BACH, Johann Sebastian, German musi cian and composer: b. Eisenach, 21 March 1685; d. Leipzig, 28 July 1750. Bach was the most profound and original musical thinker the world has ever seen. He is the master of mas ters; from him most of the great composers have drawn inspiration. When Mozart heard one of his pieces at Leipzig, in 1788, he ex claimed: "Thank Heaven! here at last is some thing new that I can learn from.' "Not Bach (brook) but 'Ocean' should be his name," Beethoven exclaimed. Mendelssohn made en thusiastic efforts to revive the interest in Bach. Schumann helped to found the Bach Society and urged students, if they would become thorough musicians, to make Bach their daily bread. Chopin confessed that before giving a concert he locked himself up a fortnight with nothing but Bach to play. Franz devoted a great part of his life to adapting this master's works for use in modern concert halls. Liszt and Rubinstein adored and played him. Wag ner, as he grew older, played Bach more and more; his vocal compositions he pronounced the most perfect ever written; and he said that the proper interpretation of them was the noblest task of contemporary musicians. The only dissenting voice in this chorus of praise was that of Berlioz; but, as Saint-Sains (one of the principal worshipers) has pointed out, this was due solely to the fact that Berlioz was not familiar with the works of Bach. His pre eminence is the more remarkable when we re member that he was born as early as 1685; but it seems perhaps a trifling less astonishing when we bear in mind that Johann Sebastian inher ited the accumulated musical gifts of a long line of ancestors. "Throughout six genera tions," says Forkel, "there were hardly two or three members of this family who did not inherit a natural talent for music, and make the cultivation of this art the principal occupa tion of their life.* For more than a century there were so many representatives of this widely-scattered family that in one place, at any rate (Erfurt), town musicians came to be called "Bachs," even when that family did not happen to be represented among them. After the cul mination had been reached, however, in Johann Sebastian, the family-tree soon withered, al though some of his sons play a quite consider able role in musical history.
At the age of 10, Johann Sebastian was left an orphan, in care of his older brother, John Christoph, who appears to have been jealous of the boy's musical gifts. Christoph had got to gether a collection of the best German organ music of the time, which Sebastian was very eager to get at and study. Denied access to it, he managed to smuggle it into the garret, where, for six months, he busied himself mak ing a copy of it on moonlit nights. But the brother at last discovered his secret and took away from him both the copy and the original. This is only one instance of many showing how Sebastian was determined to educate him self in face of all obstacles. Several times he went on foot to Hamburg—a distance of 25 miles— to hear the famous organist Reinken; subsequently he made a similar trip to hear the illustrious organist Buxtehude at Lubeck. This
happened when he himself was already busy as organist and choirmaster at Amstadt. Previ ously to that he had, as a boy, helped to support himself by joining a choir of boys who sang at funerals and weddings, as well as in church and in the street. He missed no chance to practise on the violin, the organ and the piano—or, rather, the harpsichord and clavichord, which were the predecessors of the pianoforte. To these tasks and in his efforts at composition, he often devoted whole nights. He got his first salaried position (as violinist) in 1703 at Wei mar, but left this post after a few months for that of organist at Arnstadt. It was thence that he made the trip (a foot tour of over 200 miles) to Lubeck, already referred to, to hear Buxtehude. He had obtained a four weeks' leave of absence, but was so delighted with his opportunities for improvement at Lu beck that he remained four months, until per emptorily called back. The church consistory of Arnstadt took this occasion to reprimand him, not only for prolonging his leave of ab sence, but for neglecting rehearsals, going to a wine cellar during the sermon, allowing a strange maiden to make music in the choir, and for "having made extraordinary variations in the chorals, and intermixing many strange sounds, so that thereby the congregation were confounded." Yet, with all his faults, they loved him still and allowed him to remain at his post; till he left of his own accord, having secured a position as organist at Miihlhausen. Here, too, however, he did not remain long; as still better opportunities presented themselves to him at Weimar, where the Duke Wilhelm Ernst had his court. This duke was deeply interested in the religion of the German Protestant Church and was glad to avail himself of the services of Bach, who was destined to become the chief representative of the music of that church, as Palestrina was of the Catholic Church. Here Bach remained nine years, during which time he wrote many of his master works for organ and church choir. In 1717 he accepted a posi tion in K6then which involved a complete change in his activity. Instead of having an organ and choir to occupy his time he had die duty, as Kapellmeister, of writing and rehears ing works for the orchestra as a whole or for groups of orchestral instruments (chamber music). In 1720 he was a candidate for the post of organist at the Jacobi Kirche in Ham burg; but, although he was at this time already famous as an orgauist, he failed to get the place, an obscure yowag man having secured it after paying $1,000 for the office. Three years later Bach became the cantor of the Thomas schule at Leipzig and director of the music in the two pnnapal churches; this position he held 27 years, ull his death, 28 July 1750, at the age of 65.