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Why bah. Johann Sebastian Bach - short biography of the composer

Why bah. Johann Sebastian Bach - short biography of the composer

12.06.2019

(1685-1750)

Johann Sebastian Bach is a great German composer of the 18th century. More than two hundred and fifty years have passed since the death of Bach, and interest in his music is growing. During his lifetime, the composer did not receive the recognition he deserved.

Interest in Bach's music arose almost a hundred years after his death: in 1829, under the baton of the German composer Mendelssohn, Bach's greatest work, The Matthew Passion, was publicly performed. For the first time - in Germany - the complete collection of Bach's works was published. And musicians all over the world play Bach's music, marveling at its beauty and inspiration, mastery and perfection. "Not a stream! “The sea must be his name,” said the great Beethoven about Bach.

Bach's ancestors have long been famous for their musicality. It is known that the composer's great-great-grandfather, a baker by profession, played the zither. Flutists, trumpeters, organists, violinists came out of the Bach family. In the end, every musician in Germany began to be called Bach and every Bach a musician. Johann Sebastian Bach was born in 1685 in the small German town of Eisenach. He received his first violin skills from his father, a violinist and city musician. The boy had an excellent voice (soprano) and sang in the choir of the city school. No one doubted his future profession: little Bach was to become a musician. For nine years, the child was left an orphan. His tutor was an older brother who served as a church organist in the city of Ohrdruf. The brother assigned the boy to the gymnasium and continued to teach music. But he was an insensitive musician. Classes were monotonous and boring. For an inquisitive ten-year-old boy, this was excruciating. Therefore, he strove for self-education. Having learned that his brother kept a notebook with works of famous composers in a locked closet, the boy secretly took out this notebook at night and copied notes in the moonlight. This tedious work lasted six months, it severely damaged the vision of the future composer. And what was the grief of the child when his brother caught him one day doing this and took away the already transcribed notes.

At the age of fifteen, Johann Sebastian decided to start an independent life and moved to Lüneburg. In 1703 he graduated from the gymnasium and received the right to enter the university. But Bach did not have to use this right, since it was necessary to earn a livelihood.

During his life, Bach moved from city to city several times, changing jobs. Almost every time the reason turned out to be the same - unsatisfactory working conditions, a humiliating, dependent position. But no matter how unfavorable the situation, he never left the desire for new knowledge, for improvement. With tireless energy, he constantly studied the music of not only German, but also Italian and French composers. Bach did not miss the opportunity to personally meet outstanding musicians, to study the manner of their performance. Once, having no money for a trip, young Bach went to another city on foot to listen to the famous organist Buxtehude play.

The composer also steadily defended his attitude to creativity, his views on music. Contrary to the admiration of court society for foreign music, Bach studied and widely used German folk songs and dances in his works with special love. Having perfectly known the music of composers from other countries, he did not blindly imitate them. Extensive and deep knowledge helped him improve and polish his composing skills.

Sebastian Bach's talent was not limited to this area. He was the best organ and harpsichord player among his contemporaries. And if, as a composer, Bach did not receive recognition during his lifetime, then in improvisations behind the organ his skill was unsurpassed. This was forced to admit even his rivals.

It is said that Bach was invited to Dresden to take part in a competition with the then famous French organist and harpsichordist Louis Marchand. The day before, a preliminary acquaintance of the musicians took place, both of them played the harpsichord. That same night, Marchand hurriedly left, thus recognizing the undeniable superiority of Bach. On another occasion, in the city of Kassel, Bach amazed his listeners by performing a solo on the organ pedal. Such success did not turn Bach's head; he always remained a very modest and hardworking person. When asked how he achieved such perfection, the composer replied: "I had to work hard, whoever is as hard will achieve the same."

From 1708 Bach settled in Weimar. Here he served as court musician and city organist. During the Weimar period, the composer created his best organ works. Among them are the famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor, the famous Passacaglia in C minor. These works are significant and deep in content, grandiose in their scope.

In 1717 Bach and his family moved to Köthen. At the court of the Prince of Köthen, where he was invited, there was no organ. Bach wrote mainly clavier and orchestral music. The composer's duties included directing a small orchestra, accompanying the prince's singing, and entertaining him by playing the harpsichord. Easily coping with his duties, Bach devoted all his free time to creativity. The works for the clavier created at that time represent the second pinnacle in his work after organ compositions. Two-part and three-part inventions were written in Köthen (Bach called three-part inventions "sinfonias"). The composer intended these pieces to study with his eldest son Wilhelm Friedemann. Pedagogical goals guided Bach in the creation of suites - "French" and "English". In Köthen, Bach also completed 24 preludes and fugues, which made up the first volume of a great work called The Well-Tempered Clavier. In the same period, the famous "Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue" in D minor was also written.

In our time, Bach's inventions and suites have become obligatory pieces in the programs of music schools, and the preludes and fugues of the Well-Tempered Clavier - in schools and conservatories. Intended by the composer for a pedagogical purpose, these works are also of interest to a mature musician. Therefore, Bach's pieces for the clavier, starting with relatively easy inventions and ending with the most complex Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue, can be heard at concerts and on the radio, performed by the world's best pianists.

From Köthen in 1723, Bach moved to Leipzig, where he remained until the end of his life. Here he took the position of cantor (choir leader) of the singing school at the Church of St. Thomas. Bach was obliged to serve the main churches of the city with the help of the school and be responsible for the state and quality of church music. He had to accept difficult conditions for himself. Along with the duties of a teacher, educator and composer, there were also such instructions: "Do not leave the city without the permission of Mr. Burgomaster." As before, his creative possibilities were limited. Bach had to compose such music for the church that "would not be too long, and also ... opera-like, but that would arouse reverence in the listeners." But Bach, as always, sacrificing a lot, never gave up the main thing - his artistic convictions. Throughout his life, he created works that are striking in their deep content and inner richness.

So it was this time. In Leipzig, Bach created his best vocal and instrumental compositions: most of the cantatas (in total, Bach wrote about 250 cantatas), the Passion according to John, the Passion according to Matthew, Mass in B minor. "Passion", or "passions" according to John and Matthew is a story about the suffering and death of Jesus Christ in the description of the evangelists John and Matthew. The Mass is close in content to the Passion. In the past, both the mass and the "passion" were choral chants in the Catholic Church. In Bach, these works go far beyond the scope of the church service. The Mass and Passion by Bach are monumental works of a concert character. Soloists, choir, orchestra, organ participate in their performance. In terms of their artistic significance, the cantatas, the Passion and the Mass represent the third and highest pinnacle of the composer's work.

The church authorities were clearly dissatisfied with Bach's music. As in previous years, she was found too bright, colorful, humane. Indeed, Bach's music did not answer, but rather contradicted the strict church atmosphere, the mood of detachment from everything earthly. Along with major vocal and instrumental works, Bach continued to write music for the clavier. Almost at the same time as the Mass, the famous "Italian Concerto" was written. Bach later completed the second volume of The Well-Tempered Clavier, which included 24 new preludes and fugues.

