Johann Sebastian Bach: The Musical Marvel

“I was obliged to be industrious. Whoever is equally as industrious will succeed equally well.” (Johann Sebastian Bach). Bach was a composer who worked to change music for the better. His instrumental compositions are widely listened to amongst the world today. Johann Sebastian Bach composed over 100 church cantatas, using his creativity, imagination, and innovation to overcome the many challenges that were thrown to him, such as divided public opinion, and influenced the world by bringing the Baroque Period to a close. Bach composed a lot of songs in his years of living. According to the article “Johann Sebastian Bach” (1998), Bach wrote 295 church cantatas in yearly cycles of 59. This was one of the many accomplishments of Bach. He was awarded many different positions because of his composing skills. He became a concertmaster for the Duke of Weimar in 1714, and became Kapellmeister, or the director of music, in 1717. He was also given a job at two of the chief musical posts in Germany. Lastly, according to “Johann Sebastian Bach” (1998) Bach was also awarded a scholarship to one of the finest music schools in Germany. Bach’s life was full of music, and creating music was his life. Another thing that made Bach into the musician we know today, is the challenges that he faced. Bach faced many challenges in his career, such as death, others’ opinions, and even jail time. One of his first issues in his life, was simply the pressure of being the son of a long line of musicians. Bach knew he had to carry on the legacy, which made him worried. According to “Johann Sebastian Bach” (2003), Bach was a successful person, despite the pressure placed upon him. 

Another challenge faced by Bach was the death of his father. Bach was only ten when his father had died, and so Bach was to be trained musically under his brother instead. Nevertheless, Bach was still successful. His mother also died around the same time as his father died, which caused grief from Bach. Yet another issue faced by Bach was his choir wasn’t considered to be normal. As this was Bach’s musical style, he wasn’t sure what to do about it. Lastly, according to “Johann Sebastian Bach” (1998), when Bach was furious towards Duke Wilhelm, he was placed in jail for eight days. This caused the public eye to think even worse of him. Although Bach faced many challenges, he managed to pursue and overcome them using his creativity and imagination. 

Bach still made a considerable impact on the world today. Bach wrote many different church chorales, in which we still sing today. According to “Beyond Bach the Monument, who was Bach the man?” (2000), Bach set out to write dance music – or instrumental concertos, or chorale cantatas, or preludes and fugues – he did so in an intense, exhaustive way, summarizing all that had gone before and carrying the endeavor to a new level of perfection. Also, according to “Johann Sebastian Bach” (2003), Bach also showed us out of the Baroque Period with his newer style of music. This made Bach a considerably important person in the music world. Bach has made an impact in the music world, as well as outside the musical world. Bach most certainly deserves his title as an eminent person. Bach created multiple songs, and accomplished a lot for a single musician. He pursued through his multiple challenges using his musical ability, and innovation. He also made an impact on the world of music, as well as the world of today. 

In conclusion, Bach has changed his field, and the world we know today.

References

• Stauffer, G. B. (2000, April 2). Beyond Bach the monument, who was Bach the man? New York Times, p. AR. Retrieved from https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A61247506/BIC?u=va_s_128_9999&sid=BIC&xid=a7a6b03f
• Johann Sebastian Bach. (1988). In Encyclopedia of World Biography Online. Detroit, MI: Gale. Retrieved From https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1631000372/BIC?
• Milner, A. (2003). Johann Sebastian Bach. In New Catholic Encyclopedia. Detroit, MI: Gale Retrieved From https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/K3407701020/BIC?u=va_s_128_9999&sid=BIC&xid=0cd62419