JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer of the Baroque period and the best-known member of the Bach musical family. Several of his sons, including Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Johann Christian Bach, became influential composers in their own right. His major works include the Brandenburg Concertos, St Matthew Passion, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Cello Suites, and the Mass in B minor.

22 articles related to JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH:

FLUTE

Badinerie: origins of Bach's famous flute suite

Badinerie—the final movement of Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor—is rightfully recognized as one of the...
OBOE

Marcello's Oboe Concerto arranged by Bach and mistakenly attributed to Vivaldi

Concerto in D minor for oboe, strings, and continuo, also known as Marcello's Oboe Concerto, can rightfully be called a...
Music Theory

Mixolydian mode: famous examples in classical and pop music

In the 17th century, the major and minor scales became the basis for almost all classical music compositions. This... 13 comments
PIANO

Ferruccio Busoni as a great piano transcriber of Bach's keyboard music

Ferruccio Busoni was an Italian pianist, composer and theoretical writer whose creative period fell on the transitional... 1 comment
Choir

Mass in B minor: how to separate original scores of J.S. Bach from his son's later edits?

The Mass in B minor is one of the latest works of J.S. Bach in which he set a liturgical Latin text to music. Clocking...
VIOL

Bach and Abel: a collaboration that lived in two generations of composers

The prominent German composer and multi-instrumentalist Carl Friedrich Abel was born into an extraordinary musical... 1 comment
Organ

Mecca for organ music created by Dieterich Buxtehude in Lübeck

The picture Musical Company by Johannes Voorhout shows baroque composer Dietrich Buxtehude playing the viol while his...
PIANO

The Orpheus of Amsterdam: the joyful nickname for organist Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck

The ‘Orpheus of Amsterdam’ was the nickname lovingly given to Jan Pietersz Sweelinck (1562–1621), an organist, composer...
Chalumeau

German maestro ordered all his music to be set on fire

Christoph Graupner (1683–1760) was one of the principal German composers of the period shared by J.S. Bach and Georg...
Composer

Venetian architecture sparked a new musical era in Europe

Giovanni Gabrieli was one of the most influential musicians of his time, representing the culmination of the Venetian...
Classical Guitar

Lute fell into obscurity after the death of its greatest maestro

Silvius Leopold Weiss (1687–1750) was one of the most important composers in lute music history. Born into a...
Violin

150 composers contributed to La Folia through the centuries

La Folia is one of the most revered melodies in music history. Originating as a late fifteenth-century Portuguese dance...
Collaboration

Harp traditions of two continents united in a unique collaboration

Senegal and Wales share few obvious similarities, but Seckou Keita and Catrin Finch, respectively maestros of the kora...
Classical Guitar

The voice that carried guitar over the barriers of Cultural Revolution

Born in Beijing following the Cultural Revolution—during which Western music and instruments were banned—Xuefei Yang ...
TRUMPET

Forgotten German composer behind the shift from Baroque to Classical

Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688-1758) was the leader of the transitional period from late Baroque to early Classical in his...
ORCHESTRA

Alessandro Scarlatti: Italian opera innovator was lost in history for two centuries

Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) was among the most important Italian composers of the late Baroque period. His huge...
Cello

Bach's brilliant cello suites survived thanks to Anna Magdalena

The Bach collection of six suites for solo cello may have been written around 1720 as basic practice pieces intended to... 1 comment
VIOLA

Indecent Ciaconne dance came from the New World and swept Europe off its feet

Chaconne or Ciaconne is a fiery dance popularized in Spain in 17th century which later gave birth to a new musical form...
FLUTE

Bourrée: French folk dance from the Bach suite inspired prog-rock flute and the work of Sir Paul McCartney

Bourrée is a French folk dance typically danced with quick, skipping steps. The dancers sometimes wear wooden clogs to...
ORCHESTRA

Brandenburg Concerto dedicated to the king's brother was never played at Brandenburg court

The Brandenburg Concertos of Johann Sebastian Bach are considered an example from the new era of masterful collaboration...
Classical Guitar

Cuban guitar tradition of Leo Brouwer

Leo Brouwer has earned his legendary status as a contemporary composer for his extensive work in guitar music. He has...
Violin

Vintage performance of Vivaldi's concerto for four violins

Antonio Vivaldi wrote many concerts for violin, but only a few for four violin soloists. Concerto for Four Violins was...