In addition to the enormous creative work and service in the church school, Bach took an active part in the activities of the "Music College" of the city. It was a society of music lovers, which arranged concerts of secular, not church music for the inhabitants of the city. With great success, Bach performed in concerts of the "Musical Collegium" as a soloist and conductor. Especially for the concerts of the society, he wrote many orchestral, clavier and vocal works of a secular nature. But the main work of Bach - the head of the school of choristers - brought him nothing but grief and trouble. The funds allocated by the church for the school were negligible, and the singing boys were starving and poorly dressed. The level of their musical abilities was also low. Singers were often recruited, regardless of the opinion of Bach. The school orchestra was more than modest: four trumpets and four violins!

All petitions for help to the school, submitted by Bach to the city authorities, were ignored. The cantor was responsible for everything.

The only consolation was still creativity, family. The grown sons - Wilhelm Friedemann, Philip Emmanuel, Johann Christian - turned out to be talented musicians. Even during the life of their father, they became famous composers. Great musicality was distinguished by Anna Magdalena Bach, the second wife of the composer. She had an excellent ear and a beautiful, strong soprano voice. The eldest daughter of Bach also sang well. For his family, Bach composed vocal and instrumental ensembles.

The last years of the composer's life were overshadowed by a serious eye disease. After an unsuccessful operation, Bach became blind. But even then he continued to compose, dictating his works for recording. Bach's death remained almost unnoticed by the musical community. He was soon forgotten. The fate of Bach's wife and youngest daughter was sad. Anna Magdalena died ten years later in a poor house. The youngest daughter Regina eked out a beggarly existence. In the last years of her difficult life, Beethoven helped her.

35 rebounds, 3 of them this month

Biography

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in 1685 in the small German town of Eisenach. He received his first violin skills from his father, a violinist and city musician. The boy had an excellent voice (soprano) and sang in the choir of the city school. No one doubted his future profession: little Bach was to become a musician. For nine years, the child was left an orphan. His elder brother, who served as a church organist in the city of Ohrdruf, became his tutor. The brother assigned the boy to the gymnasium and continued to teach music. But he was an insensitive musician. Classes were monotonous and boring. For an inquisitive ten-year-old boy, this was excruciating. Therefore, he strove for self-education. Having learned that his brother kept a notebook with works of famous composers in a locked closet, the boy secretly took out this notebook at night and copied notes in the moonlight. This tedious work lasted six months, it severely damaged the vision of the future composer. And what was the grief of the child when his brother caught him one day doing this and took away the already transcribed notes.

But the main work of Bach - the head of the school of choristers - brought him nothing but grief and trouble. The funds allocated by the church for the school were negligible, and the singing boys were starving and poorly dressed. The level of their musical abilities was also low. Singers were often recruited, regardless of the opinion of Bach. The school orchestra was more than modest: four trumpets and four violins!

All petitions for help to the school, submitted by Bach to the city authorities, were ignored. The cantor was responsible for everything.

The last years of the composer's life were overshadowed by a serious eye disease. After an unsuccessful operation, Bach became blind. But even then he continued to compose, dictating his works for recording. Bach's death remained almost unnoticed by the musical community. He was soon forgotten. The fate of Bach's wife and youngest daughter was sad. Anna Magdalena died ten years later in a house of contempt for the poor. The youngest daughter Regina eked out a beggarly existence. In the last years of her difficult life, Beethoven helped her. Bach died on July 28, 1750.

He is one of those rare and wonderful people who could record Divine light.

Bach Johann Sebastian, whose biography is of interest to many music lovers, has become one of the greatest composers in its history. In addition, he was a performer, a virtuoso organist, and a talented teacher. In this article, we will look at the life of Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as present his work. The composer's works are often heard in concert halls around the world.

Johann Sebastian Bach (March 31 (21 - old style) 1685 - July 28, 1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque era. He enriched the musical style created in Germany thanks to his mastery of counterpoint and harmony, adapted foreign rhythms and forms, borrowed, in particular, from Italy and France. Bach's works are "Goldberg Variations", "Brandenburg Concertos", "Mass in B Minor", more than 300 cantatas, of which 190 have survived, and many other compositions. His music is considered highly technical, filled with artistic beauty and intellectual depth.

Johann Sebastian Bach. short biography

Bach was born in Eisenach into a family of hereditary musicians. His father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, was the founder of the city's music concerts, and all his uncles were professional performers. The composer's father taught his son to play the violin and harpsichord, and his brother, Johann Christoph, taught the clavichord, and also introduced Johann Sebastian to modern music. Partly on his own initiative, Bach attended St. Michael's Vocal School in Lüneburg for 2 years. After certification, he held several musical positions in Germany, in particular, the court musician of Duke Johann Ernst in Weimar, the caretaker of the organ in the church named after St. Boniface, located in Arnstadt.

In 1749, Bach's eyesight and general health deteriorated, and he died in 1750, on July 28. Modern historians believe that the cause of his death was a combination of stroke and pneumonia. The fame of Johann Sebastian as a magnificent organist spread throughout Europe during Bach's lifetime, although he was not yet so popular as a composer. As a composer, he became known a little later, in the first half of the 19th century, when interest in his music revived. Currently, Bach Johann Sebastian, whose biography is presented in a more complete version below, is considered one of the greatest musical creators in history.

Childhood (1685 - 1703)

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, in 1685, on March 21, according to the old style (according to the new one, on the 31st of the same month). He was the son of Johann Ambrosius and Elisabeth Lemmerhirt. The composer became the eighth child in the family (the eldest son at the time of Bach's birth was 14 years older than him). The mother of the future composer died in 1694, and his father eight months later. Bach at that time was 10 years old, and he moved to live with Johann Christoph, his older brother (1671 - 1731). There he studied, performed and rewrote music, including his brother's, despite being forbidden to do so. From Johann Christoph, he adopted many knowledge in the field of music. At the same time, Bach studied theology, Latin, Greek, French, Italian at the local gymnasium. As Johann Sebastian Bach later admitted, the classics inspired and amazed him from the very beginning.

Arnstadt, Weimar and Mühlhausen (1703 - 1717)

In 1703, after finishing his studies at St. Michael's School in Lüneburg, the composer was appointed court musician to Duke Johann Ernst III's chapel in Weimar. During his seven-month stay there, Bach established a reputation as an excellent keyboard player, and he was invited to a new position as caretaker of the organ at the church of St. Boniface, located in Arnstadt, 30 km southwest of Weimar. Despite good family connections and his own musical enthusiasm, tensions arose with his superiors after several years of service. In 1706, Bach was offered the post of organist at St. Blaise's (Mühlhausen), which he took up the following year. The new position paid much more, included much better working conditions, as well as a more professional choir with which Bach was to work. Four months later, the wedding of Johann Sebastian and Maria Barbara took place. They had seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood, including Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel, who later became well-known composers.

In 1708, Johann Sebastian Bach, whose biography took a new direction, leaves Mühlhausen and returns to Weimar, this time as an organist, and since 1714 as a concert organizer, and has the opportunity to work with more professional musicians. In this city, the composer continues to play and compose works for the organ. He also began to write preludes and fugues, which later became part of his monumental work, The Well-Tempered Clavier, which consisted of two volumes. Each of them includes preludes and fugues, written in all possible minor and major keys. Also in Weimar, the composer Johann Sebastian Bach set to work on the work "Organ Book", containing Lutheran chorales, a collection of choral preludes for organ. In 1717 he fell out of favor in Weimar, was taken into custody for almost a month and subsequently removed from office.

