In the Footsteps of Bach
Studio Theme, 2001-2002  

MKS with brother
 Dr. Joel Kirkpatrick

Johann Sebastian Bach was born March 21, 1685 to a family of musicians in Eisenach, a small town in the central German state of Thuringia. From an early age he learned to play violin and keyboards and sang as a chorister in his church. By the time he was ten years old, however, both his mother and his father had died. Homeless, he went to live with his oldest brother Christoph, an organist in a nearby town.

Christoph taught him the basics of music composition, but legend has it that he kept from his younger brother a book of pieces by famous composers he thought too difficult. Sebastian, as he was called, managed to get hold of the book and secretly copied the pieces out by moonlight. When his brother found out, he took away the book and the copies, but by then Sebastian knew all the pieces by memory.

By the time Sebastian was fifteen, his brother's house had become too crowded with younger children, so he moved to Lüneburg in northern Germany. There he won a scholarship to the choir school at St. Michael's Church, where he also took organ lessons. Three years later Sebastian returned to Thuringia to start his first job as a church organist in Arnstadt.  [Listen to Toccata in d minor ] 

After serving as a church musician for several years, Bach became Kapellmeister (senior court musician) first for the Duke of Saxe-Weimar and then for the Prince of Anhalt-Cöthen. In these places he had more time to compose. In Weimar he wrote some of his greatest organ works and the beautiful chorale arrangement of " Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring". He also taught many students and wrote books of pieces for them.

In Anhalt-Cöthen Bach wrote many instrumental works including the great Brandenburg Concertos [Brandenburg Concerto #3]. Just when everything seemed perfect, his wife died. Seventeen months later Bach married Anna Magdalena, a professional singer. Their marriage was a happy one that produced 13 children (for a total of 20, but only 10 survived childhood). He dedicated two special books of music to Anna Magdalena, which included some famous minuets [ Minuet in G ].

In 1723 Bach returned to church music as Cantor at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, where he stayed the rest of his life. He and his large family lived next door in a building that also housed the church's boy choir. It must have been a noisy, but stimulating place. Bach wrote most of his 290 cantatas for this choir. He also wrote large-scale Biblical dramas for choir, orchestra, and soloists. An example is St. Matthew's Passion, considered old-fashioned after Bach's time, but revived a hundred years later under the direction of Felix Mendelssohn, who lived in Leipzig and loved Bach's music. Many now consider it one of his greatest works.

Bach died in 1750. His body is buried in St. Thomas Church. Thousands of music lovers visit this church every year. Young German musicians like these in Wittenberg still enjoy playing his music. 

Girls of Wittenberg

Boys of Wittenberg