strong-willed cry. It sounds three times, descending from one octave to another, and leads to a thunderous chordal boom in the lower register. Thus, at the beginning of the toccata, a gloomily shaded, grandiose sound space is outlined.

Johann Sebastian Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor BWV 565 played by organist Hans-André Stamm on the Trost-Organ of the Stadtkirche in Waltershausen, Germany.

Then powerful “swirling” virtuoso passages are heard. The contrast between fast and slow movement is reminiscent of cautious respites between fights with the violent elements. And after the freely, improvisationally constructed toccata, a fugue sounds, in which the volitional principle seems to curb elemental forces. And the last bars of the entire work are perceived as a stern and majestic victory of the unyielding human will.