Köthen (1717 - 1723)

Leopold (an important person - Prince Anhalt-Köthen) offered Bach the job of bandmaster in 1717. Prince Leopold, being himself a musician, admired the talent of Johann Sebastian, paid him well and gave him considerable freedom in composing and performing. The prince was a Calvinist, and they do not use complex and sophisticated music in worship, respectively, the work of Johann Sebastian Bach of that period was secular and included orchestral suites, suites for solo cello, for clavier, as well as the famous Brandenburg Concertos. In 1720, on July 7, his wife Maria Barbara dies, having given birth to seven children. The composer's acquaintance with his second wife takes place next year. Johann Sebastian Bach, whose works are gradually gaining popularity, marries a girl named Anna Magdalena Wilke, a singer (soprano), in 1721, on December 3rd.

Leipzig (1723 - 1750)

In 1723, Bach received a new position, starting to work as cantor of the choir of St. Thomas. It was a prestigious service in Saxony, which the composer carried for 27 years, until his death. Bach's duties included teaching students how to sing and writing church music for the main churches in Leipzig. Johann Sebastian was also supposed to give Latin lessons, but he had the opportunity to hire a special person instead of himself. During Sunday services, as well as on holidays, cantatas were required for worship in the church, and the composer usually performed his own compositions, most of which appeared in the first 3 years of his stay in Leipzig.

Johann Sebastian Bach, whose authorship of classics is now well known to many people, expanded his composing and performing possibilities in March 1729 by taking charge of the College of Music, a secular gathering under the composer Georg Philipp Telemann. The college was one of dozens of private societies that were popular at that time in large German cities, created on the initiative of students in musical institutions. These associations played an important role in German musical life, being led for the most part by eminent specialists. Many of Bach's works from the period 1730-1740s. were written and performed at the College of Music. The last major work of Johann Sebastian - "Mass in B minor" (1748-1749), which was recognized as his most global church work. Although the Mass was never performed in its entirety during the author's lifetime, it is considered one of the composer's most outstanding works.

The Death of Bach (1750)

In 1749, the composer's health deteriorated. Bach Johann Sebastian, whose biography ends in 1750, began to suddenly lose his sight and turned to the English ophthalmologist John Taylor for help, who performed 2 operations in March-April 1750. However, both were unsuccessful. The composer's vision never returned. On July 28, at the age of 65, Johann Sebastian passed away. Modern newspapers wrote that "death was the result of an unsuccessful operation on the eyes." Currently, historians believe the cause of the death of the composer was a stroke complicated by pneumonia.

Carl Philipp Emmanuel, son of Johann Sebastian, and his student Johann Friedrich Agricola wrote an obituary. It was published in 1754 by Lorenz Christoph Mitzler in a musical magazine. Johann Sebastian Bach, whose brief biography is presented above, was originally buried in Leipzig, near the Church of St. John. The grave remained untouched for 150 years. Later, in 1894, the remains were transferred to a special storage in the church of St. John, and in 1950 - to the church of St. Thomas, where the composer still rests.

Organ creativity

Most of all, during his lifetime, Bach was known precisely as an organist and composer of organ music, which he wrote in all traditional German genres (preludes, fantasies). The favorite genres in which Johann Sebastian Bach created are toccata, fugue, choral preludes. His organ work is very diverse. At a young age, Johann Sebastian Bach (we have already briefly touched on his biography) earned a reputation as a very creative composer, able to adapt many foreign styles to the requirements of organ music. He was greatly influenced by the traditions of Northern Germany, in particular Georg Böhm, whom the composer met in Lüneburg, and Dietrich Buxtehude, whom Johann Sebastian visited in 1704 during an extended vacation. Around the same time, Bach rewrote the works of many Italian and French composers, and later Vivaldi's violin concertos, in order to breathe new life into them already as works for organ performance. During the most productive creative period (from 1708 to 1714), Johann Sebastian Bach wrote fugues and toccatas, several dozen pairs of preludes and fugues, and the Organ Book, an unfinished collection of 46 choral preludes. After leaving Weimar, the composer writes less organ music, although he creates a number of well-known works.

Other works for clavier

Bach wrote a great deal of harpsichord music, some of which can be played on the clavichord. Many of these writings are encyclopedic, incorporating the theoretical methods and techniques that Johann Sebastian Bach liked to use. The works (list) are presented below:

The Well-Tempered Clavier is a two-volume work. Each volume contains preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys in use, arranged in chromatic order.
Inventions and overtures. These two- and three-part works are in the same order as the Well-Tempered Clavier, with the exception of some rare keys. They were created by Bach for educational purposes.
3 collections of dance suites, "French suites", "English suites" and scores for clavier.
"Goldberg Variations".
Various pieces such as "French Style Overture", "Italian Concerto".

Orchestral and chamber music

Johann Sebastian also wrote works for individual instruments, duets and small ensembles. Many of them, such as partitas and sonatas for solo violin, six different suites for solo cello, partita for solo flute, are considered among the most outstanding in the composer's repertoire. Johann Sebastian wrote Bach symphonies, and also created several compositions for solo lute. He also created trio sonatas, solo sonatas for flute and viola da gamba, a large number of ricercars and canons. For example, the cycles "Art of the Fugue", "Musical Offering". Bach's most famous orchestral work is the Brandenburg Concertos, so named because Johann Sebastian submitted it in the hope of getting a work from Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Swedish in 1721. His attempt, however, was unsuccessful. The genre of this work is concerto grosso. Other surviving works by Bach for orchestra: 2 violin concertos, a concerto written for two violins (key "D minor"), concertos for clavier and chamber orchestra (from one to four instruments).

Vocal and choral compositions

Cantatas. Beginning in 1723, Bach worked in the church of St. Thomas, and every Sunday, as well as on holidays, he led the performance of cantatas. Although he sometimes staged cantatas by other composers, Johann Sebastian wrote at least 3 cycles of his works in Leipzig, not counting those composed in Weimar and Mühlhausen. In total, more than 300 cantatas were created on spiritual topics, of which approximately 200 have survived.
Motets. Motets, authored by Johann Sebastian Bach, are works on spiritual themes for choir and basso continuo. Some of them were composed for funeral ceremonies.
Passions, or passions, oratorios and magnificats. Bach's major works for choir and orchestra are the John Passion, the Matthew Passion (both written for Good Friday in the churches of St. Thomas and St. Nicholas) and the Christmas Oratorio (a cycle of 6 cantatas intended for the celebration ). Shorter compositions - "Easter Oratorio" and "Magnificat".
"Mass in B minor". Bach created his last major work, Mass in B Minor, between 1748 and 1749. "Mass" was never staged in its entirety during the composer's lifetime.

musical style

Bach's musical style was shaped by his talent for counterpoint, ability to lead the motive, flair for improvisation, interest in the music of Northern and Southern Germany, Italy and France, as well as devotion to Lutheran traditions. Thanks to the fact that Johann Sebastian had access to many instruments and works in childhood and adolescence, as well as to the ever-increasing talent for writing dense music with amazing sonority, Bach's work was filled with eclecticism and energy, in which foreign influence was skillfully combined with already existing improved German music school. During the baroque period, many composers mainly composed only frame works, and the performers themselves supplemented them with their melodic embellishments and developments. This practice varies considerably among European schools. However, Bach composed most or all of the melodic lines and details himself, leaving little room for interpretation. This feature reflects the density of contrapuntal textures to which the composer gravitated, limiting the freedom of spontaneous change in musical lines. For some reason, some sources mention works by other authors that Johann Sebastian Bach allegedly wrote. Moonlight Sonata, for example. You and I, of course, remember that this work was created by Beethoven.

