Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March 1685 [O.S.

Bach's mother died in 1694, and his father eight

21 March] – 28 July 1750) (often referred to months later.[5] The 10-year-old orphan moved in
simply as Bach) was a German composer, with his oldest brother, Johann Christoph Bach
organist, violist, and violinist whose (1671–1721), the organist at the Michaeliskirche
ecclesiastical and secular works for choir, in nearby Ohrdruf. [6]There, he copied, studied
orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the and performed music, and apparently received
strands of the Baroque period and brought it to valuable teaching from his brother, who
its ultimate maturity.[1] Although he did not instructed him on the clavichord. J.C. Bach
introduce new forms, he enriched the prevailing exposed him to the works of the great South
German style with a robust contrapuntal German composers of the day, such as Johann
technique, an unrivalled control of harmonic and Pachelbel (under whom Johann Christoph had
motivic organisation, and the adaptation of studied)[7] and Johann Jakob Froberger; possibly
rhythms, forms and textures from abroad, to the music of North German composers, to
particularly from Italy and France. Frenchmen, such as Jean-Baptiste Lully, Louis
Marchand, Marin Marais; and to the Italian
Revered for their intellectual depth, technical clavierist Girolamo Frescobaldi. The young Bach
command and artistic beauty, Bach's works probably witnessed and assisted in the
include the Brandenburg concertos, the maintenance of the organ music. Bach's obituary
Goldberg Variations, the Partitas, the Well- indicates that he copied music out of Johann
Tempered Clavier, the Mass in B Minor, the St. Christoph's scores, but his brother had apparently
Matthew Passion, the St. John Passion, the forbidden him to do so, possibly because scores
Magnificat, The Musical Offering, The Art of were valuable and private commodities at the
Fugue, the English and French Suites, the time.
Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, the Cello
Suites, more than 200 surviving cantatas, and a At the age of 14, Bach, along with his older
similar number of organ works, including the school friend George Erdmann, was awarded a
celebrated Toccata and Fugue in D minor and choral scholarship to study at the prestigious St.
Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor. Michael's School in Lüneburg, not far from the
northern seaport of Hamburg, one of the largest
Bach's abilities as an organist were highly cities in the Holy Roman Empire.[8] This
respected throughout Europe during his lifetime, involved a long journey with his friend, probably
although he was not widely recognised as a great undertaken partly on foot and partly by coach.
composer until a revival of interest and His two years there appear to have been critical
performances of his music in the first half of the in exposing him to a wider palette of European
19th century. He is now regarded as the supreme culture than he would have experienced in
composer of the Baroque, and as one of the Thuringia. In addition to singing in the a
greatest of all time. cappella choir, it is likely that he played the
School's three-manual organ and its
Childhood (1685–1703) harpsichords. He probably learned French and
Italian, and received a thorough grounding in
theology, Latin, history, geography, and physics.
Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, He would have come into contact with sons of
Saxe-Eisenach. He was the youngest child of noblemen from northern Germany sent to the
Johann Ambrosius Bach, the director of the highly selective school to prepare for careers in
Stadtpfeifer or town musicians,[2] and Maria diplomacy, government, and the military.
Elisabeth Lämmerhirt. His father taught him to
play violin and harpsichord.[3] His uncles were all
professional musicians, whose posts ranged from Musical style
church organists and court chamber musicians to
composers. One uncle, Johann Christoph Bach Bach's musical style arose from his extraordinary
(1645–93), was especially famous and fluency in contrapuntal invention and motivic
introduced him to the art of organ playing. Bach control, his flair for improvisation at the
was proud of his family's musical achievements, keyboard, his exposure to South German, North
and around 1735 he drafted a genealogy, "Origin German, Italian and French music, and his
of the musical Bach family".[4] apparent devotion to the Lutheran liturgy. His
access to musicians, scores and instruments as a
child and a young man, combined with his
emerging talent for writing tightly woven music
of powerful sonority, appear to have set him on • Wilhelm Friedemann (22 November
course to develop an eclectic, energetic musical 1710 – 1 July 1784).
style in which foreign influences were injected • Carl Philipp Emanuel (8 March 1714 –
into an intensified version of the pre-existing 14 December 1788).
German musical language. Throughout his teens • Johann Gottfried Bernhard (11 May
and 20s, his output showed increasing skill in the 1715 – 27 May 1739).
large-scale organisation of musical ideas, and the
enhancement of the Buxtehudian model of
Maria died in 1720, and Bach married Anna
improvisatory preludes and counterpoint of
Magdalena Wilcke in 1721. They had a further
limited complexity. The period 1713–14, when a
13 children, six of whom survived to adulthood:
large repertoire of Italian music became
available to the Weimar court orchestra, was a
turning point. From this time onwards, he • Gottfried Heinrich (1724–63)
appears to have absorbed into his style the • Elisabeth Juliana Friederica, called
Italians' dramatic openings, clear melodic "Lieschen" (1726–81)
contours, the sharp outlines of their bass lines, • Johann Christoph Friedrich, the
greater motoric and rhythmic conciseness, more "Bückeburg" Bach (1732–95)
unified motivic treatment, and more clearly • Johann Christian, the "London" Bach
articulated schemes for modulation.[38] (1735–82)
• Johanna Carolina (1737–81)
There are several more specific features of • Regina Susanna (1742–1809)
Bach's style. The notation of Baroque melodic
lines tended to assume that composers would Although Bach fathered 20 children, only 10
write out only the basic framework, and that survived infancy. He has no known descendants
performers would embellish this framework by living today. His great-granddaughter—Frau
inserting ornamental notes and otherwise Carolina Augusta Wilhelmine Ritter, who died
elaborating on it. Although this practice varied 13 May 1871—was his last known descendant.
