Baroque Musicians

Bach was much more than just a Baroque musician. His death heralded the end of an Era, and his life was a monument to creativity: In addition to his innumerable volumes of musical compositions, he also had twenty children—Bach truly was a master organ player. His genius lies in music that can stir the heart and soul of the untrained ear, and simultaneously humble and instruct the most gifted artists. His name will always be counted among the greatest musicians for what he brought to music as a whole. But enough gushing, let’s talk about the man. Bach (pronounce it like you’re hacking up phlegm in the back of your throat) was born in Germany, died in Germany and worked most of his life as a German Organmeister, in charge of fixing and tuning the organ of whatever church would hire him. He wrote Toccata and Fugue—made popular in Walt Disney’s Fantasia—to help him test out his freshly tuned organs. He also supervised and instructed the choirboys who usually lived in the church with him. In the few moments he had between church meetings, organ tunings, and teaching he would write page after page of music. He wrote so much that many of his pages found their way into the shops of the local fishermen—as packaging for the fish. Some of his more popular pieces include: Air on a G string, Jesu, Joy of man’s desiring (played at most traditional weddings) and his Brandenberg Concertos. The latter were put together as a kind of a musical résumé in a desperate attempt to get out of tuning organs and babysitting teenagers. Sadly, he didn’t get the job and it was back to the church for poor old Bach. As you might expect Bach also died in relative obscurity and poverty, yet every generation since has discovered new levels of depth and inspiration within his music.