Execution

Modern performers of Bach's works usually follow one of two traditions: the so-called authentic (historically oriented performance) or modern (using modern instruments, often in large ensembles). In Bach's time, orchestras and choirs were much more modest than they are today, and even his most ambitious works, Passions and Mass in B Minor, were written for far fewer performers. In addition, today you can hear very different versions of the sound of the same music, because in some of Johann Sebastian's chamber works, initially there was no instrumentation at all. Modern "lite" versions of Bach's works have made a great contribution to the popularization of his music in the 20th century. Among them are famous tunes performed by the Swinger Singers and Wendy Carlos' 1968 Switched-On-Bach recording using a newly invented synthesizer. Jazz musicians, such as Jacques Loussier, also showed interest in Bach's music. Joel Spiegelman performed an adaptation of his famous "Goldberg Variations", creating his new-age piece.

Bach Johann Sebastian (1685-1750)

It is very difficult to write about Bach - the discrepancy between the meager and biographical data that have come down to us and the scale of the composer's creative heritage is too great. These scales at one time surprised Beethoven, who once said: “Not a stream (Bach - in German “stream”), but the sea should be called it!” L. Schweitzer wrote about Bach:

"He is a man of two worlds: his artistic perception and creativity flow, as if not in contact with the almost banal burgher existence, independently of it."

Indeed, the existence of Bach outwardly was burgher, banal. Just like his father, grandfather, numerous relatives - they were all professional musicians who occupied a very modest position.

An organist in the small German town of Ohrdruf was also the elder brother of Johann Sebastian, with whom he was brought up, having lost his parents at the age of ten. The older brother was a strict, harsh teacher. Here is an example: the younger one really wanted to get acquainted with the clavier works of German composers, but he was not allowed to take the precious notebook. Nevertheless, he copied it secretly, on moonlit nights, without lighting a fire, but the copy was also taken away as a punishment for self-will ... Some explanation, if not justification for this cruelty, can only be the high cost of musical publications of that time (due to the laboriousness of copying notes).

Choir boy in the school choir at the church, violinist, violist, organist in various small towns, etc. finally, the court bandmaster (Weimar, Kethen) - these are the milestones of the musical biography of Johann Sebastian Bach until he settled in Leipzig in 1723, already almost forty years old, where he lived until the end of his days. At this time, Bach was the father of a large family, older children (from his first wife, who had already died) still lived with him, younger children grew up - from his second wife, Anna Magdalena. (Young musicians know this name: in the music notebook of Anna Magdalena, who herself was a good musician, Bach wrote down easy pieces for teaching younger children. And now none of the students of music passes by this “Notebook”.)

Life was not easy, and therefore it is not surprising that among the few papers preserved in the Bach archive there are a lot of various statements and letters to influential people, and all about one thing: to improve more than a modest financial situation. In Leipzig, Bach received the position of cantor, that is, the head of the school choir at the church of St. Thomas (Thomas Church). The school (Thomaschule), where they taught singing, playing the organ and other instruments, existed since the 13th century and enjoyed a good reputation, but in these years the choir was small in number, and Bach constantly complained that of all its pupils “seventeen are suitable for music, twenty are not yet fit and seventeen are unfit.”

Bach worked in almost all musical genres known at that time. The predominance of any particular genre in a given period can be explained to a certain extent by the working conditions, the tastes of the owners and customers. So, in Weimar there was an excellent organ, and during the years of work there Bach wrote his most famous organ works, including organ toccatas, of which the most famous is in D minor, although others are in no way inferior to it.

Bach's organ toccatas, fantasies, preludes and fugues seemed to capture the very process of musical creativity. First - inspired improvisation, as if not bound by any laws, not even having clear contours, a kind of sound nebula, from which a harmonious and harmonious sound world should be born. And he is born - in a fugue. The original musical image - the theme of the fugue, repeating itself, passing from one voice to another, gradually conquers the entire sound space, developing according to the strict laws of musical logic. The contrasting unity of toccata or fantasy and fugue, as it were, confirms the inseparability of inspiration and reason in art.

Bach himself was an unsurpassed organist, and when listeners were surprised at his skill, he usually said that the secret was simple: “You must always strike the right key at the right time ...”

While working in Kothen, Bach wrote many chamber works, suites and sonatas for various instruments, since it was this kind of music that especially attracted his master, Prince Leopold, who himself played the clavier, violin and viola da gamba (an ancient instrument related to the cello) . Apparently, there were excellent musicians in the Keten orchestra, since it is unlikely that the prince himself, being only an amateur musician, could play the famous Chaconne by Bach from the violin suite, because to this day it is the standard of virtuosity for violinists.

Bach's responsibilities in Leipzig provided him with great opportunities for creativity. According to the conditions of his work, Bach had to write a new cantata for each Sunday church service (he wrote 265 of them in total). The performance of the cantatas was a kind of concert within the church service. The cantata included arias and choirs, among which were both very simple ones, sung by the whole community, and more complex ones, for Bach's students from Thomasshule. And of course, the opportunity to listen to a new composition by Bach every week attracted not only its regular parishioners, but also other residents of Leipzig to the Thomaskirche. In the same church, they could also listen to the great organist playing choral preludes, how new, lively and quivering voices of organ registers grow from simple, familiar melodies of German chorales from childhood.

In Leipzig, Bach also wrote the largest choral works. His Mass in B minor (a cycle of choirs for a festive church service) was written as a musical offering to the Saxon king Augustus in the hope of receiving the title of court bandmaster. King Augustus was a Catholic, which is why this mass is so monumental and solemn; in the Protestant churches where Bach worked, the whole ritual was much more modest and simple. During Bach's lifetime, only individual choirs from this composition were performed: there is so much music in the mass that there would simply be no time left for the church service itself.

Another, less solemn, but more penetrating character is Bach's music for the so-called "passions", or "Passion", a dramatized story about the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. This story is known in four versions attributed to four legendary evangelist authors. Bach used two of them: the John Passion and the Matthew Passion.

The composer read the text, created more than one and a half thousand years before Bach, as if he were a contemporary and a witness to the events described. It was as if he personally knew the poor Galilean preacher, who taught love and mercy, became a victim of slander and betrayal and was sentenced to a shameful execution. It was as if he himself saw the grief of his mother, the confusion and fear of the students.

