Johann Sebastian Bach

Classical Composer Project
By: Kashif Baloch (808)

Part A: Choose A Classical Composer Of Your Choice

Name: Johann Sebastian Bach
Birth Date: March 21st, 1685
Location Of Birth: Eisenach, Germany
Death Date: July 28th, 1750
Location Of Death: Leipzig, Germany
Main Instrument(s) Played: Organ & Harpsichord

Commentary
Johann Sebastian Bach was a great composer. He was born into a family of musicians. The earliest musical lessons Bach received were from his father. His parents had died when he was only nine-years-old. When he had sons of his own, he had also educated them musically, so that they would be able to carry on the family tradition. He had five sons, and they all had also loved music very much. Today, there are several museums in Germany that display his original works. Johann Sebastian Bach wrote hundreds of pieces of music, about half of them had been based on popular hymns of the day, called chorales.

Part B: Listen To A Recording Of A Work By This Composer

Name Of The Piece: Brandenburg Concerto #3
(Background Music-MIDI File)
Year That It Was Written: 1711-1713? (The individual dates that the Brandenburg Concerti were written can not be precisely determined. They were all composed by March 1721.)
Category: Concertos and Orchestral Suites
Instrumentation: Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass, Continuo
Key: G Major

Commentary
I really enjoyed listening to this piece of music because it sounds as if the instruments used are telling a story. Also it is very well written. It seems like Bach incorporated many emotions into this piece. When played by an orchestra, it sounds as if the musicians perceive themselves to be a part of the music. I chose this piece because it profoundly affected me and evoked many feelings inside of me. After hearing this piece of music, I felt inspired to achieve the status of Bach. This piece evoked feelings which I have never exerienced before when listening to classical music.

Part C: Bibliography

http://www.bachcentral.com

http://utopia.knoware.nl/~jsmeets/abc.htm

http://www.jsbchorales.net/index.html

http://www.islandnet.com/~arton/bqxjsbach.html

http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/bachjs.html

http://www.bach-js.net

http://www.britannica.com

http://odur.let.rug.nl/Linguistics/diversen/bach/intro.html

http://www.jsbach.org

Additional Links

http://www.geocities.com/aliza808

http://www.geocities.com/pro4musik

http://badman_foster.tripod.com/Beethoven

http://www.geocities.com/musicleong

http://www,geocities.com/kashifb808/Johann-Sebastian-Bach.html

Part D: Additional Information

Johann Sebastian Bach lived a life filled with, and influenced by music. After Bach's father had passed away in 1695, his elder brother Johann Christoph and him had moved to Ohrdruf, Germany, where Bach had studied the organ with his brother. Bach's first permanent jobs were as an organist in Arnstadt (1703-1707) and Muhlhausen (1707-1708). During these years, he composed, taught music, and enjoyed building organs. Bach also enjoyed vocal music, and sang in a choir.

Career Highlights: Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, B minor mass, and the Brandenburg Concertos

Career Totals: Over 200 cantatas and other choral works, 17 concertos, hundreds of works for solo keyboard and organ

Fun/Interesting Facts: Bach was once arrested and imprisoned for almost a month for asking if he could quit his job, in a manner that displeased his princely employer. He fathered 20 children, several of whom became wellknown composers

This Has Been A Kashif Baloch Production..Y

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws