Johann Sebastian Bach
Bach was born the youngest child of Johann Ambrosias Bach and Maria Elisbetha, nee Lamerhirt. He was baptized two days after he was born. He was a helpful boy, and if he was very good, his father would give him a piano lesson. When Bach was 7 he entered Latinschule in Eisenach, where Martin Luther had studied, and by the time he was 10 he could read the Gospel in Latin. When Bach was 9 his mother died of a disease, and not even 9 months later his father died, so he and one of his brothers went to live with an older brother in Ohdruf, Germany. Bach left his brother when he was 15 to go to school in Lunenburg. He was excelling in all of the courses, and he was offered an opportunity to play the violin in the court orchestra of Weimer. Bach decided that it would be great to play in the orchestra, and he left Lunenburg for a new life in Weimer. Bach went to Weimer, to play for Duke Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimer-Eisenach, expecting that it would be fun. It was anything but fun. No one liked the court musicians. He had to live off of servant's wages, in servant's quarters, and was treated like a servant. Most of the time people didn't notice the musicians. Sometimes the musicians even had to play behind screens where th
While he was still at Weimer, Bach entered negotiations with Halle, a very nice court where they hired musicians to play in performances, but there were very strict rules about what he would be required to do. Bach would have had to write a cantata every month, which was a lot considering he barely ever wrote cantatas. He would also have had to write church music every month, and have a performance every day. With all this extra effort, the salary would have been less than he was currently making, so he decided not to take that offer. Bach went back to Weimer a second time, and this time he would be in charge of the organ playing at masses, and he would have to compose the new songs every month. This was much more responsibility than he had anywhere else. Bach wrote some 30 more cantatas here and this is where he composed most of his organ works. Bach composed some chamber and orchestral music here as well. Bach still wanted to leave, so he visited Leipzig, the place where he would spend the last 27 years of his life. The reason he went there was to meet Johann Kuhnau, and he took advantage of the occasion and wrote a new cantata, which he performed there. In Bach's last year living at Weimar, he went to the court of Dresden. Louis Marchand, a famous French organist happened to be there at the same time. Bach remarried 18 months later to Anna Magdalena Wilcken, a professional singer. She had 12 children and she was a good mother to all of the children, hers and Bach's alike. Even when Bach was getting older, he still loved to write music. He worked continuously and composed daily until he died in 1750 at age 65.
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Approximate Word count = 1171
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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