The narration is told in recitative, and Bach makes a surprisingly subtle distinction between the manner of speech of the evangelist narrator and the characters. The parts of Jesus and the Roman governor Pilate are entrusted with homogeneous voices, but the intonations of the first are sublime and noble, the second are rude and arrogant.

In addition to the canonical church text, there are also lyrical digressions in the "Passion" - arias to the words of the contemporary poet Bahu. These arias often turn into a kind of duets of voice with a solo instrument - a violin, a flute. A wonderful example is the alto aria from the Matthew Passion, which follows the story of the denial of one of Jesus' disciples, Peter. The restrained, mournful melody of the voice is accompanied by the sobs of the violin, in which all the bitterness of belated repentance is poured out.

The choirs of the Passions are varied. In addition to dramatic episodes that convey the cries of an angry crowd demanding execution, there are also strict, majestic in their simplicity chorales.

In Bach's Passions, the touching naivety of ancient folk performances on evangelical themes and the dramatic expressiveness of opera music were combined, and much more vivid than in the opera of Bach's time itself.

We will not find anything equal to the court scene in the Passion according to John either in French or in Italian opera of the 18th century. German opera, however, had not yet emerged from the period of apprenticeship.

Contemporaries (except, perhaps, those for whom Bach was directly in the service) highly valued the brilliant master, who summed up everything valuable that had been created before him in German (and not only in German) music. But in the last years of Bach's life, in the middle of the 18th century, a noticeable stylistic change took place in music. The ancient polyphonic art that flourished in choral and organ music was replaced by a new, more accessible manner of presentation, clearly separating the background and relief, the main melody and the accompaniment. Monumental choral cycles are obscured by opera, organ fantasies and toccatas - elegant clavier suites from small pieces in dance rhythms. Bach also worked in these genres, but they were not the focus of his attention. His sons (Philip Emmanuel and Johann Christian) wrote in a new manner. And although they inherited only some share of their father's talent, for a long time it was Philippe Emmanuel who was considered the great Bach.

Bach is not new, not old, it is something much more - it is eternal...
R. Schumann

The year 1520 marks the root of the branching genealogical tree of the old burgher family of Bachs. In Germany, the words "Bach" and "musician" were synonymous for several centuries. However, only in fifth generation “out of their midst ... came a man whose glorious art radiated such a bright light that a reflection of this radiance fell on them. It was Johann Sebastian Bach, the beauty and pride of his family and fatherland, a man who, like no one else, was patronized by the very Art of Music. So wrote in 1802 I. Forkel, the first biographer and one of the first true connoisseurs of the composer at the dawn of the new century, for the age of Bach said goodbye to the great cantor immediately after his death. But even during the life of the chosen one of the "Art of Music" it was difficult to call the chosen one of fate. Outwardly, the biography of Bach is no different from the biography of any German musician at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries. Bach was born in the small Thuringian town of Eisenach, located near the legendary Wartburg castle, where in the Middle Ages, according to legend, the color of minnesang converged, and in 1521-22. the word of M. Luther sounded: in Wartburg the great reformer translated the Bible into the language of the fatherland.

J.S. Bach was not a child prodigy, but from childhood, being in a musical environment, he received a very thorough education. First, under the guidance of his elder brother J.K. Bach and school cantors J. Arnold and E. Herda in Ohrdruf (1696-99), then at the school at St. Michael's Church in Lüneburg (1700-02). By the age of 17, he owned the harpsichord, violin, viola, organ, sang in the choir, and, after mutating his voice, acted as prefect (cantor's assistant). From an early age, Bach felt his vocation in the organ field, tirelessly studied both with the Middle and North German masters - I. Pachelbel, I. Leve, G. Boehm, J. Reinken - the art of organ improvisation, which was the basis of his composing skills. To this should be added a wide acquaintance with European music: Bach took part in concerts of the court chapel known for its French tastes in Celle, had access to the rich collection of Italian masters stored in the school library, and finally, during repeated visits to Hamburg, he could get acquainted with the local opera.

In 1702, a fairly educated musician emerged from the walls of Michaelschule, but Bach did not lose his taste for learning, “imitation” of everything that could help broaden his professional horizons throughout his life. A constant striving for improvement marked his musical career, which, according to the tradition of the time, was associated with the church, city or court. Not by chance, which provided this or that vacancy, but firmly and persistently, he rose to the next level of the musical hierarchy from organist (Arnstadt and Mühlhausen, 1703-08) to concertmaster (Weimar, 170817), bandmaster (Keten, 171723), finally, the cantor and director of music (Leipzig, 1723-50). At the same time, next to Bach, a practicing musician, the Bach composer grew and gained strength, stepping far beyond the limits of the specific tasks that were set for him in his creative impulses and accomplishments. The Arnstadt organist is reproached for making "many strange variations in the chorale ... which confused the community." An example of this is dating back to the first decade of the 18th century. 33 chorales found recently (1985) as part of a typical (from Christmas to Easter) working collection of a Lutheran organist Tsakhov, as well as the composer and theorist G. A. Sorge). To an even greater extent, these reproaches could apply to Bach's early organ cycles, the concept of which began to take shape already in Arnstadt. Especially after visiting in the winter of 1705-06. Lübeck, where he went at the call of D. Buxtehude (the famous composer and organist was looking for a successor who, along with getting a place in the Marienkirche, was ready to marry his only daughter). Bach did not stay in Lübeck, but communication with Buxtehude left a significant imprint on all his further work.

In 1707, Bach moved to Mühlhausen in order to take up the post of organist in the church of St. Blaise. A field that provided opportunities somewhat greater than in Arnstadt, but clearly insufficient to, in the words of Bach himself, “perform ... regular church music and in general, if possible, contribute ... to the development of church music, which is gaining strength almost everywhere, for which ... an extensive repertoire of excellent church compositions (Resignation sent to the magistrate of the city of Mühlhausen on June 25, 1708). These intentions Bach will carry out in Weimar at the court of Duke Ernst of Saxe-Weimar, where he was waiting for versatile activities both in the castle church and in the chapel. In Weimar, the first and most important feature in the organ sphere was drawn. Exact dates have not survived, but it appears that (among many others) such masterpieces as the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, the Preludes and Fugues in C minor and F minor, the Toccata in C major, the Passacaglia in C minor, and also the famous " Organ booklet" in which "a beginner organist is given guidance on how to conduct a chorale in all sorts of ways." The glory of Bach spread far around - "the best expert and adviser, especially regarding the disposition ... and the very construction of the organ", as well as the "phoenix of improvisation". So, the Weimar years include a failed competition with the famous French organist and harpsichordist L. Marchand, who left the “battlefield” before meeting with his opponent, which was overgrown with legends.

With his appointment in 1714 as vice-kapellmeister, Bach's dream of "regular church music" came true, which, according to the terms of the contract, he had to supply monthly. Mostly in the genre of a new cantata with a synthetic textual basis (biblical sayings, choral stanzas, free, "madrigal" poetry) and corresponding musical components (orchestral introduction, "dry" and accompanied recitatives, aria, chorale). However, the structure of each cantata is far from any stereotypes. It is enough to compare such pearls of early vocal and instrumental creativity as BWV (Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (BWV) - a thematic list of works by J.S. Bach.) 11, 12,. Bach did not forget about the "accumulated repertoire" of other composers. Such, for example, are preserved in Bach copies of the Weimar period, most likely prepared for the upcoming performances of the Passion for Luke by an unknown author (for a long time erroneously attributed to Bach) and Passion for Mark by R. Kaiser, which served as a model for their own works in this genre.

