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everything you need to know about
Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach
The indisputable master of Baroque music, Bach’s reputation is greater today than ever. Highly prolific, he wrote timeless music for both sacred and secular purposes, and was especially famous in his day as a brilliant organist.
Listen [in RealAudio] need audio help? Basic Details
Listen Goldberg Variations (BWV.988)
Glenn Gould (piano)
CBS Masterworks MK 37779
Listen Orchestral Suite no.3 in D
CPE Bach Chamber Orchestra / Peter Schreier, Philips 442 151-2		 Born: 1685
Dies: 1750
Leipzig

The literal heritage, his music proper, has conquered our souls as has hardly any other master’s work. It was hidden and forgotten for a long time, like buried treasure in romantic tales, but finally several generations ago we found it again. We acquired it to possess it.

From Paul Hindemith's commemorative speech
on Bach given in Hamburg, 1950.
See Also [closely related to this]
within bbc.co.uk music:
Bach biography
Bach discography
Classical news, reviews and listings
Profiles A-Z listing
elsewhere on bbc.co.uk:
Radio 3 Bach profile
Discovering Music: Goldberg Variations, Chaconne (Partita no.2), Inventions, Jesu, meine Freude, Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor
A Choral Music Timeline: Bach's Jesu meine Freude
Read bbc.co.uk Bach CD Reviews
BBC Proms: What’s On
elsewhere on the web:
The JS Bach homepage
"The baroque master's life and works examined in detail ..."
taken from the
Classical Webguide
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH IN ONE MINUTE
  • Bach is regarded by most musicians as a genius of Western music
  • He was a brilliant improviser on the organ and an accomplished harpsichordist
  • Hugely prolific he wrote at least one cantata for every Sunday of the year
  • Brahms described Bach's Chaconne (BWV.1004) as containing "a whole world of the deepest thoughts and the most powerful feelings"
  • Walked 200 miles to study with the great Danish organist Buxtehude
  • He shocked audiences with his "theatrical" setting of the Passion story
  • Of his many children several also became composers, notably CPE Bach and JC Bach (the "London" Bach)
Suggestions? [different angles on this]
related by time:
Handel profile
Domenico Scarlatti biography
Vivaldi biography
Rameau biography
The Baroque Period
related by location:
Beethoven profile
Brahms profile
Wagner profile
Schumann profile
Telemann biography
Bach's Legacy: St Thomas's Choir in Leipzig
Country profile of Germany
related by genre:
Classical Music Homepage
A Quick History of Baroque Music
A Quick Guide to Orchestral Music
A Quick Guide to Instrumental Music
A Quick Guide to Choral Music
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.
J S Bach
GOOD RECORDINGS
 A GOOD READ

Brandenburg Concertos - English ConcertBrandenburg Concertos
English Concert/Pinnock
Archiv 423 492-2
Flawless performances.

Goldberg Variations - Glenn GouldGoldberg Variations
Glenn Gould (piano)
CBS Masterworks MK 37779
Dazzling and eccentric.

Mass in B minorMass in B minor
Ferrier/Pears/Boyd Neel Orch/Enescu
BBC Legends BBCL 4008
Modern instruments.

Partitas and Sonatas - Nathan MilsteinPartitas and Sonatas
Nathan Milstein (violin)
DG 457 701-2
The pinnacle in writing for the solo violin.
Bach - Malcolm BoydBach
by Malcolm Boyd
(Oxford University Press, 2000)
Good introduction to the great master.

New Bach Reader - DavidThe New Bach Reader
Ed. David, Wolff and Mendel
(WW Norton & Co, 1999)
With fascinating translated letters and family papers.

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