Bach; Brandenberg Concertos Essay -- essays research papers

The Brandenburg Concertos   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the most profoundly inspired and masterful composers in history, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750), was born into a musical family in Eisenach, Germany. Born into a musical family his father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, was a talented violinist, and taught his son the basic skills of string-playing. Another relation, the organist at Eisenach’s most important church, intructed the young boy on the organ.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1695, Johann Sebastian was orphaned; he went to live with his older brother, Johann Christoph, in Ohrdruf. Johann Christoph was a professional organist, and continued his younger brother’s education on that instrument, as well as on the harpsichord. After several years in this arrangement, Johann Sebastian won a scholarship to study in Luneberg, Northern Germany, and so left his brothers tutelage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A master of several instruments while still in his teens, Johann Sebastian first found employment at the age of 18 as a violinist in a court orchestra in Weimar. Soon after, he took a job as an organist at a church in Arnstadt (1703-1707). Here, as in later posts, his perfectionist tendencies and high expectations of other musicians – for example, the church choir – rubbed his colleagues the wrong way, and he was embroiled in a number of hot disputes during his short tenure. In 1707, at the age of 22, Bach became fed up with the lousy musical standards of Ar...