No less active is Bach - kammermusikus and accompanist. Being in the midst of the intense musical life of the Weimar court, he could become widely acquainted with European music. As always, this acquaintance with Bach was creative, as evidenced by the organ arrangements of the concertos by A. Vivaldi, the clavier arrangements by A. Marcello, T. Albinoni and others.

The Weimar years are also characterized by the first appeal to the genre of solo violin sonata and suite. All these instrumental experiments found their brilliant implementation on new ground: in 1717, Bach was invited to Keten to the post of Grand Ducal Kapellmeister of Anhalt-Keten. A very favorable musical atmosphere reigned here thanks to Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Keten himself, a passionate music lover and musician who played the harpsichord, gamba, and had a good voice. The creative interests of Bach, whose duties included accompanying the prince's singing and playing, and most importantly, the leadership of an excellent chapel consisting of 15-18 experienced orchestra members, naturally move to the instrumental area. Solo, mainly violin and orchestral concertos, including 6 Brandenburg concertos, orchestral suites, solo violin and cello sonatas. Such is the incomplete register of the Keten "harvest".

In Köthen, another line in the master's work opens (or rather continues, if we mean the "Organ Book"): compositions for pedagogical purposes, in Bach's language, "for the benefit and use of musical youth striving for learning." The first in this series is Wilhelm Friedemann Bach's Music Notebook (begun in 1720 for the first-born and favorite of his father, the future famous composer). Here, in addition to dance miniatures and arrangements of chorales, there are prototypes of volume 1 "" (prelude), two and three-part "Inventions" (preambles and fantasies). Bach himself would complete these collections in 1722 and 1723, respectively.

In Keten, the "Notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach" (the composer's second wife) was started, which includes, along with pieces by various authors, 5 out of 6 "French Suites". In the same years, "Little Preludes and Fughettas", "English Suites", "Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue" and other clavier compositions were created. Just as the number of Bach's students multiplied from year to year, his pedagogical repertoire was replenished, which was destined to become a school of performing arts for all subsequent generations of musicians.

The list of Keten opuses would be incomplete without mentioning vocal compositions. This is a whole series of secular cantatas, for the most part not preserved and received a second life already with a new, spiritual text. In many ways, the latent, not lying on the surface work in the vocal field (in the Reformed Church of Keten "regular music" was not required) bore fruit in the last and most extensive period of the master's work.

Bach enters the new field of cantor of the St. Thomas School and music director of the city of Leipzig not empty-handed: “trial” cantatas BWV 22, 23 have already been written; Magnificat; "Passion according to John". Leipzig is the final station of Bach's wanderings. Outwardly, especially judging by the second part of his title, the desired top of the official hierarchy was reached here. At the same time, the "Commitment" (14 checkpoints), which he had to sign "in connection with taking office" and the failure to comply with which was fraught with conflicts with the church and city authorities, testifies to the complexity of this segment of Bach's biography. The first 3 years (1723-26) were devoted to church music. Until quarrels with the authorities began and the magistrate financed liturgical music, which meant that professional musicians could be involved in the performance, the energy of the new cantor knew no bounds. All Weimar and Köthen experience spilled over into Leipzig creativity.

The scale of what was conceived and done during this period is truly immeasurable: more than 150 cantatas created weekly (!), 2nd ed. "Passion according to John", and according to new data, and "Passion according to Matthew". The premiere of this most monumental work of Bach falls not in 1729, as was thought until now, but in 1727. The decrease in the intensity of the cantor's activity, the reasons for which Bach formulated in the well-known "Project for a good setting of affairs in church music, with the addition of some unbiased considerations regarding its decline" (August 23, 1730, memorandum to the Leipzig magistrate), was compensated by activities of a different kind. Bach Kapellmeister again comes to the fore, this time heading the student Collegium musicum. Bach led this circle in 1729-37, and then in 1739-44 (?) With weekly concerts in the Zimmermann Garden or the Zimmermann Coffee House, Bach made an enormous contribution to the public musical life of the city. The repertoire is the most diverse: symphonies (orchestral suites), secular cantatas and, of course, concertos - the "bread" of all amateur and professional meetings of the era. It was here that the specifically Leipzig variety of Bach's concertos most likely arose - for clavier and orchestra, which are adaptations of his own concertos for violin, violin and oboe, etc. Among them are classical concerts in D minor, F minor, A major.

With the active assistance of the Bach circle, the city’s musical life in Leipzig also proceeded, whether it was “solemn music on the magnificent day of the name day of Augustus II, performed in the evening under illumination in the Zimmermann garden”, or “Evening music with trumpets and timpani” in honor of the same Augustus, or beautiful “night music with many wax torches, with the sounds of trumpets and timpani”, etc. In this list of “music” in honor of the Saxon electors, a special place belongs to the Missa dedicated to August III (Kyrie, Gloria, 1733) - part of another monumental creation of Bach - Mass in B minor, completed only in 1747-48. In the last decade, Bach has focused most of all on music free from any applied purpose. These are volume II of The Well-Tempered Clavier (1744), as well as the partitas, Italian Concerto, Organ Mass, Aria with Various Variations (named Goldberg's after Bach's death), included in the collection Clavier Exercises. Unlike liturgical music, which Bach apparently considered a tribute to the craft, he sought to make his non-applied opuses available to the general public. Under his own editorship, Clavier Exercises and a number of other compositions were published, including the last 2, the largest instrumental works.

In 1737, the philosopher and historian, a student of Bach, L. Mitzler, organized the Society of Musical Sciences in Leipzig, where counterpoint, or, as we would now say, polyphony, was recognized as “first among equals”. At different times, G. Telemann, G. F. Handel joined the Society. In 1747, the greatest polyphonist J. S. Bach became a member. In the same year, the composer visited the royal residence in Potsdam, where he improvised on a new instrument at that time - the piano - in front of Frederick II on a theme he had set. The royal idea was returned to the author a hundredfold - Bach created an incomparable monument of contrapuntal art - "Musical Offering", a grandiose cycle of 10 canons, two ricercars and a four-part trio sonata for flute, violin and harpsichord.

And next to the “Musical Offering”, a new “single-dark” cycle was maturing, the idea of which was born in the early 40s. This is the "Art of the Fugue", containing all kinds of counterpoints and canons. “Illness (towards the end of his life, Bach went blind. - T.F.) prevented him from completing the penultimate fugue... and working out the last one... This work saw the light only after the author's death", marking the highest level of polyphonic mastery.