considerably between the schools of European [39]

music, Bach was regarded at the time as being on

one extreme end of the spectrum, notating most Other keyboard works
or all of the details of his melodic lines—
particularly in his fast movements—thus leaving
little for performers to interpolate. This may The title page of the third part of the Clavier-
have assisted his control over the dense Übung, one of the few works by Bach that was
contrapuntal textures that he favoured, which published during his lifetime
allow less leeway for the spontaneous variation
of musical lines. Bach's contrapuntal textures Bach wrote many works for the harpsichord,
tend to be more cumulative than those of Händel some of which may also have been played on the
and most other composers of the day, who would clavichord. Many of his keyboard works are
typically allow a line to drop out after it had been anthologies that show an eagerness to encompass
joined by two or three others. Bach's harmony is whole theoretical systems in an encyclopaedic
marked by a tendency to employ brief fashion.
tonicisation—subtle references to another key
that lasts for only a few beats at the longest— • The Well-Tempered Clavier, Books 1
particularly of the supertonic, to add colour to and 2 (BWV 846–893). Each book
his textures. comprises a prelude and fugue in each
of the 24 major and minor keys in
Family members chromatic order from C major to B
minor (thus, the whole collection is
Bach married his second cousin Maria Barbara often referred to as 'the 48'). "Well-
Bach in 1707. They had seven children, four of tempered" in the title refers to the
whom survived to adulthood: temperament (system of tuning); many
temperaments before Bach's time were
not flexible enough to allow
• Catharina Dorothea (28 December 1708 compositions to move through more
– 14 January 1774). than just a few keys. [42]
 • The 15 Inventions and 15 Sinfonias British subject.[1] His works include Messiah,
(BWV 772–801). These short two- and Water Music, and Music for the Royal
three-part contrapuntal works are Fireworks. He was strongly influenced by the
arranged in the same chromatic order as techniques of the great composers of the Italian
the Well-Tempered Clavier, omitting Baroque and the English composer Henry
some of the less used keys. The pieces Purcell. Handel's music was well-known to many
were intended by Bach for instructional composers, including Haydn, Mozart, and
purposes. Beethoven.
• The Goldberg Variations (BWV 988),
an aria with thirty variations. The Early years
collection has a complex and
unconventional structure: the variations Handel was born in Halle (which was then in the
build on the bass line of the aria, rather Duchy of Magdeburg, a province of
than its melody, and musical canons are Brandenburg-Prussia) to Georg and Dorothea
interpolated according to a grand plan. (née Taust) Händel in 1685,[2]:[1]. His father,
There are nine canons within the 30 Georg Händel, 63 when his son was born, was an
variations, one placed every three eminent barber-surgeon who also served as
variations between variations 3 and 27. surgeon to the court of Saxe-Weissenfels and the
These variations move in order from Margraviate of Brandenburg.[3] According to
canon at the unison to canon at the John Mainwaring, his first biographer, "Handel
ninth. The first eight are in pairs (unison had discovered such a strong propensity to
and octave, second and seventh, third Music, that his father who always intended him
and sixth, fourth and fifth). The ninth for the study of the Civil Law, had reason to be
canon stands on its own due to alarmed. He strictly forbad him to meddle with
compositional dissimilarities. any musical instrument but Handel found means
• Miscellaneous pieces such as the to get a little clavichord privately convey'd to a
Overture in the French Style (French room at the top of the house. To this room he
Overture, BWV 831), Chromatic constantly stole when the family was asleep".[4]
Fantasia and Fugue (BWV 903), and At an early age Handel became a skillful
the Italian Concerto (BWV 971). performer on the harpsichord and pipe organ.[5]:[3–
4]
One day Handel and his father went on a trip to
With the exception of ``Messiah,'' ``Water Weissenfels to visit either his son (Handel's half-
Music'' and ``Fireworks Music,'' works by the brother) Carl, or grandson (Handel's nephew)
baroque master George Frideric Handel (1685- Georg Christian [6] who was serving as a valet to
1759) remain woefully underplayed, despite the Duke Johann Adolf I.[7] According to legend, the
growing importance of the early music and young Handel attracted the attention of the Duke
period-instrument movements. with his playing on the churchorgan. At his
urging, Handel's father permitted him to take
True, in recent years Handel's operas have lessons in musical composition and keyboard
undergone a minor rediscovery; and his technique from Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, the
keyboard suites, thanks to pianists Keith Jarrett organist of the Lutheran Marienkirche. From
and Murray Perahia, have been revived. then on Handel learned about harmony and
contemporary styles, analysed sheet music
scores, learned to work fugue subjects and copy
Still, his concerti grossi and chamber works have
music. Sometimes he would take his teacher's
basically disappeared from the mainstream
place as organist for services.[8]:[17] In 1698
repertoire. And, except for ``Messiah'' (1742), ...
