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Johann Sebastian Bach, 1748 portrait by Elias Gottlob Haussmann
J. S. Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany, in 1685 and died in 1750 at the age of 65. His father, Johann Ambrosius Bach , was the town piper in Eisenach, a post that entailed organizing all the secular music in town as well as participating in church music at the direction of the church organist, and his uncles were also all professional musicians ranging from church organists and court chamber musicians to composers, although Bach would later surpass them all in his art. In an era when sons were expected to assist in their fathers' work, we can assume J. S. Bach began copying music and playing various instruments at an early age.
Bach's mother died when he was still a young boy and his father suddenly passed away when J. S. Bach was 9, at which time J. S. Bach moved in with his older brother Johann Christoph Bach , who was the organist of Ohrdruf in Germany. While in his brother's house, J. S. Bach continued copying, studying, and playing music. According to one popular legend of the young composer's curiosity, late one night, when the house was asleep, he retrieved a manuscript (which may have been a collection of works by Johann Christoph's former mentor, Johann Pachelbel) from his brother's music cabinet and began to copy it by the moonlight. This went on nightly until Johann Christoph heard the young Sebastian playing some of the distinctive tunes from his private library, at which point the elder brother demanded to know how Sebastian had come to learn them.
It was at Ohrdruf that Bach began to learn about organ building. The Ohrdruf church's instrument, it seems, was in constant need of minor repairs, and young J. S. Bach was often sent into the belly of the old organ to tighten, adjust, or replace various parts. Realizing that in the seventeenth and eighteenth17th century 18th century 19th century more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701- 1800; however, historians will sometimes specifically refer to the 18th Century as 1715- 89, centuries the church organ, with its moving bellows, manifold stops, and complicated mechanical linkages from the keys and pedals to the many actual pipes, was the most complex machine in any European town, we can imagine that Sebastian may have been awed by it much as modern boys are fascinated by cars, trucks, and planes. This hands-on experience with the innards of the instrument would provide a unique counterpointCounterpoint is a musical device where two or more melodic phrases occur simultaneously. The term comes from the Latin punctus contra punctum (note against note). A note moves against another note when the interval between those two notes either grows or to his unequalled skill at playing the instrument; J. S. Bach was equally at home talking with organ builders and performers.
While in school and as a young man, Bach's curiosity compelled him to seek out great organists of Germany such as Georg Böhm , Dietrich BuxtehudeDietrich Buxtehude (ca. 1637 May 9, 1707) was an organist and composer of the Baroque period. Not only the year, but also the country of his birth is uncertain and disputed. Since he spent his early years in Helsingborg in Scania, at the time part of Denm and Johann Adam ReinkenJohann Adam Reinken ( April 27, 1623 November 24, 1722) was an organist at St. Katharinen in Hamburg, Germany. He was a signficant influence to Johann Sebastian Bach and Bach's art of organ improvisation. Reinken, Johann Adam Reinken, Johann Adam., often taking journeys of considerable length to hear them play. He was also influenced by the work of Nicholas Bruhns. Shortly after graduation (Bach completed Latin school when he was 18, an impressive accomplishment in his day, especially considering that he was the first in his family to finish school), Bach took a post as organist at Arnstadt in Germany in 1703Events February 2 Earthquake in Aquila, Italy February 4 In Japan the 47 samurai commit seppuku (ritual suicide) February 14 Earthquake in Norcia, Italy May 27 Founding of St Petersburg May 26 Portugal joins Great Alliance July 29- 31 Daniel Defoe is plac. He apparently felt cramped in the small town and began to seek his fortune elsewhere. Owing to his virtuosity, he was soon offered a more lucrative organist post in Muhlhausen . Some of Bach's earliest extant compositions date to this period (including, according to some scholars, his famous Toccata and Fugue in D Minor), but owing to the general immaturity of this "early" Bach music, much of the music Bach wrote during this time has unfortunately been lost.