The last representative of the age-old patriarchal tradition and at the same time a universally equipped artist of the new time - this is how J.S. Bach appears in a historical retrospective. A composer who managed like no one else in his generous time for great names to combine the incompatible. A Dutch canon and an Italian concerto, a Protestant chorale and a French divertissement, a liturgical monody and an Italian virtuoso aria... Combine both horizontally and vertically, both in breadth and depth. Therefore, so freely interpenetrate in his music, in the words of the era, the styles of "theatrical, chamber and church", polyphony and homophony, instrumental and vocal beginnings. That is why separate parts migrate so easily from composition to composition, both preserving (as, for example, in the Mass in B minor, two-thirds of the already sounded music), and radically changing their appearance: the aria from the Wedding Cantata (BWV 202) becomes the finale of the violin the sonatas (BWV 1019), the symphony and choir from the cantata (BWV 146) are identical to the first and slow parts of the clavier Concerto in D minor (BWV 1052), the overture from the orchestral Suite in D major (BWV 1069), enriched with choral sound, opens the cantata BWV110. Examples of this kind made up a whole encyclopedia. In everything (the only exception is opera), the master spoke fully and completely, as if completing the evolution of a particular genre. And it is deeply symbolic that the universe of Bach's thought The Art of the Fugue, recorded in the form of a score, does not contain instructions for performance. Bach, as it were, addresses him everyone musicians. “In this work,” F. Marpurg wrote in the preface to the publication of The Art of Fugue, “the most hidden beauties that are conceivable in this art are enclosed ...” These words were not heard by the composer's closest contemporaries. There was no buyer not only for a very limited subscription edition, but also for the "cleanly and neatly engraved boards" of Bach's masterpiece, announced for sale in 1756 "from hand to hand at a reasonable price" by Philippe Emanuel, "so that this work is for the benefit of the public - gained popularity everywhere. A cassock of forgetfulness dangled the name of the great cantor. But this oblivion was never complete. Bach's works, published, and most importantly, handwritten - in autographs and numerous copies - settled in the collections of his students and connoisseurs, both eminent and completely obscure. Among them are the composers I. Kirnberger and the already mentioned F. Marpurg; a great connoisseur of old music, Baron van Swieten, in whose house W. A. Mozart joined Bach; composer and teacher K. Nefe, who inspired love for Bach to his student L. Beethoven. Already in the 70s. 18th century begins to collect material for his book I. Forkel, who laid the foundation for the future new branch of musicology - Bach studies. At the turn of the century, the director of the Berlin Singing Academy, friend and correspondent of I. W. Goethe K. Zelter, was especially active. The owner of the richest collection of Bach's manuscripts, he entrusted one of them to the twenty-year-old F. Mendelssohn. These were the Matthew Passion, the historic performance of which on May 11, 1829 heralded the advent of a new Bach era. “A closed book, a treasure buried in the ground” (B. Marx) were opened, and a powerful stream of the “Bach movement” swept the entire musical world.

Today, vast experience has been accumulated in studying and promoting the work of the great composer. The Bach Society has existed since 1850 (since 1900, the New Bach Society, which in 1969 became an international organization with sections in the GDR, the FRG, the USA, Czechoslovakia, Japan, France and other countries). On the initiative of the NBO, Bach festivals are held, as well as International competitions of performers named after. J. S. Bach. In 1907, on the initiative of the NBO, the Bach Museum in Eisenach was opened, which today has a number of counterparts in different cities of Germany, including the one opened in 1985 on the 300th anniversary of the birth of the composer "Johann-Sebastian-Bach- Museum" in Leipzig.

There is a wide network of Bach institutions in the world. The largest of them are the Bach-Institut in Göttingen (Germany) and the National Research and Memorial Center of J. S. Bach in Germany in Leipzig. The last decades have been marked by a number of significant achievements: the four-volume Bach-Documente collection has been published, a new chronology of vocal compositions has been established, as well as the Art of the Fugue, 14 previously unknown canons from the Goldberg Variations and 33 chorales for organ have been published. Since 1954, the Institute in Göttingen and the Bach Center in Leipzig have been carrying out a new critical edition of the complete works of Bach. The publication of the analytical and bibliographic list of Bach's works "Bach-Compendium" in cooperation with Harvard University (USA) continues.

The process of mastering Bach's heritage is endless, just as Bach himself is endless - an inexhaustible source (let us recall the famous play on words: der Bach - a stream) of the highest experiences of the human spirit.

T. Frumkis

Characteristics of creativity

Bach's work, almost unknown during his lifetime, was forgotten for a long time after his death. It took a long time before it was possible to truly appreciate the legacy left by the greatest composer.

The development of art in the 18th century was complex and contradictory. The influence of the old feudal-aristocratic ideology was strong; but the sprouts of a new bourgeoisie, which reflected the spiritual needs of the young, historically advanced class of the bourgeoisie, were already emerging and maturing.

In the sharpest struggle of directions, through the denial and destruction of old forms, a new art was affirmed. The cold loftiness of classical tragedy, with its rules, plots, and images established by aristocratic aesthetics, was opposed by a bourgeois novel, a sensitive drama from petty-bourgeois life. In contrast to the conventional and decorative court opera, the vitality, simplicity and democratic nature of the comic opera were promoted; light and unpretentious everyday genre music was put forward against the "learned" church art of the polyphonists.

Under such conditions, the predominance of forms and means of expression inherited from the past in Bach's works gave reason to consider his work obsolete and cumbersome. During the period of widespread enthusiasm for gallant art, with its elegant forms and simple content, Bach's music seemed too complicated and incomprehensible. Even the composer's sons saw nothing in their father's work but learning.

Bach was openly preferred by musicians whose names history barely preserved; on the other hand, they did not "wield only learning", they had "taste, brilliance and tender feeling."

Adherents of orthodox church music were also hostile to Bach. Thus, Bach's work, far ahead of its time, was denied by supporters of gallant art, as well as by those who reasonably saw in Bach's music a violation of church and historical canons.

In the struggle of contradictory directions of this critical period in the history of music, a leading trend gradually emerged, the paths for the development of that new one loomed, which led to the symphonism of Haydn, Mozart, to the operatic art of Gluck. And only from the heights, to which the greatest artists of the late 18th century raised the musical culture, did the grandiose legacy of Johann Sebastian Bach become visible.

Mozart and Beethoven were the first to recognize its true meaning. When Mozart, already the author of The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni, became acquainted with Bach's works, previously unknown to him, he exclaimed: "There is much to learn here!" Beethoven enthusiastically says: "Eg ist kein Bach - er ist ein Ozean" ("He is not a stream - he is an ocean"). According to Serov, these figurative words best express "the immense depth of thought and the inexhaustible variety of forms in Bach's genius."

Since the 19th century, a slow revival of Bach's work begins. In 1802, the first biography of the composer appeared, written by the German historian Forkel; with rich and interesting material, she drew some attention to the life and personality of Bach. Thanks to the active propaganda of Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt, Bach's music began to gradually penetrate into a wider environment. In 1850, the Bach Society was formed, which set as its goal to find and collect all the manuscript material that belonged to the great musician, and publish it in the form of a complete collection of works. Since the 30s of the 19th century, Bach's work has been gradually introduced into musical life, sounds from the stage, and is included in the educational repertoire. But there were many conflicting opinions in the interpretation and evaluation of Bach's music. Some historians characterized Bach as an abstract thinker, operating with abstract musical and mathematical formulas, others saw him as a mystic detached from life or an orthodox philanthropist church musician.

