Ludwig van Beethoven

1. Johann Sebastian Bach One of the greatest composers of all time. Picture from jsbach.org

2. In his time, Bach was best know for playing the organ Bach mastered the organ, as well as the harpsichord and the violin Who was Johann Sebastian Bach? Picture from communio.stblogs.org

3. Bach is credited with 1128 compositions, the latest of these discovered in March of 2008 One of Bach’s works, Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring (heard here), is a traditional wedding song often used today His compositional style, which included religious & numerological symbols, amazes today’s musicians Who was Johann Sebastian Bach? Audio by amclassical.com

4. Johann Sebastian Bach was born March 21, 1685 in Germany Was taught by his father to play the violin & harpsichord Was taught by his uncle to play the organ At the age of 8, he was recognized for his “uncommonly fine treble voice” Early Years of Bach

5. When Bach was 9 his mother died, & his father died just 9 months later He was taken in by his eldest brother who became his harpsichord and organ teacher At 15, Bach’s “excellent voice” landed him a spot in the choir of Michael’s School in Luneburg, Germany As Bach was growing up, he learned a lot about building organs and how they worked Early Years of Bach

6. Bach’s Adult Life In 1706, Bach married his cousin Maria Barbara, with whom he fathered 7 children The year following Maria Barbara Bach’s sudden death in 1720, Bach remarried to Anna Magdalena Anna Magdalena Bach bore J. S. Bach 13 children Of Bach’s 20 children, 10 of them died in infancy and 4 of them became well-known composers Picture from Wikipedia

7. Bach also wrote several poems Bach’s Adult Life An Easter Blessing Bless this day the joy of life, The revelation of the flesh, The paradise of man and wife Joined to share the gift of bliss. Bless this day the pain of life, The passion that redeems the flesh, The love between a man and wife Beyond all agony and bliss. Bless this day the end of life, The peace within the dying flesh, The bond between a man and wife That long outlasts their bit of bliss. Bless this day the whole of life, The grace of being more than flesh, The voyage of a man and wife Across the mystery of bliss. Poem from poemsforfree.com

8. Bach’s Adult Life Bach was a devout Lutheran and composed several works for the church Near the end of 1749, Bach’s eyesight was declining He had surgery preformed by a traveling surgeon which led to complete blindness Even after Bach became blind, he still composed by dictating to a pupil

9. Bach is know for Christian and secular compositions St. Matthew Passion St. John Passion Christmas Oratorio The Well-Tempered Clavier Brandenburg Concertos Fantasia super: Komm, Heiliger Geist, HerreGott And too many more to mention Bach’s Work

10. Seen here, in Bach’s own handwriting, is his ViolinSonata No. 1 in G minor Picture from Wikipedia

11. Johann Sebastian Bach died on July 28, 1750 due to a stroke Bach was buried at St. Thomas’ Church in Leipzig, Germany Bach’s death marks the end of the Baroque Age of music Bach’s Death Photo from sacred-destinations.com

12. Bach was know for his “complete mastery of major and minor tonality” which developed in the Baroque Age Bach also employed an exaggerated expressiveness which developed in his time The Baroque was an age of master musicians, Bach fits into that category Why Bach is Baroque

13. Bach’s legacy will live on throughout all time. Clip Art from Microsoft Office 2010

14. Works Cited Gordon, Nicholas. “An Easter Blessing.” Poems For Free. N.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2011. http://www.poemsforfree.com/blesst.html “Johann Sebastian Bach.” A-M Classical. 8 Dec. 2010. Web. 3 Apr. 2011. http://www.amclassical.com/bach.shtml “Johann Sebastian Bach.” Baroque Music. N.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2011. http://www.baroquemusic.org/bqxjsbach.html “Johann Sebastian Bach.” Tile.net. N.d. Web. 7 Apr. 2011 http://tile.net/tile/bach/ “Johann Sebastian Bach.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 3 Apr. 2011. Web. 3 Apr. 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach#Works Koster, Jan. J.S. Bach Home Page. N. d. Web. 3 Apr. 2011. http://www.jsbach.org/biography.html Matthews, Roy T., F. DeWitt Platt, & Thomas F. X. Noble. The Western Humanities: Seventh Edition. New York: McGraw Hill, 1992. Print. Sherrane, Robert. “The Baroque Age: Johann Sebastian Bach.” IPL2: Information You Can Trust. N.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2011. http://www.ipl.org/div/mushist/bar/bach.html “Thomaskirche, Leipzig.” Sacred Destinations. N.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2011. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/germany/leipzig-thomaskirche.htm Zalonski, Paul. “Johann Sebastian Bach: 259th anniv of death.” Communio. 28 July 2009. Web. 3 Apr. 2011. http://communio.stblogs.org/2009/07/johann- sebastian-bach-259th-an.html