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the Baroque period in Germany

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delayed behind France and Italy due to the Thirty Years' War (1618-48)

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a struggle between Catholicism and Protestantism

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much of the country was destroyed

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territories were transferred

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land was divided into more than 300 independent cities and territories

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late 17th and early 18th century

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some of Baroque's leading composers came from Germany

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Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

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George Frideric Händel (1685-1759)

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Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

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Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

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musical styles in Germany

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unlike musicians in Italy and France, German composers would

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study, copy, and arrange the music from different countries

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travel throughout Europe learning and blending different compositional styles in new ways

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this turned the national style of the Baroque to the international style of the classical period

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German opera

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a combination of Italian and French styles

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opera was popular in Germany

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the center was Hamburg

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1678 the first public opera house

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Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739)

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the most prolific opera composer

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over 60 operas performed in Hamburg

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Johann Adolph Hasse (1699-1783)

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there were two different styles of church music

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a cappella

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contrapunctus

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Palestrina

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concerted style

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instrumental accompaniment

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Bach family

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Lutheran religion

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used choral and instrumental

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choral

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single line melody set to a Lutheran text

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four part vocal arrangement of those same melodies

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two kinds of professional musicians in Germany

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court musicians

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worked for royalty

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princes, dukes

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imitated Louis XIV use of the arts as propaganda

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hired court instrumentalists

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singers and composers

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not quite as many as the French

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city musicians

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included the town piper

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usually could play many different wind and string instruments

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would apprentice and take an audition to take the job

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unless the family was passed down through a family, as was the case for the Bach family

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controlled music of a city

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in Lutheran towns, controlled music in the churches

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Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

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proud of his family's heritage

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1735: The Origin of the Musical Bach Family

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tracing the origin of 53 family members

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Bach learned from his father

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Bach taught his oldest sons

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Wilhelm Friedemann Bach

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Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (CPE Bach)

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they taught their youngest brother Johann Christian Bach (JC Bach)

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most of the musicians in the Bach family were town pipers, or church musicians

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Johann Ambrosius Bach

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violinist and trumpet player

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was in the town council in Eisenach, Germany

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he had his wife had eight children

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Johann Sebastian was the youngest

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wife died in 1694 and Johann died in 1695

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made Johann Sebastian an orphan at the age of 10

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JS Bach moved in with his cousin Johann Christoph Bach

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learned to play the clavichord

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learned the styles of many countries

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recognized early as a good musician

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awarded choir boy scholarship near Hamburg

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at 18 embarked on career

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concert meister at the court of Weimar

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learned about Vivaldi

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arranged Vivaldi's concertos for keyboard

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it's a great way to learn the style of a composer, trying to arrange their music for another instrument

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1707 married Maria Barbara Bach

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actually a second cousin

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had seven children

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four survived to adulthood

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1717-23 Kapellmeister at Court of Köthen

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1720 Maria died

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1721 met and married Anna Magdelena

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professional soprano

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together they raised the children from his first marriage and had 13 children of their own from 1723 to 1742, seven of whom died at a young age

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didn't write much about himself or music theory

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not much is known about him as a private citizen

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clearly a religious man

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Lutheran

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dedicated his life to serving his religion through his music

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1723 Cantor of the Thomasschule zu Leipzig

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most prominent and highest paying position

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remained here until his death in 1750

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didn't travel much

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according to his contract, he couldn't leave the city without permission from the mayor

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held in high esteem

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but he wasn't concerned with fame or being remembered after his death

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little of his music was published

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toward the end of his life, his music was considered old-fashioned

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as the newer, simpler styles were becoming more popular

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he didn't perform music by composers who came before him

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didn't intend for people to play his

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his music forgotten until Mendelssohn's revival of his St. Mathew passion in 1829 in Berlin

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Bach's works

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main job throughout his life was as an organist and composer for churches

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also taught composition

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gives us insight into his compositional process

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encouraged his students to write away from the keyboard

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think about what you have to say

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rarely made any significant changes to what he wrote

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didn't consider himself a genius, but rather a capable workman simply carrying out his duties

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but many do recognize Bach as a genius, especially when it comes to counterpoint

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the study of consonance and dissonance

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composed in every genre except opera

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cantatas, oratorios, and passions contained many of the same elements of opera

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his genius can be seen most clearly in the mastery of the fugue

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he had the ability to create themes and motives, even ones that contrast each other on the surface that fit perfectly when played together

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cataloged in the Bach Werke Verzeichnis (BWV)

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compiled in 1950 by Wolfgang Schneider

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first section

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200+ cantatas

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passions

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oratorios

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chorales

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second section: Keyboard works

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preludes and fugues for organ

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inventions (short compositions developing a single theme contrapuntally)

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48 Preludes and Fugues for the Well-Tempered Clavier

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Goldberg Variations

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third section

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suites for solo cello

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sonatas and partitas for violin

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fourth section

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6 Brandenburg Concertos

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The Art of the Fugue (unfinished)