Especially negative for understanding the real content of Bach's music was the attitude towards it as a storehouse of polyphonic "wisdom". A practically similar point of view reduced Bach's work to the position of a manual for students of polyphony. Serov wrote about this indignantly: “There was a time when the whole musical world looked at the music of Sebastian Bach as school pedantic rubbish, junk, which sometimes, as, for example, in Clavecin bien tempere, is suitable for finger exercise, along with sketches by Moscheles and exercises by Czerny. Since the time of Mendelssohn, taste has again leaned towards Bach, even much more than at the time when he himself lived - and now there are still "directors of conservatories" who, in the name of conservatism, are not ashamed to teach their pupils to play Bach's fugues without expressiveness, that is, as "exercises", as finger-breaking exercises... If there is anything in the field of music that must be approached not from under the ferula and with a pointer in hand, but with love in the heart , with fear and faith, so these are the creations of the great Bach.

In Russia, a positive attitude towards the work of Bach was determined at the end of the 18th century. A review of Bach's works appeared in the "Pocket Book for Music Lovers" published in St. Petersburg, in which the versatility of his talent and exceptional skill were noted.

For the leading Russian musicians, Bach's art was the embodiment of a mighty creative force, enriching and immeasurably advancing human culture. Russian musicians of different generations and trends were able to comprehend in the complex Bach polyphony the high poetry of feelings and the effective power of thought.

The depth of the images of Bach's music is immeasurable. Each of them is able to contain a whole story, poem, story; significant phenomena are realized in each, which can equally be deployed in grandiose musical canvases or concentrated in a laconic miniature.

The diversity of life in its past, present and future, everything that an inspired poet can feel, what a thinker and philosopher can reflect on, is contained in the all-encompassing art of Bach. A huge creative range allowed simultaneous work on works of various scales, genres, and forms. Bach's music naturally combines the monumental form of passions, the B minor mass, with the effortless simplicity of little preludes or inventions; the drama of organ compositions and cantatas - with contemplative lyrics of choral preludes; chamber sound of the finely honed preludes and fugues of the Well-Tempered Clavier - with virtuoso brilliance, the vital energy of the Brandenburg concertos.

The emotional and philosophical essence of Bach's music is in the deepest humanity, in selfless love for people. He sympathizes with a person in grief, shares his joys, sympathizes with the desire for truth and justice. In his art, Bach shows the most noble and beautiful that is hidden in a person; the pathos of the ethical idea is filled with his work.

Not in an active struggle and not in heroic deeds does Bach portray his hero. Through emotional experiences, reflections, feelings, his attitude to reality, to the world around him is reflected. Bach does not move away from real life. It was the truth of reality, the hardships endured by the German people, that gave rise to images of stunning tragedy; It is not for nothing that the theme of suffering runs through all of Bach's music. But the bleakness of the surrounding world could not destroy or displace the eternal feeling of life, its joys and great hopes. The themes of jubilation, enthusiastic enthusiasm are intertwined with the themes of suffering, reflecting reality in its contrasting unity.

Bach is equally great in expressing simple human feelings and in conveying the depths of folk wisdom, in high tragedy and in revealing the universal aspiration to the world.

Bach's art is characterized by close interaction and connection of all its spheres. The commonality of figurative content makes the folk epics of passions related to the miniatures of the Well-Tempered Clavier, the majestic frescoes of the B-minor mass - with suites for violin or harpsichord.

Bach has no fundamental difference between spiritual and secular music. What is common is the nature of musical images, the means of embodiment, the methods of development. It is no coincidence that Bach so easily transferred from secular works to spiritual ones not only individual themes, large episodes, but even entire completed numbers, without changing either the plan of the composition or the nature of the music. The themes of suffering and sorrow, philosophical reflections, unpretentious peasant fun can be found in cantatas and oratorios, in organ fantasies and fugues, in clavier or violin suites.

It is not the belonging of a work to a spiritual or secular genre that determines its meaning. The enduring value of Bach's creations lies in the loftiness of ideas, in the deep ethical sense that he puts into any composition, be it secular or spiritual, in the beauty and rare perfection of forms.

Bach's creativity owes its vitality, unfading moral purity and mighty power to folk art. Bach inherited the traditions of folk songwriting and music-making from many generations of musicians, they settled in his mind through direct perception of living musical customs. Finally, a close study of the monuments of folk musical art supplemented Bach's knowledge. Such a monument and at the same time an inexhaustible creative source for him was the Protestant chant.

Protestant chant has a long history. During the Reformation, choral chants, like martial hymns, inspired and united the masses in the struggle. The chorale "The Lord is our stronghold", written by Luther, embodied the militant fervor of the Protestants, became the anthem of the Reformation.

The Reformation made extensive use of secular folk songs, melodies that have long been common in everyday life. Regardless of their former content, often frivolous and ambiguous, religious texts were attached to them, and they turned into choral chants. The number of chorales included not only German folk songs, but also French, Italian, and Czech ones.

Instead of Catholic hymns alien to the people, sung by the choir in an incomprehensible Latin language, choral melodies accessible to all parishioners are introduced, which are sung by the entire community in their own German language.

So secular melodies took root and adapted to the new cult. In order for "the whole Christian community to join in the singing", the melody of the chorale is taken out in the upper voice, and the rest of the voices become accompaniment; complex polyphony is simplified and forced out of the chorale; a special choral warehouse is formed in which rhythmic regularity, the tendency to merge into a chord of all voices and highlight the upper melodic one are combined with the mobility of middle voices.

A peculiar combination of polyphony and homophony is a characteristic feature of the chorale.

Folk tunes, turned into chorales, nevertheless remained folk melodies, and collections of Protestant chorales turned out to be a repository and treasury of folk songs. Bach extracted the richest melodic material from these ancient collections; he returned to the choral melodies the emotional content and spirit of the Protestant hymns of the Reformation, returned the choral music to its former meaning, that is, resurrected the chorale as a form of expression of the thoughts and feelings of the people.

Chorale is far from the only type of Bach's musical connections with folk art. The strongest and most fruitful was the influence of genre music in its various forms. In numerous instrumental suites and other pieces, Bach not only recreates images of everyday music; he develops in a new way many of the genres that have been established mainly in urban life and creates opportunities for their further development.

Forms borrowed from folk music, song and dance melodies can be found in any of Bach's works. Not to mention secular music, he uses them widely and in various ways in his spiritual compositions: in cantatas, oratorios, passions, and the B-minor Mass.

Bach's creative heritage is almost immense. Even what has survived counts many hundreds of names. It is also known that a large number of Bach's compositions turned out to be irretrievably lost. Of the three hundred cantatas that belonged to Bach, about a hundred disappeared without a trace. Of the five passions, the Passion according to John and the Passion according to Matthew have been preserved.

Bach began composing relatively late. The first works known to us were written at about the age of twenty; there is no doubt that the experience of practical work, independently acquired theoretical knowledge did a great job, since already in the early Bach compositions one can feel the confidence of writing, the courage of thought and creative search. The path to prosperity was not long. For Bach as an organist, it came first in the field of organ music, that is, in the Weimar period. But the genius of the composer was most fully and comprehensively revealed in Leipzig.