By Curtis Jefferson | curtjeff@yahoo.com | Vienna/Choir/9957

J.S. Bach 1685-1750

The 18-year-old Bach began working as an organist in 1703 at the New Church in Arnstadt, and left there in 1707. At that time, he moved to Muelhausen to become organist at the Church of St. Blaise. He remained there until 1708. Also in 1707, he married his cousin Maria. They had seven children before she died in 1720.

Bach returned to Weimar in 1708 to begin work in the court of the Duke of Saxe-Weimar. He was organist and a chamber musician there for nine years, until, in 1717, he had a quarrel with the Duke and left the court. From 1717 to 1723, he served Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Coethen as director of music. In 1721, he married Anna Magdala Wilcken, a professional singer. They had 13 children.

In 1723, the Bachs moved to Leipzig and remained there for the remainder of his life. Johann was director of music at St. Thomas' School, which provided music for churches in the city. He gradually began to lose his eyesight, and, by 1740 was almost blind. He died in 1750 as a result of a stroke.

Bach often wrote "I.N.J." for the Latin words meaning "In the Name of Jesus" on the manuscripts of even his non-religious works. His works were largely unappreciated by performers of his day because they felt that his pieces were too complex and elaborate. However, his craftsmanship showed the widest range of musical combinations. He composed in all of the musical forms of his day except opera.

Bach based each movement of his work on a characteristic mood and tended to maintain that mood more consistently than later composers. He frequently restated a melody by imitation, repeating it in a higher or lower voice than the original melody. He also used a consistent unit of rhythm throughout a given work.