2. Johann Sebastian Bach was the youngest,
the eighth child in a family of musician
Johann Ambrosias Bach and Elizabeth
Lemmerhirt.
When Johann Sebastian was 9 years old,
his mother died, a year later died his father,
having shortly before marrying again. The
boy took to his older brother, Johann
Christoph, who served as an organist in the
nearby Ohrdruf.
3. “Bach's music is a conversation of
eternal harmony with itself, it is like
God's thoughts before the creation
of the world.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
4. Key stages of biography
1. Weimar (1708-1717).
Church organist and
choirmaster at the ducal
court. He wrote works for
organ.
2. Ketene (1717-1723).
A writer for the court playing.
He wrote orchestral and
clavier music.
3. Leipzig (1723-1750).
Cantor (Music-director and
teacher) in the church
school. Wrote cantatas and
oratorios.
5. I.S. Bach wrote over 1000 works:
Organ music.
Vocal and dramatic music.
Instrumental music.
Today, performers of Bach's music
are divided into two camps:
those who prefer authentic performance
(or "historically-oriented performance"),
and those performing Bach
using modern instruments and
arrangements.
