Chapter 68 father of music bach

The sky over Germany in the first half of the 17th century was shrouded in thick smoke and fog.This is a gloomy world that suffocates humanity.In order to fight for power and profit, the princes, monks and priests took advantage of the differences between Protestantism and Oldism, and divided into two camps.The brutal war, which lasted for 30 years, reduced the German population by 1/3, the cities were depressed, the land was barren, the mines were damaged, and the industry and commerce declined.Rulers maintain their tyranny with club and whip.Free farmers are as rare as white crows.This was the darkest period in German history.

However, there will always be a few rays of starlight in the long dark night.In such a turbulent era, Bach, the giant of European music in the 18th century and the master of classical music, was born.His music is like a flash of light, bringing a ray of light to the dark age of Germany and influencing the future development of world music. The Bach family is destined to have an indissoluble bond with music. In the past two hundred years, many musicians have appeared in the Bach family. Saturday, March 21, 1685.The historical lens focuses on a small town called Eisenach in the Thuringia region of central Germany.In a two-story red-roofed building in the town, a baby boy was born with a loud cry.Two days later, the child was baptized in St. Olger's Church, and his parents named him Johann Sebastian.The child's father was the conductor of the town band.Before Sebastian was born, the Bach family had lived and multiplied in Thuringia for five generations.Since his grandfather's generation, the whole family has taken music as their main occupation, which can be described as a musical family.

Influenced by the family environment, Bach received a good music education since he was a child.Tutored by his father, he became adept at playing the violin and viola, and made his mark in the choir of the local school where he attended.Although Bach was not called a child prodigy like Mozart later, he also laid a solid foundation in music through ordinary family education. Bach's parents died when he was 10 years old, so he had to leave his hometown and live with his elder brother in Aldruff.Under the guidance of his elder brother who was an organist, Bach mastered the playing skills of keyboard instruments, which laid the foundation for becoming a master of keyboard instruments in the future.Due to family and economic reasons, Bach failed to receive a university education like Handel did, and traveled to Lüneburg to study at the age of 15.During more than three years of arduous study, Bach extensively absorbed the rich nutrition left by his predecessors, personally visited some famous music teachers nearby, and mastered superb composition skills.

At the age of 18, Bach's musical career began.Under the patronage system at that time, Bach could not be as famous as Liszt and Paganini later, let alone be as popular as today's stars, but lived as a servant under the patronage. and creation.Although this allowed Bach to have a stable income, he would inevitably have conflicts with his protector and even suffer humiliation.Bach initially worked as an organist in churches in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen in 1703 and 1707, and mainly composed religious music.As his performance skills and composition skills matured, Bach rose to fame and became a court musician.For 15 years from 1708 to 1723, Bach served successively at the Weimar and Cotten courts.

The days at Cotten were a golden age in Bach's life.During this period, he created the first volume of "Well-tempered Piano Collection", which is known as "the Old Testament of keyboard music", and the "Brandenburg Concerto", which is a milestone in the history of orchestral music development, and many other outstanding secular and religious works. music. In 1723, Prince Cotten, Bach's master, seemed to be indifferent to music, so he resigned from the court and came to Leipzig as the music director of St. Thomas' Church School, where he spent the remaining 27 years of his life. time.

The Leipzig period was the longest period in Bach's life, and also the period when he created the most.At this time, Bach has reached the point of perfection in both performance skills and composition level.The masterpieces he composed in Leipzig include the moving Mass in B Minor and the Passion of Matthew, the second volume of Well-Tempered Piano Works and The Art of Fugue, which embodies his profound compositional attainments, etc. . In 1747, when the uncrowned king of music traveled to Potsdam, he was summoned by another king, Frederick of Prussia, and performed an impromptu performance, which impressed the audience.In the second year, Bach developed the theme of this performance and wrote another work summarizing his composition and performance art - "Music Offering".

Due to his long-term excessive use of eyes, Bach's eyesight decreased (perhaps because of this, Bach in the portraits always squinted his eyes), and he suffered from cataract in his later years and became blind, but he still insisted on creating by dictation.A few days before his death, he was still dictating a chorale "To the Altar of the Lord".Every note of the music expresses the old man's last devout prayer before his death, and finally stops abruptly at the 26th bar, becoming the master's last work. On the night of July 28, 1750, Bach's life came to a final rest, and he walked safely to the altar in his heart.Three days later, Bach was buried in the church cemetery of St. Johann in Leipzig.At this time, Vivaldi had been buried in the earth for 9 years, and another great colleague of his, Handel, was also blind and his creations gradually decreased.It can be said that with the death of Bach, the Baroque era of music is over.