Handel played for Frederick I of Prussia and met
Giovanni Bononcini in Berlin; in 1701 Georg
George Frideric Handel (German: Georg Philipp Telemann came to Halle to listen to the
Friedrich Händel promising young man.
(23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a
German-English Baroque composer who is Opera at Covent Garden (1734–41)
famous for his operas, oratorios, and concerti
grossi. Handel was born in Germany in the same
year as JS Bach and Domenico Scarlatti. He Portrait of George Frederick Handel engraved by
received critical musical training in Italy before Charles Turner, 1821
settling in London and becoming a naturalised
In 1733 the Earl of Essex received a letter with In 1749 he composed Music for the Royal
the following sentence: "Handel became so Fireworks; 12,000 people attended the
arbitrary a prince, that the Town murmurs". The performance.[9]:[297–98]
board of chief investors expected Handel to
retire when his contract ended, but Handel In 1750 Handel arranged a performance of
immediately looked for another theatre. In Messiah to benefit the Foundling Hospital. The
cooperation with John Rich he started his third performance was considered a great success and
company at Covent Garden Theatre. Rich was was followed by annual concerts that continued
renowed for his spectacular productions: he throughout his life. In recognition of his
suggested Handel use his small chorus and patronage, Handel was made a governor of the
introduce the dancing of Marie Sallé, for whom Hospital the day after his initial concert. He
Handel composed Terpsichore. In 1735 he bequeathed a copy of Messiah to the institution
introduced organ concertos between the acts. For upon his death.[28]:[56] His involvement with the
the first time Handel allowed Gioacchino Conti, Foundling Hospital is today commemorated with
who had no time to learn his part, to substitute a permanent exhibition in London's Foundling
arias.[24] Financially, Ariodante was a failure, Museum, which also holds the Gerald Coke
although he introduced ballet suites at the end of Handel Collection. In addition to the Foundling
each act.[25] Alcina, his last opera with a magic Hospital, Handel also gave to a charity that
content, and Alexander’s Feast or the Power of helped to assist impoverished musicians and
Music based on John Dryden's Alexander's Feast their families. Also, during the summer of 1741,
starred Anna Maria Strada del Pò and John the Duke of Devonshire invited Handel to
Beard (tenor). Dublin to give concerts for the benefit of local
hospitals.
In April 1737, at age 52, Handel suffered a
stroke which left his right arm temporarily Works
paralysed, preventing him from performing.[9]:[395]
He also complained of difficulties in focussing Handel's compositions include 42 operas, 29
his eyesight.[citation needed] In summer the disorder oratorios, more than 120 cantatas, trios and
seemed at times to affect his understanding. duets, numerous arias, chamber music, a large
Nobody expected that Handel would ever be able number of ecumenical pieces, odes and
to perform again. But whether the affliction was serenatas, and 16 organ concerti. His most
rheumatism, a stroke or a nervous breakdown, he famous work, the oratorio Messiah with its
recovered remarkably quickly.[26] To aid his "Hallelujah" chorus, is among the most popular
recovery, Handel had travelled to Aachen, a spa works in choral music and has become a
in Germany. During six weeks he took long hot centrepiece of the Christmas season. Also
baths, and ending up playing the organ for a popular are the Opus 3 and 6 Concerti Grossi, as
surprised audience.[27] well as The Cuckoo and the Nightingale, in
which birds are heard calling during passages
Deidamia his last, and only baroque opera played in different keys representing the vocal
without an accompagnato, was performed three ranges of two birds. Also notable are his sixteen
times. Having lost a fortune in operatic keyboard suites, especially The Harmonious
management, Handel gave up the business in Blacksmith.
1741. In the meantime Handel enjoyed more and
more success with his English oratorios, and Handel introduced various previously
John Walsh published six organ concertos, and uncommon musical instruments in his works: the
twelve Concerti grossi. viola d'amore and violetta marina (Orlando), the
lute (Ode for St. Cecilia's Day), three trombones
Later years (Saul), clarinets or small high cornets
(Tamerlano), theorbo, horn (Water Music),
Following his recovery Handel focused on lyrichord, double bassoon, viola da gamba, bell
composing oratorios instead of opera. His chimes, positive organ, and harp (Giulio Cesare,
Messiah was first performed at the New Music Alexander's Feast).[29]
Hall in Fishamble Street, Dublin, on 13 April
1742, with 26 boys and five men from the Handel's works have been catalogued in the
combined choirs of St Patrick's and Christ Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis and are commonly
Church cathedrals participating.[28]:[48]
referred to by a HWV number. For example,
Messiah is catalogued as HWV 56.