Scan 57
Baker's biographical dictionary of musicians, 1919
4 lines. Read by computer on 10 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
11671; d. Ohrdruf, Feb. 22, 1721. He was organist at Ohrdruf, and his distinguished brother's teacher on the clavichord.
315. Bach, Johann Sebastian, the most famous of the family, and one of the great masters of music; b. Eisenach, Mar. 21 (bapt. Mar. 23), 1685; d. Leipzig, July 28, 1750. He first learned the violin from his father (Joh. Ambrosius [8]). His mother, Elizabeth, née Lämmerhirt, was a native of Erfurt. Both his parents dying in his tenth year, he went to live with his brother, Johann Christoph [14], at Ohrdruf, who taught him the clavichord; but the boy's genius soon outstripped his brother's skill, and led to somewhat harsh treatment by the latter. Unable to obtain the loan of a MS. vol. of works by composers of the day, Sebastian secretly obtained possession of the work, and, by the light of the moon, painfully and laboriously copied the whole, within six months, only to have it taken from him, when his brother accidentally found him practising from it. He recovered it when his brother's death occurred shortly after. Left to his own resources, J. S. went to Lüneburg with a fellow-student named Erdmann, and both were admitted as choristers at St. Michaels ch., also receiving gratuitous scholastic education. The fame of the family had preceded Sebastian, for in the choice collection of printed and MS. music of the ch. were to be found the comps. of Heinrich and J. Christoph B. [6]. A fellow-Thuringian, George Böhm, was the org. of St. John's ch., and Bach attentively studied his compositions. He also often went on foot to Hamburg, to hear the famous old Dutch organist Reinken, and to Celle, where French music was exclusively used in the services of the Royal Chapel. With indefatigable industry he developed his technical skill on the violin, clavichord, and organ, and perfected himself in the art of composition; often working and studying the whole night through. In 1703 he became violinist in the Weimar court orch., but the following year quitted this post for the more congenial one of org. of the new church at Arnstadt. Some of his comps. of this early period, for clavichord and organ, are of importance. In 1705 he obtained leave of absence, and walked to Lübeck, to make the acquaintance of the famous organist Dietrich Buxtehude. He was so impressed with this master's style, that he trebled his leave of absence, and returned only after a peremptory summons from the church-consistory of Arnstadt. He received favorable offers from different places, and June 29, 1707, accepted the app. as org. at Mühlhausen. On Oct. 17 he married his cousin, Maria Barbara Bach, daughter of Johann Michael [7]. The following year he went to Weimar, played before the reigning duke, and was at once offered the post of court organist. In 1714 he was made 'Concertmeister.' All this time he was writing much church- and organ-music. In his autumn vacations he made professional clavichord- and organ-tours. In 1713 he visited Kassel and Halle, Leipzig in 1714 (where he furnished all the organ-music for a service cond. in the Thomaskirche, and prod. a cantata), Halle again in 1716, and Dresden in 1717. In this town his challenge to Marchand, a French organist of high reputation, was evaded by the latter's failure to appear. In 1717 B. was app. Kapellm. and director of chamber-music to Prince Leopold of Anhalt, at Köthen, and this period is especially rich in the production of orchestral and chamber-music. In 1719 he revisited Halle, hoping to meet Handel; but the latter had just left for England. In 1720, during his absence at Carlsbad, his wife died suddenly. In the autumn of the same year he applied, though (owing to bribery) without success, for the organistship of the Jacobikirche, Hamburg. Here he again met the aged Reinken, whose admiration he excited by his brilliant playing. In 1721 he married his second wife, Anna Magdalene Wülken, a daughter of the court-trumpeter at Weissenfels. Thirteen children were born to them. Of highly-cultured musical taste, she participated in his labors, and wrote out the parts of many of his cantatas. B. prepared 2 books of music especially for her. In May, 1723, he succ. Johann Kuhnau as cantor at the Thomas-schule, Leipzig, becoming also org. and dir. of music at the two principal churches, the Thomaskirche and the Nicolaikirche, and continuing in the service of Prince Leopold of Anhalt as 'Kapellm. von Haus aus.' He further received the app. of hon. Kapellm. to the Duke of Weissenfels, and, in 1736, that of court composer to the King of Poland, Elector of Saxony. He remained in his post at Leipzig for 27 years, and there composed most of his religious music. He often visited Dresden, where his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann, was app. in 1733 organist of the Sophienkirche. On these occasions he frequently attended the Italian opera, then cond. by Hasse. His second son, Karl Philipp Emanuel, was app. in 1740 chamber-musician to Frederick II of Prussia. He communicated to his father the king's oft-expressed wish to see and hear him; and on May 7, 1747, with his son Wilhelm Friedemann, B. arrived at Potsdam. Here, at the king's request, he tried, and improvised upon, the various Silbermann pianos in the different rooms of the palace, to the admiration of his royal host, and of the musicians who followed them from room to room. The next day B. tried, in a
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.